Toyota & Scion of Santa Barbara

Toyota of Santa Barbara attempted to defraud me by manipulating monthly payments, they also illegally attempted to cancel the contract beyond the day window I recently purchased a Prius from Toyota of Santa Barbara, and during the financing process they attempted to overcharge me $more than the quoted price by manipulating the monthly paymentsI checked the math before signing the contract and discovered that the payments added up to more than we agreed, and rather than apologize, they attempted to obscure the issue and also convince me my math was wrongI was correct, however, and ultimately they shred the fraudulent contract and gave me what we verbally agreed on beforeWhen I sought an explanation for the mistake, the finance manager simply declined to comment, nor did he or the sales manager apologize Furthermore, after I already had the car for a few weeks, I received a call from the dealership saying that we had to redo the contract because of a "mistake", and after I sought an explanation, they attempted to cancel the contract, going so far as sending me a formal letter of cancellationThe contract stated that if they wished to cancel the contract, it had to be done within days, and they even stooped to backdating the letter to make it appear it was within that periodThey eventually backed down here as well and failed to give any kind of explanation As if this wasn't enough, they also lied to me about the existence of a carfax report on the vehicle (or were too incompetent to even checkIt was an unwind, and they denied it had a carfax, but after I purchased the car and checked the VIN I found out it had one afterall I have been filing complaints with the DMV, Attorney General of California, Revdex.com, and Toyota itself about this experience and I urge anyone else who experiences similar fraudulent business practices to do the sameI have no faith in the integrity of this dealership, at least in so far as my dealings with Sales Manager Frank Fand Finance Manager Dan Gare concernedThe dealership even lied to the DMV investigator, stating that they caught the monthly payment overcharge, not me My experience reeked of a dealership that intentionally and systematically attempts to defraud its customersThere were too many acts of deception to merit the benefit of the doubt in my opinionI am sure that there are plenty of good people working here on the lower levels of the business, but I believe this dealership should be shut downI hope their business practices are audited in the near future I also recommend that anyone who has recently purchased a vehicle from this dealership take a careful look at their monthly payments on their contract and see if they add up to what they verbally agreed on as the total cost prior to entering financingMy bet is many do notI probably would have written a positive review too had I not checked the math!

Complaint: I am rejecting this response because: Did they insult, mistreat me and reject car repairing because I didn't purchase the car from Toyota Santa Barbara or I am not an American? Toyota Santa Barbara is avoiding talking about their faults and pretend to they didn't do wrong things Already I mentioned about my complaints They were so rude and insult me(if you listen attached audio file you can know) Their made mistakes - first they replaced the alternator (May Monday) but it wasn't problemso they replaced my original alternator back and apologized it - After changing belt and radiator They return my car after days ( May 23th Friday) even they tried to rip me off when I complained about overcharging They refunded it without say sorry - Original problem I went to the Toyota Santa Barbara was hissing soundbut They returned my car without fixing but they told all set Because of lasting hissing sound(How they didn't fix a problem, and change other things)When I went there again.(May 27th Tuesday) They ask me change alternator again It's a contradiction and inconsistency last week they already replaced an alternator, they said it wasn't an alternator problem and apologized it But they force me change the alternator when I declined that they ask me get out of there and scared me If they admitted their mistakes and said sorry, I would understand their mistakes, instead of that they mistreated me and kick me out They are unprofessional - They were so rude and ignored me because I am not a native speaker - They did wrong diagnosis again and againbut they didn't admit their faults and shift their responsibility on my car - They are incompetent : anyway I was kicked outThey didn't fix hissing sound days later when I drove on the freeway, my car's front hood started moving, looked like almost openedIt was so dangerousI stopped on the shoulder road and checked itThere were screwdrivers in my hood and hood wasn't closed Toyota Santa Barbara gave me screwdrivers and scary experience By the way, I went to other private garage to fix hissing soundFortunately, They got rid of hissing sound without replacing the alternatorso my car is good now ( As Toyota Santa Barbara said at the first time, it was not an alternator problems) This shows Toyota Santa Barbara is incompetent and unprofessionalBut I don't care about their technician level But their service mind and attitude to customers should be improved I have many references to prove their insult and faultsIf you need I will send Regards, [redacted] ***

The customer did not purchase the used Toyota Sienna with over 90,miles from Toyota of Santa BarbaraUnfortunately, the vehicle he acquired approximately eight months ago had mechanical problems when he acquired it and has since developed more
problems
Toyota of Santa Barbara did not cause the mechanical problems Mr***’s vehicle has
In the interest of customer satisfaction, and wanting to earn a new customer, we performed complimentary diagnosis on several occasions and the majority of recommended repairs were declined by customerAlso, we also provided a complimentary rental car for the customer when extra time was needed to resolve a noise concern coming from belts/alternator and when replacing the radiator
At this point we consider the matter closed

