Pure Dirty Salesmanship! Marina Del Rey Toyota

Uhh, wow. That's about all I have to say about that.

 

i would assume paying MSRP will not be an option that morning ;-)
bidding frenzy!

but to get back on point, it does seem odd a dealership would do such a thing
when every dealership seems to have a waiting list.

 

On second thought you should copy (not just link because this ad will probably be taken down very quickly) this and forward it to someone at toyota corporate and the dealership itself. Make sure to copy the text though because there's no denying this was fabricated... after all, you have his personal cell phone. "uhhh, I didn't post that"... well then how did your personal cell get in the ad?

 

Maybe his "out" is that they don't have a current waiting list, at least not for the packages/colours on his "truck". My guess it is a way to make some extra quick profit though.

Icarus

 

I don't feel bad for the people that are going to pay thousands over MSRP, but I do feel bad for the people who are on that waiting list.

 

Did you reverse look-up the number? Is it a legit ad? Around here we have been having a load of scams being posted on craigslist. A co-worker called an ad about two free kittens. After several tries to reach someone a guy called back saying a "friend" had posted it with his phone # as a joke - there were no kittens, and he was sorry.

 

That thought had crossed my mind actually when I was driving home that it's certainly possible that that's what this is...after all, Craigslist is free.

 

The telephone number for the dealership is good. As for the cell phone, there isn't a way to do reverse phone checks on cell phones yet. Though it appears if you google the number, he has one new and used Prius for sale in the LA area.

Good luck on the findings.

Ad #2

Reply to: [email protected]
Date: 2008-06-08, 10:59PM PDT


We have 2 available

Silver package #6 touring fully loaded.

Red package #6 touring fully loaded as well.

There is usually a 100-300 person waiting list for the Prius, I'm the General Managers son, I can skip the list.

My personal cell number is 949-285-9418 and my name is Brandon, these cars will be gone early tomorrow morning, call me at ANY TIME.

• This item has been posted by-dealer.
• Location: Marina Del Rey Toyota
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

 

Sounds like daddy needs to ground his baby boy, or at least take away his cell phone.

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, how about if someone from the area calls the listed number? You'd certainly get the scoop that way.

... Brad

 

Anyone in Cali curious on the ad? Someone want a Prius?

 

In a free enterprise economy, the world is an auction. If someone is willing to pay a premium price for a product or service to get it immediately, then let him/her do it.

Unfortunately in business (and life) people do not always behave in a rational manner. When a person gets emotional about a business transaction, they usually end up paying more than if they were not emotional about the business deal.

Keith

 

You're right. There isn't any laws being broken here (unless someone has a contract that states that the very next Prius that arrives on the lot is theirs). There is however a certain standard that a good businessman will typically try to follow.... and I'd bet the owner of this dealership doesn't know this is going on... well, he may by now. As stated earlier, it's possible this ad was fabricated. All it would take would be for a disgruntled customer (that didn't get the Prius deal they were hoping) to place the ad with either a fictitious phone number or even a legitimate phone number of a salesperson there. I'm not subscribing to any theories... just throwing that possibility ou there.

 

Call the dealership and ask to speak with the General Manager... find out if he has a son named Brandon or even if he is aware that this is going on. Then proceed with the above suggestions to speak with the owner and contact Toyota Corp.

 

Sounds to me like Brandon's ex-girlfriend is trying to get him in trouble with Daddy or run up his cell phone bill by putting this ad on Craigslist.

Don't worry, someone from Nigeria will probably offer to wire Brandon some $$ to get this deal completed. Craigslist is full of scammers!!! Beware....

 

Toyota can't and won't do anything about this.

 

I have a Prius on order at this dealer, so I called and talked to the manager Kamal. He was very nice and explained that they are having a large amount of cancellations because of customers ordering at multiple dealers. Their cancelled rate he said is about 1/2. Although they call the next people on the list, he explained how complex it is. There are 5 packages of Prius in LA area and 8 colors, therefore 40 combinations. And because most people want what they want. Sometimes a car becomes available to the newer people on the list. Also he explained that the dealer is rewarded for selling cars faster and they lose "allocation?" if they dont sell the car for a couple of days. So after the person who the car was ordered for decides to pass on the Prius, they contact the next 15 people. If however it is not a color/package match for any of these people, the car becomes available for sale. Brandon is one of the sales people with enough courtesy to advise and stay in contact with someone, not making them drive to the dealer for a car that they cannot buy. I have a package 6 on order, and I have been called for different packages and really did not understand why. Now I know.

 

If a dealership is currently worried about having a Prius on their lot that they can't sell in a couple of days, maybe they should find another line of business.

After being burned by a dealership where I put down a deposit for a Prius (any color / any interior);
- Told I was #2 on the list,
- Find after four weeks that I was still #2 on the list (because incoming Prii to the dealership were being sold to the highest bidder),

I have a word for Toyota dealerships that complain that they have 50% cancellation rates... Karma. :violin: