Toyota of Thousand Oaks CROOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A year ago, TO Toyota was asking $5K over MSRP. The were asking OVER new MSRP for a used model with 5K miles on it.

My old boss drove 40 miles to another dealer for service after several bad experiences with TO Toyota service personnel.

When I first bought mine, I was driving near there, and I got the "cannot charge battery in N" message that we all knwo now means "close the door." Drove it to TO Toyota, spent 2 hours waiting. They couldn't find anything, then pulled codes, finally said nothing was wrong, and sent me on my way, totally unaware of what the REAL problem was. I had a three hour drive to make and I sweated the whole trip.

Not my favorite dealer.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(emb623 @ Jul 20 2007, 05:54 PM) [snapback]482503[/snapback]</div>

I had similar problems with Tina. She told me twice she had cars for me on hold and promptly sold them before I could get there. Needless to say, I didn't buy a car from her. Did not have any problems at Power Cerritos, who held a car for me overnight.

 

Do either of you really think that Tina had a car and that it was "sold" before you got there?

She had no car. It was never sold. She just said that to get you there.

Glad you posted and responded to all of this.

Dealerships that operate this way need to know that this isn't your Dad's stealership practices anymore. The internet has made it extremely easy for those that want to to network on their experiences, both good and bad. At some point it is going to effect how they do business if they don't change. A growing number of adults are internet savy and using the internet to shop wiser. Karmageddon will bite Toyota TO in the a$$.

 

WOW! i would have been SOOOO ticked!

when we bought our prius..... sean at toyota of escondido sent us a picture of the car on the lot!!!!!!!!!! (granted.... he could have had it sitting around a while, eh?)

both times i've bought a car via the internet... there has been no problem with them raising the price!

glad you gave the 411 on tina and thousand oaks toyota!

 

I bought from Tina in May, but somethings I agree were shady. 1)She said she only had 1 mag. grey left in pkg. 2, but when I got there, there was at least one other on the lot. 2)She told me it was "illegal" for her to lower the price more than the amount advertised in the paper ($2000 off msrp), but then proceeded to sell to me for $21,244 ( about $2400 off msrp).
Tim

 

you should email a link to this thread to the manager of that dealership;
and also to a toyota corporate type, and invite them to comment.
businesses need to wake up to internet discussions, and the negative impact they can have on their business once they get caught treating customers this way.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pewd @ Jul 26 2007, 08:24 AM) [snapback]485423[/snapback]</div>

I'm the one who told the OP to contact Tina at TO Toyota. I had a GREAT experience buying from her....granted that she was supposed to have the car I wanted on 7/3...it actually did not show up until 7/5. The deal we made over the phone and through e-mail was honored. No hassle, no BS. Sorry to hear that there was a problem...it certainly seems the OP had a 180 degree experience than me.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 23 2007, 07:36 PM) [snapback]483850[/snapback]</div>

Well, she sent me an email with the vin# and all the specs on the car, so I wasn't being naive to assume she actually had the car, but after the second car disappeared it was clear she was full of crap. I had made arrangements to have someone drive there with me the following morning and I got the call about the second sold car while I was having margaritas with friends the night before. I was livid and had to scramble to make calls to other dealers in between cocktails to find another car. How dare she ruin my happy hour! :-D

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pewd @ Jul 26 2007, 08:24 AM) [snapback]485423[/snapback]</div>

that would be useless.... i contacted corporate several times when trying to decipher the price cut and basically was told the dealerships can do what they want!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desertbriez @ Jul 26 2007, 06:46 PM) [snapback]485756[/snapback]</div>

Agreed. Toyota made their profit when the dealer bought the car. Why should they care about any one of us as long as there is another buyer? Perhaps someday it will come full circle and bite them in the a$$ just as it has done to the Big 3. If it makes you feel better, complain.