Toyota of Santa Barbara attempted to defraud me by manipulating monthly payments, they also illegally attempted to cancel the contract beyond the 10 day window.
I recently purchased a 2015 Prius from Toyota of Santa Barbara, and during the financing process they attempted to overcharge me $2000 more than the quoted price by manipulating the monthly payments. I checked the math before signing the contract and discovered that the payments added up to more than we agreed, and rather than apologize, they attempted to obscure the issue and also convince me my math was wrong. I was correct, however, and ultimately they shred the fraudulent contract and gave me what we verbally agreed on before. When I sought an explanation for the mistake, the finance manager simply declined to comment, nor did he or the sales manager apologize.
Furthermore, after I already had the car for a few weeks, I received a call from the dealership saying that we had to redo the contract because of a "mistake", and after I sought an explanation, they attempted to cancel the contract, going so far as sending me a formal letter of cancellation. The contract stated that if they wished to cancel the contract, it had to be done within 10 days, and they even stooped to backdating the letter to make it appear it was within that period. They eventually backed down here as well and failed to give any kind of explanation.
As if this wasn't enough, they also lied to me about the existence of a carfax report on the vehicle (or were too incompetent to even check. It was an unwind, and they denied it had a carfax, but after I purchased the car and checked the VIN I found out it had one afterall.
I have been filing complaints with the DMV, Attorney General of California, Revdex.com, and Toyota itself about this experience and I urge anyone else who experiences similar fraudulent business practices to do the same. I have no faith in the integrity of this dealership, at least in so far as my dealings with Sales Manager Frank F. and Finance Manager Dan G. are concerned. The dealership even lied to the DMV investigator, stating that they caught the monthly payment overcharge, not me.
My experience reeked of a dealership that intentionally and systematically attempts to defraud its customers. There were too many acts of deception to merit the benefit of the doubt in my opinion. I am sure that there are plenty of good people working here on the lower levels of the business, but I believe this dealership should be shut down. I hope their business practices are audited in the near future.
I also recommend that anyone who has recently purchased a vehicle from this dealership take a careful look at their monthly payments on their contract and see if they add up to what they verbally agreed on as the total cost prior to entering financing. My bet is many do not. I probably would have written a positive review too had I not checked the math!

Complaint: 10070351
I am rejecting this response because:
 
 
Did they insult, mistreat me and reject car repairing because I didn't purchase the car from Toyota Santa Barbara or I am not an American?
 
Toyota Santa Barbara is avoiding talking about their faults and pretend to they didn't do wrong things.    
 
 
Already I mentioned about my complaints.  
 
 
1. They were so rude and insult me(if you listen attached audio file you can know) 
 
2. Their made mistakes 
  - first they replaced the alternator (May 19 Monday) but it wasn't problem. so they replaced my original alternator back and  apologized it.
  - After changing belt and radiator They return my car after 5 days ( May 23th Friday)  even they tried to rip me off.  when I complained about overcharging
     They refunded it without  say sorry
  - Original problem I went to the Toyota Santa Barbara was hissing sound. but They returned my car without fixing but they told all set.
 
3. Because of lasting hissing sound(How they didn't fix a problem, and change other things). When I went there again.(May 27th Tuesday)
    They ask me change alternator again.  It's a contradiction and inconsistency.  last week they already replaced an alternator, they  said it wasn't an alternator problem
    and  apologized it. 
    But they force me change the alternator when I declined that they ask me get out of there and scared me.   If they admitted their mistakes and said sorry, 
    I would understand their mistakes, instead of that they mistreated me and kick me out.  
 
4. They are unprofessional.
    - They were so rude and ignored me because I am not a native speaker.  
    - They did wrong diagnosis  again and again. but they didn't admit their faults and shift their responsibility on my car
    - They are incompetent : anyway I was kicked out. They didn't fix hissing sound.  2 days later when I drove on the freeway, my car's front hood started moving, 
       looked like almost opened. It was so dangerous. I stopped on the shoulder road and checked it. There were 2 screwdrivers in my hood and hood wasn't closed.
       Toyota Santa Barbara gave me 2 screwdrivers and scary experience. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    By the way,  I went to other private garage to fix hissing sound. Fortunately, They got rid of hissing sound without replacing the alternator. so my car is good now. 
    ( As Toyota Santa Barbara said at the first time, it was not an alternator problems)   
    This shows Toyota Santa Barbara is  incompetent and unprofessional. But I don't care about their technician level. 
    But their service mind and attitude to customers should be improved. 
 
I have many references to prove their insult and faults. If you need I will send. 
 
