Hoffman Toyota

Review: I bought a used 2009 Toyota RAV-4 at Hoffman Toyota ** 2012 with 30,000 miles on **. They stated that they gave the vehicle the "Toyota 181 Point Inspection" and everything on this vehicle was in very good condition and new tires were installed by the service department. After driving the vehicle for 8,000 miles, an annoying road noise was evident. I brought ** to the service department and they looked over the vehicle and couldn't find anything substantial. They recommended, front brakes be replaced due to the wear limit about 1/32-1/16 away from Toyota's recommendation. Sure enough we decided to have them do the work. The road noise was never cured and we continued to drive the vehicle. We rotated the tires and the road noise became very pronounced. I brought the vehicle back to Hoffman's service department and now they are recommending new tires after 35,000 miles actually driven since purchase and rear brakes. Spoke to the service department manager whom was very unaccommodating and arrogant. He states that he can give us better tires for $913. We refused all work. I brought the vehicle to [redacted] and they looked it over. Their conclusion is that whoever sold us the vehicle, put on the cheapest possible tires available. If Hoffman has a reputation for customer service over profit, they sure enough have not shown ** here. This is actually the second complain I have filed with Hoffman's Toyota Service department, which was some years back and never settled involving my 1998 Toyota T-100.

Product_Or_Service: Toyota RAV-4

Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Refund

Give us the better tires that originally came with this vehicle [redacted] tires were installed because that is what is the spare tire) or a $500 credit for tires at a dealer of our choice.

Business

Response:

Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2013/05/21) */

Brand new tires that meet the certification of Toyota compliance were put on Mr. [redacted]'s vehicle prior to him taking delivery. Tire ware and tear is different on every vehicle based on the way it is driven and the conditions of the roads it travels. Based on the tires and driving and environmental factors, tires are estimated to last anywhere from 20K - 60K miles. The fact that Mr. [redacted] put 30,000 miles on his vehicle before needed to get new tires ** pretty standard, not due to the tires being "cheap". Since Hoffman Toyota followed all compliance procedures and did everything to the Toyota pre-owed certified standards, we will not be providing any additional compensation.

Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2013/05/24) */

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT ACCEPT the response from the business.)

There has been no settlement from Hoffman Toyota. I believed they misdiagnosed the problem to avoid having to put a better brand of tire on the vehicle. Wouldn't you think they would put the same brand tires that the car came with to match the spare? Mismatched tires by different manufacturers with a different tread patterns is not recommended by any car company, even Toyota. You would think that an unsatisfied customer, who is a repeat car buyer from them would be treated any better? The fact remains that the car was brought to their attention that loud road noise was evident at 8,000 miles and they recommended brakes instead of addressing the problem of cheap new tires were installed to make a sale and that seems how this will end. Would you recommend this dealership for the purchase of another car? This will be the last dealing with buying a car from them.

Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2013/05/31) */

Hoffman Toyota met all requirements according to corporate Toyota standards. As experts in the industry for almost 100 years we stand by our diagnosis. The tires were completely up to code and were not cheap or a danger to the customer.

