Taking delivery today of my 2012 Prius Three with moon roof. Very nervous as this is my first real car purchase; anything other than a relative's car. It has 31k now and I'll be putting 30k per year onto it. We live in snow country and the sales guy tried to upsell the rustproofing package for many hundreds of dollars. When I pointed out the 1-owner car was originally purchase at his (snow-country) dealership and may have already had rustproofing applied... sales guy quickly retorted that he didn't see it on the bottoms of the door so it hasn't had it applied. CarFax lists rustproofing applied at the dealership at the time on the original purchase. So, the salesguy was playing a sales trick on me. I avoided the upsale. Fast forward a few weeks, I will finally take delivery after a 10+ day delay due to "body damage." It is a small dent in one door. Doesn't particularly concern me since I think the car has sat in the lot for 3 months. So should I walk in with a chip on my shoulder and demand more attention due to the misdirection on rustproofing? Is there any reason to make a stand on the body work?
I would ask for everything detailing free maintenance as far as oil changes tire rotations for 5 years because that's a big delay and if they don't they're not going to jump up and down about it but do not hesitate to walk out and cancel the contract you're well within your rights to do that but ask for the works and what kind of body work is being done? you need to check the side panels of each door to make sure there is a serial number which is written in black and it's on each door frame and also inside the hood to make sure that the bones of the car have not been touched. call him out on everything tell him that this is what I want and will you do this and see what you were offered but play it cool
if you're unhappy with his reply simply walk away cancel the contract because there are other fish in the sea there are plenty of dealerships Toyota dealerships that want your business and will hopefully be honest enough to deserve it
To play the other hand, my contract provides for 30 days for delivery and we are well within that. One door had work done, from what I'm told. CarFax is clean so I can give them the benefit of the doubt that superficial damage was within the lot during a very harsh winter.
So I'm a little unclear. You questioned whether you needed rust proofing surmising that it may of already been done. The salesman said that it hadn't been done. So did you buy it or not? You later discovered through Carfax that indeed rust proofing was applied in the past. If you payed for another rust proofing treatment, one that records now show isn't needed, I'd complain. If you didn't purchase the rust proofing, I'd just let it slide as a Salesman being a Salesman. I don't know if you have too much grounds for complaint about delivery date IF the contract as you point out, allows for 30 days. From the dealers perspective they are just going to say, delivery was delayed in an effort to do the bodywork. If its still within the time frame allowed by the contract? Well I can see why you'd be disappointed BUT would you rather of taken delivery "on time" of a vehicle that would then need to be brought back to have body work done? Again from the dealers perspective they discovered a problem and are trying to resolve it for you BEFORE you take possession of the vehicle. Actually my biggest area of concern would be the body work itself. Did you notice anything or were you aware of anything when you looked at the vehicle? Discovering the day before the "promised" delivery date that it needs body work is suspicious. I'd want to know more about that. I'd want pictures of the discovered damage, and a outline of exactly what was being done.
When someone lies to you - I consider anything afterwards highly suspect. I would let him know you have CarFax info. which states rustproofing was applied and go on from there. If your sixth sense is giving you a feeling things are not right I would listen to it. And as recommended - go elsewhere.
If you could walk away from the deal I would. Never sign anything until you can drive the car away. And If you stuck with buying the car I would demand to speak to the owner of the dealership. Tell them what the salesman said and show them what the carfax says. Tell them thus was your first car buying experience and it has been ruined from lies.
Honestly guys, when a salesman is in up sale mode, I "assume" he's lying by misanthropic default. I'd be upset if I was talked into paying for another unneeded rust treatment, and I would complain. BUT...if I didn't decide to have the rust proofing done, I'd take it as retrospective discovery of what we all know...salesmen are going to try to sell you things, sometimes things you don't really need. The thing I'd be most worried about and suspicious about is why the vehicle suddenly needs body work...and it's taking 10 days. If there was a deal killer aspect, it might be that. I don't like the idea that my "new" used vehicle suddenly is in the body shop before I even take delivery. But the fact that a sales man recommended rust proofing, and I later discovered it supposedly already had a rust proofing treatment, seems minor in comparison. If there is a reason to walk away from the deal I think it's the fact that body work is suddenly needed, not so much that "extra" or unneeded rust proofing was offered.
Welcome You got a good car for 30k miles a year. Also you have 150k mile 10-yr CARB warranty so should anything go wrong with batt you are covered. By the way, that is only true of the car was orig owned in NY (or equiv state) so be careful there that's another poop to check. I never get the extras figuring I can do better elsewhere if I need it
Thanks buddy. Yes, I'm NY. I know of the 8yr/100k battery warranty, what is the 150k/10year CARB? That is unfamiliar to me... I am rather happy with this new vehicle in the 12 hours I've owned it. Already put 80+ miles on it at over 48 reported mpg. And the thing is like a space shuttle! (But I'm coming from a 200k, 8 year old manual tranny, roll-up windows cheap car.) I'm looking forward to 8+ years with this Prius; that would put me at 270k miles. With Bluetooth and a few decent phones, I should be happy!
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) requires that all cars sold in CA must have a 10 year/150k mile warranty for the pollution control systems. They have also declared that the hybrid systems in a Prius are part of the pollution control, and therefor the hv battery is included in the longer warranty. Several states have decided to follow the CARB rules; NY is one of them. I believe the car has to have been originally sold new in a CARB state to qualify.
