I posted this in the dealer experiences section, it's long, it happened today, if you are bored, have the time, have nothing better to do, read and comment, thanks:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...=223312#223312

 

Okay...finally someone has experienced the same thing that I did.

My wife called POWER Toyota ( in Irvine California). We Specifically asked them if they had a Black Automatic BASE...absolutely no options.

The guy says let me check....about a minute later he replies to her YES we have one coming in a couple of days "if you want it...it's yours, just come down and put in a deposit."

So I loaded up my kids and all kinds of beach stuff because I am as happy as a clown...so we get there and ask for the guy that my wife talked too...Guess what...he wasn't there.

Then some fleet guy comes out with this stapled sheet and says the only thing that he has coming in is is a BLACK LOADED AUTOMATIC about 19,300 MSRP. And that is without a S/C which I plan to get.

Dude I let him have it right in the show room...like top of my lungs yelling and if I would have stayed 5 minutes longer the cops probably would have had to remove me.

That is not the I called SCION CUSTOMER SERVICE/RELATIONS

They told me that this is a HUGE problem and that they have been getting calls.

One of the dealers my wife called told her that "we have no BASE tC's". She was told by the guy that "My manager is forcing us to put full leather and loaded systems in".

Here is the Customer Relations # 866-331-4331 Ask for Matthew he has the case number.

According to them Toyota is liable for false advertising...because you really can't "BUILD YOUR OWN SCION" in regards to the tC.

I am not purchasing a Toyota product and never will...I have been getting the run around for over 6 weeks.

 

dang you guys ran into some major bs. the worst experience i had so far at a scion dealership is when one of the sales reps said..."oh im sorry, we dont have the keys for that tc, we lost it" pssh... yeah right... lost the keys to a brand new car. if he was going to lie to me. at least make it a good one.

brasscorpion, i give you mad props on speaking up and yelling at them :D personally i wouldn't have the ***** to do so unless i was really ____ed off.

so far, its been good with my sales rep. James. nice dude and answered all my questions and actually calls me to let me know what is going on. he is going to call me later this week to give me my vin #.

 

I can totally feel you on that.. scummy dealers knowing its a hot item and trying to make more money... from my exp.. with 5 dealers around my area... bigger dealerships are better than small ones... i guess the big dealerships knows they're going to be selling a lot so they don't mind selling regular stock tcs...

but even taht is not totally true... I called the largest dealership in my area asking them if they have any tc instock, his answer is "scion has a totally new way of selling cars, you order the car you want and it'll be in in 3 days (right all dealerships sold out, and you get it in 3 days), why leave cars out in the parking lock to absorb dust and get door dings. so do you want to place an order today?" trying to get me to order from them.. thats how i see it..

we'll see if I get lucky tomorrow where my white stock 5spd tc is suppose to be in.
as for not buying a toyota/scion/lexus again.. thats a harsh decision, I myself believe that not all dealerships are the same. Maybe i'm wrong? we'll see when my tc comes in....

 

Hi guys,
Sort of got the small version of your experiences today. Ordered my tC in April, stock A/T. Got the long awaited phone call that it arrived today - with $385 spoiler... and some strange $60 SCION sticker on the rear bumper...
So I ask what happened to my order and the dealer tells me that they can only order colors with "preferences" so whatever Scion has in stock they ship. Now, I didn't buy their story but was tired of waiting since forever so like a sucker I put my name on the dotted line. Obviously the dealers feel that they need a couple of hundred bucks extra per order. The whole "order it like you want it" experience won't happen until there is sufficient supply.
It'll take a lot of work changing Toyota hard sell dealerships into friendly Scion shops.

 

What irks me the most is this: The cars come in two ways: basically stock,or loaded with factory added itmes like side curtain airbags, spoiler, ground effects kit, and a few others items. The majority of the bone stock cars spend no time on the lot, they are hidden as soon as they drop, then are herded to the service department where as many scion accessories as possible are placed onto them. Including non standard scion accessories like leather. These things are then parked outside, with their 18/19 inch wheels, spoilers, LED lights, etc etc.

The normal window sticker isn't alone anymore, there's a little 6-10 inch wide strip of paper with a list of "dealer" added on accessories, and a new price tag. Nevermind the window sticker right next to this magical strip of paper has on it the amount of 16k. This new magic strip boasts an amount of 23k.

Fine, do that, I don't care, some one will buy it. BUT... I'm standing there, the car's just been off loaded from the truck, sitting somewhere hidden, waiting for tomorrow when the mechanics can come in to do the "price adjustment". While I'm sitting there, waiting and willing to take that very hidden car off the lot.

One word. Greed.