Review: In October 2014, [redacted] and Hoffman Toyota contacted us directly. This was not at our request. They both represented that the lease of our 2011 [redacted] was about to expire in March of 2015. Toyota[redacted] stated that we had the option to buy our vehicle in October 2014 for $16,000. We were not sure at that time and told the representative we would get back to them. A few days later we received a letter from [redacted] at Hoffman Toyota who indicated that our lease was coming due and that Hoffman could get us out of our lease early and into another vehicle without penalty.This was the first time we ever leased a vehicle. It should be noted that we have purchased 4 vehicles from Hoffman in the past 5 years. Good customers? YES. My wife went onto the Hoffman Toyota website and a vehicle caught her eye. She contacted [redacted] through the website and she setup a meeting with the sales department. A day or so after this contact we received a call from the sales person who we bought 3 of the 4 cars from indicating that he would meet with us. We went to the dealership on Saturday and test drove 3 vehicles. We liked 1 and then we found ourselves sitting with a finance person who kept us captive for almost 1 1/2 hours. He kept saying he would "make the deal work". The vehicle we liked had a sticker price of $16,200. Our goal was keep it in line with the payments similar to the [redacted]. He was a nice individual but his english was not that clear and he spoke very fast and could not understand him clearly. It's explanations to questions from us were convoluted. I strongly feel this sales/finance tactic is used to distract and confuse the consumer. The only add on was the extended warranty on the used car. They were well aware that we wanted to keep our payment close to what we were currently paying. In the end the $16,200 went to $19,017 and it was our understanding that the difference was the cost of the extended warranty. We left the dealership at approximately 5:30 pm hungry and tired. The next day (Sunday) we looked at the paperwork and noticed that he charged us and extra $2800 which we could not figure out what it was for. We called Hoffman's finance guy on Monday and he told us we were responsible for the remaining 5 payments on our lease ($1869.) as well as window etching ($199.) on the new used vehicle. At no time did the Toyota [redacted] representative or Hoffman Toyota's [redacted] tell us we would be responsible for the 5 remaining payments on our lease for the [redacted]. They never said anything about this and misrepresented the early release no penalty opportunity. We were led to believe we could turn the lease vehicle in early with no penalties. I then questioned him about this and he said that we had to pay it or be subject to a wear and tear inspection in which we would assessed a fee in an amount be determined. Our vehicle was in excellent condition with only 23,000 miles. Well below the annual lease mileage. I called the finance person back 2-3 times that week and only called be back once. I then received a call on Thursday that week from [redacted] who knew us and was apologetic for our experience. He acknowledged we were good customers. He said that they do lease deals every day and the customer is always responsible for outstanding payments on their lease or be subject to the wear and tear assessment. He apologized for this not being told to us more clearly. He could not explain why Toyota [redacted] told us we could buy the car for $16,000 as they determined the payoff to be $17,000+. As I previously noted Toyota [redacted] nor Hoffman's [redacted] said anything about a wear and tear assessment, penalty or requiring us make the remaining lease payments. Their calls and letters were unsolicited to us. As a former Law Enforcement Officer and White Collar fraud investigator I see this sales tactic as misleading and deceptive. I am totally dissatisfied with their response to this. The only relief they gave was refunding the window etching for $199. which the finance guy said he should have not charged us to begin with. They would not reimburse us for the 5 remaining lease payments. I can't believe the Hoffman [redacted] who markets "Driven by Trust" as their slogan would deceive a customer and then not assume any responsibility for the lack of communication. I hope no one else is duped by the tactic. I would say they are not Driven by Trust. If we knew we would have kept or [redacted] and bought it out at the end of lease in March 2015.Desired Settlement: Hoffman [redacted] to refund us the remaining 5 payments for the [redacted] lease totaling $1869.95. And to change they way they approach consumers about their lease and getting out early with no penalties. It's simply not true.

Business

Response:

It is our standard procedure to contact our lease customers between 6-12 months prior to expiration to provide options for consideration. There are also instances where customers can take advantage of early lease termination without any penalty and this is the case in the current situation. Mr. and Mrs. [redacted] expressed interest in keeping their monthly payment the same if they were to move into a new vehicle at the time. There were remaining payments on the vehicle at the time of the recent transaction so our business manager rolled them into the new payment structure, however they did not incur any penalties. Because Mr. [redacted] wanted to add in an extended warranty on the new vehicle this did cause the monthly payments to increase which was agreed upon at time of signing. Our general sales manager was alerted to the error of being charged for the VIN etching and he reimbursed the customer.

