Toyota of Tacoma - Sales Department — Local services in Tacoma

I purchased a vehicle from Toyota of Tacoma (Larson) on June 26th. I’ve bought 5 vehicles from dealerships, both large and small, before this one and this is by far the worst experience I’ve had.

The sales person that I had (Justin Smith) was friendly enough, but used misleading and pressure sales tactics when discussing buying the car and putting together my offer. For example, he went around the process to get my consent to allow him to text me. To do this, he said that he was trying to send me a text but it wasn’t letting him and that I should text him first. He then would text me saying I needed to call him “asap” regarding the vehicle’s availability.

Another example is that he repeatedly mentioned a woman who was looking at the exact car the night before but couldn’t purchase it because she left her trade-in at home. I was told and reminded that the same woman was apparently bringing her trade-in back to purchase the car that same afternoon I was looking at the car.

The sales person also did not know simple things about the vehicle I was purchasing. For example, he did not know that I still would receive my initial oil changes for free as part of Toyota Care. The finance person even knew that the vehicle was eligible for the free oil change and I just recently received the oil change, free of charge. Justin S. had multiple Salesperson of the Month awards on his desk - the bar must be low for that award.

This dealership also includes PULSE and SECURITY GUARD add-ons when finalizing the sale, making their actual vehicle price higher than advertised. Remember, you do not need to purchase the Security Guard feature - just say you don’t want it.

Next they didn’t trust me buying a vehicle using a personal check, so they pulled my credit report. Fair enough. My credit score is north of 810 but apparently that wasn’t good enough. After that, they wanted me to sign a loan agreement “just in case” my check bounces. At this point I had already been at the dealership for hours, so unfortunately I agreed to this. In retrospect, I should have walked away and encourage anyone in this position to do the same.

Finally, their after sale service is non-existent. I received emails from Justin saying, “wow, it’s been 1 month”, etc. and I responded to them asking multiple questions. One question was even as simple as when I should expect to receive my title. He did not respond to any of my emails. I also called 3 times and asked to speak to him. He was never available so I left my number for a return call, but did not receive one.

I would not recommend...

Review for Toyota of Tacoma

I had an extremely disappointing experience with Toyota of Tacoma while purchasing a new vehicle. They pressured me into buying additional packages I did not want or need and even added packages on my behalf without my consent. Worse, they used deceptive tactics to get me to sign documentation, making it difficult to read or understand what I was agreeing to. Their sales team provided misleading information about the pricing of these packages, and when I requested a refund, I faced intimidation, poor communication, and outright refusal, citing “policy.”

Additionally, their service department has been unresponsive, failing to return calls and communicate effectively. They also took an unreasonably long time to fulfill and install the orders related to my vehicle. This lack of professionalism and respect for customers has made my experience with Toyota of Tacoma frustrating and stressful.

Note to the Management Team:

Toyota of Tacoma needs significant improvements in several areas to enhance customer experience: Transparency in Sales: Customers should be fully informed about all packages, their costs, and their options to decline them. High-pressure sales tactics and unauthorized additions are unacceptable. Clear and Accessible Documentation: Ensure customers have enough time to review and understand the documentation before signing, and avoid using manipulative tactics. Refund Policy: Reassess the refund policy to be fair and customer-focused, especially for cases where packages were added without consent. Improved Service Department Communication: Ensure timely responses to customer inquiries and calls, as well as better coordination for service appointments and installations. Timeliness: Orders and installations for vehicles should be completed within a reasonable timeframe without unnecessary delays.

Addressing these issues is critical to rebuilding customer trust and maintaining Toyota’s reputation for quality service.

I hope the management takes this feedback seriously to prevent other customers from having a similarly...

My brother was looking for a truck and found a used Nissan titan on car gurus advertising for Larson Toyota of Tacoma, we live 3 hours away which prior to test driving my brother had initiated the financing process, when we arrive to test drive the vehicle the sales associate I believe he’s name was Ruslav, very friendly and polite and very good mannered kid. I could tell he was new and just getting use to things but he’s service was excellent. When we went to look at vehicle we noticed that front tires were worn out on the sides it looked like vehicle was out of alignment for awhile, they obviously fixed the alignment because it drove fine. The back tires were worn out also but not as much as front, for a 2023 vehicle with only 7400 miles my brother new he was going to need to replace tires within a year, when we asked for a discount to purchase new tires the manager I believe he’s name is Dustin came out and approached us very aggressively and rude with no customer service at all. Telling us this is all we can give you as a discount which the amount he was giving is wouldn’t cover for half the cost of new tires. He said if you don’t like it you can drive back to where you drove from. At that moment we also asked to see the carfax report becsue when we opened the hood to see the engine we noticed the side of front bumper and fender has signs of screws being taken off that told us that they had previously worked on this vehicle, when the sales associate showed us the carfax now it did it had an incident which it did not have a clean carfax at that time we told Ruslav that we were sorry but we did not want to buy this vehicle and left. Ruslav was great! With very high customer service we appreciated that. Dustin the manager need to learn to treat everyone with respect and if I was the owner of Larson Toyota of Tacoma I would pay attention on how Titus will train their managers and employees and the exceptional customer service they have. We left and bought a new Tundra from Titus Will...