Patrick Schuchardt

Review of Round Rock Toyota

I had a mixed experience at RR Toyota. We are (or ...

I had a mixed experience at RR Toyota. We are (or were) customers since 2011 and bought and leased 5 cars there. Usually at the end of my lease I visit the dealership and see what is out there and what options I have turning in the current lease.
Every time the turn-in was a breeze, give up my current car, get a new lease.
This time I was made very anxious about the excessive mileage on my current car (about 15k over). I was absolutely aware of the conditions and prepared to pay the penalty (0.15c/mile), but I was suddenly strongly encouraged to get an inspection prior the end of lease-which has never happened before (though that might be a new policy).
The salesman, though clearly said it is my choice, throw a number at me which outright shocked me.
They made a small inspection right that day and guessed it could be easily several thousand dollars -a bill which would be send to me in several weeks after Toyota inspect the car properly.
He mentioned that tires are below 4mm, curb-wheels, many scratches longer than a credit card, rust (!) on the sunroof and so on. Those things were mentioned by the salesman as guaranteed costs I have to cover . And even if I schedule the real inspection, it can be weeks before the results, which means outcome unknown at the end of my lease.
I did not see it the same way. I drive my cars very carefully and this car had no more wear and tear than the 4 others before.
He clearly tried to make me trade-in the lease and get a new one, instead of just letting the lease end.

I was then very nervous and bought a new set of tires. I scheduled an appointment for the official Toyota Financing end-of-lease-inspection and the result was: normal wear and tear, $0 due at end of lease . That result was available that day!
Imagine I would have gone for that trade-in option and paid over$6000 just to avoid potential higher costs.
I admit tires were down, but the whole episode was just not right. How come the dealership estimates thousands in potential costs and the official result is $0? Now I am not even sure if the new set of tires was necessary.
My second negative experience was the online quoting. I requested prices from 4 different dealers in my area. All other three, except RR Toyota, came back with good and solid offers. RR Toyota just tried to call and asked to come in without giving out prices. Maybe they thought they are on the safe side with me.
Still I was about to stick with RR Toyota if prices were right. I wanted a certain model and asked when it would be available. The answer was beginning of May - about three weeks from the time of the request.
A smart salesman would have said if we agree on the price we can get you that car within 24hours .
Other annoying issues: Inexperienced sales person during test drive, too frequent annoying calls about when I can come in, online agent cannot give out prices (other Toyota dealser could within minutes) and cannot transfer me to person I talked before, online agent took over an hour to check inventory.
Anyhow, I was frustrated by that time and went to a Toyota dealer 8 miles away. They absolutely honored the online offer, we skipped the whole painful back-and-forth negotiation and I drove off with the car I wanted that day.
RR Toyota dropped the ball on me several times in the last few weeks and I doubt I will go back there.
I do not name any of the sales people I worked with, because I think it would be unfair. I believe it is a question of practice, how those guys are trained and how the whole team is managed.
Sincerity is an attribute I honor most, but I can obviously not find this here at RR Toyota.