Dealers don't swap policy?

Quite! ;-) I don't think they want to take the time and effort. People are already buying every Prius that comes in, settling for a color or package that isn't their first choice and some (foolishly IMHO) paying over MSRP.

Why cut into the guaranteed profit margin by spending time that could be used trying to get slower sellers off the lot?

 

You have to do all the leg work, i called 22 dealerships and was able to get my prius before the end of the year because of it. I would still be waiting if i stayed were i first placed my deposit.

 

After contacting 30+ dealers in an afternoon, I found my Prius in about four hours and flew to Denver the next day and drove it home the 1000 miles. Start to finish, about 52 hours. This is after waiting on a list for about three weeks and deciding that was just absurd. YMMV

 

Ask for the inventory manager.

 

If you don't mind travelling a little bit, you can get a new Prius at MSRP with little to no wait. After being put off by my local dealer's qoted 8 month wait, I found out about a place in the Washington DC area that claimed to get the quickly. I contacted them just before Christmas and said that I wanted a new Prius in mid to late January and specified the color and options that I wanted. I am getting the exact car that I want and it will be available on January 18th and I will pick it up on the 22nd (anticipation is about to kill me). So, if traveling to Northern Virginia is not out of the question for you, try Tom Quinn at Jim Koons Tyson's Toyota at email address [email protected] . So far he has been very pleasant to deal with and appears to be very upfront about everything.

 

Please be careful when dealing with Koons Tysons Toyota. Buying a vehicle at this dealership may cause you problems for a long time.
There are 2 web sites that contain important information and warnings in reference to Koons Tysons Toyota:

www.KoonsTysonsToyota.com
AND
www.KoonsTysonsToyotaSucks.com

Good Luck!

 

I did buy a Prius from Koons Tyson Toyota yesterday. Yes, they did get me to sign a "Binding Arbitration" agreement. Today when I was looking through the stack on manuals that came with the car, there was one document that talks about "lemon law" rights with specific details for each state. This document leads me to believe that subjecting the customer to "Binding Arbitration" is not limited solely to this one dealership but is practiced by all Toyota dealers. Can somebody else who bought their Prius from dealers other than Koons sound off whether you signed a Binding Arbitration agreement or not?

FWIW, my experiences with Koons Tyson Toyota do not correspond at all to the comments in those two anti Koons websites listed in the previous post. For example, the salesperson was VERY interested in selling me a car and bent over backwards to accomodate me. This was the exact opposite from the comments about disinterested salespeople brushing off customers. Next, the sales person did not treat me in a condescending or hostile manner at all because I was knowledgable about the Prius. In fact, he seemed to appreciate the fact that I was as interested and as knowledgable about the Prius as I was. In addition, Koons DID NOT try to hide or "sneak in" the Binding Arbitration clause in the Buyers Agreement. Before I signed the paper, the "financial person" I was dealing with at that point pointed out the Binding Arbitration clause and explained it to me BEFORE I signed the document.

Overall I was a very happy with the way I was treated by Koons. I believe that Caveat Emptor (buyer beware!) applies to any car dealership, not just to Koons Tyson Toyota, and I would hate for them to be singled out as being worse than anybody else. To that end, I am very curious whether other Toyota dealerships make you sign a "Binding Arbitration" agreement as well, or whether this is something that is limited only to Koons.

 

Dear ltu1542hvy,

I saw your post and wanted to add a few things. You mentioned that you saw a document on “lemon law†rights that lead you to believe “Binding Arbitration†is practiced by all Toyota dealers. Well, the 2 are not really related to each other. For example:

Under the Lemon Law your car may be called a "Lemon" if the same thing on the car breaks multiple times within a certain period. In order for it to be a "Lemon" the car must also still be under warranty. Usually the car company will replace your Lemon with a new car or give you the cash value of the car.

Where as “Binding Arbitration†will strip you of part of your rights as promised in the Seventh Amendment of the Constitution.
Federal and State laws guarantee your right to court access. Koons Tysons Toyota (K.T.T.) takes away that right with this binding arbitration requirement.
This means that if you have ANY kind of problem or dispute with K.T.T., whether it’s with a new or used car, you CANNOT sue the dealership. Any and all disputes will only be resolved by binding arbitration and the consumer loses all rights to file a claim in court.
While you may not think this is a big deal, should you have a problem and K.T.T. refuses to fix or address the problem, you will quickly realize how harmful the Binding Arbitration Agreement is.
In 3 years of fighting K.T.T. for justice over the problems with my car, I believe a lot of hard work along with 2 TV Interviews on the subject of Binding Arbitration has brought about changes at K.T.T. and other dealerships. For example, I advise consumers on my web site that they have the right to refuse to sign the Arbitration Agreement and I tell them how to void the agreement. But, with voiding the agreement came the likelihood that K.T.T. would refuse to sell you a car. But now, with all the publicity showered on K.T.T. they are now more willing to allow you to void the agreement and thus retain your rights.

You also mentioned that your K.T.T. experience did not correspond to the comments in the 2 anti Koons websites. Well, you’re very lucky you didn’t buy your car 2, 3 or more years ago. I spent the summer of 2003 and 2004 up in front of the K.T.T. dealership protesting their practices. This allowed me to talk with a lot of consumers that were interested in buying a vehicle along with a lot of K.T.T. customers. I was shocked at 2 things, the 1st being how nasty the managers can be when you bring their faults out in the open. The 2nd thing that shocked me was all the positive comments I received from consumers who talked with me, read the 16 page handout I was giving out and then came back and spoke with me after visiting the dealership.
Through my web site (KoonsTysonsToyotaSucks.com) I have received a lot of emails from consumers that have showed K.T.T. cleaning up their act over the last year or 2. All the publicity, my many trips up to the dealership to protest, the TV interviews and the web sites have forced K.T.T. to clean up their act and start treating customers with respect.

I’d also like to add that while you may believe that I’ve singled K.T.T. out, I did it for a reason. K.T.T. did/does sell previously wrecked cars to consumers without acknowledging the problem(s). They did it to me, they did it to the 10 customers who are now clients of my attorney and you’ll find more victims at the local courthouses in the many files against K.T.T. I believe that someone needed to bring things to light before someone gets hurt, if it hasn’t happened all ready.

Good luck with your car. Pray you don’t have any problems with it or you may find yourself in the same shoes as myself.