Good Toyota/Prius Dealers

Well, I must say that the whole time I lived in MI (1996-2004), I drove imported cars. I can't say, of course, that I was well received in the Detroit area.

BTW - Used to live in Winooski. I love your state, too.

 

Chris Corbo of Desert Toyota of Las Vegas has treated me very fairly. Even threw in a christmas present...........opps holiday present.

702-871-4111

 

I am not sure about the mandatory leather or wheel upgrade, because I was OK with those upgrades. You are the second person who has mentioned this though. I gave this dealer a good refferal status because they stepped up and addressed my concerns. (See "Dealler Warning Stay Away" thread) I will give more details when I have time in that thread as I believe I owe the priuschat members (greenmachine and others) an explanation as to why I have given them a good reference.

I am not sure (with the exception of the tinted windows and chrome wheels) but I think they are only able to get certain packages right now from Toyota. Maybe whoever put in the order for the dealer only ordered leather and they have to sell those before they can get any more?

I do believe you are right about the $4000.00 mark up from MSRV. But that seems to be the Norm for So Cal Dealers. They all know we want the carpool sticker and the Tax rebates and to save the world.

All I can say is after the first of the year gas prices in So Cal will be going up about .55 cents a gallon.

What I have learned from everyone's advise on this website and from using their advise is to "Don't take any crap from anyone at any Dealer". Stick to your guns, demand what you want, you might have to go straight to the top and bypass all the "Dumb Asses" that walk the lot and talk to the people who can order you the car you want to purchase. You might have to wait a little longer but you will get what you want.

Do not give in!!!!!!!

I love priuschat,

RUSH007

 

And you do not have to buy in So Cal. - Linda at Barstow Toyota has been very good the the San Diego Prius Club.
Try smaller towns and even Nevada - we almost bought one from Yuma, Las Vegas back when they were scarce in '04.

 

From what I have seen, $4000 mark-up over MSRP is not the norm in So. Calif. Roughly half are at MSRP (some have long waits), others are at $2000 over MSRP via the internet sales dept. Only walk-ins off the street are quoted $4000 at these dealers.

 

This statement just shows that you did not do your homework. There are quite a few dealers that sell the Prius for MSRP and without mandatory dealer installed rip off options in Southern California.

 

Okay, here's my plug for my dealer in the Hillsboro, Oregon area:

Royal Moore Toyota
1415 SE River Road
Hillsboro, Oregon 97123

Jason "Wally" Walraven
Toyota Internet Sales Manager
Tel: 503-648-3213
Fax: 503-648-0889
E-mail: [email protected]

I had a painless purchase experience with them. Got the car at MSRP with no pressure to get window etchings, 'gap' insurance, etc. Highly recommended.

My experience with the first Toyota dealership I dealt with was...somewhat less positive. Russ Beaverton Toyota seemed to be more of the 'old school' style of auto dealership. Lots of salesmen in shiny suits, contracts that didn't match the verbal assurances, etc. They *did* refund my 'non-refundable' deposit, however, so there is that to consider.

Jim

 

I just wanted to chime in with some praise for the Internet/Fleet department at Carson Toyota, who just sold me a 2006 Seaside Pearl #7 at MSRP with less than a 24-hour wait. The car had a grand total of 7 miles on the odometer before my test drive.

I've been on waiting lists at two other local dealers since September for a Seaside #7 at MSRP, but the best they could do was give me an estimate of a late January delivery. Yesterday, I happened to notice that Carson Toyota's inventory list included a blue #7, so I decided to call them for the price. I talked to Gloria Rincon, who offered it to me for MSRP (and quoted a number that was exactly what you get from Toyota's web site for a #7 with floor mats) and said that she'd hold it for me until today. I picked it up this morning, and the experience was completely painless -- there was some waiting involved, but Gloria gave me the owner's manual early on, so I was never bored. Even the finance part was easy -- they did push the extended warranty a bit (which I declined), but they didn't even offer me any of the add-ons (rustproofing, paint protection, etc.) that most dealerships try to push.

They basically rejected my trade-in (gave me a token offer of $100) but are letting me store it there for a few days before I sell it elsewhere.

The only bad part of the experience was the long drive to the dealership in the pouring rain.

 

Hamer Toyota
Mission Hills, CA
Internet Sales

This is a Southern California dealership in the San Fernando Valley.

The entire dealership seems pretty easy-going. I got my Prius in Nov 2005 and it was $100 less than MSRP. They didn't add any other stuff and I got the extended warranty at the PriusChat.com price just by saying I would go online and get it from another Toyota dealer.

Jeff

 

Hamar Toyota has mandatory add ons now, it may have been MSRP when you bought in November but right now, they add chrome wheels and will not take them off. I went to Doug the internet manager.

Also went to Frontier Toyota in Valencia, I was about to sign the paperwork but they kept harrassing me from the beginning and I left right before the final signing. First they offered one price then they changed it on me. Then they wouldn't take my ELOAN check saying it was fake. Then they promise one APR from Toyota or got me a similar loan from some local bank but it wasn't a hidden cost loan. Then finally when I said I wouldn't take the anything else, he the manager gave me attitude so I just left. I'm spending good money and paying MSRP and don't need to take crap. There's a lot of complaints about Frontier Toyota here but I didn't listen and just wasted time.

Alex

 

I too had a great experience at Hamer. It could be because I knew what I wanted and was willing to wait for the allocation to come in. Ordered late Sept, picked up on 1/1. MSRP and I declined extended warranty

No hassles from finance or Internet Sales dept.

