Horrible buying experience from Toyota 101 in SF Bay Area

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. Since Toyota 101 is the dealer nearest to me, I went there first when I was buying my Prius. I did a test drive with Terry Chavez, who had a spiel about how concerned he was for the environment. I couldn't say for sure, but it felt like an act.

I didn't end up buying my Prius there, but I will say I was impressed with Toyota 101... other dealers I went to tried to bait me by saying they had a Prius available soon (not true in the end). Toyota 101 was the only dealer that didn't try and pull that... they flat out said it would be a long time before I could get one. Sad to hear that even Toyota 101 is now pulling the bait routine.

Unfortunately, I think your experience could happen at any Toyota dealer. I wouldn't expect much better from any other dealer unless you are willing to overpay for quicker delivery. My car dealer decoder ring translates "damaged in shipping" to "we sold your car to someone who paid more for it".

 

take a deep breath. Ask for your deposit back. Find another dealer. Be willing to accept a few color choices and packages. As long as you take delivery this year, you will get the full credit more than likely

 

:lol:

No doubt. Where did you get that ring?

 

My experience was somewhat similar as the initial person from whom I purchased my car was transferred, extended delivery dates, etc. Plus, the original sales person told me that an alarm system came with my package. They subsequently changed the packages for 2006 and an alarm didn't come with the package that was ordered for me. I began to loose faith as well. When the vehicle actually arrived, things went like clock work. They called, I went, I purchased, I'm happy. My sales person has been phenomenal at addressing any issues I've had since my purchase. I've heard you can order a Prius from another state and have it shipped to you. If you didn't put a deposit down, check it out.

 

I bought mine at Capitol Toyota in San Jose. It was one of the pleasantest car buying experiences I've had, and it's the second car I've bought from them.

I was willing to take any color except black, and I wanted package 8. Was told the wait would be 1-2 months and that the waiting list was about 100 deep. In the event, I got my car in less than 3 weeks after putting the deposit down ($500, refundable).

I think Capitol Toyota is a pretty straight dealer. The price is MSRP, no haggling or hassles. They do try to sell a bunch of add-ons in the deal, which I took (Lo-Jack, surface treatment, extended warranty, prepaid maintenance). But there was no undue pressure to buy the package (well, maybe there would have been if I resisted, but I knew I wanted prepaid maintenance and extended warranty anyway. And the Lo-Jack reduces your insurance a bit).

Anyway, my sales guy was Rick Perez and he was billed as an expert on the car, correctly so, I think. He treated my wife and me very well. I certainly plan to give them my business again in a couple of year when we're in the market for a Camry hybrid to replace my wife's Camry (which was the first car we bought there).

 

I've only been on the list at SF Toyota for 3 weeks. I have a dealer named Phil who was really nice on the phone initially. Said he would call me every week for an update. I've never heard from him since. I've left several messages and no call back. Finally I randomly got Phil's boss on the phone one day because he happened to pick up the phone. He gave me some really vague answer along the lines of "of course you've moved up the list, we sell Priuses everyday" but no specific information. I get the feeling I could just be on the waitlist forever. At the end of the conversation he said, "well, we know you're REALLY (sarcastic) interested in the car" as if calling to actually talk to someone and get an update is pushy.

 

Hm, I didn't end up buying at Toyota 101, but they kept me well informed on my position on the list, what combinations had the best chances, etc. When my turn for a 2006 came up in Dec 05, I turned it down, and got my credit card deposit reversed the same day. The quote was MSRP.

Jimmy Cheng was my sales guy.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience at Toyota 101. I bought my car from John Lee (Internet sales guy) at Toyota 101 and it couldn't have gone better. He was very upfront about the whole procedure. I rented a Prius from them for a weekend and they reimbursed the cost of that after I bought the car. They never even ran my deposit through on my CC and when the car came in it was exactly what I wanted. There was a little pressure for extended warranty/rust proofing/you name it from the woman in finance but I was able to resist and ended up with the car I wanted with no other extras. Haven't yet used them for service so can't comment on that aspect of their operation.