 

Re: Toyota of Thousand Oaks CROOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a 2006 Highlander Hybrid. Last night I went to the store with my daughter, loaded up the car with groceries, and started to back up. The car just stopped. I restarted it and it went about 12 feet. I am the first and only owner and have always, and only, had it serviced at Thousand Oaks Toyota. AAA towed it in to Thousand Oaks Toyota and today they told me that the inverter was bad and that it would cost $7,600.00 to repair. Now the car only cost around $32,000 when it was new, so 4 years later, Toyota expects that a person has $7,600, or 1/4 of the purchase price sitting in a Toyota piggy bank just waiting to be paid for a repair! I asked the service guy at Thousand Oaks Toyota what could have caused the inverter to go out and he told me that its just like a washing machine, parts go bad and could give no other answer. At Thousand Oaks Toyota the servicemen always talk down to me, probably because I am a woman. Also, I've had my washing machine for 12 years and have never had to have it repaired, it only cost $500.00, and has done thousands of loads of laundry. (Yea, Sears!). My air conditioning/heating system in my Toyota Highlander Hybrid also crapped out last summer. When ever I am driving down the road and have the A/C running and then hit a little, and I mean tiny, bump in the road, it starts blowing out hot air and then I have to try and gently move the dial one way or another to see if it will give me cool air again. Same thing in reverse for the heater this winter. Thousand Oaks Toyota said that it would cost $1,200.00 to fix. When my husband asked what happened to the A/C , they told him that I was probably too rough with the way that I operated the turn dials. (Now Thousand Oaks Toyota accuses me of driving down the road punching out the dashboard....ludicrous...). I still haven't fixed the A/C and now they want $7,600 for the inverter, I just as well sell the piece of crap for parts or flatten it. The service guy at Thousand Oaks Toyota told me that I could call Toyota in Torrance, Ca and they might be able to help me find out what went wrong with the inverter. After I spent thirty minutes on hold, the customer service guy told me that they are not technicians and that I would have to contact Thousand Oaks Toyota. My Toyota Highlander Hybrid was a disappointment from the beginning. Toyota said that I would be getting around 30 MPG. The best MPG that I have ever had is about 23 MPG. When I take it on long trips the MPG goes down to 19 or 20. What a waste of money. I have taken the Toyota Highlander into Thousand Oaks Toyota three or four times complaining about the gas mileage and Thousand Oaks Toyota told me that the problem was my driving, not the car. Finally, last fall I went out of the country and asked my mom to take the car to Thousand Oaks Toyota for an oil change. She was waiting for the car for several hours and finally went out to the shop area to find out where it was....she found the car up on the riser with the tires off! When she asked Thousand Oaks Toyota why they were taking off the tires for an oil change, they claimed they were just doing exceptional service. I wonder if it is their exceptional service that caused my inverter to go out. In December 2009, we paid Thousand Oaks Toyota $1,200 for regular service (90,000 mile).

I owned a BMW and a Ford Windstar before this Highlander. The service at both BMW and Ford was great. It seems that Thousand Oaks Toyota blames the owner of the car, rather than the manufacturer of the car for any problems that come up. When I chose this car, after much research, I thought that I was purchasing a vehicle that was good for the environment and good for me, but a vehicle that last only 105,000 miles and has to have $10,000 in repairs is a rip off. Toyota should tell consumers how expensive the vehicle is to maintain and that it will cost an additional $10,000 to make it over 105,000 miles. If Toyota were truthful about the vehicle ($42,000 instead of $32,000) they would not sell any. Toyota Corporation seems to have a service policy that says "blame the consumer."

 

wow. sorry to hear it. bad car, bad service, bad communication, bad response from toyota. i'e had some problems with cars over the years but you've topped the all. i think it's a real issue with dealer's taking advantage of people with little maintenance knowledge or experience. i think you're best bet is to go with something simple and reliable. all the best!

 

Arent the hyrbid parts warranted for 100k miles? Inverter is the hybrid system. Seems like you might be close to the limit since you had the 90k done.

 

Re: Toyota of Thousand Oaks CROOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This store's "service" dept sucks, at least the "boss" of 4-5 months ago.
Had BOTH windshield wiper arms on BOTH 2007 prius have rust on them. Cars still under 30K and in warranty. The "boss" told me it's my fault, toyota not responsible. I pressed my point he told me to FO.

Took the car to Simi toyota. Very helpful there. They replaced all 4 why I waited after ordering parts.

TO toyota is legend----for all the wrong reasons.

 

Re: Toyota of Thousand Oaks CROOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting to our situation. We lease a 2010 Camry SE Sport that from day one had an annoying front end shimmy that kept getting worse so we took the car into the dealership and expressed our concern. The service advisor said he was sure it was a tire balance issue and asked us to leave the car. That sounds like an easy fix so we left the car.

