Yohance Dunnon

I’ve been a loyal Toyota customer for nearly three years, always making my lease payments on time, so I expected at least a fair experience when it came time to lease a new vehicle. Instead, my family and I always making my lease payments on time, so I expected at least a fair experience when it came time to lease a new vehicle. Instead, my family and I endured two separate visits that were both time-consuming (each lasting over 5 hours) and incredibly frustrating. We gave a deposit, and we still have not received it back. The First Visit (May 2022) we put down a $3,000 deposit after spending over three hours completing paperwork only to be told our credit didn’t meet the dealership’s standards and that our application was denied.Refund Confusion & Delay, we immediately requested our deposit back and were asked to sign a refund request form. When I asked how long it would take to receive the money, we were told we’d get it back the following week. Instead of simply processing our refund, the staff questioned why we wanted our money back, suggesting we could lease a “cheaper car.” That made no sense if we were denied for one lease, how could we be approved for any car through Toyota at all? Mixed Messages: Two days later (the following Monday), we received a call saying our application was suddenly approved after previously being told in person that it was denied. We were confused but agreed to return to pick up the car. When we got there, we were told we now needed to provide an additional $300, despite being told over the phone that the $3,000 was enough. Insurance Pressure: To make matters worse, they were attempting to pressure us to purchase insurance through their in-house broker before they would allow us to drive off the lot. Second Visit (Lease-End - April 18, 2025) With our current lease ending, we scheduled another appointment. We arrived at 3:30 PM with our four-year-old daughter but, based on our past experience from 2022, decided to drop her off with her grandmother because spending 5 hours at a dealership is simply not ethical or reasonable for a child. We didn’t leave the showroom until nearly 11:00 PM. Discourteous Service: Julio Escobar was curt and dismissive throughout the process. He focused on flaws in our credit history instead of offering help or solutions, even though we’re already loyal Toyota customers. He refused to accept the multiple pay stubs my husband provided, insisting on “just one,” and made us feel as though we were beneath his attention. When I asked clarifying questions, I was treated like I had no right to ask anything. Cultural Assumptions: The staff on the floor catered only to Spanish-speaking customers, playing Spanish music on repeat and treating Black customers as if they didn’t belong, clearly not realizing we’re bilingual ourselves. The Bronx is home to a wide range of ethnicities, and showing bias toward Black customers is absolutely unacceptable. Predatory Behavior: Once again, they took our money only to tell us later that we weren’t approved. I expressed to Julio that the financials should be finalized before taking any payment so that, if we "weren’t approved", we could leave without being charged. He laughed and said, “If we told everyone we were going to check their credit first, they would run out and we would never sell.” This shows clear intent to take advantage of people, get their money up front, and then push them into unreasonable demands—like asking for an $7,000 down payment just to lease a car. Then insist on us leasing a cheaper model. Again if we were "not approved" how could we lease anything at all with Toyota. The Bronx is the poorest borough in New York City, with a poverty rate far higher than the national average. To ask returning, loyal customers for such an outrageous sum especially when we’ve maintained a good track record with Toyota, is appalling and out of touch. With endless wait times, inconsistent approval decisions, repeated deposit stonewalling, and dismissive and predatory treatment we received from Julio Escobar, this dealership has shown zero commitment to customer care. More

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