jcollins

Exciting times.

So- I had been lurking on these forums for a couple months because I knew I wanted a new car and I'd heard a lot of good stuff about the Scion name. But it wasn't until some retarded high school kid driving his mom's CRV rearended me that I decided to actually put some thought into getting a new car. Right now I drive a 99 Ford Escort SE and as I live and breath that thing is a piece of crap. So the kid rearends me at a light going about 35 and rips up my bumper. I file claims at both our insurance companies and lo and behold I'm sitting with a check for $2100 bucks.

Our first stop was Family Scion in San Juan Capistrano. Andy and I had a bad feeling about the whole deal when we pulled up and saw the salesman waiting for us like vultures. Seriously, I don't know who thinks the tactic of standing in front of the dealership is a good idea. I did not like it. We were greeted by an older salesman and I said I was interested in the scion TC and I wanted to take and automatic out for a test drive (i never learned how to drive a stick and have no desire). IMMEDIATELY after I say this I'm bombarded with: "Is the car for you?", "Whats your credit score like", and "are you prepared to buy one today". So I was like: WTF? Why is this guy asking me so many questions? I just stepped out of my car. I didn't answer any of his questions and said that I wanted to test drive the car first, we could talk about the other stuff later. So, I hop in the passenger side of a manual TC he had and we drive around the lot, looking for an automatic. No dice. THere's maybe 5 tc's on the whole lot. They were either sold or manuals. So he gets us back in his office and I inform him that I'm looking to buy a 2006 tc and that I had called ahead and a salesperson had told me they were on the lot. NOT SO. In fact, our sales representative informed us that the 2006 Scion tc's would not be coming out until September. He said, and I quote, "I would know. I'm the head of internet sales." So he goes in the back to retrieve an inventory and order list and AMAZINGLY ENOUGH there they are: 14 2006 Scion TC's coming in NEXT WEEK! This guy was a piece of work. After that we realized that even though they had the car I wanted coming in, I did not want to do business with Family Scion. So we left.

We called Rancho Santa Margerita Scion and asked if they had an automatic Scion tc to test drive. They did. So we headed up there. Once we got to Rancho Scion (which is beautiful and new), we asked to speak with MIKE FLORES, who was the sales rep we talked to on the phone. Working with this guy was like night and day. I really can't express how nice Mike was and how he made the whole process WAY less hectic and pressured. He wasn't trying to force me to by a Scion at all. He was interested in me making the right choice. So we tested the car and I fell in love. It was great. And it was even a 2006 that we tested. But, unfortunately, the only auto they had was the one I tested and it was the Black Cherry color, which I wasn't feeling. So we went in and I put $500 down on a new, 2006 Scion TC: Flint Mica, iPod Kit, Security System and brushed metal door sill plates.

They have three FM's coming in next week but they've all got deposits on them. If someone ducks out, i get one of those, if not, I have to wait until the end of July. Not so bad. A couple more paychecks under my belt.

Just thought I'd share my experiences. Hope it helps.

jeremy

TCRS1_0

Sorry about your initial expierence . Its situations like that that puts a sour taste in possible buyers who have never delt with Toyota . But atleast the other guy turned the situation around . Some people have no buisness being a car dealer let alone a salesman .

Fm_Tc_In_Ma

I think most people here will realize that a bad salesman is NOT indicative of Scion/Toyota as a whole.

Regardless of automaker, there will ALWAYS be salesman as described above. The best thing us customers can do is this:

1. Notify the manager/supervisor of that particular dealer about the negative experience you had at the dealership and describe why.
2. Avoid that dealership and let the manager know why you are avoiding that dealership in the future.

I visited two dealerships to test drive the tCs and my experience was night and day as well. The first salesman was cheesy as hell. He came sauntering out of his office, swaggering like some dude from the 70's, FLIPPED the keys at me and said "lets take her for a spin". He came along for the ride and my hand/shifter hit his knee about 3 or 4 times as I shifted into 5th.

The second dealership was totally different. The kid who offered to help me (I say kid because he looked about 22 or so) asked to make a copy of my license, handed me the keys and said for me to drive the car for a while so I can really get the feel for it. I told him I wasnt interested in buying anything for atleast a few more months and he said that was fine. He never pressured me to to anything and he simply gave me his business card and said that if I am still interested in the future, to give him a call and he would help out.