Oh and I was livid, the entire show room was so quiet, you can hear a cockaroach fart. I had the attention of everyone in there, customers, sales people, the sales manager. Tools.

Fool me once, fool me twice... done, I'll just record my next conversation with the next scion dealer that calls me. I will get this bs on tape. False advertisement? Lying. Oh hell yeah, paybacks are a _____.

 

good job about beeing a complete _______

you yelled at a guy that wasn't involved in your wife and the other salesman talking

your a smart one

 

Here was mine experience.

I was looking for getting a xA for a while. Test drive one at Melody toyota(San Burno, CA), a manual, feel really good, want to get one soon, plan to save up some $$. then i got a new job in San Jose. on the way back home stopped by at Pericy toyota(San Jose, CA) saw a tC, in love with it. the sales rep Hien Phan was very nice. when i want to test drive it, all he did is hand me the key, not even riding with me, just let me alone and mess around the car. I had fun on the tC. the next two week was trying make decision on xA or tC.

I visited some other scion dealer around the area. City toyota(Daly City, CA), they are ok on test drive, but the sales rep trying to force me to get the $1400 extended warrenty without my knowledge(hiding it), I was mad when I saw that on his computer. of course, I don't show my emotion on the face, I left the dealership and never go back.

Putnam toyota, sales rep Marat was a good guy. he just got the job recently, he was doing every single bit of thing that trying to help me out on decision xA or tC thing, then I added corolla S on my list. But the problem appear when his manager trying to force me to get a car right on that day. I like Marat being my only sales person, but then I got his manager and the finance manager show up constantly, like trying to battle me until i actually get a car from them. I hate that. so I don't want to get a tC from them either. by the way, Putnam toyota put tons of accessories on all their tC. jack the price up by 2K or more. stay away from them if you can.

San Francisco toyota....nothing much to say, they are too "cool" to even pay attention on me(i know i don't dress well, kind of look like a poor guy just came from mainland China). so I left.

Sunnyvale toyota( Sunnyvale, CA), high pressure selling here again, I try to stay away after the Putnam toyota experience.

I got my tC from Melody toyota, the fleet manager Dertria was my saleslady. she's good, never to be forceful, and never try to sell me anything that I didn't ask. i put my deposit down to an azu manual. then i changed my mind to an auto. anyway, about a week later, she saw a IIP auto tC on the showroom after her day off. so she ask me if i want to take a look. I say yes. by the time i stopped by, I saw the sign on the car say that the car was sold to me. Dertia told me that she put that sign on just to let other sales rep know to not letting anyone to test drive the car (which is nice in my opinion). then i think, wah, that's true service. anyway, test drive it , like everything, and the best thing is, it's a base model with only flood/cargo mat. love it, and the color looks good too. so I got the car right on that day. Melody have no tC for show for a while :D. they will get their nex shipment by later this month.


anyway, be smart, shop around. don't get ____ off when dealer didn't do it right, get to know toyota have very good reputation on their car, but bad reputation on their dealers. i will never go to any dealer that lie to me. good thing for living around the bay area is that I get many dealership to choose from. always go for the dealer that did things right.

 

Not all dealers/salesman are deceptive. My experience was almost perfect. After deciding which model and color tC I wanted (manual, silver) I called the dealers in my area to see if any had something in stock or anticipated one coming in (only one of the four dealerships in my town, San Antonio, Texas, didn't return my calls). All were honest and told me what they had in stock (most had some accessories added and at least one dealeship added rip-off products like undercoating). Still, all of them told me exactly what they had. All offered to order a car if I were willing to put down a deposit.

The last dealership I called, Universal Scion, said they had the exact car I was looking for coming within the next two days. For a deposit ($50.00) they would hold it for me. I passed on the deposit because I didn't want to be locked into buying from him if something else came along and didn't want him to lose a sale to some one else. I asked him to call me when it got in. A day later I got the call that it was being unloaded from the truck. I drove out to the delarship, sat in the car ( I had already test driven a tC), decided to buy, signed the initial paperwork, came back an hour later, spent fifteen minutes with the "closer" and drove away in my new stock tC. At no point did anyone try to upsell any accessory. They didn't even ask if I wanted floor mats.

My advice: Don't pass on a car you want because of crappy salesmen. Be honest with them and tell them what you expect from the car buying process. If they can't do that, take your business elsewhere. When they honor your requests and are honest with you, reward them with your business (this includes using the dealer for service). Also, let Scion know what you think (both positive and negative). That way, dood dealers will get more product and crappy ones will get less.