Jeff

 

I just bought a package #3 from Capital Toyota in San Jose at MSRP. I placed the order in mid-April and they said it would be months, and couldn't be more specific than that. A little over a month later they had one available in a different color than my first pick, but I decided it rather have the car now than wait. Dan Lee was the salesman I worked with. He was pleasant to work with. Not perfect or anything. Almost every other dealer I talked with wouldn't return my calls, so I never got to the point of putting down a deposit.

 

I had an excellent buying experience from Toyota of Sunnyvale.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(agenor @ May 24 2006, 04:24 PM) [snapback]260536[/snapback]</div>

Ouch! I can't believe you ordered a full 3 weeks before I did, and you still haven't gotten yours yet. I even ordered the new Magnetic Gray color option, which didn't start being delivered until this month anywhere in the nation. Sounds like they definitely sold it out from under you to someone else who offered extra $$.

We had a bit of a harrowing experience at Toyota 101 as well. We had Terry Chavez as our salesperson, and we had to call him several times to try to get updated ETAs. In early May he had promised us delivery by 5/15 (we ordered a Magnetic Gray #6 on 2/14) we were surprised when we called on Monday 5/15 to find out he was "no longer with the company". They couldn't find our order for a couple of hours and I was spitting mad. I was afraid they were pulling the sell it to someone else crap on us. Turns out Terry had misspelled our last name and the person looking it up was new.

Anyway, I kept on top of them to get updates and the car finally came in on 5/19. The actual buying process wasn't too bad - other than the lady in finance who kept pushing every extra package ($1695 for the super-dooper-cover-everything-and-wipe-your-butt extended warranty, undercoating, etc). We declined everything she offered and I guess we eventually broke her will. =)

We were only willing to wait so long because the Magnetic Gray wasn't available at all until May, and we got the second one that came in. If I had it to do over again (and the wife didn't want that one specific color) I definitely would have called around elsewhere in the state, away from the Bay Area, to get one quicker.

The salesperson we did end up dealing with at Toyota 101 kept reminding us every time he could to put "all Excellents" on the eval form that Toyota would be sending out. He never pressured us to buy any extras etc so I think the whole deal with their sales staff not being on commission is probably true. But their finance folks are most definitely paid extra when they sell the extended warranty, prepaid maint, etc.

A few tips I can offer - ask them for the VIN. Once it is in the port they should be able to give you that. Tell them you need it to arrange your insurance and such. Also you can check this page to see when a new allotment of Priuses arrive:
Toyota 101 - Prius Inventory
All of the incoming Priuses show up on that page until they are officially purchased. The stock number is unique to each vehicle as well - they may be able to get that number for you even if they don't have the VIN.

I really hope your Prius comes in soon. Waiting is the worst!

 

wow, jeff, i was getting angry just reading about your terrible experience at Toyota 101. you are definitly patient....We went on a waiting list with Walnut Creek toyota, no deposit needed. 4 days later I got impatient and went on craigslist just to find a silver in package 8 advertised at Dublin Toyota..... I called same day and we drove off with our new prius at the end of the day. We were open to any color just as long it's a package 8.

I hope by now you have your new prius or will be getting one very soon. Good Luck!

 

Well, it's obvious that Toyota 101 has gone downhill a lot. I bought mine there last June from John Lee and it was the best new car buying experience I ever had. Even the guy in finance only hit the Extended Warranty song & dance routine once.

One thing, I was fairly flexible as to what I "wanted" and what I would accept. Sent an email which was responded to by telephone 3 days later. They had a car that was due in the next week that met my requirements. Stoped in and gave them a deposit. On the delivery day John picked me up at the Redwood City CalTrain Station, I inspected & drove the car then drove it home 2 hours later.

On the other hand, I spent nearly all afternoon on a Sunday cooling my heels at Capitol Toyota and couldn't get a salesman to even give me the time-of-day.

BTW, I have my service done at Burlingame Toyota because it's close to a CalTrain station. Except for having to make sure they don't overfill the oil I've been happy with what and how they deal with issues.

 

Sorry about your horrible experience. If you're willing to drive to Southern Cal, check out Longo Toyota. They are the largest Toyota dealer in the country, so they get a larger allotment of everything. I live in the East Bay and got my car a full month before any of my friends on Bay Area Prius waiting lists did.

I flew down, bought the car, drove back to the Bay Area. Avg. 50 mpg on I-5 too!

