Last weekend my wife and I purchased a BRAND NEW 2010 Toyota Highlander Limited with DVD, Nav, Backup camera, the works. LOVE this vehicle. HATE the dealership. Why?... please continue reading.

We had been deciding on an SUV to purchase and finally narrowed it down to the highlander. We arrived Thursday morning (Day before my wife's birthday and our weekend trip to the beach) and did all the usual BS to work out financing. They find the one with everything we want just an hour north at another Toyota Dealership. they say they can have a driver go out that same day and pick it up and have it ready for us to drive off the lot the next morning.

Come morning we get a call at birthday breakfast that the driver never made it out last night and that she had just left the dealership at about 8:30 am. Now saying the vehicle wouldn't arrive until about 1pm. I am a man of my word. If i say I am going to do something, I will do it. Needless to say I'm upset. We decided to wait for our new car to take on the trip, so we arrived at the dealership at 1:15 and the Highlander is STILL not there. They say It's an hour out.... WHAT?!?!?!?!? We told 'em we're going to get some lunch and that it had better be there when we get back and they assure us it will.

2:30pm rolls around along with us to the dealership. STILL no car. We are very angry at this point as we did not plan on hanging out at the dealership on my wife's birthday. And the fact that we have two kids that are getting tired and asking why we aren't at the beach yet just made it that much more frustrating.

Car finally arrives at 3pm and we jet. The sales manager offered another tank of gas and detailing when we get back which we are like its the LEAST you can do at this point.
NOW THIS IS WHERE I GET VERY VERY VERY PISSED.

So my wife took the car in yesterday for the detailing. I look at it this morning and there are swirl marks ALL over the car. The vehicle IS BLACK. I understand that they are more apparent on this color than any other... overtime, NOT IN ONE WASH. It looks as if they wiped the dirt off the car DRY.... Forcefully! There are also two deeper scratches on the front fender. All looks to be clear coat but still. Now I have to go back and have this figured out. Meaning I'm not leaving until it's back to the way we bought it.

Anyone that has purchased a black car new.. maybe like some NBP owners here please share any comments and/or experiences. I'll take some pics when she gets home tonight. Car looks like the paint is at least 2 years old now.

Should I have them try to fix it or do it myself? I'm afraid they're gonna get screw something else up. What did I learn here?

Wash it myself, just like I always have.

 

Return the shitty Toyota, I wouldn't deal with that terrible customer service. Sorry for your bad experience.

 

upgrade to a MDX! xD

 

TRUST ME, I really wanted the MDX and we looked at that long and hard! Spending another 8-10k was just impossible. Having a car payment almost as much as your mortgage would be ridiculous.

 

I had a similar experience with them saying they will pick up a car for me and it just never happened. They went to pick it up but it was sold within the day the driver went to get it for me to look at.

I would have the dealer fix the swirls and scratches, or tell them you will hae it fixed and send them the bill from a true detailer. A new black car should be black, swirl free, in excellent shape. Hope everything works out.

 

I would return the car. Their is no way in hell you should keep the car. You should just find another car or go too another dealership. Do you have to buy new? I'm telling you, those MDX's are beast. Beautiful interior and exterior and its safer than the TL. Don't go Toyota when your Acura has treated you well

07-08 MDX go for about 26-32k. MDX all the way

 

Sorry about your experience. Have the dealership fix it all, bitch, moan, complain just have them get it right!

I ran into the same type of ordeal when my ex and I went to buy her Mazdaspeed 3. The dealer was getting it from their "warehouse." Turns out it was another dealer (they could have just said it was a dealer trade). Then came financing, we wanted to go through our credit union and they said they deal with them as well (another lie) we use Valley CU, they tried to have us sign the papers all nonchalant with Valley ONE CU (the whole time acting as if this was the same place and confirming with us it was till we saw the name on the paperwork), we said no and started walking, they knocked another $500 off the car.

