Dishonest lack of integrity dealerships

But you went ahead and bought the car. And they didn't have to do anything. Not clean it. Not reduce it in price. Nothing.

You just rewarded them for their dishonesty. So why should they change?

Dishonesty pays.

 

I don't know the percentage of "decent" dealers, but I'll put in a plug for Bobby Rahal Toyota in Mechanicsburg PA, just outside of Harrisburg. They go over and beyond with their integrity and sevice.

 

Super idea about Dishonest /Unscrupulous dealers identification and those to avoid.

Could somone come up with a "Sticky" by State, so us folks could identify the culprits ?

 

Dishonest.
lack of integrity.
dealerships.

No need to repeat yourself 3X.

Since my Prius is the first car I ever bought from a dealer, I will admit to
having limited experience.

So far my worst experience was having to placate a service adviser who
was aghast at 44/42psi in the tires.

I consider myself lucky.

 

Then to start off Colorado...

Do not go to Toyota of Colorado Springs.
They are some crooks and a half.
then when you call them on it they act like they had no idea what is going on.

 

Car dealers, especially used car dealers, have a very bad reputation. So much so that when the notoriously dishonest Richard Nixon ran for president, his opponents asked, in their campaign literature, "Would you buy a used car from this man?"

A review of dealerships seems like a good idea, with one very big caveat:

Every large business will have at least a few dissatisfied customers, and those will be the most vocal. A list of bad dealerships is really only useful when there is a large enough sampling of customer reviews AND the dealership is given an opportunity to respond. When you only see one side of a story there is strong tendency to believe the person telling his side.

The user reviews on eBay and Amazon work because every user is asked for feedback and you don't see only the comments of dissatisfied people. Lots of sellers, for example, will have 99% positive ratings, but there's always a negative response here and there. When I see 100 positive and one negative, I feel I can trust the seller. With a list such as the OP is proposing, there's a risk you'll see only that one negative, and not see the 100 positive, because it's the dissatisfied customer who will seek out ways to damage the reputation of the business he feels cheated him.

To the OP: Everyone always advises NEVER buy a used car without checking it out first. Why would you fly 2,000 miles to buy a used car without arranging for an independent inspection first??? That's just plain foolish. It's nearly all the way across the country. How cheap was the car to justify such a trip? Did it ever occur to you that a car priced low enough to justify that trip must have something wrong with it or else they could have sold it for a lot more?

I'm just saying that rather than a one-sided rant list it would be better to have a significant sample of customer reviews.

 

If you can't find integrity at dealerships, try the Goodyear store. They have lots of Integrities,

 

Figured I would try to contribute a little:

For anyone in Southern Indiana, avoid Kenny Kent Toyota in Evansville. My g/f had purchased a 2004 and 2006 Corolla there and we went back so she could trade in the 06 Corolla to get a 2008 Scion xB. So we sat down, the salesman got all the paperwork and brought everything out then showed us the price and it didn't seem right. He kept insisting this is the lowest price we would find. Luckily, my g/f was currently interning at the Toyota Plant in Southern Indiana so we had the employee pricing sheets with us, so we pulled them out and they showed what she should actually be charged for each accesory(Scions are a pure price car so employees don't get a discount at purchase, they do get a check from Scion for the difference though) and he stated that those were the prices without installation. So I showed him the pricing sheets and lets just say he no longer had a happy face. I showed him where it said MSRP and then in the column next to it Employee Plan Price, then let him know we were taking our business elsewhere. So we ended up at Uebelhor Toyota in Jasper and lets just say they got her a better APR, honored the pricing sheets, got her monthly payment $70 lower, and through in three free oil changes to top it off. So Uebehlor will be getting my business in January when I go to buy my Prius.

 

Would it have helped if they had honest lack of integrity? You DO know that you have choices in these scenarios, right? I mean, you CAN reject the deal. The ultimate responsibility for your decisions is YOU, not the dealer. And venting on a completely anonymous chat-room without corroborating evidence could very well end up in YOUR lap. Be careful and be a wise consumer. The internet doesn't relieve you of responsibility.

This is the second instance of a thread being posted accusing the seller of poor business practices in selling a used car in less than a month. People, use some common sense. Reality hasn't changed because you can hide behind a keyboard and avoid it. Do the necessary legwork and be prudent in your decisions because, if it appears too good to be true, likely it is. If you don't know what 'true,' means, I have some bridges I'm trying to unload.....

 

Luckily for me, the two Toyota dealerships here in San Diego I have used seem to be OK:

Toyota Carlsbad - Their service department is very good.
Toyota San Diego - Bought our Prius from them through the Costco program, their fleet sales guy Dan is AWESOME, highly recommend working with him.

Other dealerships in the area which I have used:
Pacific Honda - Their service department is also very good, but also very busy! The wait can be a bear sometimes, but they seem to be honest and reasonably priced.
Bob Baker Subaru - Service department is OK, but seriously overpriced.
Rancho Subaru - Their sales managers are slimy. The sales guys are OK. They've since changed names/owners since I last visited. Would never go back because of that one bad experience.

The OPs experience with buying a used car is the reason why you should never buy a car without seeing the car in person and having an independent mechanic inspect the car.

 

At the 30,000 mile service...in addition to the normal maintenance service...I was told I needed a full injection cleaning - $162...and an air conditioning cleaning - $132. Is this normal maintenance or was I the one who got "cleaned"?