Plus Longo gives you 9 months free Sirius subscription.

Good luck
-Sunshine

 

From LA area - My husband test drove a Prius last year for the very first time in Torrance (closest to our house) and had a bad experience there - when the sales guy got out, and my husband got in, he couldn't start the car. "Well, I don't have any trouble starting the car".He was constantly very smug. In May, we went there again looking at a Scion or Rav4 for me, and had another jerk take us out and when I told him I am just researching (because we study every aspect of a car and options and prices etc) - he told me this car is a no-brainer and that just hit me wrong.

We ended up getting a used with-HOV-sticker Prius from a dealer in Gardena, 2 blocks from my job, and they did a decent job. We really liked our sales guy, who had just started. When I went back to test drive something for me, he was already gone. The sales guys often change more often than someone's, well, undies....

In this area we have dozens of dealers and there are a lot of used ones on the lots, if you give up on your dealer up there. But they have admitted, when my husband originally thought of a brand new one, that NO ONE can tell you when a shipment comes in. The advantage of the dealer we did go with, is that it is down the street from the corporate Toyota offices and there's a parking lot FULL of Toyotas that come right off the trucks. Many of the used ones are former lease or corporate purchasees and they're pretty good cars.

Note as in next post, yes, Longo is supposed to be great, the biggest in So. Cal - my boss used to work for Gardena Toyota, and says Longo is better.

 

You might want to take a look at Melody Toyota up in San Bruno. They were fair with me. I told them I wanted a 2005 Seaside Pearl with package #6 (all the bells and whistles available at the time) and carpet floor mats for MSRP. They told me it would take about 6 months to get the car, but ended up getting it in 5 weeks (apparently someone had passed on the car I wanted). Had I not wanted a specific package and color, I imagine that the initial delivery time of 6 months would've been shorter, but I was willing to wait for the specific car I wanted, and I was quite happy to get it earlier than anticipated. They only required a $500 deposit (Toyota 101 had wanted $1000). Other dealerships, like Putnam Toyota in Burllingame, were willing to sell me one right then and there for only an extra $5k over MSRP. Needless to say, I passed on that. BTW, I bought my car in November of 2004, and ordered it in late September of 2004.

The unfortunate reality is that with gas prices above 3 bucks a gallon in the Bay Area, the Prius is heavily in demand now, and inventories are low, and cars are pretty much pre-sold before they get off of the truck. Toyota 101 definitely sound like they're stringing you along while they sell "your" car to people willing to spend more...

 

Jeff…. I feel your pain…..

I’ve had my Prius for 5 days now and feel Concord Toyota treated me pretty well.
My (our) plan was to sell my (MY) ’97 Mustang GT vert and then buy a Prius, so my knowing wife “required†me to sell the stang before getting the Prius.
One week later my “stang†had found a new home (Craigs’ List) @ $2,000 over bluebook, (yes is was that clean).
I then got on a few waiting lists in Walnut Creek, Concord, Fairfield and Sunnyvale. Even though Walnut Creek had sold us our (well, actually my wife’s) 06 RAV4 V6 only a few months ago, they seemed not to care much about taking care of us. Sunnyvale sounded like a scam (needed the $500.00 to get on the list) so I passed. Fairfield was good with the communication but couldn’t come up with the goods. Concords’ Shahram Davanizadeh (don’t let the name trouble you, this guy is out to sell cars) is worth seeking out. If you are the “squeaky wheel†you will have your car quickly. 10 days ago I told him I wanted a Black Prius, package 8. He advised me to consider package 7 or 8, as that would give me more opportunities “The leather could be added anytime, at a lesser costâ€, and put me on the list behind 800 others. I called him every day…..
5 days later he calls me (yes, he called me!!!) to say he has worked some sort of deal with the GSM (General Sales Manager, who has ordered a black, package 7 Prius for his nephew), and now “my†car will be in a couple of days. Sure enough, Friday Shahram calls me let me know my car is being backed off the truck now. I didn’t hesitate and headed for the dealership, checkbook in hand. Three hours later (my only complaint, just tooooo long) I drove off the lot.
Hope this helps with anyone looking for a new Prius…

Later
Robert

 

Hey Jeff -- how about an update? Is anything happening with Toyota 101 or have you gone to another dealer?