Regards,
[redacted]

Customer’s husband jump started the car backwards causing damage to fuses and electrical components. Customer then took the vehicle to her independent mechanic who replaced fuses and...

battery that customer provided from O’Rielys Auto Parts. The independent mechanic was unable to properly diagnose/repair the electrical failure.
 
The customer had the vehicle towed into Toyota of Santa Barbara. Toyota Master Hybrid Technician (TMHT) became available to assess and retrace prior independent technician’s diagnostic work and procedures. TMHT was not told what fuses the independent replaced.
 
Customer states in the complaint that the dealership had to replace the battery and the fuses. That statement is incorrect. We replaced fuses and tested the battery. Advised customer the battery was fine and did not require replacing.
 
TMHT found relay, located under vehicle fuse box, was damaged. TMHT had to replace relay to access ECU to pull and diagnose error codes. Trouble codes indicated “internal failure in power inverter assembly”. Needed two more hours diagnostic to have access to inverter assembly to confirm error codes from ECU.
 
Inverter assembly part was $4,000, plus labor. Customer wanted to think about it and look at possibly trading in her vehicle and buying a new car. Service Director took customer to General Manager to help with possible purchase.
 
After a few days of customer considering her options, and customer doing online research, customer located and purchased a used inverter assembly.
 
Customer dropped off the used inverter assembly to dealership on Thursday, 5/26/16 for dealership to perform repairs.  Vehicle repair should be completed by end of day Tuesday, 5/31/16 – IF the inverter assembly customer provided is functional and there are no other electrical problems that were caused by the reverse jump start.
 
Customer has been working with our Service Director, K[redacted].

Review: Last week, Wednesday (May 14th, 2014), my 2008 Toyota Sienna had an engine oil leak so I had the oil hose replaced at Toyota Santa Barbara. After replacing the oil hose, a hissing sound came out. May 19th (Monday)I went to Toyota Santa Barbara again on Monday (May 19th). I thought they might have touched another part when they changed the oil hose. However, they told me that I had to change the alternator (about $560) so I had the alternator replaced. May 20 (Tuesday)On Tuesday, they called me to tell me that the alternator was not the problem. That the hissing sound was still there after changing the alternator; that it was a belt problem. So they changed the belt. (I was a little bit disappointed about the incompetent technician) and they told me that they found water leaking from the radiator, so if I didn't replace it, the car would stop on me. As I hesitated to replace the radiator, they offered a discount for the radiator because they had already disassembled my car in order to replace the alternator. Staff, BRI told me, The original price for radiator will be $870 but they will discount the labor so it will cost around $400 so the entire price (both belt and radiator) are still cheaper than replacing the alternator. So I took their offer and had to replace the radiator. In the evening, they lent me a small compact rental car (not a minivan) at their cost because the radiator had to be ordered. May 21th (Wednesday)On Wednesday, they called again that they could not fix the car until that day because the radiator was out of stock. I had to wait. I told them I had to be out of town on late Thursday or early Friday so that the repair should be completed by Thursday night. They promised that, it would be done by then. May 22th (Thursday)I trusted Toyota and waited but they called me on Thursday afternoon again and they told me there was some problem with the new replaced radiator. As I had told them before, I repeated that I had to leave Thursday night on a family trip. I went to the dealer shop and met the service Director, Kristy Flannigan. She bluntly told me there are two ways I could handle this problem: 1) pay for another rental car on my own if I want to travel or 2) Postpone the trip and return tomorrow to pick up my car. I had not driven my car which was disassembled and parked at the SB Toyota since Monday. Because of this, I was inconvenienced and I spent extra money for rental car parking at my work. But Service Director Kristy told me it was not their fault so they wouldn't do anything for me about the extra rental (so was it my fault??). I was really upset. If they had told me that they couldn't finish the repairs by Thursday I wouldn't have approve the repair. I had already booked everything for the trip. They spoiled my family trip and upset my family as well. May 23th (Friday)I canceled the first day of the trip and waited until my car was fixed. Around noon, BRI called me to let me know that they had fixed it so I went to the SB Toyota dealership to pick up my car. I expected to pay about $500 but they charged me $750. As I mentioned Tuesdays conversation about the labor discount, she stated, I didnt say that. I don't remember." BRI was lying. The Service Director, Kristy told me, There is no more conversation. Pay the bill for $750 or leave the car here. Money was not the important thing here. I was so disappointed in their attitude and about their lies. I paid the $750 and left because I didnt want to argue with them anymore. Later, I found that they charged me the rental car cost. When I went back and asked about rental cost, they refunded me the rental fee without saying that they were sorry. Even my younger daughter knows that she should say 'sorry' when she makes a mistake. SB Toyota staff dont even know that. What if I hadn't noticed that they had charged me the rental fee for the loan car? May 27th (Tuesday)During weekend, the car still was the same hissing noise again.Even though I didnt want to go to Santa Barbara Toyota any more due to their unprofessional behavior, since it was the original problem, on Tuesday (May 27th) I reluctantly went to the dealer shop for the after-service visit. That afternoon, BRI told me that the problem was the alternator which was rusty and that I needed to have it replaced to remove the noise. Does it make sense??? Last week, they replaced the original alternator because of they said that it wasnt the problem and they only changed the belt. They told me the alternator was fine after then they replaced the radiator. However, they didnt make the repair before Thursday which they promised so I had to cancel the first day of my trip. Then they said the alternator had a problem again?????? Were they kidding me? I was annoyed but I asked BRI to explain it to me in more detail. She explained both the belt and the alternator were the problem. Although they replaced belt, they found that the alternator was still the problem.I was surprised about their incompetence and excessive mistakes. They were not professional. I asked her about the Friday situation, It means that you returned the car to me without getting rid of the noise, you just replaced radiator? If they did that, they should take responsibility for the poor result. However, instead of answering, she asked me whether I wanted to replace the alternator or not. Money is no object but I didnt want to spend any more money on shameless dealers. As I declined to replace the alternator, they didnt want to listen to me anymore and didnt try to explain the problems. They wanted me to sign the work order form, but there was no mention about last weeks alternator removal and return. I asked them to include that procedure and they declined. The service director told me, We dont really want to do business with you. and kicked me out. They told me, I suggest you move out of this private property and called police even though at the same time theDesired Settlement: - Service director, Kristy and Staff BRIs sincere apologies in person. - fixing my car (I wont pay for replacing alternator) - compensate for psychological damages and any inconvenience (spoiling family trip, expensive parking fee etc) - effort to prevent the recurrence of accidents