 

I got my tC a couple days ago, and the process was flawless. I went to Walnut Creek Scion, talked to Charles, and he put in an order for me. He didn't even charge a deposit. Two weeks later, the car came with everything I asked for (Silver, floormats, side airbags), and nothing else I didn't want, at the price that was quoted to me. He even threw in an extra Scion leather binder (not the standard one you get for the manuals and first-aid).

Don't let a few bad dealer experiences make you miss out on this car!

 

First time caller, long time listener…..lol.

I just wanted to share my disappointing attempt at finding a stock 5-speed Tc (also in Orange County, CA)

I’ve been pretty stoked on the look of the Tc for a while and got my first look at an auto Flint Mica at Tustin Toyota (last week of June). I was very satisfied with the car, but didn’t want to put a deposit down until I test drove the 5-speed. Anyways, I told the dealer to give me a call when they had a 5-speed and I’d make my decision then (they said about 10 days)…. 3 weeks later I didn’t receive a call so I decided to give them a call anyways. The sales person gives me the story about getting them in this week, however he also informs me that all the Tc’s will have 18-19 inch wheels and extras, and also claims that all the dealer around here will be selling them like that . At this point I was pretty irritated that I waited 3 weeks to hear this BS, so I decided to look for another dealership. Well, to make a long story short, I finally got to test drive a 5-speed, unfortunately it had all the nice extra stuff that I just didn’t want .

Looks like I just got to find the right dealer.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but there is a whole forum dedicated to dealer experiences somewhere around here right?

 

You know, what has really turned me onto the tC is hearing all this. I hear "Great service" "got what I wanted" etc etc. I've called about 40 dealerships around my area. And I have to agree, the majority (at least over the phone) seem to be great honest people. Some straight up tell me that they will not be selling their tC's base; and suggest other dealerships. Fine. At least they were honest.

But to call me up, tell me that the car I wanted was on their lot, have me drive 20 miles to get there, and then be lied to.
Oops, well, we lied to get you down here, the car you want is here, it's ready to go... well not really.
It's ready to go, but we're not ready to let it go.
We still want to put leather. wheels, etc etc onto it. How about you buy it with all the extra stuff we add onto it?
No; can you sell it to me just as it is RIGHT NOW?
No.
Then why did you call me and have me drive down here?
(blank stare)

If you want to be greedy, fine by me, let me know, I won't go there. But don't lie to me.

On a side note, when I asked why the scion shrow room was unlit, the receptionist lady told me that the scion guy leave early. This defaults me to deal with Toyota guys. So, this could very well be an issue with Toyota sales people using "Toyota" tactics to sell a Scion, because the Scion guys are off work.

My question is this: Do the Toyota guys over rule the Scion guys when it boils down to the sale? Benefit of the doubt, the Scion guy at Penske could be great people, but will they get the deal I want? or the deal the Toyota guys want?

 

Nope, you are absolutly correct. But read the first post. There's a link to the original post that in the "Dealer Experiences" But since this is a direct result of my persuit for a tC, and only a tC. I linked it up here for comments by other folks running into problems or great experiences buying a tC.

 

So you're the one who got the silver manual!!! :D I got a call from Universal Scion telling me that they had 3 tCs that haven't even been unloaded from the truck yet, and I should come down if I want to see one. (1 white auto, 1 silv. manual, 1 silv. auto) So, I leave my house and go to see the tCs and they haven't even put the mirrors on them! I was still in awe of such a beautiful car, but I really wanted a blue one. Anyway, it began to rain, and they set up one of the silver automatics so that I could test drive it. (I think I need more practice on a manual, but my friend insists that I'm great at it) It was awesome. I couldn't really see what the car could do, but the ride was smooth and I loved it. I thanked the salesman and left. 2 Days later, I take in my Corolla S for the 5000 mile maintenence and the same salesguy tells me that 15 minutes after I left, the silver manual was gone. The person didn't even test drive it, but just said, "I'll take it...where do I sign?" I was like, "See? I told you that one was gonna fly out of here!", and he agreed with me.

Anyway, my buying experience with Red McCombs Scion has been completely excellent so far. I've worked with all the Scion Reps. and they know me by name when I walk in there. They've been nothing but helpful and haven't treated me like I'm a stupid kid who doesn't know anything. (21 y/o female) Anyway, they quoted the arrival time to be a month to month and a half, but not even 2 weeks have gone by and they expect to have it in by the end of this week! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!

The moral of my story is, don't take your bad experiences to heart. I've had plenty of bad experiences just due to looking like I'm 16. I've had people pretend to want to help me, but I could tell that I was "wasting their time" because they thought I didn't want to buy. Just go to the dealership and tell them exactly what you want. Know more about the car than they do and they'll be more willing to help you. Work with who YOU want to work with. If you don't like a certain salesperson, ask to work with someone else, or go to a different dealership. Since I currently own a Toyota, I know a lot of the salesmen from most of the dealers in my town, and it certainly helps my next buying experience. Don't give up on a vehicle because of a salesperson. You obviously like the vehicle for a reason, and if you just give up on it, you may regret that decision in the long run. (if I only would've gotten the tC...)

