pufbox

For many years I owned a Volkswagen GTI and I had a terrible VW dealership. So I switched over to Toyota hoping the car will be more reliable and the dealership better. Well I guess I can hope for a reliable car cause this dealership sucks just as bad as the VW one did. Heres the story..

I bought a new xB and was told that my rear spoiler and wheels would be put on it the next day. They also showed me a picture of what the wheels would look like. Well, the next day came and I was told to wait one more day.. then that turned into "sorry, they won't be in for a week."

Ok, so I wait a week and call back. Opps, we forgot to order your items, check back in two weeks. ... Two weeks later, "Your stuff is here, come in on saterday (today) to get it put on".

So I arrive there today. The guy tells me they will install the spoiler and wheels by the end of the day. I arrive back at the dealership at 5:00 and I'm told that the spoiler got put on but opps, they really didn't have the wheels yet. Please wait two more weeks.

THIS IS REDICULOUS!!!!

Now the sales manager is telling me the wheels I will eventually get don't look anything like the ones in the picture from the day I bought the car. I have made 2 car payments and I still don't have all the equipment I'm paying for.

OldYeller

Why in the world would you buy wheels from the dealer???

pufbox

From what I have seen most people here have bought their wheels from the dealer. Be it the 19" TRD ones or the 16" optional wheels. Why would I not want to buy wheels from the dealer and let the cost get rolled into my payment? And sorry, you are catching me at a time that I'm very ____ed off right now.

SimpleNature

Not getting the wheels you orderd is a serious violation of the fair business practices. Sounds to me like they're shopping around for the best deal to screw you with and the wheels are on a slow boat from China. I'd park my butt in the finance witch's chair and tell her in no uncertain terms you want a refund for those wheels credited to your load or you will be filing a complain with the BBB and filing a report with the consumer alerts. At the very least, get in touch with the Scion hotline and file the complain so it will be tracked (not that they will do much about it). Do you have a reference to the wheels they promised you? Is it the ones in the TRD options or in their color glossy broshure? They are borrowing your money and agencies don't take kindly to this.

c0ld

I think he was meaning that anything you get at the dealer is way over-priced and usually you can find the same or better items alot cheaper aftermarket but, that said, if your just rolling the cost of the new rims into the finance over 5 years may as well just do it that way. Although, your look isn't going to be all that "unique" being alot of other owners will be getting the exact same rims and spoiler. Bad enough the paint color choices are relatively limited but to get the factory upgrade rims also is gonna make you blend rather then stand out. Just my opinion here...

tC9o9

The reason oldyeller asked you that question was because :

1) its a stealership, anything they sell you will be overpriced ten fold.

2) its a stealership, anything they sell you will be overpriced ten fold.

3) because of your situation, its a stealership, anything they sell you will be overpriced ten fold.

i would honestly complain, basically cancel your order, and go to TRDSPARKS.COM

thats BS, from what i have read, you are waiting more than a month for something that should be IN STOCK.

equinox2355

pufbox, as far as the spoiler goes, I know that there is a shortage due to toyota not predicting the amount of people who wanted the spoiler...

I know someone personally at the dealer who is the scion tech / parts guy, and the sales people had promised a customer that it would be able to be installed within a week, and the part still didnt come in, it was on emergency back order.... as far as I know, thats for all dealers over here, if not across the states. The sales guy said it'd be installed monday, but the part wasnt in yet, so they drove like 75 miles to get it installed, took the day off, and he couldnt do anything because the parts werent in.

Yes the sales person was wrong for quoting the time he did, but with parts, sometimes its a coin toss...

SimpleNature

That's right... you don't want to get scre#'d by the dealer... you want to get scre#'d by the aftermarket parts retailer... Why pay $15- for an oil filter you can have for $11.95... Or a radiator cap for $37.56 that can be had for $31.55 [Plus S/H and general annoyance fee (GAF)]

BTW: these are the two offerings that Scion offers and one of these is what you should be getting: The part numbers should be on your invoice or build sheet.


16" P/N PT904-52080

19" P/N PTR20-52080

oh, and don't forget the special deal on the wheel mounting hardware... Add $90-
P/N PTR27-52081

XBFred

try this, tell them to write you a check for the amount you paid for the wheels and then go get them yourself. It will still be in your payment and you can probably get a better deal on wheels yourself. They should also be doing whatever it takes to make you happy. Call Scion.

SimpleNature

They just refer you back to the dealer. The only good thing about the resolution center is that they record incindents which can later be used in step 3 of dispute resolutions. It will also help determine which dealerships are are just plain worthless although we won't ever know about the "avoid" list.

They will talk with the dealers for you but in general, they accept any song and dance the dealer gives them. Again... it is worth while to get commitments and conversatioons recorded. It won't always be recorded the way that you see it, however.

All in all, this "Customer Care!" concept is more propaganda to sell cars. Every state has pretty strong consumer protection laws. The dispute resolution process was implemented primarily to protect the brand from being dragged through the various databases. Most people just give up way before they ever reach the impartial decision process (step 3). And dealers really don't want to end up in court (at their expense) when they can easily work something out with Scion/Toyota on returned or otherwise imperfect parts or equipment.

Sometimes it just becomes a game with the individual salesman to see how badly they can 'break' the customer. It's a sick game that gets to them all eventually (personal take on salesmen here!). My advise, get to know the parts-counter person and, if at all possible, the mechanic (put their name on the work order!). That way you will get the straight story... every time.

pufbox

I like that Idea about asking for a check and then going to get the wheels myself. I'm sure they won't do it though.

