Recent dealer experience

[Davey90]

I ordered a 2.0 Icon Tech Corolla a few weeks ago through my local dealer and everything went pretty smoothly.

Fast forward to last week and they rang me to say Toyota are no longer building the Icon Tech with the 2.0 and I'd need to pick a new grade. I asked for quotes for a 1.8 Icon Tech and Design and they were more expensive than my original order (of which I already placed a deposit for).

I challenged them on the increased price and the salesmen said he was going to raise it with his manager, then out of the blue today they said Toyota are suddenly doing the 2.0 in the Icon Tech and my original order is going ahead - I've now got confirmation in the MyT app too.

Was this a case of the dealer trying to squeeze a bit more cash out of me? Or do Toyota change their grade combinations at short notice? Feels a bit dodgy.

[FROSTYBALLS]

30 minutes ago, Davey90 said:

Or do Toyota change their grade combinations at short notice?

No.

[Woofwoof]

Very dodgy 

there was nothing in the website about this

[Roy124]

Might be 'you want a red saloon' he has  'silver hatch'. If he can get you to buy what he has rather than what you want, he wins.  If it costs him less, win-win. 

I had this with a spoiler I wanted.  Dealer had a car without a spoiler.  The spoiler was the deal breaker.  He did a swap with another dealer. 

Only take a substitute if the deal is in your favour. 

[twintopp]

be careful , dealer sounds dodgy. contact toyota directly and ask them what`s going on.

[Davey90]

14 hours ago, twintopp said:

be careful , dealer sounds dodgy. contact toyota directly and ask them what`s going on.

I've emailed Toyota with a full summary of what went on. This dealership is the same franchise as my 3 nearest Toyota dealers, so I'm stuck with them for the long term which is frustrating.

[trashman1965]

1 hour ago, Davey90 said:

I've emailed Toyota with a full summary of what went on. This dealership is the same franchise as my 3 nearest Toyota dealers, so I'm stuck with them for the long term which is frustrating.

Don't assume that - always be prepared to vote with your feet. I no longer use my local dealer and travel 1 hour+ to another dealer who treated me way better. I did reluctantly use the local dealer for service in March as did partner for a recall on her Mk4. The service team were always good, it was sales team that messed us about....and they started ringing and ringing us both after using the service dept and got told the same sorry story every time. Finally they got the message.

 

Long/short - you can buy where you choose and then up to you where you get service/warranty work done. For me, wherever possible, I give the service and warranty work to the dealer I bought from (the 2 occasions above being due to lockdown restrictions)

[50p]

My experience was my local dealer was not great.

When I was looking for my Corolla I saw one that had everything I wanted, a 6 month old Excel (demonstrator) with pan roof, but it was over 100 miles away. Thought I would give my local dealer a chance, had a test drive but wasn't really the colour or spec I was after. I told the salesman about the one I was interested in and he said they could get hold of any car for me, including the one 100 miles away, even though it was a different dealership!!?? He retreated into the back room to speak to the manager, returning some time later only to tell me the car had been sold but he could order me a new Design model with pan roof, as this was a feature I particularly wanted. This was March 2020 so vehicles for sale second hand with a pan roof were quite rare. I told the salesman it was more than I was willing to pay and he was insistant I would not do better anywhere else. I telephoned the dealer 100 miles away to check and he said the car was still for sale and they had received no call from my local dealer!! That is the one I ended up purchasing, a better spec than a new design and cheaper.

[FROSTYBALLS]

After two disappointing experiences with my local dealer (at the time part of the Sytner group), the final straw, was when we'd booked a test drive in an Auris, the sales staff weren't expecting us, and took us out in a customer's new car that was being collected by the customer the next day.

I bought our last three Toyotas from a dealer about 20 miles away, and had them serviced there as well.

Having said that we've had disappointing experiences with VW dealers and a Mitsubishi dealer where staff couldn't be bothered to approach me when I went into their showrooms to arrange test drives.

When we wanted to change one of our Mazdas, we'd arranged a test drive at the dealership we'd bought our last three cars from. We turned up, and the salesperson had gone out with another customer. None of the remaining sales staff wanted to know - so we bought our first Hyundai and never returned to Mazda. 

So you get good and bad dealers with any marque. 

[50p]

5 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

So you get good and bad dealers with any marque. 

true .. I had bad experiences from VW and Lexus too!

[APS]

14 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

So you get good and bad dealers with any marque.

+1 on Toyota bad experiences and two different VW dealerships. Lexus has always served us well ...so far

I'm not sure sales reps realise how big a difference they can make to customers' experience and eventual decision.

[50p]

55 minutes ago, APS said:

+1 on Toyota bad experiences and two different VW dealerships. Lexus has always served us well ...so far

I'm not sure sales reps realise how big a difference they can make to customers' experience and eventual decision.

I was interested in a Lexus CT200h, until I found that they were a prime target for CAT thieves. I went to a Lexus dealer to look at a UX250h, mentioned my concern to which he replied the UX doesn't have a CAT!!!! Yes it does but not so accessible.

[Red_Corolla]

Not a saloon, is it? That's the only shape that doesn't get the 2.0 engine.

[Davey90]

10 minutes ago, Red_Corolla said:

Not a saloon, is it? That's the only shape that doesn't get the 2.0 engine.

No, it's the Hatchback.