Since 2009 around the time…
Since 2009 around the time of "Cash for Clunkers" we have gone into a Toyota dealership to buy a new vehicle. We had every intention to buy a new Rav 4, a new 4 Runner, a new Corrola Hatch and a new Highlander Hybrid. Every single time we worked with the salesperson in the Toyota showroom to find the specific vehicle we were looking for. Every single time we ran into a dead end which involved confusing reasons why they could not put us into the vehicle we were looking for a the time.
We bought a Honda CR-V in September of 2009 then a Honda Civic Hatch in 2019. We then sold that Honda Civic Hatch to Carvana for more than we paid for it in 2021 and then ordered a 2021 Subaru Crosstrek Limited. The Rav 4 experience was the worst! We found out later that that salesperson had a criminal record and had tried to con us into buying a vehicle that we did not want. There were high pressure sales tactics used and we walked away.
We would like to know specifically who is responsible for designing the Toyota sales program? They certainly need to take lessons from Subaru as their program is better. From our Crosstrek buying experience it was confirmed to us that all dealerships still need better training programs. We were told that our Subaru Finance Manager would not complete our sale because we were delayed by fifteen minutes. This was conveyed to our salesperson who knew we lived an hour and a half away from the dealership. Luckily the Acura dealer under the same roof completed our transaction. We will not buy another Subaru from that dealership. We have recently test driven the 2025 Subaru Forester.
We found that even the same owner of the Toyota, Honda, Subaru and Mazda dealerships had differing sales programs amongst the different brands. Our issue is that we don't have a Subaru dealership closer than a forty five minute drive. We drove twice that far to buy our Subaru because they offered the best price for the vehicle we ordered. This is surreal but the number one South East Michigan Subaru dealer is Yark in Toledo Ohio. They also own a Toyota dealership there and are the only Costco Auto Buying Subaru dealership as there are 'none' in Michigan.