AutoNation Toyota Tempe

The people at this dealership did not inspire much confidence at all. As some background, I am a 21 year old who is buying his first car. I was looking at both new and used cars and I had been to my f confidence at all. As some background, I am a 21 year old who is buying his first car. I was looking at both new and used cars and I had been to my fair share of dealerships in search of my "perfect" car. All this being the case, when I walked onto the lot at Power Toyota Tempe I was approached by a salesperson and - honestly - at that point I was just looking. I knew I had an APR of 2% available from my bank and if they couldn't beat that I would be financing on my own. I knew average car costs and (I like to think) had done my homework. But at this point, I was just looking to test drive a car, get the feel of it all and from there I would crunch the numbers at home and be back the next day. Let's just put it this way: my vision of how this was going to go and the vision the sales team had were entirely different. Of course, one cannot fault them for trying to sell as that is, of course, their primary purpose at the dealership. I was eying a 2008 Camry SE with different gadgets and decided it was something I wanted to take for a drive. I was a little hesitant spending as much as they were asking on a used vehicle and wanted to take a couple new ones out just for good measure. After taking out all those cars, however, we returned to the dealership and I gave my honest opinion - I liked the '08 Camry more than I did the 2011 LE and SE that I had driven (most likely for the different options it already had). At this point my salesman decided it was time to move inside to talk numbers. That's what I wanted: the numbers on the car, possible APR and monthly cost and whatever other options they could offer me on a purely hypothetical basis. It was at this point that my salesman pushed a credit application under my nose and told me to fill it out so he could tell me what APR he could give me. And this is the point where I started pumping the brakes (see what I did there?). I told him I just wanted to have numbers, didn't want to fill out the credit application just yet. I wanted to make an informed decision as to whether what I was doing was the best option or if I should be looking lower to meet my budget. Pause. "Let me speak with my manager." Thus began an approximately 15-minute wait. My salesman didn't come back. Rather, his sales manager came back. At this point I already had my reservations but it was what the sales manager said next that really put a bad taste in my mouth: "What can *I* do to put you in that car today?" I told him I wanted hypothetical numbers so I didn't have to deal with a credit check just to know what kinds of numbers I would be looking at at 0% APR, at 2% APR, at 4% APR, etc which I didn't think was unreasonable. After chatting a while longer (during which the sales manager was completely unperceptive to anything I had said) he went to get his numbers guy. His numbers guy came back with everything that I'd wanted. We spoke for a bit, seemingly talked it over and the dealership was almost redeemed for their unabashed salesmanship when their numbers guy asked one final question: "Is there anything I can do to put you in that car today?" I left determined not to go back. As fate would have it, I started looking at what AAA could do for me in terms of their car buying service. We talked over what I was looking for and the AAA representative told me that I was going to have to go back to Power Toyota Tempe in order to take advantage of his fleet account and reluctantly I went back. Walking back into Power Toyota Tempe felt like a walk of shame for me. I walked to the desk and gave the name of the person I was supposed to speak with. At that moment, the sales manager walked up with a grin and said "You back for the 2008 Camry you were looking at?" I told him I was there to speak with someone in particular and when I said the name the smile didn't fade but his eyes betrayed some sort of disappointment and I was about to find out why. Walking into his office, the fleet salesman spoke with me, we talked about what I'd wanted and he brought the car around, gave me the keys and allowed me to test drive it. He didn't place any pressure on me, we talked over what the numbers may look like and it helped knowing that I was getting the car at a significantly discounted rate. I bought the car, it was exactly what I wanted, but it was no thanks to the sales team at Power Toyota Tempe. PROS: - Wide selection - They know what they're talking about - Their sales awards speak for themselves. CONS: - My salesman was condescending - The sales team to include the sales manager was unperceptive to my decisions - I had a general unease about dealing with these people/Felt like I was being taken for a ride (pun not intended) More