Leela Krishna Toyota - Bad Innova Purchase Experience

[H3LIOS]

After almost a year of deliberation on which SUV/MUV to buy for our large family, sometime late-August we decided to get an Innova. We trooped into the Toyota showroom (Leela Krishna Toyota in Visakhapatnam) and the first-thing we did was flock into the Smoke Grey Fortuner they had on display that was so appealing & tempting. It is really something, eh? Back to Innova, we were well received by the sales guy (I called ahead) and he did his bit quite smoothly - explainig the Innova's features & comforts etc. We decided on a Red Innova VX 8-str. So far so good.

Then we started talking money & freebies. He offered floor mats, mud-flaps & muffler-cutter. I asked about corporate discount and he said that was available only on GX, but not on VX. That sounded strange to me, but I told him I needed a couple of days to think about it. This is when the high-pressure tactics started. He was very insistant that I put down the Rs 50K booking deposit then & there. His reasoning is that Red is not in stock, so if I place the booking amount they will order the vehicle and meanwhile we can work on the other formalities.

Anyway I came back and did a bit of research on Team-BHP and found out that a fellow BHPian has bought a Innova VX in Hyd a couple of months back and he managed a 20K cash discount and other freebies. I called up the sales guy and informed him of this. He refused to believe it and came down to my office to check the website. Then he started saying that it must be a demo car or something. Basically, he was not at all happy about it. I told him that I do not want a cash discount and will settle for additional free accessories (I gave him a list of what we wanted).

Also, the insurance quotes I got from three popular insurance providers were around 5 to 6K less than the premium that the dealership has quoted. So I told him that I will be purchasing insurance separately. He became even more unhappy. He left saying he will talk to his boss and let me know.

Next morning he comes to my office saying that the deal is mostly done except for a couple of accessories and that if I came to the showrroom I could finalize it with his boss and book the vehicle. I was quite happy and went over with my cheque book. From there things went steadily down-hill.

The Sales Manager would not even meet me. He is in some room upstairs and I was seated in the customer lounge downstairs. The sales guy ran up and down between us, it was ridiculous. In the meantime a guy claiming to be from the service dept came in and started telling me that if I buy insurance directly then I would not get cash-less service and also that my vehicle would be low priority as they will attend to their vehicles (whose insurance was purchased through the showroom) first. I was completely taken aback and asked him if this was Toyota policy or the dealer policy. He didn't give a direct answer. I asked him if he could give it to me in writing and he said OK and left the room and I never saw him again.

Then I inisted on seeing the Sales Manager and some guy came in and introduced himself as the manager (I later found out that he was just another sales guy). He too gave the same nonsense about buying insurance independently - he even went to the extent of saying that RTO requires me to buy insurance at the dealership. I cut him short saying that I will enquire about the insurance issue with the RTO office. And then asked him about my freebies. He started ranting about how they will lose money if they accepted my offer etc etc. By this time I had spent two hours in that lounge and I was losing my patience. I got up and said that I was leaving and asked them to call me if they took a clear decision.

The sales guy again stopped me on the shop-floor and ran up to his 'real boss' and came back a few minutes later with an offer for Rs 12,000 worth of additional accessories. Regarding the insurance he said that if I was willing to buy it directly at my own risk, then to go ahead with that. Meanwhile the 'pretend manager' who was standing nearby made some snide comment to his colleague about buying a 13-lakh car and bargaining as if in a vegetable market. I am not sure if he meant me to hear it or not, but I did hear it. It really got to me and I walked away immediately. I have a good mind to write to Toyota about this.

The next morning the sales guy calls saying that his boss has now agreed to reduce the showroom insurance to match the quotes I got directly. But by this time I was quite displeased with their sales tactics and informed him that I needed more time to consider. He started calling me 2-3 times a day and even dropped by my office a couple of times unannounced, he was literally begging me to book the vehicle.

When I told him that we've decided to book the Xylo, he started bad-mouthing the Xylo. That it was a failed product, that they are not able to sell even 3 Xylos a month in my town, that it doesn't have any resale value etc etc. It became quite annoying and I had to warn him to stop it.

