Dealer Tried to Renege on Agreement

That is so frustrating!!!! Did you have the 15K in writing on the contract? I just don't understand why dealerships continuously get away with these tactics.

 

You would think that car salespeople would get a clue in this economy and realize that the old tactics are not going to work any more. Their attitude (in my opinion) is part of what put the car industry in the position it is in...

My dealer screwed me (and sadly, I let them get away with it). I put a deposit down for my Prius and was told what the price would be ($30,150 with the Solar roof/NAV package).

Yet when I went to pick up my car, it was $30,350?!? They said that it came in with floor mats and they 'could not take them off because it was on the sticker'. Sorry, but that is baloney. But since I was considering getting the floor mats anyway, I let it slide.

The dealer did take $50 off (which they said they would, and allows them to claim to be under MSRP).

So, with taxes and fees my $30,300 turned into $34,603.38...

Optional goods and services
"Protection Plus" paint, seat and carpet protection - $895.00

Other goods, services and miscellaneous charges
Optional DMV Electronic Filing Fee - $29.00
Document Preparation Fee - $55.00

Government Fees and Taxes
Sales Tax - $2,890.63
License fees - $358.00
Registration/transfer/titling fees - $67.00
California tire fees - $8.75

But what really hurt and how I was really screwed, was by the CARS program. I have a 1991 Lexus ES250 that I was going to trade in. It was listed as 18MPG till Friday July 24, then it changed to 19 MPG, but I did not find out till Sunday when I went to pick up my car.

The government change on Friday cost me $4,500.

At least you were able to get your deal, with a bit of a hassle.
I spent $4,700 more than I was 'expecting' to because of CARS and floormats. And I paid more than I should have for the Paint/seat/carpet Protection...

But I will look on the bright side and be happy that I have a nice new 2010 Prius that I do like very much.

 

They are willing to risk that because $800 now is worth more to them than any ill will you may be able to generate.

 

Actually according to the CARS web site,had you gone though the process and bought your car before the change of average mileage for your car, it would have been honored. You would have needed to return to the dealership to sign one more paper but that would have been it.

Steve

Steve

 

No, it cost you $4,500 less the value of the 1991 Lexus as you would get rid of it either way.

 

Yes, but the car had qualified before July 24th, and I had no reason to suspect that it was going to 'change'. So I decided not to take the Friday off work and instead go over the weekend to get the car.
On July 30th they revised the program saying they would 'honor' deals that had been completed before July 24th, still leaving me out in the cold.

 

True, but the car is a true clunker and is not worth much at all.

 

Still have it. And if I can not sell it in a few days, I'll give it to the next door neighbor...

 

At least you weren't done like me. I agreed on a price with a salesman and when the car I want comes in, he wouldn't return my calls for 3 days...actually he still hasn't returned any calls. This forced me to contact the manager - when the manger asked the salesman what happen, he said that he never gave us a price or even mentioned pricing! This was a FLAT OUT LIE!!! I would never wait on a dealership to get a car I want without knowing the price. Heck, I specifically called them to see if they could beat a price at another dealership. Now the car I wanted has been sold and I need to find another before the CFC money runs out.

I'm 99% sure this what happened:

- I called on the first day of CFC and secured a price on a car the dealership had coming in.
- I make follow up calls everyday to make sure everything is in place and they are working on getting my car
- After 3 days CFC is a raging success and my car comes in...
- The weasel salesman sees that he can now sell the car to someone else for ~$1000 more
- Salesman lets someone else get the car, forgets about me and doesn't have the courage to return my calls or tell me whats going on

People like this give car salesman a bad name.

 

Regarding floor mats, (not sure what the situation is on 2010s now), it was tough/difficult to get a of Prius w/o floor mats back in 05/06. It seemed to be common knowledge here that you practically couldn't get a Prius w/o them.

My (Toyota Sunnyvale) dealer was pretty straight up with me on my 06. IIRC, he said they're port installed. If he's quick enough, he can yank them from one of the cars they've ordered while still at port (or will order?). That way he can put my unwanted mats in the another car. He said that if he's not able to do that, he'll eat the price of the mats and give them to me. Well, my 06 came w/no mats, which is I wanted.

Yeah, regarding the ES250, yeah, its twin, the 91 Toyota Camry V6 (I used to have one) also mysteriously got its EPA values bumped from 18 mpg to 19 mpg combined. I noticed that too when trying to lookup the figures for another post.

 

CARS is a federal program so you can't blame the dealer when the rules change. Floor mats are an accessory. If you don't want PIO--walk. All most salesmen care about is the commission in the near term. They won't be there in the long term. The car's not sold until an agreement is signed. If the VIN isn't on the paperwork then IMO you have a reservation, not a sale. You can complain to Toyota but they don't care as they are in collusion with the dealers regarding the BS fees. You can complain about the dealer here but it probably won't affect the traffic through the showroom. When you are ready to complete the customer satisfaction survey call the owner or GM & ask what a good survey is worth to them. If you can't come to an agreement then you are free to screw them over with the lowest scores on every question. Yes, 99% of all salesmen give the other 1% a bad name.

 

I didn't blame the dealer...

But the car dealer I went to exemplifies why the car industry is having problems... As you point out, greed still drives their motives, not customer satisfaction.

You may find this interesting...
I stopped back by the dealership to ask if they would change my configuration options. The service department said there was a cost associated with doing that for customers. I pointed out that my salesperson said it was a free service. They said she was wrong, and that it would run a few HUNDRED dollars for them to change ANY options (I just want the darn back up beep switched to one beep, and open all doors on unlock). I mentioned that I had not filled out the customer satisfaction survey yet, and that I was certainly going to mention this in the survey. Upon mentioning the survey their attitude changed IMMEDIATELY and they said they could make an appointment to have me come in free of charge and get those options changed.

If I had filled out the survey, they were going to try to screw me...

At this point, I'd go to another dealer, but that would just be changing one dealer for another...

 

PriusRos -

Congrats on the car!

You had a disciplined research process and ultimately got a great deal on great car. The solar is a rare thing, still.

My hope is at some point soon you let the anger go and enjoy the car - it would be terrible if something attempted, but thwarted by your strength, in any way diminished your enjoyment of the new car.

Again - congrats!

 

Based on Ros's thread here, and several other such threads, it seems like there are many, many dealers and salespeople like this. No offense to the few good ones, like Diane in Cal. and some helpful salespeople in Chicago and Hawaii that post on PC regularly, but it seems like there are a ton of stories like these where shady deals are attempted, and many tons of stories of people walking out of (or avoiding) many dealerships after games are attempted. It is hard to avoid the dealership scenario where games are played to squeeze every dollar they can out of a customer. Most will try anything to take advantage of a situation or a customer.

I am sorry, but the truly honest dealerships that put the customer first are in the minority. In most cases, it seems like most of the salespeople are pawns in the games played by the dealership. Just my opinion.

I was happy with my deal and 2010 purchase, but I went through games at a half dozen dealerships to get there.