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Saturday, September 26, 2009

Toyota Purchase – Was I wrong?

Because my wife and I wanted to become "campers," we tried to purchase a new Toyota Tundra with enough towing capacity to meet our needs. Unfortunately, things went wrong with the dealer. The first time we tried to take delivery, the "tonneau" cover installed was not the model we thought we had agreed to. As a result, we rejected the truck and walked on the deal.

The next day, the sales manager called and offered to make things right. He did, however, state it would take two weeks for the cover to come in. While not ideal, it was not unreasonable. Unfortunately, when we arrived to pick up the truck, it was missing the steps that were part of the deal. Simply put, I was not happy.

While running an errand at lunch, I went by the dealership and noticed the problem. To make sure things were right this time, I called the salesman and expressed my concern. He said he told the service department that it had to be installed by 5pm.

When we arrived to pick up the vehicle, I could see them washing it for delivery but the steps were not installed. The salesman said they told the steps were on backorder. He offered to add it to the "we owe" list. I said no and the deal did not close.

Was I wrong to believe the dealer owed me a call BEFORE I showed up to discuss the problem? Had they told me before I arrived, I might have agreed to delay closing or accepting the truck as it.

In terms of our new strategy, we decided to defer the purchase for some time. My current vehicle is reliable transportation. For camping, we will tent camp or rent an RV.

1 comment:

Finance Junkie said...

Sounds like an unprofessional dealership. Next time you buy a vehicle, you might want to use truecar.com.