 

For the S.F. Bay Area I can recommend:

Bob Romeo
Toyota 101
525 East Bay Shore
Redwood City, CA 94063
(877) 203-4383

This dealership has no sales commissions and charges MSRP without "mandatory" options. Bob is a good guy and I'll be buying from him again.

 

Gert Svensson
Cell: 707-694-2519
707-769-2333
Hansel Toyota
1125 Auto Center Drive
Petaluma, CA 94952

I ordered a 2006 Barcelona Red May, 2005. Delivered Jan 12, 2006
MSRP + $0
Great dealership, great salesman, no hype, no pressure, the whole company goes out of their way to make sure the customer is satisfied. I sure am! Hansel Toyota is a 5 times President's Award winner

 

Allen Bixby
Tonkin Toyota
Portland, OR

Although Allen wasn't a real 'go-getter' (I got the impression that if I hadn't kept calling to check on things, I might never have heard from him again), he did deliver the car I wanted when I wanted it. I called one day to check on things, and the car 'happened to be on the lot'. Since I was on a list with a $500 deposit since October, and this was in January, I was a little mystified as to why I hadn't already heard about this car being on the lot...

All's well that ends well, I guess. We got our deposit back upon delivery of the car, and a $50 junk fee removed. After the sale, Allen was attentive and professional, so I give him a qualified recommendation.

Compared to my experience with the salesman at Russ (Beaverton), who claimed the Prius got 80mpg, Allen was great, though not as informed about the car as me, thanks to PC!

 

Kokomo Auto World
Kokomo, IN

MSRP less $1,000

I ordered my Prius in September. I called back in November and asked to wait until January. They said no problem. Received a call on 1/9/06 and picked up the car on 1/10/06. 5 yr - 100,000 mile extended warranty was $995.

 

My experience at Hamer was not good. I was talked into driving there on short notice as they had a package 8 available. Asked about selling for list and add ons, yeah yeah no problem ... how fast can you get here. Yes they did have the car, but with $2k chrome rims. Again told them it was a deal breaker, oh no problem let's get the paperwork going. At the end, sorry we can't take the rims off, NO you WON'T take them off. Out the door I went, what a waste of time.

Now my experience at Frontier Toyota in Valencia was just the opposite. Salesman was very nice, polite, non pushy, and actually knew what he was talking about. Was told on the phone to show up Monday morning and they would be selling the next allotment coming in. Just like they said, I got what I wanted for list. Actually there were six people there all buying a Prius. Now I do have to wait a week or so to get my car, but since I just started looking a week ago, not too bad.

Ken

 

355 Toyota
15625 Frederick Rd.
Rockville, MD
301-340-0900

Salesperson: Abdul Razzaq

Overall: Very satisfied and would use the dealership and the salesperson again without thinking twice.

Went in to "order" my 2006 in August 2005. Like the rest of you folks, from this website I had more information about the 2006 Prius than the dealership seemed to, but I'm not complaining. Based on this website, I called occasionally but didn't really get much information.

I went on vacation with my family over New Years, and upon arriving home on January 2nd, found two messages from Abdul telling me my car was in route. I went in the evening of January 2nd and questioned the fact that all the paperwork would be prepared that night when they weren't even sure when my car was coming in. At the time it felt very salespersonish, like they were trying to get me to commit without having the product onhand. But as I didn't have to actually pay anything that evening, I didn't mind filling out some forms and signing some others.

Again, Abdul told me it could be two days or it could be two weeks, but I feared if it was going to be much longer, since I had filled out the paperwork, I wouldn't have any leverage of any sort.

My car came in three days later, I went in the next day, and the rest is history. All my worrying was for nothing. Paid MSRP and was in and out in less time than it takes for a two and a half year old to lose interest in two books and a Nutrigrain bar. Got a deal on the platinum service as well. Thanks, PriusChat.

Throughout the entire process, Abdul was great to deal with. Very friendly and helpful. Honestly, it felt like he wanted to sell me the car, as opposed to it feeling like he was doing me a favor. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?

The paperwork guy Troy was also very pleasant to deal with. Thumbs up for the dealership.

Advice to all Toyota dealerships: You may avoid leaving a bad taste in people's mouth as I've described above by having some visibility into your supply chain.

 

I know someone above put Carson Toyota in this good dealers group, but I'm not so sure they belong.
I contaced their Internet/Fleet department - two people replied. One quoted MSRP +2000 as if it were non-negotiable, while the other wasn't specific about what she was going to charge. If they are going to quote like that or like they did to zapata, maybe we need to reevaluate recommending them.

jef

 

Carson is not a good dealer, I bought my car from them in January for MSRP but it's hit and miss there. Their policy is $3000+ MSRP, I only got MSRP because the salesman got manager approval before getting there.

The morning manager approved the MSRP, when I got there in the evening, they told me $3000 over and a 1 minute spiel about what a good price it is. Then I told them that in the morning they told me MSRP, they called the morning manager and kept their word and sold it for MSRP. My sales guy swears that if I didn't get the morning managers approval, they would of let me walk out.

Anyway, I got my car with minimal hassle except for that small incident, the car had 1 mile when I got it, just finished PDI, not even test driven.

Alex

 

I had an ok experience with them, and I am not out to defend them, but based on what you write, I don't think it is fair for you to say they are not a good dealer. You got it at MSRP, not their usual policy, they contacted the morning manager and they ended up making good on his deal with you, and you say it was minimal hassle except for that small incident. So based on that, don't you feel you are being unfair saying they are not a good dealer?