A voyage to dealer hell has a happy ending...

Well, the good news is I finally have my Prius (Package #2, Blue Pearl) and I'm thrilled. Honestly. ( I've never been a car fanatic before, would rather get around locally by bike. Yet I could see how this car could be the start of a long addiction...).


But to get it off my chest I have to write about a really HORRIBLE BAIT/SWITCH MESS with Fairfield Toyota. I know they've gotten good reviews here at times for their pricing (because they're way out in the boondocks where the overhead is cheaper than the city) but it was a really UGLY scene.

Here's what happened.

Originally I had found a package #2 right where I live in Alameda. The guys at the local dealership were great, not hard-sell, quite straightforward, a good energy place. But they wouldn't budge below $22,000 for the car and I wondered if I could do better.

Plus they were offering me $5500 trade-in value for my mechanically excellent but very dinged and dented 2000 Acura Integra GSR (86,000 miles). I wondered if i could find a bit better trade-in value since despite the dents I had just put $1700 in the car to do the 90,000 mile tune up, 2 new tires, and the new registration.

(See three months ago I had no immediate plans to buy a new car. Thought I'd keep the acura one final year and check out the new 100+ mpg Prius mid-2008. So plowed the dough into the old sports car in February. And then gas prices shot up 30 cents. Best laid plans...)

But I digress...

So I end up in a long internet/phone conversation with a salesman at Fairfield Toyota. He tells me he can give me the package #2 for $21538 PLUS he'll GAURANTEE me $6000 for the trade-in.

I'm a little surprised he's promising the trade-in value site unseen. This is new terrain. But he is adamant.

I call him back 3 different times to say I want to be very upfront and say that while the Acura has never had an accident it was a virtual DENT-MAGNET and every driver in the Bay Area tried to take a crack at it in one parking lot or another over the last 7 years. I had never had a car like that before.

He laughs and says, "Hey no problem. It's an old car, we expect that. AS LONG AS IT HAS TWO DOORS AND A BUMPER, WE GUARANTEE YOU THE $6000. (exact quote). IT'S GOT LEATHER SEATS AND A MOON ROOF RIGHT? 5 SPEED TRANSMISSION RIGHT? IT'S A HELLAVA GREAT SPORTS CAR, RIGHT? MY WORD IS GOOD. I'VE GOT TWO GUARANTEES FROM TWO MANAGERS HERE FOR THE $6000 TRADE"

So I said, "Look, if I'm driving way the heck out there I need it FIRM that this is settled."

"Absolutely" he says.

Okay, you already know the sordid details.
I shlep all the way out to Fairfield.
I ask my salesguy to come look at the car.
He says, "No need, let's do the paperwork first. The rest is settled."

He's a pretty slow-moving, older guy so we spend another hour filling out all the dang paperwork. He keeps digressing with stories about going fishing and his love of Hawaii. I keep trying to get him back on track. I say I need to finish this up.

FINALLY he says, "Oh I think I should show the Acura to the manager. It IS a bit dented up..."

I say, "We already had an agreement. That's why I drove all the way out here!"

He leaves to show the car anyway.

I have a really bad feeling in my stomach.

The manager (who looked JUST like a younger version of Jack Nicholson playing the Devil in the Witches of Eastwick) comes back and says,

"You lied about the car. It has some dents. I wouldn't give you $2000."

Meanwhile the salesman is just sitting there mute, as if none of his 35 conversations with me ever happened on the phone. TOTALLY BAILED.

You can just imagine where the story goes from there.

I won't burden this chatgroup with the charming epithets that were volleyed between us.

Let's just say I'm a really peace-loving yoga-practicing person until ABSOLUTELY LIED TO, CHEATED AND PROVOKED. Then I'm a fighter for justice and the-principle-of-the-thing and i go crazy.

(Or as Jack Nicholson Jr. said, "You seemed so nice when you walked in here...who the hell taught you THAT kind of talk?")

Condescending bastard too.

It gets worse.
Kinda sad actually.

Later as I'm on the highway home, the elderly sales guy calls me on my cell. He's really upset. , "Hey I'm really sorry. That was really, really awful. I didn't handle that right. I wasted alot of your time and we deserved you screaming. I'm going to be retiring by the end of the year and I just don't have it in me anymore to fight these guys."

Wow.

I actually felt sorry for him.

It was SO pathetic.

I got him to send me $20 to reimburse my gas money.

And then I drove straight to the Alameda dealership and bought the car. $5500 trade in on the Acura no problem. I didn't even care about paying the extra money for the package #2.

What a sweet bunch of people and the car is FANTASTIC.


(Okay, please do't write me at this point to say I should have gotten the offer in writing. The manager at Fairfield was such a satanic snake he wouldn't have honored something written in my cat's blood.)


BUT THE HAPPY PART OF THE STORY IS I HAVE MY CAR! I LOVE IT! AND THE GUYS THAT SOLD IT TO ME ARE ONLY A MILE AWAY IF I NEED ANYTHING.

THE END.

