Bay Area Dealer Experiences

I did all of my research at Sunnyvale Toyota. They were excellent and knew the car inside and out. I also attended their conference which was incredibly informative.

I ended up buying at Putnam Toyota in Burlingame, just because my car came up two months earlier than at Sunnyvale Toyota (4 month wait.). The salesman there was not pushy, "If you want the car, it's MSRP, no questions asked." In general though, most of their salespeople are newbies who tyr to guess the answers to your Prius questions, since they don't know.

Overall pleasant experience, but I feel like Sunnyvale Toyota would have done a better job supporting my sale and questions in the final process.

 

We were on a list with Piercy Toyota in San Jose. Nice, nice guys there. However, we were able to get our Prius - just the color and package we wanted- through Fremont Toyota's fleet manager after about 35 days. They often have 'extra' Prii but like to put in the leather seats and charge a premium for them. But if you get on the list with the fleet manager you can get what you want without the long wait. Service guys were pretty nice, too. Though my only experience so far was with the NAV upgrade and subsequent downgrade.

 

I think fremont had an ad in the newspaper the other day for a prius. My first prius ad!

 

I like SF Toyota

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(edgar\";p=\"26507)</div>

I walked into SF Toyota intending to order a Prius, so there wasn't much they needed to do to sell me the car. I found them to be very friendly, straightforward, and honest.

I heard some people who ordered a Priuse and later changed their mind (sold their place in line?) would designate who could get their Prius. SF Toyota assured me the next person in SF Toyota's list got the car.

I had rented my garage, and the Prius came in about 2 or 3 months early. They had agreed when I ordered it that they would store the car for me up to a month for free after it arrived. I did have to buy it before they stored it, which is only fair.

A week after I took possession, they held a New owner's seminar handled mostly by a Certified Master Technician. Even though it was for owners of all models, they did bring in a Prius just for the Prius owners to show where the battery charging terminals are, etc.

I didn't have the nerve to ask about a discount from the MSRP, and they didn't mess with that, either. I like and respect the dealership.

 

Sort of a long story but...

We ordered our Prius from Santa Cruz Toyota (actually located in Capitola). We specifically asked for Black. SC Toy told us that they had one on order, would arrive in two weeks but that there was already one person in front of us on the list. The salesman then told us that he wasn't sure if the people in front of us still wanted Black, so he would call them find out and let us know. If they didn't want the black anymore then we would be in line next and it would be two weeks.

That same day, we drove to Gil.ory to talk to Toyota of Gilroy. The salesman here was probably the sleeziest salesman I have ever spoken to. He was also obviously high but whatver... Anyways, he sat us down and did the entire routine about how they were the volume dealer and could do dealer trades around the state and get us the car we wanted. They told us that it would normally be about 4 months but that if we were interested, they could get it to us probably quicker. Maybe in a few days. Naturally, this would cost us an EXTRA $2000 as they would really have to work at it.

I said, find out and we'll talk. The salesman said "ok" and started hsi search. After an hour, he told us that he thought he found one but he needed confirmation. He told us to take a walk and come back in a n hour and he'd have an answer.

An hour later, we came back to see him driving away with another client (test drive). He then called us on our cell phone from his cell-phone (while on his test drive) tol tell us that he could get it but that it would be at least a couple of weeks and would still cost us an extra $2k.

I was pissed, so I hung up on him and asked to see the manager. Manager came out and aplogized for the saleman behavior and said that he made the call and could get us the Prius but he was wiating for final confirmation.

While I was speaking to him, the manager got a phone call (his confirmation). I heard him talking to someone about the Black Prius they had coming in in two weeks. He asked them if someone already was on the list and if he could get it instead of them? When the guy on the other end told him the name (I could hear the conversation) the manager looked up at me and said... "O'h, it's you on the list".

To summarize - Gilroy Totoya tried to sell us the car we had ordered from another dealership for $2000 extra.

Suffice to say, I won't be going back to Girloy. SC Toyota on the other hand was probably the easiest sale we've ever experienced. The people were all very knowledgeable and HONEST. We got our car in just over two weeks for the price we wanted and the options we wanted.

 

toyota of fremont ::two thumbs down::

toyota of stockton ::two thumbs up!::

 

Novato Toyota is wonderful. Helpful, diligent, wonderful people. Not only do they respond, but they give accurate, detailed answers to all inquires. Vice-president answers his phone and treats customers with respect. Overall, a wonderful experience.

 

I bought mine at Hayward....good honest sales person..threw in a few things...did not give me any grief...but for service will go to Berkeley so far not a problem.
Does anyone ahve experience with Oakland?

 

I got my Prius from Hilltop Toyota in Richmond, dealt with Esteban and Chae both of them were very helpful, and neither of them were pushy. I ordered back in December, but didn't want to take delivery until March. It was last Monday that I called to let him know that I was ready to take delivery, but I also wanted to change my package. Esteban called me Wed., said my car was on the dock in SF and I should come in and complete the paperword, but the car probably wouldn't be ready until Saturday or Monday. Thursday he called, said my car would be ready by the time I got off work. So in the end it took about 4 days for me to get my car.
When I was still looking I tried Toyota of Marin, and they never seem answer the phone, and if they do, the sales dept doesn't return the messege.



2006 Prius
Package #6
Seaside Blue

 

I met with Chip Fong at SF Toyota for a test drive and chat about the Prius. Very friendly, helpful, no-pressure guy.

Due to availability of the package/color I wanted, I ended up buying from City Toyota (Daly City) from Cindy Lee. Thumbs up to her, also. Price was $100 over invoice apparently ($25,800 for Package 5), and no suspicious fees tacked on, nor big pressure to get an extended warranty, maintenance, etc.

Edited to add: Just got a thoughtful e-mail from Chip wishing me all the best with my new Prius (that I got elsewhere) and inviting me to call him or stop by anytime with questions. Truly a class act

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(edgar @ Jul 12 2004, 06:52 AM) [snapback]26507[/snapback]</div>

We love SF Toyota -- bought our '06 Barcelona Red Prius there in March. Sam Lee was the salesman -- very helpful. Attended their New Owner Seminar a few weeks later, and was impressed by the entire team.

 

I purchased my 2006 Prius from Fremont Toyota. They lied to me over the phone when they said they had one on the lot on a Friday evening and when I drove from Santa Cruz to Fremont Saturday 9am the car was gone. So they sold me another one where they insisted I buy LoJack and some sealant for $2K over MSRP. Since my wife really wanted the car, we agreed.

I have to say that I am getting 53mpg for the past 18K miles and I am very happy with the Prius. I am not happy with Fremont Toyota. I think they are a bunch of crooks and liars.