Guess which dealership I am going to when I do buy the tC?

jcollins

I also forgot to mention that once the salesman had brought us in to Family Scion, he made us wait for about 15 minutes while he helped (in plain view) 2 other customers.

And although, I probably SHOULD call up the manager of Family Scion and complain about my experience I'm not going to. What I am going to do is tell everyone I know who's thinking about buying a Toyota there to go to the other dealer. Its a bit more of a drive but it worth it in terms of service.

JasonH

Absolutely. The best way to express your displeasure is to not buy a car from them.

When I started looking at tCs (about a year ago) I called a local dealer (Price Scion.) They said they got one in, but it had already been delivered. They were supposed to get another one in about a week, so I could come in and look at it. I was very disappointed that I couldn't even see the car I wanted to buy, let alone drive it. Plus, the salesman I talked to really wanted me to come in and put a deposit down. Well, that certainly wasn't happening.

My next call was to my other local Scion dealer (Newark Scionworld.) They had a car to drive, and I could come in and drive it right away. When I got there and spoke to the salesman, he said the managers had wanted him to sell the car we were about to drive (azure automatic) but he had been fighting them. It was certainly what got me into the dealership, and after driving it and checking on what they had coming in, I put down a deposit immeditely. They were nothing but helpful throughout the process, and still are.

A few days after I put the deposit down, the salesman from the first dealership calls to say they have a tC at the delaership. Having only driven the auto, but ordering a manual, I asked "Is it manual or auto?" hoping it was manual so I could take it for a spin. He said "Oh, I don't know, but it doesn't matter, you can't drive it, it's already sold." Then I told him about putting a deposit elsewhere, explaining that because they had the car to drive, they got my business.

engifineer

Yes, many salespeople still have that mentality. As soon as a salesperson starts bugging me while I am trying to look, I simply walk out and inform them that they just ran away my business. And to me, a pushy or sketchy salesperson gives me impression of how I will be treated after the sale.

My experience:
I stopped in just to check out the "new" tC last year. I was just looking around one for a while and the salesperson came out with a plate and a key and asked if I wanted to drive it. I said sure and she slapped on the plate, gave me the key and said they closed in 30 minutes, so just have it back by then. I took my time driving it and checking it all out and brought it back. She said she would answer any questions I had if I was still interested in the car, no pressure of any kind. I talked with her for a minute and left. Ordered it the next day That is a good salesperson in my opinion. They let the customer choose on their own, do not rush them, let them drive the car alone for long enough to really tell something about it (not just a spin around the block with them in the car talking the whole time), and never try to sell you on any extra stuff you dont want. If you cant be treated that way, then it is not worth buying from them IMO!

Hyghgynx

I ordered my SSM tC from "the worst customer service dealerships in Fresno" (Michael Scion) according to friends, and I hate to say it, but the whole process was PAINLESS!! I went to the place everybody recommended (Bingham Toyota/Scion) and they were BAD!! (Crazy India(n) Man was trying to get me to buy without test drive. You gotta be kiddin' me!!) My salesperson (Robert Rangel) at Michael was a really cool guy. The only inkling of pressure I felt was about the Extended Warranty. I thought that since Scions were 'Pure Priced', they didn't hound you so much. (But hey, selling a car is $$$ to them.) Sorry to hear about your experience. Good luck with your purchase

Chombi

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with that particular dealer.
My Scion buying experience was great all the way. (Sales person Kelly Chen of City Scion/Toyota, Daly City CA and her managers) We got exactly The TC we wanted at the price we wanted. The purchase as handled professionaly with no pressure to buy what we did not need or want and it was a big plus that Kelly was a very pleasant person with such a nice personality whcih is not common in car sales. I highly recommend dealing with Kelly if you are buying a Scion in the SF Bay Area!
I won't hesitate buying my next Scion from her!