Business

Response:

The customer did not purchase the used 2008 Toyota Sienna with over 90,000 miles from Toyota of Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, the vehicle he acquired approximately eight months ago had mechanical problems when he acquired it and has since developed more problems.

Toyota of Santa Barbara did not cause the mechanical problems Mr. [redacted]’s vehicle has.

In the interest of customer satisfaction, and wanting to earn a new customer, we performed complimentary diagnosis on several occasions and the majority of recommended repairs were declined by customer. Also, we also provided a complimentary rental car for the customer when extra time was needed to resolve a noise concern coming from belts/alternator and when replacing the radiator.

At this point we consider the matter closed.

Consumer

Response:

Review: 10070351

I am rejecting this response because:

Toyota of Santa Barbara attempted to defraud me by manipulating monthly payments, they also illegally attempted to cancel the contract beyond the 10 day window.

I recently purchased a 2015 Prius from Toyota of Santa Barbara, and during the financing process they attempted to overcharge me $2000 more than the quoted price by manipulating the monthly payments. I checked the math before signing the contract and discovered that the payments added up to more than we agreed, and rather than apologize, they attempted to obscure the issue and also convince me my math was wrong. I was correct, however, and ultimately they shred the fraudulent contract and gave me what we verbally agreed on before. When I sought an explanation for the mistake, the finance manager simply declined to comment, nor did he or the sales manager apologize.

Furthermore, after I already had the car for a few weeks, I received a call from the dealership saying that we had to redo the contract because of a "mistake", and after I sought an explanation, they attempted to cancel the contract, going so far as sending me a formal letter of cancellation. The contract stated that if they wished to cancel the contract, it had to be done within 10 days, and they even stooped to backdating the letter to make it appear it was within that period. They eventually backed down here as well and failed to give any kind of explanation.

As if this wasn't enough, they also lied to me about the existence of a carfax report on the vehicle (or were too incompetent to even check. It was an unwind, and they denied it had a carfax, but after I purchased the car and checked the VIN I found out it had one afterall.

I have been filing complaints with the DMV, Attorney General of California, Revdex.com, and Toyota itself about this experience and I urge anyone else who experiences similar fraudulent business practices to do the same. I have no faith in the integrity of this dealership, at least in so far as my dealings with Sales Manager Frank F. and Finance Manager Dan G. are concerned. The dealership even lied to the DMV investigator, stating that they caught the monthly payment overcharge, not me.

My experience reeked of a dealership that intentionally and systematically attempts to defraud its customers. There were too many acts of deception to merit the benefit of the doubt in my opinion. I am sure that there are plenty of good people working here on the lower levels of the business, but I believe this dealership should be shut down. I hope their business practices are audited in the near future.

I also recommend that anyone who has recently purchased a vehicle from this dealership take a careful look at their monthly payments on their contract and see if they add up to what they verbally agreed on as the total cost prior to entering financing. My bet is many do not. I probably would have written a positive review too had I not checked the math!