Jeremy Hall

Review of Peterson auto group

We recently bought two Corollas at Peterson. Alex...

We recently bought two Corollas at Peterson. Alex was our sales guy and I can only say good things about him. The first one we bought used and it was a quick and smooth transaction. From test drive to driving away with financing completed was only a couple of hours. The second one we bought new and it was a bit different of an experience. It did take a very long time to get delivered, which I do understand was not Peterson's fault. Alex did a great job at keeping me informed of the progress and answering my constant questions during the wait. He deserves a big kudos for putting up with me!

Where the frustration really comes in is when I got to the financing office. I had already secured my own financing through my credit union on this one, but wanted to see if Toyota financing could beat the rate with a promotion or some other deal. They did not, so I pulled out the check from my CU to just pay for it, and I was told they do not accept "vouchers" from credit unions. (This was literally a check, not some kind of IOU, all they had to do was cash/deposit it as if it were a personal check.) He said they only allow dealer financing on new vehicles and claimed it was due to them getting a reduced number of new vehicles from the manufacturer if they don't require Toyota financing. I almost cancelled the deal, and I was literally told "Ok, we'll issue a refund for your deposit and you can walk away from it. It's no problem if that's what you want to do."

If there is any truth to the reason behind requiring their own financing, then this needs to be disclosed up front. I put a lot of time into finding my own financing and getting the best rates, and I even paid overnight fees to get the check to me on time. I then had to go through the hassle of getting the credit union loan changed over to a refinance, basically starting the process over, in order to get my original rate. It is unprofessional, if not unethical, to force a buyer into a higher interest loan without disclosing that requirement at the beginning of the transaction.