Then they told us there is no "Mazda factory extended warranty" when they pushed their upsales, that's what we wanted. Another lie, there was/is. They tried to have us buy a third party warranty which we weren't having at all. So they finally "found" the contracts for Mazda's warranty since they never "sell" them they weren't readily available. It left a sour taste in my mouth with all the bullshit. Total old school no respect type of stealership.

Long story short they offered us three gas vouchers, detailing, etc in exchange for not destroying them on the survey. I told them to kick rocks.

Fuck you Menlo Mazda.

 

That's why the last time I took the car to the dealership, I strapped a sign on my steering wheel that said, "DO NOT WASH ME" in big bold neon colors, becuase the last time I took the car in, I told them not to wash it, and they claimed to have put it on the notes... Car came back, not only washed, but with fricken scratches on EVERY FREAKING PANEL of the car. Including a very deep scratch on the rear quarter panel that looked like whoever washed the car was wearing a long bracelet which got caught under the sponge...

I was beyond livid. They offered to detail the car, but I told them that judging by their wash job, if they detailed it, it would probably come back with burn marks and or swirls everywhere.... I spent the entire next weekend polishing/buffing out the scratches myself...

Needless to say, when I brought my car in with the sign strapped to the steering wheel, the car was not washed when they were done servicing my car.

 

Give them the car back-no dealership should treat a buyer like that. Tell them they can have their SUV and swirls and have a nice day.




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def. stay with the acura family. get a used 07-08 mdx with the tech pack<--hope that is within budget. but yeah i would give hell at that dealership, trying to pull a fast one when they already fucked up in the first place.

 

My ass isn't leaving until it looks the way it did when we took it off the lot

Wife wanted new, I looked at slightly used but she wouldn't go for it.

I will complete that list of things to do.. trust me

That's actually a really good idea, i was planning on telling them not to wash it when i go and get maintenance ( 2 years ) but this will make sure they don't do it. Thanks for the tip!

It will probably just be leaving the swirls behind... i hope

Keep in mind this is my WIFE's car. She's happy with it, so I'm happy... swirl free of course . I don't see myself straying away from Acura anytime soon. When the time comes to get a new car for ME I'm sure it will be an acura... as long as the buck tooth phase has passed then.

Thanks for the comments guys! I am really looking forward to going to the dealership tomorrow to blow off some steam.

 

you are not supposed to buff out new paint for several months
a PROFESSIONAL shop detailer can fix the swirls- not the shop kid that did it last time

when a dealer says another dealer has the car you want, drive to the dealer that has it- they will happily take care of you in person -they dont make as much selling to another dealer as they do selling it to you!

the car wash kid may be a bright energetic kid in school,,, or may be a minimum wage person who doesnt know how or care about rinsing the wash equipment, or they have a drive thru car wash and dirty rags to dry off,, then squeeze it into a half a parking stall and hope for the best when opening door---oooops

If leaving a `no wash` note- leave in english and whatever the main 2nd language is for your area,,,dont assume that same scratch maker reads english!!

 

lol, good idea, didn't think of that... Maybe next time, instead of writing "DO NOT WASH ME", I'll put a picture of a person washing the car, with a big red slash/circle around it, lol

 

Sorry to hear OP.... yeah its hard for me to trust dealerships. I can't believe stealerships like that can stay in business with considering how bad word of mouth spreads so quickly. I'm interested to see what happens today.

Sorry to hear Ira. I'll let anyone know in case they're looking for a Mazda in that area.

 

even then if they throw free gas vouchers, detailing etc..they're still lying to you even then. "free my ass"

 

There is a very good possibility unless the dealer sends it out to a pro thier $8 hr detailer will try to use a rotary on it with a dirty pad and the swirls will be gone but it will be full of holgrams that will show up after 2 washes and the heavy glaze they used on it wears off.

At that point they will say you did it washing it.

 

Uh, you can polish the finish the day you buy the car if you want. Finishes are baked at the factory prior to leaving. You can polish and seal the same day you buy the car. Do NOT have to wait months.

 

wow what dicks return it or go to a goood detailing place the good thing bout swirls is they can be removed/hidden

 

Like I said above .. you don't want them hidden as they just return.