Review: Purchased a Tacoma that had 3300 miles on it in August 2012. The vehicle had been originally purchased by someone else October 2011. During the negotiations I asked the Car Sales Manager [redacted] (last name unknown) if I would have a full 2 year maintenance coverage and a 3 year - 36,000 bumper to bumper warranty, if I purchased the truck. He said I would. That was one of the reasons I purchased the truck. March 17, 2014, when getting an oil change as part of the two-year maintenance guarantee, I learned the two-year maintenance contract expired October 2013 - two years from the original purchase date. Hoffman Toyota covered the oil change, but [redacted] told me the three-year bumper to bumper warranty would expire October 2014 - 10 months before what was promised. He said I misunderstood the warranty, but I was very specific when I asked the question at the time of the negotiations. There was no misunderstanding on my part. [redacted] indicated he would speak to the general manager about my concern and call me back before 5:00 PM on the 17th. I have received no call from anyone at Hoffman. Again, [redacted] failed to tell me the truth.Desired Settlement: To have the 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty in effect until August 17, 2015 as I was promised.

Business

Response:

Mr. [redacted] purchased a pre-owned Toyota Tacoma with 3,300 miles on the vehicle. It was explained to Mr. [redacted] that he would benefit from the remaining factory warranty on the vehicle which is 3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper from the original in-service date. This warranty cannot be extended by Hoffman as it is a factory warranty. The option to purchase further coverage is available to all customers but this was not purchased by the customer nor represented to the him as something that was included in his purchase. What was provided to the Mr. [redacted] was an extension of the Toyota Auto Care, allowing for two free oil changes, one of which has been used by the customer. Mr. [redacted] may still purchase an extended warranty on his vehicle if he wishes, but Hoffman cannot extend the factory warranty as it is based off of the first date in service recorded with Toyota. Regards, [redacted], General Manager, Hoffman Toyota

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted]. I spoke with the Manager today and he agreed to cover the vehicle warranty Until August 17, 2015 as promised. I find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Sincerely,

Review: on 9/28/13 me& my wife [redacted].& my brother [redacted] take out 2007 Nissan titan for a test drive also with salesman [redacted] while test driving I told [redacted] something is wrong with the brakes he told me everything was new brakes&rotors ok whay about the driver front headlight that was showing condensation and water in the headlight so [redacted] said will fix that so we trusted him on his word so that made use purchase the pickup truck on 9/30/13 knowing evertything would be taking care of when we put up truck well come to find out all Hoffman did was blow out the headlight meaning with AIR HOSE didn,t put a headlight and cover so on 10/3/13 had to go back to Hoffman because brakes and steering wheel aws shaking so the MANAGER [redacted] told bad ROTORS WILL FIX THEM STIL WANTED THE LIGHT FIX NO LUCK SO OUT OF ALL THAT I WAS LIED TO ABOUT THINGS BEING CHECKED AND FIXED BECAUSE WOULD HAVE SAW IT NEEDED ROTORS PLUS HEADLIGHT AND COVER ALL OF THIS IS SAFETY ISSUES ANYMORE WATER IN HEADLIGHT WILL FREZZ UP PLEASE FIX THIS IS NOT AN AS IS PURCHASE PAID OVER $20,000.00 MR[redacted]Desired Settlement: ALL I WANT FOR HOFFMAN AUTO GROUP IS TO FIX MY TRUCK BECAUSE THEY SAID HOFFMAN TRUST I DON,T HAVE ANY TRUST IN HOFFMANS WHEN THEY LIED TO THEY CUSTOMERS LIKE TO ME AND WIFE [redacted] AND [redacted] I CARE ABOUT MT SAFETY MY FAMILY SAFETYBI ALSO HAVE A WRITTEN NOTE MY MERCHAN. AND SIGNED BY HIM TALKING ABOUT THE HEADLIGHT IS A SAFETY BECAUSE CONDENSATION WON,T STOP THANK YOU B.B.B. FOR YOUR MR.[redacted] & [redacted] AND MR[redacted]

Business

Response:

Our General Manager, [redacted] called the customer on Tuesday, October 15 and spoke with his wife, [redacted], and have agreed on a resolution. To accommodate the customer's scheduling needs, Mrs. [redacted] will call Toyota Specialist, [redacted], next week to schedule a convenient time to bring their vehicle to the dealership to have the headlight replaced at no cost.