Brand-new Prius with 255 miles?

Best wishes Diane, and enjoy that new Prius.

Now, do yourself a favor... and run from these forums! I hope you don't see the discussions about:

Bangs!
Clunks!
Headlights that are too high.
Headlights that leak.
Headlights that are full of water and have goldfish in them!
Noisy moon roofs.
Sun visors that suck.
Rattles in the seat-belt retractor.
Rattles under the dashboard.
Rattles under the steering wheel.
Rattles in the B pillar.
Rattles in the rear hatch.
Rattles in the rear struts.
Service bulletin to replace strut nuts.
Recall for the passenger-side airbag.
Recall for parking sensors(?)
Recall for parking brake.
GRABBY brakes!
NOISY tires.
Cabin noise.
Driver's seat that slowly sinks. (Ok, I'm too fat! )
Paint that dings/chips easy.
Windshield wipers that may be bent/noisy/skip.
Confusing "drive modes."
Annoying back-up beeps. (from the whiners.)
Lack of storage space/lack of spare tire.
Complaints about the white accents in the interior. (More whiners.)
Complaints about dust on the black interior surfaces. (Still whining.)
Disappointment in "only" getting 50mpg! LOL!

...and a thousand others.

RUN!

Enjoy, and just drive it like a regular car. (Bangs, clunks, rattles, strange noises, and all.... It's a blast.

 

That is to be expected. What we Americans speak has significantly diverged from English, but we haven't yet given it a new name.

 

i think you've done well, get it cleaned up and enjoy!

 

hasn't anyone seen pygmalion, or my fair lady?

 

I think you might want to do some calculations and maybe take this to small claims court. I think you car was used.

 

I found this in a Google search. It answered my question.

"It's new until the first owner other than the dealership owns it. So it could have as low as 4 miles (lowest I've seen), to as high as 10,000 if the dealer used it as an in house rental, and it's still technically new. If it has more than a couple hundred of course you should be getting discounts proportional to how many miles are on it. But the advantage of the new car, regardless of miles, is the warranty starts when the first consumer buys it."

 

In my quick search, I thought the law varied by state, in the US.

 

In my similar experience the dealership acknowledged taking ownership of the car, expressly using it as a demonstrator (albeit fairly low miles).

The car's warranty was shortened, by the time the dealership owned it. They ended up giving us a letter extending the warranty to compensate.

In short, the dealership was the first owner in our case, we bought a used car. They had gone through the purchase process, just like a customer, and I understand this was to allow them to use the car for a more protracted time, as a demo.

This was reflected in the forms, the provincial vehicle registration. It was different from the typical new car purchase, where the customer is the first legal owner. It was deemed technically/legally a used car purchase.

This was in BC, and 30 years back, fwiw.

 

We do check the forum. But in this case I would be recommending you call Toyota Customer Service anyway.

 

Can't marketing tell me what that loud BANG! was I heard???

 

I'm happy to recognise it as American English and applaud it for its economy of words and relative simplicity. The grammar is different and the spelling too, but it's usually easy too understand and, you know, that's not something you can always say about pure(?) English spelling and grammar.

 

Our 2016 Prius v Three had 206 miles (if my memory is correct) on the odometer when we picked it up from the dealer. In our case they had to drive the car up from Dallas. IMHO not a big deal...

The car was clean though...

 

Is this the new "official" UK English grammar?

 

Somewhat similar story:

In 2010 I bought a Honda Fit...."New".
The dealership sold it to me, I signed the papers, and the sales contract stated it had 20 miles on it.
I literally drove it off the lot, and just a few blocks down to a store parking lot.

I then noticed the display was NOT on the regular odometer but on the "Trip Computer"...when I pressed the display and got it to show the regular odometer reading the vehicle did NOT have 20 miles on it...it had a similar 270+...

I was VERY upset and immediately returned to the dealership.
Where I complained that I had signed a deceptive contract that misrepresented the vehicle being sold.

I got a very similar song and dance, with EVERYONE claiming they just didn't know what happened. They did apologize and claimed the "mistake" was because the salesman I worked with was young and new, and simply didn't know the difference between the Trip odometer and the regular Odometer. (Yeah Right...Sure).
Then like the OP I got every vague excuse as to why/how that mileage may of been put on the vehicle, with lot's of "maybe, possibly"....
I was told everything always with a "maybe" or "possibly" attached, from that it was a dealer trade...to it was used by the dealership as their "errand" vehicle, literally told that it was the vehicle they used at lunch time to go get burgers and coffee.
I said...270+ miles! That's a lot hamburgers...

At first they tried to placate me, by offering free window tinting, or throwing in some free stuff. But I was so upset that I "hinted" that I may be seeking legal advice. To which they reversed the deal, and actually obtained me a whole new vehicle.

My experience was slightly different as the vehicle was misrepresented....by them.

As far as the OP?
Well unlike myself....you knew the mileage before you signed the contract.

For most people, in the life of an automobile...300 miles is a blink of an eye.
I'm glad the OP complained. Even if the time to REALLY complain was before signing the contract. Perhaps more disturbing and deserving of criticism is not so much the nearly 300 miles on the vehicle but the fact that the dealership seemed willing to sell it to you, undetailed, and clearly in "rental return" like condition. That's really poor form. Yes, IMO they should be providing a top quality detail job. And there should be no scuffs, or scratches anywhere.

I would of appreciated full disclosure and honesty in my deal. I found it hard to believe that "nobody" at the dealership seemed to know "how" nearly 300 miles got put on my vehicle. I found it hard to believe that the salesman "accidentally" didn't know the difference between the trip computer mileage..and the regular odometer.
I recently bought a new Honda Fit...and just suffice it to say I did NOT return to that dealership for a second purchase.

However, I would say....that's it's perfectly possible this just becomes a "rough" start to what could and should and most likely will be...a very good long term ownership experience.
Once you've owned the vehicle, and put a few thousand miles or more on it yourself, the memory of the 255 mile...start...should fade.

My only possible advice?
Well even though my dealership DID back out of the deal and find me another vehicle that ACTUALLY did have less than 10 miles on it. Their actions seemed so dishonest and disingenuous, and they clearly were NOT telling me everything they knew, that I never returned. I chose a different Honda Dealership to handle repair and maintenance.

Dealerships..have to earn my trust and support. If they fail? I live in a big enough urban environment that other options exist.
I would take the detailing and anything the dealership can be persuaded to add to the deal.
I WOULD call Toyota Care and at least report to Toyota what happened. A car delivered unclean, scuffed and with other peoples phone information programmed in it, is at least very poor form. Nothing may come of the reporting, but sometimes the squeaky wheel get's the grease.

Then I would try to forget this bad start, as quickly as possible and simply enjoy the vehicle.
At 30,000 miles, when your concern is about replacing the original tires....the memory of the not so "brand new"...New Prius, should just be a story that you can tell friends.

I hope the revelation that your experience is not entirely singular helps make it more palatable.

The funny thing to me? Is had the dealership simply been honest and forthcoming about the mileage on the vehicle? I would of been more than happy, and would of purchased it as it was...assuming a very modest compensation. In my case, it was the run-around and I think the deliberate misrepresentation that bothered me MORE than the reality that I had bought a new vehicle with and instant 270+ miles on it.

 

^ Someone get this man a Prius.

 

Again? He has already had one or two of them.

 

And left it all behind.

 

Just checkin' you were on your toes. Full marks to you!