SoCal FRS/BRZ dealers to Avoid and buy from

[HotLeopardMama]

Cabe Toyota/Scion
2895 Long Beach Blvd
Long Beach, CA 90806
888-689-9292


*Salesperson*
Cristina Morales
Helpfulness: 6
Knowledge of Vehicle: 5
"Willing to go out of the way": 5
Personality: 6--and she was pretty cute, too.
Level of Shady-ness: 6? None, she was friendly, honest, & very easy-going.
Scumbag Level: 6? None--see above.
Keeping you informed (contact) Level: N/A--I was in & out with my new FR-S in just a few hours.

I also want to rate the Finance person with whom I worked.

*Financial Staff*
Mike Shaw
Helpfulness: 5
Knowledge of Vehicle/Warranty/etc.: 6
"Willing to go out of the way": 6 (allowed me to bring title of my old car next day, and the remaining $500 of my down next day + beat my pre-approved bank rate TWICE)
Personality: 5, Friendly--a lil pushy, but far less than others in his same position at other dealerships. He was very nice.
Level of Shady-ness: 6? None, he pitched a few items, but was upfront with his calculations and didn't apply any unreasonable pressure to add anything.
Scumbag Level: 6? None--see above.
Keeping you informed (contact) Level: 6. Excellent--when he found me the best rate the next day, he called me in and we signed a new contract. He was great.


*Overall Dealership*
General Manager's helpfulness: 5--not day off, but emailed a survey to check my satisfaction with my purchase and the level of customer service I received.
Community Oriented: 6--It's a fairly small family-owned business... just them existing is great for their community.
Informed: 5
Overall Helpfulness: 6
Service: N/A
Pricing on their Vehicle: 6--Only a $95 trunk mat and $69 bumper applique? That's pretty dang stellar, especially considering all the crappy dealerships we have in SoCal. None of that shady $495 or $995 tint or Thermoguard or adding rims crap like the other dealers in our area.
Overall treatment: 6

See their Yelp reviews here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/cabe-toyota-...5BEEg/src:self

[The Kirby]

Originally Posted by MF_DEUCE

NORWALK Toyota/Scion
11404 Imperial Highway
Norwalk, CA 90650
(562) 868-0035

Jerry "Mr. Scion" Rodriguez (Sales Manager)
Helpfulness: (3) - unsatisfactory
Knowledge of Vehicle: (2) - Poor
"Willing to go out of the way": (4) - Ok-ish
Personality: (4) - Ok-ish
Level of Shady-ness: (2) Scumbag/Shady
Scumbag Level: (3) Not a scumbag/shady
Management : (1) - Fking Horrible
Keeping you informed (contact) Level: (4) - Ok-ish

*Overall Dealership*
General Manager's helpfulness: (1) - Fking Horrible
Community Oriented: (1) - Fking Horrible
Informed: (1) - Fking Horrible
Overall Helpfulness: (1) - Fking Horrible
Service: n/a
Pricing on their Vehicle: (1) - Fking Horrible
Overall treatment: (2) - Poor

This is a conversation he started on facebook. People were interested and asked for the price, where he STATED, "$25k." I go to his STEALership and see this bullshit on the cars.

Im sorry I do not believe this. Jerry aka Mr Scion is not just a good friend of mine, an honest person and also one of Scion's known "Scion Champions" Now Jerry is not the person who determines the price of these cars, its his boss.

The Scion pure pricing is there, but this car is the money maker for the dealerships right now. Instead of black balling these dealers, why dont you guys call first and see if there is a bare bones car available?

[MF_DEUCE]

Originally Posted by The Kirby

Im sorry I do not believe this. Jerry aka Mr Scion is not just a good friend of mine, an honest person and also one of Scion's known "Scion Champions" Now Jerry is not the person who determines the price of these cars, its his boss.

The Scion pure pricing is there, but this car is the money maker for the dealerships right now. Instead of black balling these dealers, why dont you guys call first and see if there is a bare bones car available?

I've got nothing to tell you since you were never there when i spoke to him. But i will say this, What they did was dirty and i know it. There is no "bare bones car" coming to the states, this car was completely stock and had nothing special about it, so the $5k mark up was bull shit! Other dealerships are marking it up but have added their own things onto it to justify the price. There are two other dealerships within a 3-5 mile radius around them that are selling this exact setup for msrp. So why the mark up? The ONLY reason they had a fire storm frs was because i told Jerry that was the one i had wanted. He was able to trade another dealership, so for THEM to mark it up the last minute is bull shit and bad customer service.

They also called my father back and told him they would've taken back the mark up and sold it to me for msrp but because i black listed them they werent going to (more bullshit). If they really meant that, they wouldve sold it for msrp in the first place, PLUS it was Jerry who was telling me he didnt care if i black listed them and told me to do so if its how i truly felt. I have the messages to prove all this since you dont believe me. Their associates dont give a damn about the customer, they all LITERALLY told me to leave and go to another dealership. WHO RUNS A DEALERSHIP THAT WAY?!?!!? I'm a citizen of the city they're doing business in and you try slapping me in the face that way. Fuck them and their business, I hope it ends up in a pile of bricks one day.

