Toyota Mercedes-Benz of Bellingham

In April of 2019 my husband and I, who live in California, purchased a used car out of state from the Toyota of Bellingham dealership located in Washington state. The entire purchase process was done remotely. Our cash offer of $26,000 "out the door" was accepted for the vehicle, with the understanding that we would pay the sales tax and registration fees once the car was delivered to us in California. There were no other stipulations/costs communicated as part of the sale.

Please note, Toyota of Bellingham originally purchased the vehicle from a California owner with a California title. Upon registering our car at the California DMV we encountered several unexpected charges. As part of our registration process the Los Angeles DMV informed us that we had to pay the registration fees for 6 prior months because these fees were never paid by the previous owner nor the Toyota of Bellingham dealership given that the same California title remained in effect throughout the car’s entire life. On the DMV registration receipt it states that the registration is only valid for the Oct18 through Oct19 periods. We were expecting for our full annual registration payment to start the vehicle registration in Apr19 and go through the Apr20 period. Further, because the registration fee wasn’t paid on time back in Oct18 we were assessed almost $200 in penalties.

This is not acceptable. At no time were these additional registration fees advertised or communicated to us as the buyer. We should not have to pay registration fees for periods in which we did not own the car, nor should we have to pay these late penalties because no one paid these fees 6 months ago when we did not own the car. Toyota of Bellingham needs to own this responsibility/cost.

On Jan 4, 2019 I contacted Toyota of Bellingham to get pre-approved because I was interested in purchasing a used 2014 Toyota Highlander. I gave them a $500 refundable deposit over the ph*** to hold the vehicle until I could get there and test drive it. On Jan 4, 2019, I drove to Toyota of Bellingham and was disappointed with the Highlander as it had stains and interior damage. As we were preparing to leave, my husband and I looked at a 2019 Toyota Rav4 and after getting the thumbs up from financing we sat down to purchase it and sign the contracts. I traded in my 2008 Toyota Sienna XLE for $6000 and put a total of $2000 cash down. I still owed $5771.89 on the Sienna to *** so there was $220 put towards the new vehicle as well. My loan was going through *** Services and I spoke to them on Jan. 9, 2019 as they conducted their "welcome call". I answered all of their questions and was told I would recieve payment information within a couple weeks. On Jan 11th I received a call from my financing manager, Marisa and she tells me that they are almost d*** finalizing my loan but they needed verification of my employment so I gave her my employer's Human Resources number. On Jan 18th Marisa called me again telling me she was having problems getting me financed and wanted to add my husband to the loan to help the financing go through. My husband was recovering from open heart surgery and I really didn't want him to be under any stress. A couple days later Marisa called again with a preapproval from *** instead of ***. At this point I'm really frustrated because there was no guarantee that this loan would be approved and the stress it was putting on my family was overwhelming. I called Toyota of Bellingham on Jan 24th and was told Marisa no longer worked there. I spoke to another financing manager, Wendy H and told her I wanted my van back and out of this deal but she told me they had already sold my van. They have not paid off my loan

Just want to share our horrible experience to spare others from the stress of buying a new, used vehicle. DO NOT buy a used vehicle from Bellingham Toyota. They are horrible people who do not stand behind their business. We bought a used 2014 Chrysler Town&Country on Labor Day. On the way home from the Dealership,the check engine light came on. We immediately brought it back and their service department looked it over, changed the oil and deemed it fixed. AGAIN, on the way home, the check engine light came back on. We again brought it back and they sent it across the street to Chrysler for fixing. After 10 days in the repair shop and $2,000, they fixed something to do with oil filter and oil pump BUT—AGAIN ON THE WAY BACK HOME, the check engine light came on. We again brought it back, they say it was a sensor or some plastic in the oil pan. Bring it home, 3 days later the check engine light comes on again. By this time we are very beyond uncomfortable about the integrity of this van. We ask for our money back. After juggling us around and a lot of stuttering, they send us to the manager- who tells us he “can’t possibly give us our money back” “that’s not how it works” “it’s not possible”. We knew he could IF he wanted to but we were willing to work with them to see what they could come up with. He put together a “team” of what we would find out to be ies who were supposed to go out and online and find us a “comparable” vehicle. After 6 weeks of time, not one time did they bring a us a comparable vehicle that they had found. We would check in-cause HELLO we needed a vehicle and to put this behind us. EVERY time they would try to up-sale us. They were dragging it out hoping to wear us down to get us to significantly spend more money. Meanwhile, we have a death in my immediate family and this situation is too much for us to handle. I spoke with an attorney and decided instead of putting money into an attorney we just needed to put these cowards behind us. We ended up buying a brand new vehicle that doesn’t fit our family but at least gets good gas mileage. It was the cheapest new vehicle that gave the dealership the least kick backs. We refuse to give them more money. My husband works with 100+ people and I work with 500+ people I just want to spread the word. You can’t treat people like this and be rewarded. It wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t set this whole scam up. Buy a used vehicle, when it breaks down within the 3 months, switch and bait them to buy a more expensive vehicle. You just can’t do this! I am filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s office as well. I hope our sharing of our experience spares someone the stress of having to deal with these people. It’s just not right.

