In March I bought a 4Runner from Jacksons Toyota Automatch. The vehicle itself is great, that's why I bought a Toyota. The service and undisclosed damage where not.
The interior was filthy; it was clear that the vehicle was being used by staff members as there were animal hairs all over the rear of the vehicle and the odometer was way off from what the vehicle info listed.
Taking the car on the road, the sales woman had no idea how to use the features of the vehicle and was clearly inexperienced. She forgot to take the flag from the window which was whipping around and I had to pull over and removed it myself.
Having been looking for this model for awhile and only finding it here, I decided to overlook the experience so far and begin negotiations on the price. No adjustment was given for the added kilometers and the trade in value for my current vehicle was absolutely criminal.
She stated because it was involved in an accident it was worth almost nothing, she advised damages were $6000.00 when my invoice from the body shop clearly stated around $4100.00. Apparently all dealers use this tool so unfortunately it would be no different anywhere else.
There was some minor paint flaking on the front bumper of my trade-in vehicle, purely cosmetic, that she asked about. I advised her it started flaking shortly after I bought it. Then we had a short conversation about how the dealer wouldn't do anything to make it right and she found this strange (this part is important later).
She frequently got up to speak with other patrons and coworkers leaving me sitting for 15 minutes at a time. When she would return she kept advising "My boss is yelling at me about this deal, I'm trying to get you the best deal". The type of language you would expect from a character in used car sales commercial.
I ended up purchasing the vehicle, again because I couldn't locate another with the same trim and options I was after. I looked beyond the sales gimmicks and poor service and accepted them as just facts of life.
I was told the vehicle would be cleaned and ready before my scheduled return to work, advised they would use their best car detailers. Wasn't shocked that they didn't come through and I had to attend after work the next day and wait while the vehicle had to be fuelled and assist her with putting the plate's on the vehicle. Still found white hairs in the back after their "best" cleaned it.
I received a call from the sales women a few days later advising that she had given me a document that she wasn't supposed to and that it needed to be returned to complete the sale.
When I returned home a short while later I noticed that there was a crack in a plastic covering on the rear bumper. Upon further inspection it appeared that the side of the bumper was popped slightly, you would not have seen this unless you were looking for this exact issue. During these first few days of owning it, it had never been parked anywhere it could have been hit. It was evident that this was in a previous unreported collision despite the "clean" car fax. There are gouges at the bottom of the bumper that were waxed and cleaned and could not be seen unless you ran your hand across them.
I contacted the sales women who did not answer the phone and left a voicemail detailing the above. I not only did not receive a call regarding this, but it took her a few days to send an email with the car fax attached and a single line of text that ended with "strange...", what a professional why to address a customer concern. What was the most upsetting is that the collision my trade-in had been in looks to be exactly what happened to this vehicle. Appears that our conversation about dealers making it right was hollow, referencing the paint chips on my trade-in front bumper.
When looking through vehicle info packet with the manual and such I found the previous drivers information and the information of others who subscribe to Jackson's rewards points, just so you have piece of mind they really have you personal info secure. read more