Even after I had booked the Xylo, he came by and asked me to cancel the booking and that he would get me an even better deal on the Innova. I sat him down and explained to him over a cup of tea that there is nothing he can do now to change my mind. I politely asked him to let go and that I would definitely contact him if I or my friends are in the market for a Toyota in the future. And he finally stopped pursuing me after that.

As you can see, my first experience with Toyota in India was very poor. To sum-up:

• the dealership lied to me - more than once
• the dealership gave me wrong & misleading information about insurance
• the sales manager thought he was too high & mighty to meet me personally
• a sales guy impersonated the manager and tried to scare me into buying insurance from them
• atleast one member of their staff insulted me with his comments
• they wasted a lot of my time

My overall opinion is that they are an arrogant and snobbish lot who never had to try hard to make a sale. One example of this - during the negotiations I asked how long it would take them to get the car once booked. They said a week to ten days. And I joked that I will book the Fortuner if they can deliver it in the same time-frame to which the senior sales guy burst out laughing and said that the show-room would be filled with people carrying bags of money if he offered the Fortuner in ten days. Now, that may or may not be true, but gloating like that is a definite no-no in my book.

I don't think I will be considering a Toyota anytime soon.

- Teja

[cooldude1988765]

That is a really bad experience, you should have gone to another dealer.

[humans]

Teja, I must say really bad experiance and also surprised because it's kinda rare from Toyota dealers which are considered best overall in terms of service.

Anyway it's good decision and I think no body would buy anything from such dealers after this kind of experiance. Congrats for XYLO the sedan killer.

[vasudeva]

Perhaps pasting this experience and mailing it to Toyota Kirloskar may be a good idea. Different matter though that you have been turned off. Can mention even that.

Best of luck.

[MutantX]

Hi Teja,

I am sorry about your experience to forget. All dealers (atleast most of them) try to get the maximum out of the customer. They do not have long term goals. They lack foucs and customer orientation. I also admire your courage to choose Xylo to Innova. I am sure most of us would be in a dilema to move back to the Innova once the dealer says he would give huge discounts.

Enjoy your new Xlyo and do write your initial ownership report on the Xylo.

Thanks,

[AbhiJ]

You should have taken the case of the "pretend boss" right there and then in the showroom.

That said, email Toyota about the whole incident, and explain to them how they lost you as a customer despite having a good product.

The company should at least know whats going on.

When I sell my companies products, certain customers bargain in a very "vegetable market" sort of way. If I cannot accomodate the discount they require, I respectfully inform them about my lowest offer, and tell them that is my final offer. I very dare insult them, the customer is always right.

When I bought my CR-V/i20, I fought for the best price i could get, and I contacted all the dealers in the city. Thats my right as a consumer.

[coolclouds]

Toyota shouldn't take Skoda way! Please let Toyota Kirloskar know.

[simply_sunny001]

this is heights, How can the Sales people be so mean and selfish that they dont care a bit about fair dealing and customer's satisfaction.

Teja, thats good that you dint buy from that dealer, but did you try other dealers of Toyota.

And have you written to Toyota about all this and how they lost one customer.

[pulsar56]

a sales guy impersonated the manager and tried to scare me into buying insurance from them

That's a very bad experience Helios!Why did you not go to any other dealer?

Please do write to Toyota about this dealer.

[Gilead]

Pathetic attitude by the Toyota dealer. Looks like the Fortuner's success has gone to their heads. If Toyota does not nip this show of arrogance in the bud, I can see it tarnishing their brand pretty soon.

[H3LIOS]

Originally Posted by cooldude1988765

That is a really bad experience, you should have gone to another dealer.

Originally Posted by pulsar56

That's a very bad experience Helios! Why did you not go to any other dealer?

Originally Posted by simply_sunny001

Teja, thats good that you dint buy from that dealer, but did you try other dealers of Toyota.

Only one Toyota dealer in my town. Not only that, the same firm also owns the dealerships in the next two nearest towns - apparently the firm belongs to a big-shot politician's son-in-law and they own most of the Toyota dealerships in AP.

