I drove several hours from out of state to look at a Toyota 4Runner. I made the long journey to buy…read morethe car but It was bait and switch. So many undisclosed issues like paint issues, loose front bumper, loud wheel bearing/worn tire, alignment.
When I mentioned that the vehicle wasn't as described, Blake said "it is expected for a used $28k vehicle to not be perfect." While that statement is true, I was not looking for a perfect car, I was looking for a reasonable car.
I then told them that I would need a discount to repair the undisclosed issues the vehicle had. They said they cannot go down, In fact, if they do, it would mean a lower tradein value for my vehicle which ultimately means they did nothing to help the situation and literally tried to even it out.
Test drive began with salesman Blake driving to a convenient store parking lot, then he asked me to switch seats so I could test drive. He mentioned it was their policy that only the salesperson drive the vehicle out of the lot, then allowing the customer to test drive it back to their lot. Never heard of this before and seems disingenuous to not allow the full round trip for the customer to test out a $28k vehicle.
I then requested to speak to the sales manager. Mr Blake, the salesman who assisted me went back and forth from his desk to the managers office, ultimately returning with the same results.
I was advised the manager is "currently working on multiple things and is busy." Which tells me he doesn't want to own up to the dealership's mistakes and accommodate a sitting customer with funds ready on hand.Just to clarify, Blake sent me a short walkaround video, where he began pointing at a couple areas on the hood where paint was touched up, however, I evidently found out that the paint used was the wrong shade of white. The vehicle had a pearl white paint exterior and the touch up paint was a base white, which is different. It wasn't even done correctly with a tiny brush, it was smeared with someone's finger, as they glided the wrong paint around the rock chips, but failed to fill the crater left by the chip itself.
After pointing at the hood, Blake cotninued to talk about the features it has. What I was more concerned with, is the rest of the body's condition. After not disclosing the remaining issues, I was certain he would stand by any shortcomings from hiding the new issues i found out about. Finally, when I arrived, I saw it pulled up to the front of the dealership. I immediately saw the front paint damage that was touched up on the hood, however, they discounted the severity of the problem, because there were multiple areas with touch up paint, including the hood, driver's front door, the tailgate, and more.
I also noticed that the front bumper was separating from the top corners, indicative of prior replacement (fit and finish won't be like Toyota), loose rivets, or the vehicle may have recently collided with an object or another car. Yes, it had a "clean" Carfax with 3 owners but I do not trust carfax since not everything gets reported. Carfax works for the dealer, not you.
The finance manager "Guillermo" said he'd rather sell it locally there when I mentioned that I would appreciate it if they could work with me on a deal, since I am a committed buyer driving far (8hrs). This is the same Guillermo who had to be educated on why prepaid maintenance program is also honored at my local Toyota. He wanted to charge me a fee in the selling price, not allow me to opt out, and still require me to drive 8hrs for this service plan which includes oil changes and tire rotations. Blake corrected him, rightfully so, but the alarming fact is that he was certain he was right in the first place. Considering his position as "finance manager" Guillermo should have known better. A bit condescending and arrogant in my assessment.
salesman was kind and responsive to my questions but it would have been nice to know those things before driving 8hrs. I don't recommend Wills Toyota for used cars if you don't want hidden problems and disappointments. What a shame.