(But really, beware of Fairfield. Bad juju there.)

 

thanks so much darken...

it really helps to know that a trade in price can be offered over the phone and the word can be kept! i never knew places would do that...i'm so glad your situation worked out alot more easily...

just writing the whole story out made me feel alot better...

wonder if i should send it over to toyota (not the dealership but the main toyota people)? do folks thing they ever give free oil change coupons or something when you've been traumatized enough by a dealership?

 

you're right, i wish i had the name of the two different evil managers who promised the trade-in and then backed down...i met them (an experience i'll cherish forever) but i don't remember their names, it was all such a blur...i'm reluctant to put the name of the poor lame salesman on here because i actually don't think he was the point and i honestly did feel sorry for the guy. it was the managers.

i did however call and give a long detailed report for what it's worth to toyota corporate. maybe they just hire compassionate people to hear your stories because all the woman on the phone kept saying thru the story was "jesus, that's unbelievable...i can't believe that happened...that's really terrible." i don't know what actually comes of the report. she said it would be "reviewed".

she said "appropriate action" we'll be taken, whatever that means! (tarring and feathering might be good or being forced to drive a Ford Pacer for 5 years whichever comes first)...

She said that fairfield toyota's customer service person would be calling me to talk about the situation and i'll be happy to talk with her if she wishes. i don't imagine much will come from that but we'll see.

meanwhile, i feel glad to have gotten the word out, just as you say! it does seem important and i would be happy for any business to go to the great guys over at Alameda Toyota. The manager George and the salesperson Eric there were both fantastic, especially after dealing with the fairfield felons.



however<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn @ May 10 2007, 11:54 AM) [snapback]439204[/snapback]</div>

 

thanks Jim...that's an excellent idea. I've just finished writing a letter over to toyota corporate to follow up my phone call to them today so imaybe 'll ask for an installed rear bumper applique as a possible perk. i'm a bit of an east coast loudmouth about this stuff so i've got no problem asking.

Or writing about it to let the whole bay area know the racket going on at fairfield. There are so many people who are on the edge of buying prius' here because of the gas prices. Twice today just driving the car around alameda I got stopped by strangers asking me how I was liking it.

i'm about to post my experience with fairfield over at yelp and tribe.net as well.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ May 10 2007, 08:57 PM) [snapback]439623[/snapback]</div>

 

Well, here's a followup to what's unfolded from the Fairfield drama...I'm pretty surprised.

I don't know if this is standard operating procedure but when I called Toyota corporate yesterday to report the Fairfield dealership they actually took the complaint quite seriously. (So the woman on the phone saying how awful it all was, wasn't just there to calm me down and throw the report in the trash!)...They IMMEDIATELY contacted the Fairfield place.

By last night I had had a pretty penitent phone call from the customer care guy over at Fairfield. I went thru the whole story again. He says there was no excuse for what occurred and he's meeting today with the general manager to see how they can compensate for the time and trouble.

But I have to admit. I'm pretty sure the immediate response came because I had told both the Toyota "experience" dept and also Fairfield that I was a writer and over the next couple days I would be posting on internet groups all over to warn people to not buy Priuses at Fairfield. I mentioned that I'd already written up the dealership on this chat group which had many thousands of buyers and potential buyers. (hey, anyone know how many readers ARE on here? it would be good to be able to say...)

I do think we're in a different world than a few years ago because of the immediacy of internet feedback and the ability to reach large audiences. The dealerships REALLY do not want the bad press.

We have some power here. So if you have had a terrible or fraudulent experience with a dealership, there are options beyond threatening to call the attorney general's office (which i'm not sure scares most owners one bit).

The fear of major bad publicity is a big animator!

The phone number for the Toyota corporate office "experiences" line is 1-800-331-4331...they wrote up the positive stuff I told 'em about Alameda as well. I think it helps to say you plan to write reviews onto all the major sites.

We'll see what the Fairfield general manager comes back with today.
Thanks so much for everyone's support and feedback so far.

 

ps.

just curious, if any of you were in my position, what would YOU ask them for as reasonable compensation for the whole sordid story? given that it took about two days of time and energy and garbage between all endless calls and emails and driving and paperwork, blahblahblah.

it really did seem as if the fairfield manager is motivated to keep me from posting bad reviews everywhere in the next couple days. he said he'd be back to me this afternoon with an offer. i think i may tend to low-ball in these situations and even tho absolutely outraged by what happened, not really know what would be fair compensation. i'm not shy to ask i just don't know WHAT to ask in this case. (i guess i could say, hey, do you have an extra metallic gray package #2 hanging around the lot for my partner?)

so, do any of you experienced wheeler/dealer types have any ideas?

i made it clear i didn't want anything that involved having to come out to their dealership because it was so far away, plus i never ever want to have to go back there. he said they'd go thru their coupon books and see what they could come up with that could be used at any dealership.



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tigressa @ May 11 2007, 07:50 AM) [snapback]439812[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tigressa @ May 11 2007, 08:36 PM) [snapback]440312[/snapback]</div>