THE BAD:
My wife purchased a brand new 2005 Rav4 L from Larry H Miller in 2005. (Karl Malone)
What a nightmare that was, the salesmen are hard sales to an extreme and are cutthroat in their ethics (or lack their of).
They told my wife who wanted a manual Rav4 and not an auto that if she wants a manual transition she would have to wait a minimum of 6 months for one to be shipped from Japan, more likely 8 months they said.
Well that kind of smells funny to me first of all.
Next up the one salesmen proceeded to flirt with my wife in front of me and brushed her hair, been new in the country from South Africa I sat there wondering to myself if this is normal in American culture while wanting to do as I would have back home, sending him to ICU.
Anyhow price was agreed on for taxes, dealer fees...you name it.
There was a $300.00 dollar rebate, which they stated would be mailed to her as a check.
While going over the finance agreement she noticed that the price was $300.00 more than agreed on.
When we asked what this was about, they stated it was for window etching.
We argued the point and they refused to back down, so we got up to leave, suddenly they agreed to remove the window etching cost.
All went fine and we where told that the leather seating and butt warmers that we paid $1800.00 extra for would be installed at our house in a week or so.
Two to three weeks later when checking up on the leather seats we are then suddenly told that we must bring the car in which we will loose for the day.
We took the car down in the morning and asked for a loaner, "We have no loaners available" was the reply from the dealership, but we will hire you a rental.
After waiting more than 1.5 hours we where taken down to the rental place who then proceeded to tell us that it is our responsibility to ensure that the car is returned with a full tank of gas or we would have to pay fines.
At this point I was really not a happy camper, but the best was still to come.
Remember that $300.00 window etching that we "didn’t pay for", well the $300.00 rebate was never ever sent, and so in actual fact we did pay for it.
Now they know nothing about the rebate, funny isn’t it?
Next up, got the car back with the leather throughout, everything looks great.... one problem...
The car was taken to another dealership a while later for a major service, we then find out that the leather is NOT LEATHER but is "pleather". (fake)
I refuse to even spit in the direction of anything with "Larry H Miller on".
Now for the good, my car purchase:
I went down to Mark Miller Toyota (not anything to do with Larry H Miller).
I had not established much credit in the US so not many dealerships where willing to help.
My cars of interest were the Scion Tc and Toyota Corolla.
The salesman was a pleasure to work with and didn’t try to force me into anything I was not interested in.
He suggested the lower priced Yaris instead of the Scion Tc.
When I didn’t show much interest in that, he got me into a brand new 2007 Corolla S and they organized financing for me as well.
All letters to me from the dealership are written and signed by hand, something that adds a far more personal touch.
They have really treated me very well and are always happy to assist with any issues I may have.
The dealerships in this country leave a lot to be desired for me.
Back home Toyota Japan now have taken over from Toyota South Africa.
When you buy a Toyota from a dealership, you buy from Toyota themselves.
When you have a complaint, it goes to Toyota, not some idiot billionaire like Larry H who doesnt care.
A complaint back home makes heads roll and gets problems fixed very quickly.
The same goes for all other brands from VW, AUDI, and BMW.... the list goes on.
I have the same piece of mind with Mark Miller Toyota that I have with Algoa Toyota back home.
And with the issues I've had with car sharks here that says a lot.
If you in the Salt Lake are and are looking for a Toyota, I highly recommend them.
Cheers
Sheldon