Looking for help in North Carolina area

Hi, I’m looking at a Tundra in located in Dunn, NC and am wondering if there’s anyone in the area that would be willing to inspect (I’ll pay for your time) or can recommend a reputable shop in the area?

 

Why don't you take it to a Toyota Dealer and pay them to do an inspection? That's what I did when I bought my Tundra.

 

Trying to negotiate that from across the country isn't always so easy. It's a different story if you've got a cooperative buyer, but honestly, even the dealerships don't always fully know what to look for, rust-wise. Hell, I've even seen sellers who refuse to let dealers do inspections, because they know dealers like to build worst-case-scenario laundry lists of things wrong with the truck. We've got one on the south side of ATL who does that BS. I could take my truck in tomorrow with near-new suspension on it and they'd tell me I need new control arms and all-new bushings.

 

That would be preferred but I think the closest dealership is 45 miles away. Doubt the seller would work with me on getting it there but never hurts to ask

 

It’s a different dealership that’s selling it and I doubt that would be that helpful

 

Shifty, afternoon. Which Dealer are you talking about? Jim Ellis in McDonough or Toyota South in Morrow? I'm curious to know. I live in Stockbridge by the way.

 

Toyota South ATL. But this was prior to the recent ownership change, so take it with a grain of salt. And it was a known issue, the Alabama dealer I bought my truck from ~5-6 years ago was a manager in the service dept at one point and had some interesting stories.

I haven't had anything stupid happen since the new owner change, but I'm disappointed they stopped participating in the national parts program. Up 'til then, I'd been in more often to pick up parts, and sometimes get service on our newer Highlander. At this point, we typically only go for recalls on the Highlander, but I'll be in this coming week to get new tires, see how that goes.

YMMV, dealerships change, but there's a pretty persistent M.O. across many dealership service department which many have experienced. Like ...

• Concatenating service-hours consecutively when, in reality, they should be concurrent ... like charging an extra 2 hours to change a water pump even though you're getting the timing belt done ... it's BS.
• Flagging every possible thing (and then some) needing service beyond what you've asked for, which drives the bill up to really high numbers
• If you sign off on an already-high quote, they magically find "another problem while they're in there" which needs your attention and usually costs 20% more of the bill
• If you won't sign off, someone will magically appear and try to tell you they'll give you a good deal on trade-in for a new vehicle

It's all a gimmick.

But I'll still shop at any other dealership before I set foot in a Jim Ellis dealership. They fucked me so hard on a VW lease about 15-20 years ago, telling me in writing I'd be walking away with cash on return with no strings b/c they had a buyer for my Jetta, then ended up sending me a bill for hundreds of dollars later, which I fought, and got mostly out from under. It was such a shit experience I've probably steered about six dozen friends and family members alone from shopping with Jim Ellis. I told 'em I was going to do it, and they all but gave me a "fuck you" over the phone. NEVER AGAIN.

Dealerships suck. The nickname "stealership" came to be for a reason.

 

Shifty I understand your comments. I also got bent over the barrel at Jim Ellis VW on a Passat, lesson learned. I go to Jim Ellis McDonough for parts off of the "National Parts Program". There is a Service Writer there I deal with whose honest and above board, Ried Millikan.