PiP - Hayward Toyota dealer demanding $595 over negotiated pre-order price

I am looking into buying a regular Prius and was considering Hayward until I found this thread.
I just called the Hayward General Sales Manager and asked for clarification on what happened. He told me that the OP refused to pay the deposit after repeated dealership requests and that Hayward doesn't want to loose the $595 TDA on a high demand car so they decided to add the fee on top of the negotiated price.
I told him that I am no longer considering the Hayward dealership after learning how they treat their customers.
I suggest others call them, too. Vine, I am very sorry for what you had to go through.

 

Apparently nothing was learned by the management team at this dealership about how to treat their customers. And now they are going to lie about it? Sheesh!

 

i am really glad we didn't deal with these bozos. the same thing could have happened to us.

 

I don't get their hang up with the TDA. It's like going to board a flight and the airline telling you to pay $100 extra because they ran out of toilet paper.

 

I read recently that an airline in some third-world country came around to the passengers on the plane and demanded a payment on the spot to pay for fuel; if the passengers didn't pay, no fuel, and they couldn't take off for the next leg of their flight.

 

Edmunds lists the invoice price for the car as described by the OP at $31621, and makes mention of the fact that it does not include advertising. But it also says it is hard to determine true invoice because of things like hold backs and incentives for reaching sales goals, etc. The MSRP on the OP's car would be $32985, leaving the dealer $1364, not counting advertising and the other things previously mentioned. So I can understand how they might get a little excited over finding out that they had given the buyer $1079 of their $1364 profit. BTW, $14 worth of gas is less than half a tank. That shouldn't make or break them. Can we assume that the factory ships the car with over a half tank of gas? The last item listed on the window sticker under Standard Equipment is "Full Tank of Gas."

 

you have to be kidding me

 

Thanks for posting the copy of the invoice the dealer sent to you. From the figures listed as "dealer holdback" and "whsle financial reserve" it would appear that the dealer has an additonal $960 built in. They'll still make a few bucks on your car, and probably more than make up for it when they start selling their allocated cars at MSRP plus $$$.

 

Gang,
I think we've been able to sort through some of the issues outlined in this thread. Hoping that vine is going to jump back online today and confirm that he picked up his car, then let the fun begin!

As you all know, or should know, dealerships are independently owned and there are strong laws in place that limit how much Toyota USA can get involved between a customer and a dealer's transaction, but I think we've been able to work through this situation. IMHO, Hayward made an honest mistake re the TDA in the original quote, the car was negotiated before they probably saw an invoice and knew what the exact TDA fee would be. The important thing is that they are stepping up now and honoring the agreed upon price.

OK vine, let us know once you have your car!
Best,
Erica Gartsbeyn
Prius Product Manager
Toyota USA

 

Glad to hear that things have worked out in the end.

My initial reaction to all of this was to wonder if this was just a game that the dealership or salesman was playing - a variation on a bait and switch. Get pre-orders on a car that was likely to be hot with a low, low price. Then slap on some bogus charges at the end hoping that the customer will either pay. Or even better have the customer refuse to pay and let the dealership sell the car for even more.

As for the advertising cost - hard to believe that this would not be known by a dealer. I could see the dealer not knowing just how much this would be given that the car is so very new, but you would imagine that they would tell you that it exists and give you a ballpark idea of how much it was - sort of like a good faith estimate of closing costs on a mortgage.

 

We'll probably never know. We can only guess.

Taking Erica at her word, I accept that the final profit figure was a surprise to the dealership. It was an unusual order process and evidently some parts of the picture were not in place during the order window.

From there, my guess is that management came down hard on whoever made the now unattractive deal, and the ensuing flap was a result of poor judgment under pressure.

It definitely says something about employee training and the dealer's corporate culture, but beyond that we can only - as steve says - wonder.

 

i sincerely doubt these guys did not have all the details. we almost did a group purchase with them (16 people) and they were extending an even steeper discount than what they offered to the OP. unless the OP negotiated the price long before mid-october 2011 i believe hayward toyota knew all the invoice details.

 

If I made an honest mistake and I really could not afford the car would the dealer sell it to me for a lower price that I COULD afford?

Once we give our word, what justifies going back on our word?

Hard questions.

There once was a time in a far away place (which I remember) when a person's word was their bond. Trust mattered. That applied to the the businessman AND the customer. This would not have happened then. The outcome quite likely would have been one in which the businessman did not loose money but that he did not make money, either. There was room for compromise here. But there was not trust. Trust is a good thing especially if it is mutual. We loose a lot when we throw it away. Then, we must always be looking over our shoulder.

It can work either way. When we take advantage unnecessarily, it can come back and bite us. Some call it "Kharma". Fair is fair. Unfair is not always a triumph.

 

I kid you not. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/11/airline-makes-stranded-passengers-pay-for-fuel/ It turns out it was an small Austrian airline, not exactly third-world.

 

Well.. I think you're now vilifying these guys needlessly. Erica's already stepped in and handled things.

And, no, we had no clear idea of the cost of this car when you were ordering it. Like many, the assumption that it would have a profit margin SIMILAR or close to its average car at that price OR even to a Prius III or IV or even a V ... this was expected. It just wasn't met.

And, it was a huge surprise to me.
I am certain that it was also a surprise to many.

The difference was how we all chose to deal with the promises we had made at pre-order time.

When the first PHEV cars hit the inventory sheet, and the actual profit margins were revealed in detail (abysmal as they are with a $756 profit margin in a base with mats between MSRP and cost, and a $831 margin in a base advanced between MSRP and cost)... I was really surprised - and not in a great way! My pre-order cars were sold at a $500 discount + gas card 100... that sure left very little for the store.

I think dismay and amazement set in. Then, resolution and courage!

Di

 

Who, me? I posted to disagree with the poster who thought it might have been an on-purpose bait and switch, and didn't believe they didn't know the cost when they took the order.

I don't vilify the dealer for any malevolence. I can't read their minds, but my best guess is that it was nothing more than a clumsy way of handling an unpleasant surprise and a poor exercise in customer relations which didn't show the dealer in a good light. I don't think that's vilification - I could be wrong.

Yes, it's all fixed now.

And thanks for your participation in these discussions, Dianne. It's helpful to have the honest perspective of a dealer we respect.

 

Hello,

All I can say is internet +1 and once you have the car all this will be behind you.