Shopping experiences- You can't make this stuff up

Did you ask about the PiP and then they called over the "specialist"? The "specialist" is the one who didn't sell a Tundra in the last 2 weeks.

You need to find a dealer that is a volume PiP mover.

 

Wow! But, at the same time, unfortunately, the story doesn't surprise me. This isn't the first time we've heard of salesmen at Toyota dealers having a lack of Prius knowledge.

 

Good for you! A little bit of knowledge goes a long way for your confidence and your ability to gain an advantage in negotiating a price.

 

Ok, here is the plan ....

Walk in to the dealer and ask for the finance manager. Tell him this A-Hole on Prius Chat keeps bragging about his $29K Volt and you can't stand it and you need a PiP for less before you can go back on Prius Chat.



Just so he knows your serious ..... take this with you.

 

I had a similar situation when I purchased mine 3 weeks ago. The salesman said (paraphrasing) "oh it only has to be charged one time by our charger at the dealership then never again" so I said - "ok, charge it, because I want to drive it in electric mode". He calls me the next day and tells me that he has it charged. I go up there the next day and sure enough it is not charged. I point out that it is in hybrid mode. He says "okay I need to do some research". I go home and he calls me later and he says okay "I definitely have it charge now and I have it on reserve in the back of the lot". I get there and sure enough it was charged.

Later as I'm looking around the car I noticed the charging cord in the back of the car. I asked the salesman about it and he's not real sure. Then a sales woman comes up and says "oh that is the cord for the 220V outlet". I looked at her and said "why would you put a 220 charge cord in, it would make more sense that it would be a 110 charge cord"? She says "no I have sold 4 Plug-ins and it's definitely the 220" and I said "okay I will take your word for it". She picks up the cord and looks at the label and sure enough it says "110". She looks at me and says "oh I guess I was wrong", she lays the core down and walks away.

So, believe it or not I still buy the car. After the deal is done I asked the sales manager if someone would go over the car with me when I picked it up. He said "of course, we will have one of our product experts go over it with you". I looked at him and said "I hope it's not the salesman". He looked at me and he said "oh goodness I would never do that to you" and we both laughed.

The next day I went to pick up the car and 2 young ladies came out to go over the car with me. One was "in training". They were very good and competent however, I will say that they did not know everything about the car. They were stumped when I asked them how it was charged. Ultimately, with one of them reading the manual in the backseat, she said "well I think you always have to use the timer when you charge it".

Aside from all that they (the dealership) really was a pleasure to deal - and funny - but you really do have to know the product before you go in.

Rob

 

I have been shopping for a PIP also. I originally, before I found this forum, thought the plug in had three batteries. The third being the one you plug in. The salesman in error confirmed this. To really see how the vehicle worked, a friend of mine who just bought one, brought his to our home and we test drove it in real cirumstances. Fantastic. Really dealers should educate themselves in the time when they are waiting for customers.

 

The PHV Prius demonstrators had 3 packs/subpacks. That went away on the production PiP.