Sidenote: This so called, "Scion Champion" didnt even know about the FRS when i went up to him in February of this year. What does that tell you?

[The Kirby]

wow.

[HotLava]

I think my experience with Scion of Pasadena was atypical. But it was good. Here it is.

After seeing that no Subaru dealer was going to have the BRZ, I e-mailed the internet manager at Scion Pasadena. He sent me a bunch of information and I wrote back and said can I order a car if necessary or do I have to pick from what you have coming in? He referred me to the fleet manager who handled all the custom orders for the dealership. I talked to him on the phone and said I wanted a Hot Lava automatic. He said he had one coming in and it wasn't on the wait list because everyone on the wait listed wanted other colors. He said flat out the price, including destination and $600.00 in factory options, was 26,600. He said it was mine if I wanted it and I could test drive it when it came in. I stopped by two days later and he gave me a print out of the car with the VIN#, specs, etc.

It came in on May 29. I test drove it. There was no BS, no 'market adjustment' or anything like that. I paid 26,600, which included the 700 destination and 600 in factory options.

One thing he mentioned was he said they were thinking of adding leather and perhaps other options to all the cars. But then he added that they weren't sure they would do that because they wanted to keep things affordable.

Anyway, my experience at Scion Pasadena was pretty good. The guy I worked with was Phil Salmon.

[The Kirby]

^Symes is a good dealership. My crew used to host events for them a few years back. The GSM kinda reminds me of Scarface. LOL.

[ichitaka05]

Originally Posted by MF_DEUCE

I've got nothing to tell you since you were never there when i spoke to him. But i will say this, What they did was dirty and i know it. There is no "bare bones car" coming to the states, this car was completely stock and had nothing special about it, so the $5k mark up was bull shit! Other dealerships are marking it up but have added their own things onto it to justify the price. There are two other dealerships within a 3-5 mile radius around them that are selling this exact setup for msrp. So why the mark up? The ONLY reason they had a fire storm frs was because i told Jerry that was the one i had wanted. He was able to trade another dealership, so for THEM to mark it up the last minute is bull shit and bad customer service.

They also called my father back and told him they would've taken back the mark up and sold it to me for msrp but because i black listed them they werent going to (more bullshit). If they really meant that, they wouldve sold it for msrp in the first place, PLUS it was Jerry who was telling me he didnt care if i black listed them and told me to do so if its how i truly felt. I have the messages to prove all this since you dont believe me. Their associates dont give a damn about the customer, they all LITERALLY told me to leave and go to another dealership. WHO RUNS A DEALERSHIP THAT WAY?!?!!? I'm a citizen of the city they're doing business in and you try slapping me in the face that way. Fuck them and their business, I hope it ends up in a pile of bricks one day.

Sidenote: This so called, "Scion Champion" didnt even know about the FRS when i went up to him in February of this year. What does that tell you?

Wow, chill my friend.

If that happened & was that rude to you, I'm sorry. Hope you went somewhere better dealer who cares about each customer w respect.

but let's stay away from saying like

Fuck them and their business, I hope it ends up in a pile of bricks one day.

Just walk out from there and reported to Toyota SCION directly about this mark up. Dealer will be fined for mark up and other etc.

[benjoke]

I'm dealing with an honest agent in a decent Scion dealership in Ontario. I have a whiteout FRS ordered at MSRP (altho includes rear bumper applique, wheel looks and trunk carpet mat). I have my BRZ already so if someone wants to get my order please PM me so I can pass you to the agent. Car is expected to arrive before the end of the month! Cheers! :happy0180:

[MF_DEUCE]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

Just walk out from there and reported to Toyota SCION directly about this mark up. Dealer will be fined for mark up and other etc.

apologies for the explicit language, and i actually did contact toyota/scion directly and they seemed to tell me that they couldn't tell the dealer what to price it at because of their "pure pricing." So, they pretty much weren't or couldn't do anything about it.

[r4m3n]

South Coast Toyota/Scion
66 Harbor Boulevard
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
866-641-9026


*Salesperson*
Courtney Durell (Internet Sales Manager)
Helpfulness: 5 -- I was in a rush to tend to matters but told Courtney if the sale can be done in under 2 hours, I'm all for it. She made sure to get things expedited and told the finance manager to work swift too. Finished the paperwork and took delivery in under 90 minutes. Asked not to have the car detailed and no front license plate and she happily obliged.
Knowledge of Vehicle: 3
"Willing to go out of the way": 6 -- Courtney called me that they have the color/spec I wanted and has already driven it to the Internet Sales building so no one would claim it until I saw it first.
Personality: 4 -- Friendly, honest, and cute.
Level of Shady-ness: 4 South Coast originally was flamed for charging $3k markup but the GM realized no one was biting. She tried to convince management that no one will buy with markup so she wasn't on board with the idea.
Scumbag Level: 5 (NONE)
Keeping you informed (contact) Level: 5 -- Courtney originally contacted me about the Ultramarine FR-S I wanted the moment it arrived, but I passed at the time they were charging markup. I told her I had already done my paperwork at DCH Torrance Toyota but the car was taking longer than expected to arrive.

