A sales manager, Grant Maddigan, after heated negotiations, verbally agreed to pay me $18,500 for my 2007 Toyota Prius trade-in vehicle. It was Saturday afternoon (5/10/08), and some hours later when the time came for me to sign contracts in the finance office, I hurriedly and foolishly signed without checking the figures, as up to then I had found the staff fairly cordial and was off guard.
On examining the contract the following day, I discovered that the dealer had only given me $17,200 for my trade-in. Believing it to be an error, I called the finance dept. And left a voicemail, which was not returned. I called again the following day and finally had to visit the store where the finance officer explained that the sales manager had given me a good tax refund, which I knew to be rubbish. He concluded that he would obtain access to Maddigan's notes and call me the following day, which he failed to do.
I finally spoke with the head of finance and she suggested I speak with Maddigan the following day, Thursday 5/15, I visited the store again and confronted Maddigan who denied my claim. Further talks with management failed to enhance my progress. I obtained a copy of Maddigan's notes and saw his first offer 16,500 which I immediately rejected and underneath my figure of 18500 followed by a series of figures ending with 18541. It is my firm believe that he wanted me to believe that I was getting $18,541 for my trade-in, and at no time did he ever mention the figure $17,200. My appeals to the dealer have been rejected, and Toyota, after investigating the incident, say they cannot intervene as the dealership is a franchise.
Surprisingly the sales person, with whom I have no complaints, has since confirmed my figure of $18,500. The dealer did offer to buy the new Prius back, but as I explained to him, that would only serve their interests as they had already sold my 2007 trade-in, which would leave me without a car to return home, would mean me having to pay more sales tax to buy a new vehicle elsewhere without a trade-in, and they would still cheat me again on the buy back.
Agreed, I was negligent to sign the contract without checking their figures, but having discovered the "error" the next day I believe I was still in a position to challenge the "error" and cancel the sale. This option was never offered me and by not returning my calls they ensured that my complaint was delayed at least. Maybe it's a case of "one bad apple", but Maddigan's actions were supported by the dealership and subsequently Toyota Corporation, making the franchise excuse.
I have since cancelled the extended warranty ($1495), though that has not been confirmed, and calculate my loan amount to be $22,615.60 as opposed to their contract stating $25,512.00. I have a file of written exchanges with both the dealership and Toyota.
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