I purchased a warranty from Wilson Toyota in 2016 on a KIA. I paid about $1499 for the warranty. Wilson Toyota agreed to the warranty because the car had several issues after purchased. January 2018, my daughter went to use the warranty to fix the AC on the KIA. Wilson Toyota stated there was no warranty, they did not have any copies of a warranty. I was out of town, upon my return, I called Wilson Toyota and they told me that there was no warranty on the car. I sent copies of the warranty and receipt to them. Wendy who works in the finacial department agreed that we did have a warranty. However, due to the time lapse, I was told that the KIA was three thousand miles over the warranty and it was no longer valid. I had records that showed we has contacted Wilson when the warranty was still valid. Because of this issue, Wendy stated the Wilson understood that it was their mistake and I was told Wilson would reimburse me for the warranty. I was told a check would be mailed on May 31, 2018. Today, June 5th, I am told by the manager that Wilson will not pay for the warranty. Wilson agreed to reimburse me for the warranty because I could not use it when I needed to, because they claimed I did not have one....Wilson agreed to refund my money. I want Wilson to be held accountable for their word. I could not use a warranty that Wilson claimed I did not have...I want my money reimbursed.

Toyota repaired my vehicle without authorization. They will not release the vehicle or any of my personal items including but not limited to my wallet, driver license, credit/debit cards, tools, documents, etc until the bill is paid in full.

11/30/17 after a 3 month order, our new 2018 Highlander arrived, but came in wrong after we had every detail in writing accepted and approved. The dealership screwed up the order and didn't add the rear seat entertainment system we wanted for our granddaughters. After a long conversation about it would take 6 more months to get another vehicle and our trade in would not be worth what they are giving us, and the most importing fact they told us we could just have an aftermarket Blueray dvd player installed later and it might even be cheaper they said. We accepted the car and was happy until we tried to get an aftermarket system installed only to find out they don't make one with a Blueray dvd player yet, no one does yet. I talked to several aftermarket companies to confirm this info. I have proof they lied to us at least 2 times and possibly a 3rd time, they have misled us with bad information, and now they wont return my phone calls, or do anything about a refund or replacement. Every time I call it gets passed on to another person and they are either not working that day, out sick, or wont return my phone call. I have dates, times, people we contacted, notes, documents, etc. I have filed a complaint with Toyota motors corp. but all they can do is flag Toyota of Bellingham-Wilson motors as a troubled dealership.

I purchased a 2017 Highlander over the summer. After the fact, when looking at the Monroney Sticker more carefully my husband I noticed that the automobile's sticker said it should have fog lights (which it doesn't) and 3 12V outlets (there are only 2). The model of the highlander that we chose does not typically come with these items as standard, but the window sticker lists them as options that we should have. When we realized these missing items I went to the dealership to ask about them. I started with the service department. First of all they were not knowledgeable about where the 3rd 12v outlet should be. When I suggested where it should be, they dismissed me and told me I did not know what I was talking about. They could not figure it out and sent me to the sales department. I explained my situation/question to them and received the same kind of service. I finally suggested we go look at other cars on the lot to determine its location and thus the fact that it was missing and we did that. We confirmed it was in the location I predicted and was missing as well as the fog lights were missing. They sent me to customer service. They said yes the sticker said I should have those items but they aren't standard and so they made a mistake. I asked them to correct the mistake. From there I spoke with Dennis T at their location as well as Toyota corporate on multiple occasions. They do acknowledge they made a mistake (even sent out a letter to everyone who bought the same car and offered $100 to make up for it). I have asked them to put these features on my car as it says they have them (even the VIN number says it should have them). They have advised me that it is too expensive for them to do that and that I just need to live with it. I do not understand why they do not need to honor what their Monroney sticker says my car has, they have obviously acknowledged it's an issue with others besides just me, but are not standing behind their product.

We purchased a Certified Pre-owned vehicle on Sunday, November 26th, 2017 at Toyota of Bellingham. The Finance person, Rick S, offered us Gap insurance and an Extended Warranty which we purchased for a total of approximately $2760.
That evening, we were reviewing the documents at home and noticed an error on the Extended Warranty documents. Instead of 100,000 mile warranty that was promised, it was typed in as 10,000 mile warranty.
The following morning, Monday, November 27th, we drove to the dealership. We had decided that we no longer wanted the Extended Warranty or the Gap insurance after some research. Rick S was not at the dealership yet. A gentleman named Jeff assisted us in the Finance Dept. We explained to him that there was an error on the documents and they need to be resigned. We also told him that we did not want the Extended warranty and the Gap insurance. He made a phone call to the credit union and left a message to stop the funding of the loan.
Later that day, we were informed that Rick S had amended the legal agreements after we had signed them and had proceeded to push through the loan for funding on Nov. 26th. Rick should have contacted us immediately when he discovered his error. He should have had us come in and either initial the errors if he was amending them or should have started with new documents. There is a sense that Rick so badly wanted the sale of these products, i.e. extended warranty and gap insurance, that he was willing to alter signed legal documents. What Rick S did was unethical, unprofessional and illegal.
On 11/28/17 we went back to let them know that we did not want to finance the warranty and gap insurance, but they said the loan was already funded and they could not change the original amount of the loan. We met with Shawn G, General Sales Manager. He said they could only refund us the approx. $2750 back to the loan and that we could not change the original value.