Bad buying experience.....buyer beware story

First off, hello from a "hopefully to be new Tundra owner soon." Thought i would share a terrible buying experience i had in hopes it may save someone else the same headache if they are looking to buy a new truck. I've been a Suburban owner for 15 yrs and decided it's time to try my first truck and have always loved the Tundra so i've been looking around and researching what i wanted. Found a truck on a local dealer's website that fit the bill. Talked to a salesman a few times by email and phone and decided to go take a look at it. When i got there the salesman informed me that the truck was actually at another dealership but they would have it here tomorrow if we were to work out a deal. I was able to get them down to the price i liked and said great lets do it. Spent all the time filling out the paperwork and signing the docs and financial papers and we were done. They tell me they will probably have it tomorrow (Wednesday). Wednesday came and i didn't hear anything by late afternoon and i text my salesman and he says it will probably still be another day before it arrives. He is very vague and won't say where it is and exactly when it will be here. The next day come (Thursday) and still nothing. I let it slide and decide i will give them until Friday. I don't hear anything from them on Friday so in the afternoon i text the salesman asking what is going on and he won't respond. I wait about 2hrs and decide to call the dealership and talk directly to the manager. He wasn't available but the secretary takes my info and says he will call right back. He calls 5 mins later and tells me he is sorry but the truck has already been sold!!! He apologizes for the lack of communication and yada, yada, yada but bottom line is that there is no truck. He tells me he will make it up to me and that there is truck that is being built in the next few weeks and they can secure it for their dealership and they will give it to me at the same price even though it has an MSRP of $1,500 more. I decided that i was done dealing with these guys and would take my business elsewhere, even if i was passing up a great deal. Anyways, sorry for the long story but i learned that i should have given them a refundable deposit to hold the truck and NEVER sign anything until the truck/car is physically at the dealership. Hopefully this will help someone in the future from having a bad experience like i did.

ps. i have since found a great dealership that i gave a deposit to and will hopefully have my Truck by the end of the month!!!

 

Ouch. Sorry to hear about your bad luck!!

As a general rule, I NEVER sign anything until I have the product in sight and the paperwork saying it's mine in front of me.
Of course situations differ, but it's a good rule to have.
One I'm sure youve adopted after this crapfest!

Congrats on the truck! Can't wait to see some pics buddy!

 

Wow, that sucks, hopefully you got a good deal.

 

Not trying to pour salt in the wound, but never,never sign any docs or loan papers without even seeing the truck first.

 

I had a similar experience but hadn't signed anything yet. I had the deal worked out and kept getting the run around, they were gonna bring one from another dealer etc. etc. When they said it had been wrecked while being delivered I gave up on 'em and went elsewhere.

 

yea, I definitely learned my lesson on this one. I have never bought a car or signed papers, if the vehicle wasn't there so this was a leap of faith. Learned my lesson. The truck I have a deposit on is supposed to be here by the end of the month so we will see. I already ordered my weather tech mats, so it better come! LOL

 

Call the customer relations hotline and let them know what happened. They look into these types of things. 800-331-4331