Savannah Toyota

I'm a 30-year Toyota customer. From Tercel, Corolla, Camry, RAV4, Tundra... I have owned them all.

In 2016, I gifted my wife a 2016 Toyota RAV4 Limited, in White Pearl, with a two-tone cinnamon/black interior and the whole technology package. She loves the car.

In 2019, the RAV4 Limited paint started peeling. I called Toyota Corporate, who recommended a dealer, and provided the address and phone number. Ever since, the car has been to the dealer five times, almost one per year, with the last visit in February 2024. The paint job repairs performed by the dealer don't last for a year and start peeling. The dealer did the previous three paint repairs very poorly, and I had to contact Corporate to complain.

In 2023, after a repair, the amount of overspraying on the engine bay and other parts of the car was noticeable and concerning. The car looked like a cheap MACCO paint job. During my last visit in February 2024, the dealer’s maintenance manager asked me to pay half of the repair cost. I overheard the painter complaining that the paint is 'not sticking' and that the car was tough to work on. I was hoping this would be the last time I would have to repair the paint job. They kept the car for almost four months. In early June 2025, I noticed the paint bubbling again, precisely at the same spot where it had bubbled in February 2024. It's evident that the dealer is no longer receiving payment from Corporate to make repairs and has now resorted to using cheap fixes.

I called Toyota Corporate and requested to take the car to a different, Corporate-approved dealer body shop, as I had lost faith in the current dealer body shop's skills. The corporation denied the request, even though they acknowledged that they were fully aware the vehicle had been in the body shop five times over the last five years. The excuse was that 'the dealer and body shop are privately owned'. When I reminded Corporate that in 2019, they had instructed me to take the vehicle there for paint repairs, but never mentioned that the dealer and body shop were privately owned, the corporate representative repeated the last sentence... I realized their answers are scripted.

I took the car to an independent body shop and had the paint job evaluated. The independent body shop concluded that the work done by the Toyota dealer body shop was substandard, and that the car would continue to peel unless the metal were treated and sealed, and primed and repainted, at a cost exceeding $10,000. I forward the report and several pictures showing the imperfections and shady paint job to Toyota's Corporate Office.

At this point, I don't expect Corporate to intervene, as it is clear that they will not get involved with the dealer to repair their failing paint job properly. As much as I love the car, I will have to trade in my wife's 2016 RAV4 Limited at a loss, thanks to the dealer's poor quality paint job repairs and Toyota's unwillingness to hold the dealer accountable.

I hope many on this forum read this and rethink their business relationship with Toyota. Tundra engine issues, Tacoma transfer issues, Crown wiring issues, and many others; the company is not what it used to be. Reliability and customer service have fast become second to profits and shady repairs.

I will never repurchase a Toyota unless the company changes the way it treats its loyal customer base.

I bought two vehicles from Savannah toyota and had issues with both. I bought the extended warranties on both vehicles, tires, windshield, ding and dent, etc. Upon getting a crack in the windshield and calling the service dept. they could not get me in fairly quick. The crack spread and went bigger than they repair under the warranty apparently. Service dept person over my being there did not communicate with me the price before the repair and she knew I was upset that they wouldn't repair under the warranty. I was charged after the repair $1500! I threw a fit and was just looked at. I should have been talked to about the charge BEFORE the repair and agree to the total. Now I have a scratch in the paint and was told by Ryan, collision center guy, that I wasn't covered under the warranty either. I also have a Knick in the windshield of the Rav4 and was told that they will not repair that either under the warranty. I would like to know what exactly I paid the extra $4500 for warranty repairs for if savannah toyota will not honor it!

The seat had various things shoved under it which caused the damage With our participation along with help from Toyota we reduced the $ [redacted] to only $to Ms [redacted] Ms [redacted] used foul language including the [redacted] word several time to two of my employees that were just trying to help She also threatened to sue us We were trying to help but were verbally abused by Ms [redacted]

Ms [redacted] visited the dealership multiple times in her attempt to buy a vehicle She initially picked out a RAVbut we could not get a bank to finance it because of a low credit score Because of rebates and bank programs on new Corollas, we were able to secure a loan for her She agreed to the terms and willingly signed the paperwork The car has been reported sold and can not be returned If all the payments are made on time for one year we will be able to trade her out of the car for a RAVthrough Toyota's loyalty program

We have contacted the customer We will redo the paperwork if she comes in the store She just needs to come in

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved] Complaint: I am rejecting this response because: Regards, [redacted]

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response If you wish, you may update it before sending it.] Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me Regards, [redacted]

*** *** is the contact personHe said he has tried to contact the cusotmer to find a resolution

We are still working with the customer on her purchase of a vehicle. She is due in the store 7/

We are going to fix *** carI apologize for the inconvenience and would be happy to pay for her next oil changeThank you

We have repeatedly tried to contact the customer, but her phone will not receive calls. She has been back in the store since the complaint, so I hope all is well at this time

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no
reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
Regards,
*** ***

It is impossible for a dealer to "ruin" someone's credit. You asked us to apply for the loan and we obliged. Pulling credit does not ruin someone's credit. We would be ruining credit everyday in that case. This argument is just not valid

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: The fact that *** *** is blatantly telling liesIf he tried to reach me,I would've never reached out to the *** ***(who never contacted me back) as well as other employees at Savannah ToyotaI had to file a complaint with Revdex.com and also contact my lawyerThis is exactly what I am afraid ofI have text messages to *** *** where he never responded back and I also called him several timesHis last response to me was "we don't have a copy of the updated contract"I prefer to not deal with *** ***I feel this matter should be handle above him do the simple fact that he allowed this situation to get to where it is by not handling it like a professionalI reached out to him numerous times,with no luckI want to rectify the situation but I feel this problem should be handled by higher managementObviously *** couldn't/chose not to handle it from the startHad he attempted to rectify the situation,we wouldn't be hereI also contacted ***I have better things to do with my time than make complaintsI feel that *** *** allowed this situation to get where it is without any remorseMy last conversation with him was me telling him I would handle this my wayNot one did *** reach out to me to resolve this problemHe continued to allege that he sent all paperwork to *** *** and had no copies at facilityI do not care to deal with *** ***He is the reason I have reached out to outside sourcesThank you
Regards,
*** ***

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: 12157404
I am rejecting this response because:
Regards,
[redacted]

Ms. [redacted] visited the dealership multiple times in her attempt to buy a vehicle.  She initially picked out a RAV4 but we could not get a bank to finance it because of a low credit score.  Because of rebates and bank programs on new Corollas, we were able to secure a loan for her. ...

She agreed to the terms and willingly signed the paperwork.  The car has been reported sold and can not be returned.  If all the payments are made on time for one year we will be able to trade her out of the car for a RAV4 through Toyota's loyalty program.

The seat had various things shoved under it which caused the damage.  With our participation along with help from Toyota we reduced the $2400 [redacted] to only $650 to Ms. [redacted].  Ms. [redacted] used foul language including the * word several time to two of my employees that were just...

trying to help.  She also threatened to sue us.  We were trying to help but were verbally abused by Ms. [redacted].

The income stated to us on the credit application by Ms. [redacted] was $1100 a month which was what we used to get the approval.  Unfortunately, when we received her LES it came out to only $529 per month.  The bank would not accept this and rescinded the approval.  We will work with...

Ms. [redacted] any way we can, but we did not ruin her credit as stated.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: well it happened even the guy Kirk told me that you all pulled my credit several times after I was supposedly financed and drove off the lot with the car and too many hard inquires on a persons credit will make it go down 
Regards,
[redacted]

We will clean her car.