Autoland Toyota — Attraction in Springfield

My wife and I stopped in the other day to look at possible vehicles to replace our Jeep lease that's coming up in October, we have two of them and we're curious about what 2024 inventory they had. We were greeted promptly by Mia and she showed us a few of the vehicles they had out back. We came across a GR Corolla Circuit Edition, my wife was really interested because she wants a manual car that is also all-wheel drive as a daily driver.

After we started to head out, we spoke again with Mia and told her that we would love to get the car but unfortunately we can't do anything until October when our lease is up. She said not to worry and to stop back around October time to see what they had available and then she introduced us to Mike her manager. She gave him the quick rundown about our current situation and that's when he mentioned that he can totally purchase us out of our vehicle lease and give us a deal because they do it all the time; my wife and I were totally unaware that dealerships do this, typically we just buy our vehicles outright or finance them.

He informed us that if that's something we really want to do then Mia can work the numbers with us and they can go across the way to the Jeep dealership and get the payoff amount and get us into the GR Corolla, we agreed and started with paperwork and the dealership guys inspected our vehicle.

After paperwork and inspection we told Mia that we would like to finance the vehicle and wanted to know the numbers with $5,000 or $6,000 down for a 5-year and 6-year loan. We also said we were curious what the APR was because my wife has a credit union that we could utilize instead if it's cheaper.

This is where everything fell apart, after 10-15 minutes went by she comes back with numbers scribbled on a piece of paper from Mike her manager. It only listed a lease at 3 years for 7,500mi and they wanted $4,000 down.. Mia said that Mike informed her that if I wanted to finance it instead to just figure it will be almost double that instead. I then asked Mia did you not tell him everything we wanted and she said yeah she did and this is all he gave her, that's when I said that this is completely ignorant, we are interested in purchasing the vehicle or financing and didn't mention anything about leasing it!!

That's when I told Mia that she needs to go back and ask why Mike didn't give us information on financing which is what we wanted and tell him that it's ignorant to just try and force a lease on us which is not what we want at all.

Shortly after that my wife was completely fed up with this whole ordeal after we've been hanging around for over 40 minutes, after completing pages of paperwork and getting our vehicle inspected to not get the information that we requested.. we went straight to the manager's desk and she asked for her keys back, Mike was completely distraught about me calling the situation and him ignorant.

I told him straight up that we were interested in purchasing this car and didn't say a damn thing about a lease, we wanted numbers including the APR information because if it's cheaper to go through her credit union we will. That's when he said, we can just leave!!

I completely blew up at this point, and told him that's why I came to the horse's mouth. Mia is doing the best she can as the middleman going back and forth and her boss isn't giving her all of the information that she needs to successfully do her job.

Either they're holding onto that car for someone else, they know they can get more from it to the right customer, or they plain up don't like us; I don't know..

Legit, after we left we went down the road to the Tesla dealership and purchased a brand new Model Y Performance because they are very transparent with their APR.

We told ourselves years ago that you're not just buying a car, you're actually buying into a dealership, and if we ever get burned we will never buy anything from that dealership.. we had a budget of around $50,000 but unfortunately took our...

I could never recommend this place to anyone. In fact, people should avoid this dealership at all costs. I purchased a used car here. It was a terrible experience. Within days of purchasing the car, I noticed it had an oil leak. I made an appointment for the service department to look at it. They said it wasn't covered under the 1 month, 1000 mile warranty that came with the car. I paid over $500 for a new crankshaft valve seal and serpentine belt. My car was in the service department for just under a week. I had problems with the car on the way home immediately after it was supposedly fixed. The check engine light started flashing and the car was running rough. I get home and open the hood to find oil sprayed all over the engine compartment and the new serpentine belt. I tried calling and emailing the sales person and the sales manager multiple times but no one got back to me. I ended up filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Someone called and left messages regarding my complaint, but no one ever contacted me regarding my calls and emails about the problems with the car I've had since the day I purchased it. I've left a message for the lady who called about my complaint and I'm trying to work with the service department (the service writer who originally handled my car is suddenly no longer employed there). The issue hasn't been resolved yet, but I felt it important to leave a review in the interim so other people don't get taken like I was. If the issue is resolved in a satisfactory manner then I will obviously update my review.

