New FJ, despite Hayward Toyota's failure to commit...
No thanks to Hayward Toyota (CA), I've got my FJ after 3 months of waiting.
On April 24th, I put in an order w/ Philip Anderson of Hayward Toyota. For my trade in, I was given a quote by Will Amiri, who prices trade ins. I asked that Philip write it down after he assured me that the number would be honored when my FJ would arrive, some time in 5 to 8 weeks. I left them w/ a $500 deposit. The trade in value was very good, good enough that I could wait a few months.
After that visit, I received no updates/phone calls, despite the fact that Philip called me at least once a day before I gave a deposit. Over the course of 3 months, I got very non-committal responses on the status of my vehicle. On July 9, I got notice from Philip that my vehicle was at port, waiting on options to be installed. Delivery would be 2 weeks worst case. On July 19th, I got the call I'd been waiting months for, my vehicle was ready. I went in on July 20th, ready to trade in my car and drive my FJ home. After about 1.5 hours of filling paperwork and waiting, Philip returns saying that Will now is pricing my trade in at $2500 less than previously promised. (Philip did have record of my original number.) I lost my marbles, vented, and walked out the door. Shortly after, I left a message w/ AutoNation (Hayward's owner) about my issue. On July 17, I received a call from Lance, Hayward's GM. He was courteous, and promised to get back to me after he investigated the issue. He called back and admitted they made a mistake and quoted me MSRP for trade in. This is why I HATE dealing w/ car dealers. These are the types of dealers that keep the stereotype alive.
Yesterday I closed a deal for a much lower trade in but with much more courteous sales staff at Magnussen Toyota in Palo Alto. I was willing to take the hit vs Hayward because there was no way I was going to give them my business, even if it meant me losing some trade in value. I value service to the customer above all else.
Today I finally have my Sun Fusion FJ at a bit lower cost than my original order. First stop is to the tire shop to trade up for my 285 BFGs. Finally, I can join the club...
Don't go to Putnam Toyota in Burlingame. They literally kicked my parents and I out because we were trying to throw in a roof rack and step tubes into the deal.
They said, "Leave and keep driving your Jeep".
Stevens Creek Toyota, they straight up hung up on me when I asked for a specific Tacoma.
ToyotaSunnyvale and Toyota 101 are sweet, I have also heard good things about Toyota of Palo Alto.
I'm new to this forum, and it seems there are a lot of dealers who are being slammed for the poor way they handle purchasing customers. Maybe they could learn a thing or two from Lexus...I have half a dozen friends who own Lexus's in different parts of the country...all rave about their dealers. Can anyone recommend a high quality dealer Toyota dealer in Arizona? Thanks.
to find a northern cali toyota dealer that i like. tracy toyota wasted my time, and the guy that helped me was just an idoit. drove a half hour to get there because the guy told me he had just received a fully loaded 4x4 auto FJ on the lot. got there, the only thing that was accurate about his statement was it was silver, 4x4, auto, nothing else. plain jane. so i was like dude, thats not even cool. he came out and had a used car dealer appraise my truck and took a copy of my registration. then i told him to give me a call and let me know what was going on with a new FJ on the way. waited an hour for that idiot to track down my registration that he took. do yourself a favor people and never go there, or east bay bmw.
I'm new to this forum, and it seems there are a lot of dealers who are being slammed for the poor way they handle purchasing customers. Maybe they could learn a thing or two from Lexus...I have half a dozen friends who own Lexus's in different parts of the country...all rave about their dealers. Can anyone recommend a high quality dealer Toyota dealer in Arizona? Thanks.
niello bmw in sacramento, ca is awesome. best dealer we have ever dealt with. we call them, tell them what we want. within a week the have one at our house with the paperwork. and we are like an hour away. best customer service as far as i'm concerned.
Don't go to Putnam Toyota in Burlingame. They literally kicked my parents and I out because we were trying to throw in a roof rack and step tubes into the deal.
They said, "Leave and keep driving your Jeep".
Stevens Creek Toyota, they straight up hung up on me when I asked for a specific Tacoma.
ToyotaSunnyvale and Toyota 101 are sweet, I have also heard good things about Toyota of Palo Alto.
thanks for the heads up. i am in northern cali and in the market for a FJ. i think i am going to end up getting one from stockton toyota.
Went to Hayward Toyota today and they have a FJ in stock (MUST have manual trans). hmmm.... how quickly do I need to jump on this? I would be trading in my 04 Tacoma TRD 4WD SR5, whaaah!! Love my truck, but my tall 2 year old is about to kick me out of gear and infant seats are pretty much a no-go in the access cab. Well, too bad FJs don't come with TRD yet. So, how are you all liking your FJs??.........
Just wanted to let you know that my experience with buying my FJ was flawless.I bought it from Walnutcreek Toyota ,Ca .The staff was very nice and the FJ i was looking for with all the options that i wanted they had in stock.I had to drive 100 miles to get there but it was worth it.Whatever you do don't go to Pierce Toyota.I called them told them what i wanted they said yeah we have it.When i showed up of course they didn't have the FJ in the color i wanted nor the options that they said it had.I figured what the hell i would see what kind of price i could get and while i was sitting down and asking questions.The dealer seamed like i was wasting his time and when i leaned forward and looked at his computer out of the corner of my eye i could see he was playing solitare.Walked out with there quote looked around on the internet and found Walnutcreek Toyota had the best price with only 500 over dealer cost.No haggling about price and all the staff was very nice.If you live in nothern california i would give them a call.Hope this might help someone get the FJ they want.
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