- Desi

 

I've been tC hunting for the last 3 weeks. Haven't heard that much lies in my life....

Anyway, I came up with the only reasonable strategy of tC hunting - compile a least of dealerships in 100 mile or so radius, call each and every one of them, and ask if they have the car you want in stock. At the same time take note as to how much is the doc fee. If none have the car of your dreams, then the only option you have is to select the dealer with lowest doc fee and order it from them. Unless you want to make it 200mile radius...

I tried going directly to my closest dealer, they had my money for a week and did not give me a car. Another dealer had a lot of promises, but again - no car. So I sat down during my personal precious lunch break, and called all 20 or so atlanta area dealers. Low and behold, I hear - yeah, we have it. Yeah, black, yeah, 5-speed, yeah, no options, oh hold on, it has 6-disk, but it's no problem, by the time you get here, we'll swap it out for single-cd... Can you imagine my shock and awe after 3 weeks of "there are no black 5-speed tCs in southeast" and "you have to wait 2-3 months to get one" crap?

 

For what it's worth - I bought a TC right off the lot because I spent 3 months getting the run around from my Mazda dealer on the Mazda3 Hatchback I ordered.

As with any hot new affordable car there's going to be a huge demand. They advertise the car months before it comes out, underanticipate the demand, have the dealers make huge promises they can't keep, and turn off the buying public.

I literally bought a Scion across the street from the Mazda dealer I've been visiting and harassing for months.

I got lucky and picked up the exact model, color and features I wanted. The stars were aligned and it was meant to be but the notion of customizing your car and showing up to the dealer with a list is a complete farce and should be pulled from their advertising campaign.

My Toyota dealer has been very very good to me though. The entire process including test-drive, idle chitchat, trade-in, and papers took under two hours.

Wait a year and you should have no problem buying a TC off the lot (after all it *is* a 2005 model). Otherwise, expect lots of frustration and dissapointment - much like Prius buyers who are still on a 4 month wait list even though the car has been out for 3 years.

 

MACH5 quote

Yeah that's a good one...someone from NY concerned about someone else being an ___.



All of you outside the Southern California area shouldn't have any problems getting your tC's.

If you read back through this thread ALL of the problems with dealers have originated inside this OC SoCal area. From the original post...to my post and to a few others.

Also your darn right I am going to be an A--...I don't know them...they're not in my circle of friends or family. When I go to a dealer to buy a car the sales guy isn't going to give me 2% financing because he just happens to think I am a swell guy. I don't care if they have free popcorn or hotdogs...I am there looking to buy an object that is over $20,000.00. That's alot of money. For some people you have to work all year long to earn that much money. I've got a wife and 2 kids to feed and a mortgage to pay. The salesman has his objective during the negotiations and I have mine. It just so happens that these to objectives are opposed to each other.

I didn't go down there ready to squeez the salesman pocket...I am ready to pay full MSRP...no questions asked...AND THAT SHOULD BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE SALESMAN. If that is the case then our objectives are then aligned. That is what PURE PRICING is all about. But when I order a $16,000 and it comes in with all kinds of extras...clearly I am being insulted...because the sales rep is no longer concerned about getting ME a car...he has other ideas.

It's a business transaction...that is it. It is a terrible business transaction for the consumer because as soon as you drive it off the lot you lose about $2000-$3000 on the deal.

If I treated it like a FULL business transaction on Saturday...I should have told the Fleet Manager that they owe me $50.00 for my gas and time driving to the location.

 

Point of clarification......

Prius was re-designed in 2004 (current model year) and yes this car has been in high demand.

2002-2003 Prius's demand came mostly from people that were Green-conscious or technophobiacs (technology driven). I sold Toyotas in the past and '02/'03 models were hard to get rid of.

On the other hand my brother recently bought an '04 and here is current situation:

"According to Yahoo groups if you order one today you may not even get an '05 but rather an '06. Inotherwords they have orders in hand exceeding the balance of '04 and '05 production".

Bottom-line, 2004 re-design made a world of difference in terms of demand.

 

Well, I called up Penske Scion, and made damn sure I spoke to a Scion rep. Got some guy named Sean. After our conversation, he proved to be genuinely honest, and was straight with me about how they get their cars in and what they do to them when they came in. I posted a more in depth explanation on the linked thread above: https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...=224351#224351