A few days later, she immediately follows-up with me that the car is still available the moment she got word from the GM to begin selling at sticker. Dropped out of my deal with DCH Torrance and was in my new FRS


*Financial Staff*
(forgot Name...)
Helpfulness: 5
Knowledge of Vehicle/Warranty/etc.: 5
"Willing to go out of the way": 5 -- Worked fast. Easiest purchase process ever.
Personality: 6 -- Super friendly and had a good conversation too.
Level of Shady-ness: 6 (NONE) Never pressured me into any add-ons. "You probably know the whole spiel so won't waste your time). Was honest and upfront of everything.
Scumbag Level: 5 (NONE)


*Overall Dealership*
General Manager's helpfulness: 3 -- Questionable at first, but they caved in
Community Oriented: 4
Informed: 5
Overall Helpfulness: 5
Service: N/A
Pricing on their Vehicle: 5 --Didn't want the PIO bumper applique and trunk mat but ah well. Got it at sticker and that's what matters.
Overall treatment: 5

[MF_DEUCE]

Originally Posted by r4m3n

South Coast Toyota/Scion
66 Harbor Boulevard
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
866-641-9026


*Salesperson*
Courtney Durell (Internet Sales Manager)

Keeping you informed (contact) Level: 5 -- Courtney originally contacted me about the Ultramarine FR-S I wanted the moment it arrived, but I passed at the time they were charging markup. I told her I had already done my paperwork at DCH Torrance Toyota but the car was taking longer than expected to arrive.

A few days later, she immediately follows-up with me that the car is still available the moment she got word from the GM to begin selling at sticker. Dropped out of my deal with DCH Torrance and was in my new FRS

Got it at sticker and that's what matters.

She called me awhile back and they wanted to mark it up on me as well. Im glad dealerships are starting to cut back on these mark ups. Congrats on your purchase!

[r4m3n]

I initially planned on buying my Ultramarine FR-S here. I did all the paperwork early as they made it urgent in order to secure it. Came in 5/26. Was told the car would arrive to take delivery 5/29. Car never showed even after 7 days than what they told me. They blame Scion corp for providing inaccurate info. System showed car has been sitting on port since 5/26. HORRIBLE experience as I drove to this dealership from Irvine more than 4 times. Plus the HORRENDOUS WAIT to get things done...paperwork, finance, downtime wait. Waste of my time and trouble.

Ended up not taking delivery and picking up the car at South Coast Toyota. No wait, no bullshit.

DCH Toyota of Torrance
2955 Pacific Coast Highway
Torrance, CA 90505
888-307-1188


*Salesperson*
Edwin Fuentes (Internet Sales Manager)
Helpfulness: 3
Knowledge of Vehicle: 5 -- Delivered the First86 vehicle here
"Willing to go out of the way": 4 -- I don't blame Edwin for my horrific experience here and reasoning for backing out of my purchase, as he does put a lot of effort into checking in with Scion daily. He did arrange for a rental car while i was car-less...
Personality: 3 -- Very nice guy, but that's it.
Level of Shady-ness: 4
Scumbag Level: 3 -- Initially, contacted me that they are selling the car as listed. And that the car would be here within 72 hours. Rushed over to do the paper work only to find that his boss wanted to charge an extra $1900 for alarm. Had to complain my way through to get that stuff out.
Keeping you informed (contact) Level: 2 -- Had a tough time reaching him via phone/cell. Even when no update on ETA of my vehicle, I would appreciate a callback to let me know of updates.


*Financial Staff*
(forgot Name...)
Helpfulness: 4
Knowledge of Vehicle/Warranty/etc.: 3
"Willing to go out of the way": 3
Personality: 3
Level of Shady-ness: 3
Scumbag Level: 5 (NONE)


*Overall Dealership*
General Manager's helpfulness: 2 -- Requested to have front license plate removed and the manager was reluctant at first saying it's not legal blah blah.
Community Oriented: 2
Informed: 1 -- I'm the one constantly calling for updates on the ETA of my car. No one responds/picksup/calls back. Literally would have to drive 40 miles to see whats up.
Overall Helpfulness: 1 -- They will help if you complain enough. Gave me a rental car for my car-less troubles but made me pay for insurance coverage in the end.
Service: N/A
Pricing on their Vehicle: 4 -- Initially wanted to add on lo-jack and other crap to price it up a bit. Had to complain that this wasn't what I was told over the phone and what was emailed over to me.
Overall treatment: 1 HORRIBLE WASTE OF MY TIME

[r4m3n]

Originally Posted by MF_DEUCE

She called me awhile back and they wanted to mark it up on me as well. Im glad dealerships are starting to cut back on these mark ups. Congrats on your purchase!

Thanks! just put in my 2cents for DCH Torrance :P

[ichitaka05]

Originally Posted by MF_DEUCE

apologies for the explicit language, and i actually did contact toyota/scion directly and they seemed to tell me that they couldn't tell the dealer what to price it at because of their "pure pricing." So, they pretty much weren't or couldn't do anything about it.

What?!?! Are you serious!!!! Man, sorry bout that. Let's find better dealer that give you a respect.