A Painful Buying Experience

March 23, 2004

This is the good place to get the useful information from folks and I also would like to share my bad experience with folks to let people keep alert when they deal with the same or similar situation.

At about 11:00 AM on March 20, 2004, I called the salesman in Jim Lynch Toyota Dealership in St. Louis, MO and asked him if he could beat the price $17228 for a 2004 LE, 4 dr., 4 cylinder, automatic silver Camry with ABS, JBL system and floor & trunk mats. He said he COULD and he had an exact car I was looking for and offered me at $17128. At about 1:00 PM on my half way to the Dealership, I called that salesman again to make sure that Camry with those options still available. He said YES. At about 1:00 pm I met the salesman, did the test drive and sat down with the salesman. He filled out the purchasing form with the price that he offered me on the phone, then he went to the general manager to get approved. At this moment I was happy to get a good deal. However, two minutes late, the salesman came back to me with the price $17687. I was shocked and asked the salesman what was going on. He said the general manager approved the previous price at $17228 for me when I called him on the phone, but he didn’t approve now and increased price with $559 more. I told him I wanted talk the general manager. The general manager came in and told me I didn’t know how to negotiate the price. I said, “ If you had told this earlier on the phone, I wouldn’t have bothered to come to your dealership now.” At 2:37 PM, I left Jim Lynch Toyota Dealership with disappointment.

I finally end up with Seeger Toyota Dealership in St. Louis, MO for a 2004 Camry. Seeger Toyota offered very good price and service. They are very professional and honest! I highly recommend!!!