Standard Features on the 2011 Prius Four

True.

I was at least able to confirm from Toyota through their car spec sheet that it is a 2011 Prius 3. Thank goodness there is nothing shady going on in terms of the year of manufacturing. The dealer however advertized the car as a "IV" in some ads and as a "4" in some others. Seems like they knew all along all too well what they were doing. And that aggravates me even further.

 

Did you hop on this thread just to make your point by telling me what I am saying "doesn't make much sense"? If that is the case then you haven't in the least bit contributed to my posting. At least some others above tried to help me with giving me a brochure and/or telling me a few specific things about a 3 and/ or a 4. What did you get out of typing that post? A sense of achievement at making me feel dumb? On a deeper level I would love to understand what motivates judgmental individuals such as yourself when you are already witnessing someone down in the dumps with an adverse situation.

Basically you have nothing positive to contribute in terms of how an established car dealership can cheat someone by saying one thing and selling another. But you spent your two minutes to write something to me making me feel even worse than I already am feeling given my circumstance. Wonderful!

What blows my mind is that why do anonymous laptop warriors such as yourself come on such forums to basically feel good by making someone else feel like crap. OK I agree that I am not the most informed, well researched specialist in Toyota vehicles like yourself...that I didn't conduct the most "basic" level of research before going into purchasing this vehicle. My fault was that I got confused when he mentioned JBL 8 speakers as the selling point, thinking that that definitely differentiates a 3 from a 4. But does that take away from the fact that the dealer was WRONG in misrepresenting facts and falsely advertising the car?? You are talking about me being fixated on a deal. So tell me something--> when you go for buying a car, are you not concerned about getting the maximum bang for your buck? Or are you the first cousin of Donald Trump that money is not an issue for you? Sadly so for me, money IS a big issue and that is why I was concerned about getting a good deal. And since as a "Prius FOUR" this seemed like a good deal, that's why I even bothered contacting a dealer. Get it?!

If you were a merchant and if you advertised something as X whereas it was Y are you being an honest merchant? I think not. And there is no way you can prove me wrong here. Or do you think its OK to be such a corrupt dealer/ retailer as long as you can thrive on your customers' naivete hoping that they come uninformed and fall for whatever scheme the dealer tries to pull off? Is there anything wrong in assuming that if a dealer says that a car is a Prius 4, that I can't take that on face value and put my trust in the dealership and just go with it?

The sticker said it was a Four and that is what I put my trust in. In retrospect it was the worse thing to do since human corruption can stoop to any level. Sounds like you are someone who is OK with a car dealer trying to misrepresent any fact as long as the customer is not dumb enough to just fixate on a good price and do extensive research before transacting. Not everyone is like you my friend and I am not jaded enough with life to assume that everyone is a cheat. I trusted this dealership and that was my worst mistake.

May I recommend that when you see someone in a bad situation please don't try to help by saying anything at all. My guess is that you will only make that person feel like $%# given how meaningless your response to me was.

 

I did not pay a "fair" price for a 3. There are other 3s in my area code, with similar miles that were being sold for less. I didn't consider them because at that point I thought I was getting a decent price for the 4.

 

I had my "BS" detector on in terms of making sure that the CARFAX was current, in terms of making sure there were no mechanical problems in the car, in terms of looking at the undercarriage of the car and the condition of the tires and making sure all electricals and systems worked properly. My BS detector was on in order to make sure that I received all service records, manuals and documents pertaining to the car. Like I said, I laid focus on all of that and getting a perceived good deal out of the sale. My fault was I trusted the dealer with their advertising, their sticker and their verbal commitment when they looked me in the eye and told me that it was a 4. I took it for what they told me.

I didn't care about leather/ softex because I didn't bother to research the model too much. I had a rough idea (logically so) that a "4" is a higher model than "3". And that in my area code the pre-owned 4s that were available were higher priced than what this dealer was selling. Simple as that. And that in itself made it appear like a good deal to me. TRUST was a key factor in this entire screw up.

Either way why am I even wasting my time on responding to your posts. Like I said again, you haven't really contributed anything constructive to my post and are just going on trying to feel great about yourself by making me feel worse. At this point in my life, that's the last thing I need. Maybe I should just delete this thread so that more folks like you don't come here to throw their useless 2 cents. But then it would be a disservice to others who might benefit from reading this and not get duped.

 

I understand but given my situation I feel that going through the lawyer is going to be a WAY lesser of the two evils. Secondly, I am only now discovering that the dealer still hasn't paid off my trade in and it is about 10 days now since I purchased the car from them. Then of course I was compelled to research these monsters further and am finding out that they have an "F" rating from BBB.

I feel royally screwed!!!!

 

Once I have the legal process under way and a concrete response from them, I will surely disclose their information on this thread. I have to consult my lawyer before I do so though. Yes so its a good thing I went with an attorney rather than fight it out myself. Because they seem to be seasoned players in such corrupt practices. They have 6 complaints in total 5 of which are related to product/ service offered. Great!!

 

Some supposedly well-meaning folks on this thread were making me question my decision to go with a lawyer. Now in the light of the BBB ratings and the fact that they haven't paid off my trade in over ten days, brings a major new twist in the story that needs to be urgently addressed as well. I will keep everyone informed.