 

It's a Toyota and you bought it from a stealership...enough said.

 

Check out their yelp reviews lol that shoulda been a red flag, but back in '07 the speed3s were new and no one was dealing. These assholes quoted us invoice....

 

Nothing in life is "free."

 

Just DIY.

To be honest, I personally wouldn't have bought a car sight unseen without inspecting it myself. You signed the papers and they took their old sweet time getting you the car.

 

NOTHING was final until we drove it off the lot. When it arrived we had every right to say no and walk away. We inspected it when it arrived making sure it was what we were expecting.

We had looked at the EXACT same model just different color so we knew what we were getting.

 

^ OK. I didn't get that impression from your first post i.e. you did all the paperwork AFTER you had been waiting and waiting at the dealership on your wife's bday with your upset children.

 

Shouldn't this be in cartalk?

Good luck with everything OP... sucks to have a negative experience so soon with the new car!

 

So I finally got back from the dealership and the swirls are for the most part gone. the deeper scratches that were in the front passenger side fender are still very visible. They're "Experts" will be in tomorrow through friday so I will be showing up to see what they can do.

From the looks of it they will most likely have to take away some clear coat
If I'm not happy 100% they agreed we could take the next step and have it repainted. So many things running through my head just trying to make the right decision.

Here are some pictures from this morning before i went to the dealership. Please keep in mind the car was dirty as it has been raining ALOT.

This is the Drivers side mirror


Passenger side rear door





Deeper scratches on the passenger side front fender (only ones still visible)

 

Repainted??? It's brand new... I'd be on the phone with Toyota right now!

 

This is why I don't buy new cars. When you buy used you just don't care about some small scratches.

 

Bring it back and dont settle for anything less than the way it was when you bought it.

 

That was how he brought it .

 

Phone Toyota immediately and inform them of the problem. Record who you spoke to and the nature of the conversation. No longer deal with the sales manager or salesperson, or anyone other than the owner or dealer principal it the store is under control of another firm.

Be firm in what you want and don't settle for anything less. If it was me, I would argue to return the vehicle for a full refund. If you continue to try to resolve the matter with half-assed repairs it will only get worse.

I've been through this experience personally, and I can tell you that the sooner you get it resolved the better. I eventually returned the truck and a new one ordered.



Terry

 

Damn man...I see you're in the 'Couv. What dealership did this?

If you want to bring the car down to Portland I can see what I can do about some of those scratches.

 

McCord's Toyota. Purchase and damage was done there. Do you do this kind of stuff at work or at home?

 

two more fixes and if its not corrected u can lemon it

 

I detail on the side at home and have done work for AZine members. I maintain a very small, select group of clients and focus on the individual vehicle rather than trying to get as many as I can. Quality over quantity, every time.

Shoot me a PM if you're interested; I can show you some of my work.

 

Make them buy the car back. There are plenty of ways you make them take it if they say they wont at first.

 

Any decent detail dept. can remove swirl marks. Perhaps the original dealer is the one responsible for the swirl marks. Shouldn't be a big deal as long as the dealer you bought it from has a decent detail dept. Nobody died so it's not the end of the world. Just make sure the dealer you bought it from makes it right. I'm sure they will. We had a guy at my last dealership who could put swirl marks on a black car just by looking at it.

And regarding Yelp... they are being sued because unless you pay them to be a member they delete all the 4 and 5 star reviews. I had a couple of very good reviews on Yelp deleted and my dealership doesn't pay Yelp.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1588083/y...ss-smartphones

 

Return the car and get a full refund. Don't settle for anything else. It's your hard earned money right there.

 

A good detailer like Portland can remove the swirls but like the others have said, the dealer is going to make it worse and just cover the swirls. Buying a new car you don't want to have paint correction done because you just removed some of the clear coat on a brand new car!

As for painting the whole thing, are you crazy? Again, who wants a repaint on a brand new car? You just killed the value on the thing and nothing is as good as the factory paint, especially what the dealer will have done.

Return car, get new car