Later that day the dealership called to say it was fixed and drove fine now. We picked up the car and the shimmy was still there so we made an appointment to bring it back in and go on a test drive.

We took the car back in and took a ride with Tom, a Mechanic, who said boy I see what you mean. He said I think it’s a bad tire. "I'll get this fixed personally as I am the head mechanic here".

The call came that the car actually needed a new driver side front axle as it was defective from the factory. Several days later we were told come and pick up the car. They said they rotated and balanced the tires, aligned the front end and replaced the defective axel.

When we took the car home we noticed the steering wheel was not straight and the shimmy was actually worse. We immediately called the dealer to bring it back in.

I returned this time still calm, noted by our service advisor, and again went on a ride with Tom. This time tom had me drive and said he felt the problem still and we drove a bit further. During the drive Tom offered a lot of inside information which I eagerly listened too.

He stated that Toyota knows of many of these issues and will verbally address some in the meeting they must attend yet will not pass out anything in writing but do allow note taking. He said it was to keep whistle blowers who might quit from releasing documents from Toyota motors and know issues.

He went on to say the tires and wheel Toyota has supplied from the factory on these cars are almost impossible to balance and they try and get as close as possible. I asked if that’s the case why not change the tires and wheels. He said it would change the look of the cars and most people just get used to it.

He complained about Thousand Oaks Toyota and said if they could get him to work 24/7 they would. He said it makes for a lot of unhappy mechanics. He said one of the original owners is very nice but far too old to see everything anymore.

So the car was once again back in the shop and this time they said a new transmission was needed so they kept the car and ordered one. Once again we got the call it was done and ready to go. Once again the shimmy was still there. Once again back to the dealership.

This time it was different though and where the real troubling situation occurred.

We were to that the left front axle was bad and needed to be replaced and that a field rep was looking at the vehicle and would drive it after the repairs to give it his blessing. A week later we again got the call it was finally fixed and inspected and driven by the Toyota field rep.

As the other poster mentioned when I asked for the receipt I was told they could not close out the ticket because there was an item on backorder and had to be closed by the field rep. I know a bit about this but what the translation is if we close the ticket and things are not ok we do not want a fourth or fifth repair attempt.

The service advisors said why not drive it first this time with Tom and see what you think. Again tom started talking and said he was a bit pissed. He said he was off when the rep came in and left a message to replace the axel and try another set of tires. I said I was told the rep drove the car after the repairs and he said that was not true. He said when he got to work the next day he had to remove the test drive set of tires and he, Tom, actually drove it after the repairs not the field rep.

When we got back to the dealership I did not question what I was told and demanded a copy of the completed repair order and was given one and told the closed ticket would be mailed to us in a few days.

When I got home I called Toyota in Torrance, CA to ask why the field rep signed a paper saying he personally drove the car after the repairs and found nothing wrong. After some arm twisting the rep relayed a message to Toyota stating he had to make another appointment and in fact he had not check the vehicle after the repairs.

Contrary to the lemon law it was uncovered the mechanic Tom was the one who actually stated the vehicle was fine. The field rep called and said let’s try and meet again and we will drive it. He said he would call...never did.

I requested a new car and Thousand Oaks Toyota said it was not their choice and if Toyota gave the ok they would.

It was because of Thousand Oaks Toyotas dishonest ways of doing business that has forced us to file a lawsuit against them. After 30 years of doing business with them they do this to us. I have to say Toyotas are forever off our list of next vehicle purchase and Thousand Oaks Toyota will be avoided like the plague.

 

Re: Toyota of Thousand Oaks CROOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wow. that is a sad, sad story. i thought the highlander one was bad. yikes! we represent manufacturers in our business, not automobiles, but when the customer contacts them with a valid complaint, and sometimes not so valid, we usually get the riot act and the customer gets satisfaction. even though we are an independent business, we have a very long a detailed contract with the manufacturer and are their representitives to the end user. at least from the viwpoint of the mfg. and end user.

 

I had a lot of issues when I bought my Prius also. Most dealers are scum of the earth. They hire good people and turn them in horrible people that steal, lie and rip people off.

I hate when they talk people into leasing a cars, buying extended warranties, extended service, special wax, special coating for the interior and a million other worthless items.