As an update, Autoland had me bring my car back and stated they would fix it at no cost to me, but refused to refund the $519 I paid for them to not fix my car. It was in their service department for over 3 weeks. They gave me an invoice indicating they completed about $2,000 in repairs, but the issue was not resolved. I had suggested they check the PCV valve and they insisted it was fine. I ended up paying my private mechanic to fix the car. Ironically, the PCV had failed as I had suggested. At this point the dealership agreed to refund the $519, but made no offer to reimburse me for the repairs I had to pay a private mechanic to correct. Also, the service department was extremely dismissive of me and didn't want me to explain what was going on with the car. I still would recommend avoiding this dealership at all costs. I couldn't drive the car I had just purchased for months. The salesperson had stated the car was checked over by the service department prior to my purchase, but it appears they just attempted to cover up the problem instead of actually fixing it, and they lied about the mechanical fitness of the car. This car was practically a death trap from the moment I drive it off their lot. It could have caught fire while I was driving it. This dealership clearly values profit over the safety of their customers. I purchased a used car from a dealership instead of a private sale to avoid this type of problem. I'm not unrealistic, I understand I was buying a used car, I didn't expect it to be brand new, but I did expect it to be fit for driving at the time...

Updated 4/3/24- Per usual, took in my vehicle for service with Sal and as always no complaints. Service is extraordinarily awesome, fast and accurate! Thank you

New Review: 8/24/22 - As usual, for the past 17 years, not exaggerating, I've only purchased and serviced my vehicles from this dealership, from my first new vehicle,2005 Corolla, to my most current one, 2011 Toyota Highlander and a RAV4 somewhere in between. The service is so awesome that I have close friends with new Toyotas that they purchased at other dealerships, going for service to this one because of the service that Sal has provided to me for so many years. Although he was promoted and no longer a service advisor, during my previous visit before this one, he took the time to introduce me to his replacement advisor David and gave him a quick brief background of me as a customer. Sal also told me that if I ever go for service and have a need to speak with him, to just ask anyone there to call him and he will assist as best as he can. I was there this past weekend for an oil change without appointment, initially didn't see David so I asked for Sal and he immediately came out to assist me. He made sure that my vehicle was serviced within reasonable timing for a Saturday, which is usually super busy. Generally, there are not many service advisors that actually like what they do and care about their customers. But Autoland Toyota in Springfield, NJ definitely has a extraordinary one, which is Sal!

Updated: 10/16/19- once more I visited the service department for my routine oil change and as always it was a pleasant visit, outstanding customer service received from Sal. Unlike my previous visit, which I posted a not so great review, which for some reason I don’t see here now. However, the previous negative experience was because a different service advisor took care of me being that Sal was on vacation. Thank you Sal for always making sure my visits there are positive and not stressful.

Updated: 12/30/2018—recently visited the service department for my routine oil change and as always, it was a pleasure dealing with Sal...thank you and happy holidays...Evelyn Lopez

I’ve been a customer since 2005 and have dealt with many service advisors, however for the past two-three years I’ve always requested Salvatore because his level of customer service is far above and beyond anything I’ve experienced in the past. Always takes my concerns with my vehicle very serious and after the techinician checks the vehicle, he always gives me a detailed explanation of any issues. Will continue to use Autoland Toyota Service Department for my vehicle and ALWAYS and ONLY deal with Sal because I’ve never had a negative experience with him unlike other service advisors I’ve dealt with in the past when I didn’t know I could request a specific advisor. Thank you Sal for always providing great customer service and making sure my vehicle is always safe to drive as it should be....