Deceptive, opportunistic, fraudulent
On Wednesday, April 2nd, I went to Toyota of Escondido with the intention of purchasing a car. They were the first Toyota dealership I visited, and my overall experience was not good. The sales people I interacted seemed friendly, but that’s just sales people being sales people. Friendly, but deceptive, opportunistic, and honestly, engaging in fraudulent practices.
Going into this dealership, I knew what car I wanted down to the trim, color, and accessories/packages. I knew around how much it would cost with taxes and fees included. I did my research of which matching cars were in stock at the various dealerships, which were in transit, and which were in building phase.
First, they had trouble finding me the car I wanted at any phase. They told me I would have to settle with letting go of either the trim, color, or certain accessories; I couldn’t have all 3 (not true).
Second, they left no room for negotiation, their sticker prices are surcharged when other Toyota dealerships in my area are not, and they added other mysterious miscellaneous charges during the closing process. They were firm on their prices even though their sticker prices were $2-4k more than other dealerships for nearly identical cars. And the out the door price they gave me was $6-8k more than other dealerships. They wouldn’t let me take home the price breakdown or even let me look at it for an adequate amount of time before pressuring me to make a decision. I’m assuming they added other charges they didn’t want me to see.
Third, they used the tariffs as an excuse to pressure people to buy now, telling me the next shipment of cars are going have the increased sticker prices. They also, used that as an excuse to not budge on their prices. Normally, I would accept this excuse, but Toyota specifically said they would not raise prices due to the tariffs. So they were straight up lying to get people to buy their overpriced cars.
Lastly, I came in with my own financing. I specifically told this to each person I worked with and that I did not want my credit pulled. The first lady said it would only be a soft inquiry, which I would have been agreeable to. But this was a lie. The second guy told me a hard inquiry was mandatory. I told him I still did not want my credit pulled, and he pressured me to sign the consent for a hard inquiry, citing security reasons and that it was mandatory if I wanted to buy a car, which was not true. They used my credit to see if they could offer me a better interest rate. They had me sign that form under false pretenses, which is not only lying, it’s fraudulent. I tried to get them to rescind the inquiry (it’s possible), but no reply. They’re lucky I don’t have enough money to bring a civil suit, otherwise I’d sue.
There were many other little things that pissed me off, but these were the main things.
I understand sales tactics and all dealerships use them, but to continually push despite being told no numerous times and using straight up lies and fraud to try to make the sale and have people use their financing doesn’t sit right with me.
I’ve had better experiences with Toyota of Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Poway, Kearny Mesa, and a few others not in San Diego County.
I will no longer do business with this dealership; not even for maintenance on my new or old Toyota vehicles. And, I firmly do not recommend this Toyota Dealership. Certainly not to my friends nor my family.