Performance Toyota was the first dealership we had visited in which someone seemed eager to help. The salesman, Joe, saw us looking for a vehicle for our daughter. He asked what she was looking for, in which our daughter had an idea for an SUV. She wasn't necessarily open to purchasing a car, but was willing to give it a test drive. Unfortunately, this was when the entire experience shifted.
Joe was friendly and showed us a couple of vehicles which were close to the building. She test drove a 2020 Corolla, which was cramped, and already 5 years old. She also test drove a 2017 Highlander, which was 8 years old. Joe kept asking us (over and over), what would the down payment be. Finally, my wife told him, so he would stop asking. Joe told us how Toyota would take care of the vehicle if our daughter were to purchase the Gold Warranty. This would extend the remaining warranty on the vehicle. Our daughter said she did not want to pay for a Gold Warranty on a vehicle that had used up some years of its warranty. After this, Joe went to get the paperwork showing the prices, while my wife took a call outside. Joe became noticeably restless and asked how long she would be. I told him they would return as soon, but this was not good enough for him. He walked outside to see what "took her so long". My wife returned, visibly upset. Joe went to the manager and returned with the cost.
We were all astounded at the extremely high price they wanted for the 2017 Highlander. Our daughter did not like the price and asked if they had any other SUVs. Instead of showing her other SUVs at a better price, he tried showing her a "Camary" on his laptop. He was irritated that she said this, and said he would go to his manager and try to get a better price. Joe came back and said his manager would only take $500 off.
Some problems we had: 1. He left again to talk to his manager, while our daughter was getting a drink from the vending machine. She witnessed them relaxing, chatting and ignoring the fact there were customers waiting on them. (We were in hour 4 at this point).
2. Joe returned to us with the prices and terms, but we noticed whenever he left for the manager, he would not leave the paper/document on the table.
The last time he tried this, my wife asked to see the paper he had (face down), on the table. Reluctantly, he flipped it over, and we discovered they were "moving the numbers around". "Moving the numbers around" is inflating a price just to create the illusion of a discount. Ex: This item is $24,000 on the sticker, but we will take $500 off the price. We inflate the price to $24,500, which means the discount is worthless. At this point, the discount is purely for show.
When we realized what they had done...(especially the second one), we realized we were in the WRONG place. Joe walked off again, and we left.
I warn everyone, please save yourself hours of grief:
DO NOT GIVE THIS PLACE YOUR TIME OR MONEY.
Happy ending: Due to this, we went to a different brand/dealership and our daughter purchased an excellent SUV. read more