Chombi

dieselstation

HOLY CRAP! I HAD THE EXACT SAME EXPERIENCE!

first i went to Scion of Huntington Beach, didn't have the one i wanted.. so i headed to Family Scion.. AND IT WAS SUCH BS over there! they're TOTAL vultures and totally lied to me. They said they had them in stock but of course they didn't, then tried to sell me a Corolla! IDIOTS!

so i then drove to Rancho Santa Margarita Scion and MY GOD.. it was HEAVEN! my salesman was Bruce and he was SOO damn nice and took caare of everything and totally made the experience a pleasurable one. Not to mention the fact that Rancho Santa Margarita Scion is like the dopest dealership ever. brand new, nice friendly environment, and the nice people work there! from receptionist to financing to service, and parts and even the mechanics there! i dealt with ALL of them and so far, they have been WAY more then i expected.

A HUGE PRAISE TO RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA SCION!

imjonk

i called all 4 dealerships in my city before purchasing, and they all told me the same thing about the way their inventory worked. so i had faith in all of them. It was just that 2 of them were closer than the other two, so i checked them out. The salesmen at both were straightforward and willing to work with me.

So, i was immediately impressed. And the dealer i finally ended up going with even respected my wishes of not drilling holes in the bumper or putting the dealer sticker on the back (well, kind of.. they put the dealer sticker on, but he said it was easy to rub off and it was and i did).

Anyway, good luck! i ended up waiting about 3 weeks for my tC and it had side airbags, but it was Flint Mica and a 5 speed so i didn't give a crap. Hope you get your car soon and you can post pictures. Oh, and just in case you didn't know... you can get parts for your car for a little cheaper at online sites like mcgeorgeparts.com and trdsparks.com. Not sure how much money you'd save with getting the door sills from online, but other stuff is worth checking out. Anyway, hope everything goes smoothly for you.

jcollins

Thanks imjonk,

Family Scion truly is the crappiest dealership I've ever been to. I didn't like their attitude one bit. How can they honestly expect to sell me a car when I know more about the cars they're selling then they do?!?!

I kept it simple with the addons when I ordered my car from Rancho because I knew I wanted to get a lot of aftermarket stuff installed in it. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no knowledge of how to install / service a car, so my question is: Can I buy parts from TRD or mcgeorgeparts.com and bring them to the dealer to get them installed? Or should I take them to a seperate garage?

I wanted to boost the hp in my car and people said that a K&N Cold air intake is the way to do it. Anyone have one and would like to post there experience? Was it a big increase in HP? Can I still fill my car with regular gas if I have a Cold Air INtake?

jeremy

clamder

yeah... longo scion tried to get me to buy my car without a test drive, but my friend and i coerced them into giving me a test drive. i'm glad i did because i bought my car right away

engifineer

them asking me to buy without a test drive would be the same as telling me to leave... cause thats what I would do

06bsp

my buying experience was somewhat the same i went to cherry hill scion in NJ i drove by like a few days before n seen the tc's out there i had a 94 accord wagon 5speed with a jdm h22 but i sold it ne ways when i pulled up it looked like the sales ppl were playin rock papper siscors to see who took me so a older guy came out n said can i help you n i told him i want to look at the tc's so he went on and on about them i didnt test drive because my step sister has one but we went inside n i started filling out papers n he showed me all the options n colors ne ways hours went by but at the end he was like i need a $1000 deposit i was like ok for what he said you didnt think them 1's out there were for sale dude these things are goin like hot cakes i would have gave it to him if he would have let me know from the start that they werent for sale anyways

i went to another sicon dealer in NJ put 500 on a 06 5 speed bsp he threw in a few extras too ( free tire changes for as long as i have the car under normal wear, it was the end of the month i guess he didnt meed his quota so he knocked the price down somewhat i know scions have "true price", and i got a cool scion wrist band and key chain

im goin to get an xb for my girlfirend she likes dem but hey maybe if i get the xb i can get the xa too for lil or nothin lol
i cant wait for the tc to roll in

this was my first time ever in a dealership im 18

engifineer

periods man... you gotta use those periods. ^^^^

06bsp

sry about that im so used to aim. i will keep that in mind for future post.

boostedscion

wow... what a way to order a TC. My place sold my TC 2 times and I had to wait so long for it like 3 months and the same day it arrived is the same week the 06 arrived too!