From: shannah@netcom.com (Teri Miller)
Newsgroups: ba.general
Subject: Re: Comments concerning Toyota of Palo Alto?
Date: 7 Jan 93 16:20:49 GMT
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)

In article <550130@hpcc01.corp.hp.com> mbuscho@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Michelle Buscho) writes:
>
>In 1984, when I was younger and more naive, I had the misfortune to visit
>Sunnyvale Toyota on El Camino in shopping for my first car.  What offends me
>[text deleted]
>
>They also pulled some other obnoxious tactics, like having the salesman
>set a price, go off and talk to the sales manager (for a *long* time), then
>asking me to sit down with the sales manager (who couldn't look me in the eye)
>with his song and dance about how they couldn't possibly sell me a car for
>what I wanted to pay, and would I accept a lower-end model?
>
We had the same problem.  As a matter of fact, it got so bad that at one
point I *threw* the keys to their loaner car back on the table and walked
out.

They tried to wear us down by making us wait around, wait around, wait 
around, until they thought we would say anything just to get out of there
with our van.  The *only* reason I stuck it out was that I had heard, from
Toyota of Palo Alto, that the particular van we wanted was very difficult
to find, and that they would not be able to get me one - seems like they
would have been more than happy to have gotten my business, and nothing
to gain by telling me they couldn't help me....

I finally was able to close the deal without any more hassle by becoming
a flaming bitch in the middle of a crowded salesfloor.  There were several
other customers present, and I started *yelling* about the lousy treatment
I was getting.  People were staring!  At that point, FINALLY, they agreed
to honor the deal we had already made (all the deal papers were signed!) 
and get us into the finance office to sign the loan documents.

As if that weren't enough, once we got into the finance office, they tried
to talk us out of taking our credit union financing (thank you SRI!) and
taking their "rule of 78" financing, for 1/10 of 1 percent less interest
rate.  If you know about rule of 78, you know this is a bum deal.  I mean,
we are both engineers for goodness' sake - did they really think we were
*stupid*?  I mean, what if we wanted to pay off early?

I wish I had gone someplace else in the first place.  This van wasn't on
Toyota Sunnyvale's lot, anyway - they had to locate it.  No idea if they
would have allowed another dealership to take it once they had gotten it
had we walked out: we didn't take the chance.  

I *can* tell you that when I went in later to get a part from Toyota of
Palo Alto, they were nice (albeit somewhat bumbling) to deal with.  I needed
to get a seat belt extension (the hazards of being short and fat) which was
not really a usual part, so I'm not surprised it didn't go more smoothly.
In Toyota of Palo Alto's defense, one of the head salesmen came in to check
on me and see how things were going, having been alerted by the service
department that  there had been a problem....

If you ever have the chance to call the number for Toyota America Customer
Assistance (or whatever the official title is) be prepared to be pleasantly
surprised.  They were *terrific*.  Seat belt extensions are supposed to
take 3 weeks, but since I was going on vacation, they got mine to me in 
3 *days*.

At the end of it all, though, I do have to say that I absolutely love our
Previa van.  We have had it since mid-September, and have already put
10,000 miles on it.  It's so great to travel in - very comfortable and easy
to drive, and *plenty* of power for hilly driving.  So, if someone out there
is thinking about the Previa, I highly recommend test-driving one, but
please, do yourself a favor and try a different dealership than we did!

-- 
*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*
Teri Miller                    tmiller@cisco.com -or- shannah@netcom.com
*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*
Newsgroups: ba.general