The $492 "Donut" Spare Story...

A little background...

A long, long time ago, last Wednesday, at a Toyota dealership far, far away...

I took delivery of my Prius. Well, the evening before, I haggled out the details through "aggressive negotiations" with the salesman and the Darth Sidious sales manager. It was relatively intense, I got up and started walking out three different times. Part of me was really hoping they couldn't reach my price point, simply because it sucked getting rid of my Ford F150AT-AT. Anyway, I could tell I rubbed this Star Wars Cantina tag team the wrong way, really, simply because I was undecided, and finally told them I was going to take a day to contact Jedi long dead for consultation, and sleep on it. I could tell they were relatively irritated, and it was at that point they moved the Death Star into firing position, and I got the, "What would it take to make this deal?" Anyway, I left that night owning my Prius-wing fighter, as I wanted one pretty bad, and I knew they tend to fly off the lot like tie fighters under attack by rebel forces...

So next day, eager to take delivery, I arrived, and upon inpection of my Prius-wing fighter, noticed the interior and mats had not been shampoo'ed by the cleaning droids, as was promised. Ok, no big deal, I can usually do a better job by using the force myself, besides, it would give me a chance to really go over it.

About a day or two later, back in Tatooine, I decide to get familiar with the spare donut tire/tire changing tools. To my slight irritation, I discover that not only is the tire flat, but it's worn to the point where you can see steel belts, and ON TOP OF THAT, there were actually HOLES in it. Yes, HOLES you could stick two or three fingers through. Even Watto would not have been amused...

Ok, so that's a bit much, and like Anakin upon finding out his mom died of torture and exhaustion in his arms because of the sand people, it would HAVE to be addressed.

So, I finally get around to going back to the dealership this afternoon (It's like 30 Parsecs up one of the most traffic ridden highways outside of the Boston Galaxy, and takes about close to an hour to get there when unable to use warp speed, needless to say, I'd rather get everything done at the same time...), as my registration had come in (in which when I got the call, I told the salesman about the spare, and he said, "Ok, we'll do something about that..."), and the State inspection was to be performed.

I pull in, go see him, he gives me my registration, and points me in the direction of the inspection bays. We had a little discussion, and the whole time I was waiting to see whether or not he would bring up the spare tire issue. So, as he waved me on out the door, it was clear he "forgot" about it ( :roll: ). So I say, "Oh yeah, and by the way..."

He stops and thinks about it for a moment, and tells me to bring it up to the guys at the service bay area as he didn't know if they had any because of the size and lug pattern. (BULLSHIT) Now this set me off, and I said with a bit of an edge, "Oh really, a Toyota dealership this size and not one spare around eh?" No reply.

Ok fine, I head over to the service bays...

I get out, state my main business, and tell some manager type dude who enters your info. at one of those standing computer desks about the spare, and he's absolutely surprised. Now here's where it gets interesting and annoying. I told him I just took delivery 6 days ago, to which he then starts asking me what the mileage on the car was when I got it, after checking out for himself what the mileage was, clearly defaulting to the theory that I was somehow trying to hustle them out of a spare :roll: . Then, some nearby service droid wanders over to check it out, nods his head a bit, and we all make our way to the computer terminal, where he proceeds to tell me/us the vehicle is "Certified Pre-Owned" (SEE, IT'S ON THE COMPUTER SCREEN IT MUST BE TRUE!) implying they must have surely inspected it. He then realizes the mileage checks out (as it's on the screen), and determines that it is, in fact, more likely than not, this spare was somehow overlooked (guilty until proven innocent I guess). He then tells me to go wait somewhere on Endor, as they're going to check this out, and see if they had any available.

Now it gets hilarious.

After about 20 minutes (car hasn't even entered the empty inspection bay mind you), he comes in, pulls out a piece of paper, and tells me a replacement will cost me $492 galactic credits. I just laughed, and said, "I DON'T THINK SO, NO WAY, NOT FOR A CAR I JUST BOUGHT SIX DAYS AGO!" He thinks for a moment, and tells me he will try and make contact with Darth Sidious about the whole situation... anyway, to wrap up this tirade a bit quicker, they ultimately end up "ordering" a spare, giving me a receipt of sorts, and telling me it would be in, in "about a week...",

THEN he adds the CLINCHER and says, "So how did you get a flat tire last week?"

