scion dealership

November 23, 2009 | By admin |

After failing to be able to buy a car at the West Palm Beach Toyota (see my review) I came to the Delray location.

I was met with pleasant people from the beginning. I had been delayed during the day and arrived later than I had intended and the process took long enough to make those involved stay over about two hours past closing. Nobody complained or seemed bothered.

Robert Owens and the rest of the sales staff were knowledgeable for the most part and DID NOT make any attempts to steer me towards anything. They simply helped and answered questions - allowing me to decide what I wanted with their knowledgeable assistance. My wife arrived and made a few changes (thankfully) in what I should buy. This pushed the time along well beyond the closing hour. Still, not a complaint nor issue from anyone there about it being after closing time.

Now let me mention for those who don’t know this; car sales is a profit thing! Yes, these people are actually running a business and intend to make a profit. So don’t expect me to write how I got this car below cost, or something stupid like that. I think the price was fair - and that is the best deal you can get anyplace. They offered what I knew my trade-in was worth and everything went smoothly.

I took the car that evening and returned the next day to have a thing or two changed on the car. I expected to be sent into the service line, like was done to me when I bought my new Corvette some years ago, but that didn’t happen. The sales people jumped in and got the things done immediately. In fact, I hardly got to drink my free coffee before it was ready to drive off again.

Update 6-5-08:

The first problem reared it’s ugly head.

I went to the dealer because the transmission double hit when first shifted from park to drive. I showed the service adviser, John Allsop, what it did and his response was a defensive, “You aren’t doing it right. You have to have your foot on the brake when you shift into gear.” I explained that it did the double-shift even with my foot on the brake but it was more noticeable the way I was showing him. He reiterated I was at fault and shouldn’t shift into gear unless my foot was on the brake. I told him that AAMCO Transmission had told me I should get it checked because they didn’t think it should do this. His response was (with a sneer) “What do they know?” Further he said, “They haven’t even seen an 08 to work on.” I told him I wasn’t there to argue with him, and I will just go to another dealership rather than argue. He said to wait and someone will check the car for me.

The car was fine as it turned out and they all do the same thing. It is just the way Toyota transmissions work.

Maybe he had a bad day. We all do sometimes. One STAR removed above however.

Update 2-24-2009:

Went in for the 15k service. Ms. Fox was the Service Advisor, and she managed to re-establish my faith in this dealership. Everything was handled without difficulty and I left happy.

The fact that she is probably the best looking Service Adviser in the State didn’t hurt either!