I owned a two year old Toyota Tundra with a six cylinder motor and was not real happy with its performance. I was planning to buy a 26 foot fishing boat and needed something with more power so I went to Bev Smith to look for a 4X4 with a V8 engine. When I drove onto the lot I saw the truck I wanted, if it was a 4X4.
I parked and was immediately approached by a salesman. I told him that I was looking for a four wheel drive Tundra. Well, we were standing close to the one I had spotted and I noticed that it was a one year old lease return and the window "Certified Toyota" sticker showed it to be four wheel drive. I said that I was interested in it.
The salesman got the keys and we went for a test drive. I saw that there was no four wheel drive lever and asked about that and he said that there was a button on the dash to engage the "4 wheel on demand" system. I was impressed that I would not have to have the extra shifter and the truck drove out nicely.
We went inside, worked out the financing and I drove it home. Well, I'm a truck driver and had to depart on a run the next day and was gone for three weeks. I came home for three days and went back out on the road for four weeks. My fishing buddy and neighbor came over when he saw me outside washing my new truck. He said, "I thought you were going to buy a 4X4." I told him about what the salesman had said. He asked where the 4X4 emblem for the rear quarter panel was.
I said that maybe the original owner didn't want it. He said, "Hmmmm. Are you sure it's a 4X4?" I got down on my back and looked underneath and found it is not a 4X4. Boy did I feel bad, small, torqued, ripped off. I told my pal that I'd be back and I drove to Bev Smith Toyota of Fort Pierce, Florida. When I arrived I asked for my salesman and he was off for the day. I asked for the sales manager and was taken to him.
I explained what my trouble was and he looked at something on the computer and he asked why I thought it was a 4X4. I showed him the window sticker. He looked at it and mulled something around in his head and then told me that Bev Smith doesn't print those. "They are printed by a vendor." I said that I didn't care who the printer was but the fact is that they put it in the truck as a fact that this is what the truck is.
He looked at the computer again and then said, "You didn't pay 4X4 price." I said that I came here and asked for a 4X4 and this was advertised as one and I bought it thinking it was one. He shrugged his shoulders and told me again the Bev Smith doesn't print the stickers and that I did not pay 4X4 price and then just looked around for something else to do.
Well, I asked if that was all he had to say and he just twitched his head as if saying "Yeah, I guess." I said that I wasn't done and walked out talking, in a very audible tone, about how these people are rip offs and liars. I went to my church to pray about it and my pastor was there and I told him the whole story and asked what should I do.
He said that I should not sue and just let it go and Bev Smith would get a pay back somehow, some day. This has stewed in my gut for two years now and when I found this site I felt compelled to write the report. They just didn't care! That's what irks me.
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