In another time, another place, I would have EXPLODED on the guy, but I instantly realized just how idiotic the situation was, and for a moment, thought about my tie. :mrgreen: Was there something about it that gave him the impression I was a complete f'in idiot? Granted, it was a tie I really didn't like wearing because of what I consider odd stripes, but simply did so for variety. I simply smiled, and told him the same story he heard not more than 20 minutes ago, giving him the satisfaction that he was a pretty "slick" guy... arty:


Yeah, so what happens if I get a flat in the interim? I didn't even bother, I knew the answer would be something amongst the lines of, "Call the 800...WONK WONK WONK WONK (Charlie Brown teacher voice)"

Well, at the very least, I keep getting calls asking about how their "service" was, and if I should think it anything less than "Excellent", I should call so and so...

Anyway, that's my tirade for the night...

May the force be with you all. :mrgreen:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Beacher\";p=\"92562)</div>

Bingo!

You see, that's why I'm not too worked up about this. In the end, do I really give a fat flying f*&k? No. I could have just as easily stopped off at a huge junk yard on my way home, and picked up a suitable spare for $20, or less, unless the Prius has some bizarre wheel structure, and I really doubt that. Point is, I got the car I wanted at a price point that was agreeable, so I'm relatively happy, moreso when I'm driving her...

HOWEVER, in the end, the only way to measure how good a dealership really is, is to see how they handle problems when they arise. Sure, I could go into the sales lobby on a crowded Saturday morning and make a scene, but Beacher illustrated something far more important than making said scene. By doing the right thing, that salesman got repeat business, and a good post on the internet read by a fair amount of people. He didn't go above and beyond his duty either, he simply DID THE RIGHT THING. Which I guess in this day and age, only happens at the Mercedes/Ferrari dealership....lol

With a car like the Prius, one which is so unique that I actually get many requests at work by people wanting rides at lunch time, what do you think is one of the first questions they ask?

Yup.

"Where did you get it?"

Usually followed by, "...and how were they?"

IF I say something like, "they sucked...", it's very likely the next time that person hears about the dealership (particulary when they have a huge presence in the Boston area), they're going to say something amongst the lines of, "Oh, I heard that dealership sucked, and the guy that told me is pretty credible..."

Just recently a woman I work with said she wouldn't go back to a particular Volkswagen dealership. She's credible too, now how do you think I associate said Volkswagen dealership? I wouldn't go there simply because of her opinion.

I've actually come to expect this sort of thing from huge "high turn around" dealerships. No matter how they sugar-coat it, or what they tell you to the contrary, they want you in and out as quick as possible. The salesman has bills just like the rest of us, and any time not spent pursuing a sale just takes away from their bottom line. Funny thing is, I've had smoother, and far more courteous transactions at little po-dunk dealerships where you might imagine the success of their business is far more precarious. You know, the kind you find next to a gas station somewhere run out of a trailer. Hmmm, maybe they're like that for a reason, because they DO in fact have something very material to lose when it comes time to make the lease payment.

So, in the end, I've expressed the flaws, brought to the surface how they performed when the most trival issues arose, and I can't even come close to lying (something I suck at anyway) by saying I had "Good" (much less "Excellent") experience.


As a side note to this little mis-adventure, I was slightly surprised to get a call from the salesman today asking me how it went... Makes me wonder if he actually saw the post, as I know people who work at that dealership sometimes post/lurk here... Well, if so, maybe they'll take note, do better next time, and the next person will have nothing but praise, and goodwill towards salesman and dealership. Like most businesses, you win some, you lose some, and hope the win column is far greater than the lose column. I'm happy, I got my Prius, and they made their cash.

To quote a lame TV show, "Life goes on..."

arty:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn\";p=\"92578)</div>

LMAO!!!

Niiiiiiice! 8)