And please don't get me wrong, I did give these guys the benefit of the doubt. But after being told FIVE times that the wheels would be in, and actually setting up an appointment and leaving the car there, then getting let down again, by now I'm just done with them.

Ok.. heres the kicker though, I didn't mention this before. Yesterday the sales manager told me that when I bought the car I actually paid for the 16" wheels. But he felt sorry for me because the salesman promised me 18" wheels so he let it slip by him and he ordered me 18" wheels out of pity.

OMG what an jerk!

Now he's just giving me a line of crap, probably so I can't come back later and ask for my money back for the 18" wheels.

Anyway, here are the wheels I will be getting one day. Probably four years from now. http://www.trdsparks.com/displaypart...&parts_id=1519

Whispaz

wow, not everyone in a dealership is a theif. I used to work at one.
Most are but not everyone, and you need to find a better dealership. The one I worked at (Acura of Boston) ordered parts and had them delivered next day. They also had about 40 techs so a job got done when promised.

XBFred

It has been way overdue, talk to them and let them know you will in three days from now for your wheels or your check.

I would also call your bank and let them know that the wheels are in the contract and you have not received them, then whoever regulates dealerships, In CA it is DMV and report the incident and then the better business bureau.

Let them know that have until Wed. for either the check or the wheels or you will have to proceed i this manner. Be nice as you can, but sounds like you have exhausted your other options

ZOMGXB

...on the plus side, you switched car makes for the right reason!

Toyota Vs. Volkswagen in terms of reliability? YOU MADE THE RIGHT DECISION :D Welcome to the family! *group hug*

I'm really sorry you're going through all this crap - it must be super-frustrating. Do you know anybody who likes yelling at customer-service people? I ask because I'm about to turn my crazy sister-in-law loose on the body shop that was "repairing" my Gen 1 (and put a gigantic scratch in the BRAND-NEW BUMPER), and I fully expect them to buy me a new car just out of fear.

Some people just aren't cut out for screaming like a crazy person.......you seem to be TOO nice, because by this point most of us would have driven through the dealership's windows at 55 MPH. ;)

How did you pay? A credit card company will help you dispute the transaction. Just call them and tell them it's for merchandise you STILL haven't gotten.

XPRESSCION

I order accessories from my dealer's parts department. Toyota Parts warehouse in Illinois would receive the order the next day and if ordered before the dealer's daily order time (I think it was 12:00 pm), Toyota would ship it out that same day. So you'll get your order in two days unless if the part was on "National Backorder" and parts department would call me and let me know.

What I thought was pretty organized, was when you wanted to order accessories while buying the car.

The dealer I went to was Carmax; since they do their loan applications over a computer program. You go through about five or six different steps for this program and once you get accepted for a loan, you'll go on this once step that shows massive large chart of all the accessories. And if you wanted something added onto your loan...the sales consultants are able to go back to the loan step and show the payment difference. Like I wanted the Ground effects kit, it was 9xx.xx and it made $2.00 change to my payments. Then I added Lip Spoiler, fog lights, and remote starter. And I was able to make appointments with service at the same time. They didn't screw up on ordering and installing.


So not all dealers are unorganized! I've also bought TRD accessory from Sparks Toyota online...I had no problems with them. In fact, they might get more future business from me again.

pufbox

I went down there and talked to the sales manager. He said that he was going to get back to me on Monday and let me know when the wheels will be available. He also said he would think of some way to "make it up" to me.

So, for right now I'm just going to wait until Monday afternoon and give him a call. If he actually does something good for me then I'll just wait for these wheels a little longer. If he comes back and says three free oil changes or something stupid like that then I'll tell him I need to take it up with the bank, general manager, BBB, etc.

SimpleNature

Sounds like you got you rmind straight around this by now, Pufbox... Here is something that may help put it in perspective... The salesman put 16" wheels on the order which means no special tires. That is why this is an $799- option rather than the nearly $2000- option for the 19" wheels. So, if in fact you are getting 18's with 18" skins for ~$800 they have pretty much made up for their goof. The only thing they could add to that is to give you your original wheels and tires back so you can ebay them or something.

XPRESSCION... I wish we had dealerships like that around here. A place where things just "flow" like they're suppose to.

...and I do appologize for my harsh statement to the few sales-persons on this board who do geneously wish to help us get the most out of our cars and buying experiences. I do appreciate you being here on the board.

I for one have had my fill with my purchase experience and Scion. It is a very bad thing when you get to know your salesman's phone number by heart!

andrewdustin

man i am right there with you. the toyota dealer near me is a prime example of how any business should not be run. they are all idiots who know nothing about the cars they are selling and would rather tell customers lies than tell the truth that they don't know anything. i hope it all works out and remember avoid dealerships at all costs.

p.s. my father is a general manager of a dealership so i speak on first hand experience, they are all crooks!!!

uberspeed

Sorry to hear. For those telling him to be patient, I completely disagree. I'm a nice guy, and we tend to finish last. I've been shedding that nice guy atttiude, it seems the only to get what you PAID for. Sad.
The issue isn't that something is on backorder, the issue is they misled him initially and keep lying throughout.
If they would have set his expectations straight from the start, he would have had the option at that point to wait or get things elsewhere. They made promises, they LIED. Period.

Sidenote:
I came from VW too, and the car itself was awesome. I modded it a great deal and ran it hard, never gave me a problem. The engines are great and respond very well to modding. Not sure where they got their rep for being crappy cars, but I know my experience refutes it.

draxcaliber

who buys rims from dealerships? the only dealership i order from is trd sparks. sorry your dealership sucks, time to get a refund. my deaerlship, fitzmall is pretty decent. have a separate site just for toyota/scion's. it is great.