Originally Posted by vasudeva

Perhaps pasting this experience and mailing it to Toyota Kirloskar may be a good idea.

Originally Posted by simply_sunny001

And have you written to Toyota about all this and how they lost one customer.

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Please let Toyota Kirloskar know.

I am considering writing to Toyota. I waited two weeks before I posted my experience on Team-BHP because I wanted to let the issue cool down a bit in my head. I tried to think about the whole issue objectively and I admit I pushed a bit hard for the freebies, but I don't think that is a reason for them to lie and mis-lead me.

Originally Posted by Gilead

Pathetic attitude by the Toyota dealer. Looks like the Fortuner's success has gone to their heads.

Yep, that's what I think. They were so giddy about the bookings they were getting for Fortuner. In India the Toyota name sells itself and their sales guys are not used to negotiating a sale.

Originally Posted by humans

Teja, I must say really bad experiance and also surprised because it's kinda rare from Toyota dealers which are considered best overall in terms of service.

I know, I too have heard only good things about Toyota dealers. Maybe it was just bad-timing on my part. With the Fortuner launch and the usual rush to buy before 30th Sep (for depreciation benefits) they may have had a full order book. Also I think that they never really expected me to walk away over the issue. They may have realized a bit too late that I was not just playing hard-ball but actually meant what I said.

Everything was going fine till I started talking about the freebies & insurance premium. I guess they are just not used to bargaining. In Hyderabad, there are three different Toyota dealers and I am pretty sure the experience would be totally different there.

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

You should have taken the case of the "pretend boss" right there and then in the showroom....

When I sell my companies products, certain customers bargain in a very "vegetable market" sort of way. If I cannot accomodate the discount they require, I respectfully inform them about my lowest offer, and tell them that is my final offer.

Well, I didn't find out about the "pretend manager" till the next day. It was the sales guy who let it slip that the person was a senior sales associate and not the sales manager. I think it is sad that the sales manager thinks that face time with a customer doesn't add any value.

The irony is I don't know how to bargain in a vegetable market, I usually just pick whatever looks greener or healthier and pay the guy whatever he asks - this is why my wife does all the vegetable shopping ("You paid 20 rupees for these three tomatoes? What were you thinking? ).

We lived in the USA for 10 years and I guess I am spoiled rotten with all the offers one gets there while purchasing a new car - especially at this time of the year when they start the model year clearance sales. We owned five different cars in those 10 years so I'd like to think I know a bit about negotiating a car sale. IMO it is the Toyota sales guys who need a bit of training on closing a sale.

Cheers
Teja

[sam003]

Call Toyota Toll Free No. : 1800 425 0001, Direct No. :+91-80-66293001
and let them know. I know you have changed your mind. But you have to change others (salesguys) mind too about customer importance. So call them and make a complaint. Toyota really cares about customer and I am the happy Innova owner so far from last 7 months.

[hondafanboy]

Sorry to hear about that H3LIOS . Just because of this dealer , Toyota lost one serious and good customer. Actually there should be zero tolerence policy set by the manufacturers for all cars n bike dealers in India. One hardcore case like yours or Harishv ( skoda) , and impose maximum punishment/fine or whatever.

Really sad story.

[SPEEDY_RACER]

Even i faced the similar issue in Bangalore with Maruthi Dealer, and finally settled for Bimal.

the other guys started telling all the non-sense

was more happy with the sales person he maximum helped us in getting more Cash & corporate discounts..

i will vote for Bimal.

[EssYouWe]

What does Bimal have to do here?
What they did was sick and disgusting.

@H3LIOS

Sad for you man... I have dealt with 6-7 different dealers over the past 6 months in Delhi and Pune, and frankly a few of them were just bad experiences. They know very little about the vehicle they sell and lie on your face.
Most of the times the sales guy does not deliver what he has promised and cuts a figure that makes him look like a friend and as if he never tried harder for anyone.
Emotional as we Indians are...We usually fall for it.