Deborah Serafin

Review of Modesto Toyota

WAY OVERPRICED selection of used Toyotas. I unders...

WAY OVERPRICED selection of used Toyotas. I understand that Toyotas keep their value, which is one reason I bought a Toyota before, but their prices of some of their used Toyotas are thousands above market value, and they act like I'm the dumb one, and I didn't do my homework and don't know what I'm talking about...very insulting! And 8 years earlier I'd bought my Toyota Highlander from them. You'd think they'd treat a repeat customer with more respect. They insisted the vehicle in question was aggressively priced...it would be I'd it were the highest trim level (the "Limited' trim), as was my Highlander, but they were selling a base trim level vehicle at a price only competitive with Limited trim vehicles of the same year and model. And the sales person, who was brand new, insisted I was mistaken. NOT ONLY THAT, the first salesman I dealt with took me to see the vehicles I was interested in, and after I picked one to test drive, he left me there, way out in the far end of the parking lot, because he had an appointment with a potential buyer. He told me to go back to the sales office and someone would get the keys for me. He didn't call the office and tell them he was sending me and someone should get the keys for me, he just abandoned me. When I went back to the sales office, no one was available. I got a coffee, and a hot chocolate for my daughter, and we waited. After 15 minutes, I started wondering the showroom, looming for an office with a person in it. I finally found someone and asked for him to set me up with someone who could take me for a test drive, and he was horrified that I'd been left in the car lot like that. So much so, that he brought me to a wall that had all the sales team's photos, and asked me to identify the man who'd abandoned me without calling for someone else to assist me. I felt bad pointing him out because I didn't want to get him in trouble, even though he was a moron. The second man to help me out was fine, except he knew nothing about the true/actual competitive price. He just gave his schpeel about how their cars are priced competitively, and it's a "no haggle price," and they come up with it through a computer algorithm, so the price is what it is, and it's most certainly competitive. So we left. He called me the next day to follow up, and I told him that I've been shopping for this particular year and model, and I know for a fact his base model is over priced. He said, "so you're saying it's priced too high for your budget." I corrected him and told him again it's priced higher than equivalent cars that are even 2 and 3 years newer. He repeated that he believed the issue was that the car was out of my price range. It was almost unbelievable. I thought I must not be speaking English. I became irate, and told him off, and he hasn't contacted me again, yet he still believes that I just couldn't afford his grose base model. Funny thing is, 1.5 months later, I still see his stupid vehicle for sale...no one is going to buy it at that price...not just me, "the poor single mom who can't afford his car." As if!! I would have been very happy to buy from Modesto Toyota again, as my experience buying my CPO Highlander LIMITED was very very good. But after I was treated poorly twice in one interaction, and they hadn't even run my financials yet. They could have sold me on a vehicle $10K more than the one I was looking at, but they treated me so poorly, I would never buy from them again. There's many Toyota dealerships out there, and it's very easy to drive 15 miles further and deal with people,who want your business.