It's Just One Little Letter "s" - Corolland: the Toyota Corolla Forums

Friar_Nurgle

Hi everyone,

Purchased a 2007 Corolla S couple weeks ago. 400 miles and Very Happy... except when I bought the car I made a big stink about the floormats being different than those in the brochure. The red "S" was missing. The dealer folded and agreed to order the the "S" floormats and removed the ones that came with the car, they just say Corolla without the "S". Couple weeks later and the Parts Manager gives me a call stating the floormats are in. I ask him if they have the pretty little red "S". He goes and checks and low and behold they are the exact same fraking floormats they took out of the car, no "S". Needless to say I am not pleased. The Parts Manager believes they are no longer available but isn't sure. Me being me, I contact Toyota and after a few transfers I confirm the darn things are discontinued. Stinks the brochure is wrong, but their disclamer covers that... however the dealership agreed to get me the "S" floormats. Either they did a bait-n-switch to make the sale or made an honest mistake. Either way I'm not pleased and awaiting a call back from the sales guy and/or sales manager. Now that my rant is done... what are your thoughts, experiences, or advice given my situation????

Thanks

Dave

Sometimes they list accessories that are available only on overseas models - you may be able to get them from oversea's source. Sounds like the dealership is trying to make the situation work for you - my dealership wouldn't even have gone that far. Similar thing happened to some early 8th gen units - some accessories were not available or discontinued before the car even made it to the showroom. Unfortunantely, not a whole lot you can do about it. Some dealerships (not a Toyota one) have gone so far as custom making an accessory to please the customer - see if your dealership is willing to have the OEM floormats customized for you.

Speaking of the "S" , I was looking for the S emblem for the 2001-2002 Corolla but I couldn't find it. =/ I could only find the ones for 2003+ . Either they don't sell them or I cannot find it.

Speaking of the "S" , I was looking for the S emblem for the 2001-2002 Corolla but I couldn't find it. =/ I could only find the ones for 2003+ . Either they don't sell them or I cannot find it.

IMO the 03+ S looks better. Had I got a 01-02 S I'd replace it with a 03+ version.

What does "S" stand for?

S = Sport

Unfortunantly, not much "sport" other than the appearance package. Too bad - most other competitors offer real performance differences with their "sport" trim models.

I thougt it stans for sh.t.

The floor mats from Toyota are the crappiest. Just get a rubber (mats).

Try the all weather Toyota mats or Weathertech.

1,424 posts

Hi everyone,
Purchased a 2007 Corolla S couple weeks ago. 400 miles and Very Happy... except when I bought the car I made a big stink about the floormats being different than those in the brochure. The red "S" was missing. The dealer folded and agreed to order the the "S" floormats and removed the ones that came with the car, they just say Corolla without the "S". Couple weeks later and the Parts Manager gives me a call stating the floormats are in. I ask him if they have the pretty little red "S". He goes and checks and low and behold they are the exact same fraking floormats they took out of the car, no "S". Needless to say I am not pleased. The Parts Manager believes they are no longer available but isn't sure. Me being me, I contact Toyota and after a few transfers I confirm the darn things are discontinued. Stinks the brochure is wrong, but their disclamer covers that... however the dealership agreed to get me the "S" floormats. Either they did a bait-n-switch to make the sale or made an honest mistake. Either way I'm not pleased and awaiting a call back from the sales guy and/or sales manager. Now that my rant is done... what are your thoughts, experiences, or advice given my situation????
Thanks
Dave

Dave,

I custom ordered my '05 LE. When I ordered it I specified the 15" six spoke alloy wheels. After many months wait, the car came in with 15" five spoke wheels. The dealer tried to pull the, "well Toyota made a change in wheel style during the production cycle, which they reserve the right to do and there is nothing we can do about it" card.

My response to that was this:

Get me the 6 spoke wheels or I'm not taking the car. I told you when I ordered my car that if it came in and anything on it wasn't exactly what I ordered I would not take it, and I really meant it. If you don't have the wheels on my car today, I'll drive to the Honda dealer and buy a Civic with all the equipment I want.

At that point my dealer picked up the phone. He called a Toyota dealer in Cincinnati and asked them to swap one Corolla that they had with the right wheels for a Corolla they had. They agreed, I got my wheels.

Feel lucky you have a Toyota dealer that is willing to work with you. I sure do. If I had ordered a Focus and it came in wrong, my local Ford dealer would have not done anything to make it right, even if it meant swapping out something as simple as a stereo.

Something as simple as a floor mat is easy to change and often the type of thing that they switch suppliers on in mid year or eliminate embroidery in order to save money. Another example of this is the chrome door handles. In the brochure I looked at, all LE had chrome door handles. Mine doesn't, and neither does any other 2005 + Corolla LE I've looked at. Of course I didn't care about the door handles enough to make them swap that.

-the99contour

Friar_Nurgle

All worked out...

Dealership was pretty good at compensating me for my troubles. Instead of the discontinued "S" floormats they agreed to:

* The regular floormats, which kudos to my sales guy keeping at his desk

* The matching trunk mat

* The sport pedals (they had to order them, I'll let you know my thoughts when their installed)

* $97.00 credit at the parts dept (due to retuning the floormats believed to be the "S" ones ordered in my name woohoo!)

Not an "everything but the kitchen sink" list I first asked for due to the screw up, but I atleast I also still have a complaint log at Toyota that might result in some freebies and the $97 credit at the parts dept. Not sure what else to get. Too bad they don't offer the Ipod links through the dealer. Maybe I'll settle for the doorsill enhancements, a cargo holder, or a bra. Anythoughts? Also got them to agree to replace one of my rims without question due to a defect pit less than 1/8 inch in dia I noticed while detailing the car over the weekend. Granted I'm sure they would have replaced it, but now I have it in writting and don't have to worry about explaining or debating it to the service guys. Oh and regarding the poor wearability of the floormats, I already have some nice black grey pattern carpet reminants that I picked up for a couple bucks eack. I highly recomend anyone looking for floormats to hit their local carpet store and pick up some reminants. They normally are happy to sell them for a buck or two. At that cost it's hard to beat especially when you can sometimes find pretty nice patterns that can spruce up your car.

TTL

Dave

Generally speaking,

Brochures are made long before production of the vehicle starts.

Marketing will use proto-type vehicles for the photo-shoots.

As a supplier, we some-times do not have the new Model Year parts available (last min change, etc). Yet, we need to get something in.

We try to get the closest thing in, but sometimes, we end up having to negotiate with the customer (the OE) for a compromise.

Knowing this, OEs need to put in the disclaimer. It is a HUGE deal to change the brochures. Therefore, its a huge deal to get the "correct" part in, but sometimes, sh*t happens.

As for the Dealer,

Dave,

Contour,

Congrats, you found a good dealer to work with!

Like Contour mentioned, I have dealt with some a$$hole dealers, where I will NEVER go back to.

tdk.

Hi Friar

If I may add my 2 cents, whatever you do, don't ever put a hood bra or deflector on your car. The bra will give you paint discoloration and holds moisture as well. The hood deflector/visor traps grit and crap underneath it, and this will wear on the paint and metal like sandpaper.

Unfortunately, I am speaking through personal experience default_sad