Paul M Review of Toyota of Richardson
This is for pre-owned. I really wanted to enjoy my...
This is for pre-owned. I really wanted to enjoy my time here, but this was one of my worst dealer experiences. Remember to include $1,700 in base, non-negotiable dealer fees when looking at the prices of vehicles here. $695 for make-ready and $1,000 in bringing it up to date on service (see below). The most I've ever seen at a dealer.
I came in to test drive a 2006 4WD 4Runner that they had just taken in, which are pretty hard to find. Nathan was very courteous and even put the truck up on the lift for me so I could check the undercarriage. The V8 needs a timing belt every 90k miles (Toyota recommended), and since this one was at 113k I let Nathan know that either they could replace the timing belt for me (cheap for them), or they could discount the car's price by $800 (estimated cost). He told me this shouldn't be a problem and wrote it in the agreement. He also said there was a 3 month bumper-to-bumper warranty with every used car. Both of these things were false - warranty is powertrain only, and I clarified with him several times.
Besides leaving close to a dozen voicemails over two days with no calls back, Nathan went out of town the next week. When I finally had time to go in I met with Aaron, who said they actually wouldn't do anything about the timing belt (despite them charging $1000 to 'service' the car, ok) and they wouldn't discount the car even a dollar from its listed price. Ok, fine. He checks again with the service tech and it turns out the timing belt was already replaced, but with a non-OEM timing belt and not by a mechanic.
I agreed to still buy the truck if I could get it inspected by a mechanic first, which they were happy to let me do. They called on Wednesday morning to let me know it was "ready for me to drive off with", and I swear they just ran it through a car wash and wiped down the dash with a rag. Crumbs all in the seat creases, steering wheel had layers of grime, and they had done zero paint touch ups even though that was written in the agreement. I'm not super picky on this stuff but it was honestly terrible. I ended up not buying it because of pervasive rust and the sketchy timing belt issue.
TL;DR
$1,700 in dealer fees gets you an exterior car wash and oil change. Impossible to get a hold of anyone. No interest in doing manufacturer-recommended service on a used Toyota before selling. Classic over-promise & under-deliver just like most dealers out there.
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