Complaint Review: Toyota South Of Morrow

I took my car into Toyota South in Morrow, Ga to get an oil change and my brakes fixed.  I indicated to the customer sales representative that my brake light and battery light had come on.  The service representative reprogrammed the software on my care and told me that my car needed over $1500 worth of repairs. He made it appear that  my car was in extremely bad shape.  I indicated to him that I only had $300.  He had already reprogrammed my vehicle (without my permission) and charged me $150 for the software update and an oil change.  At this point, I could not afford the $200 charge for brake pads, but he still informed me that I needed an oil gasket to prevent my car from leaking oil.  

I told him to list everything I needed for future reference as I could not afford the cost of all the proposed repairs at that time. The list included an engine oil filter, a cabin air/heat filter, windshiled wipers, brakes pads, a battery anti-corrosion kit, and a water pump.  I drove the car out of the dealership with none of my sensor lights on. Shortly after, all of the sensor lights reappeared.  The speedometer, the heating system, the windshield wipers, the turning signals, the headlights, and the gear indicators all stopped working.  My parking gear locked and would not allow me to switch to any other gear setting.  I called the service representative and inquired about what he had done to my car.  

He indicated that I had a bigger problem than he thought, and instructed me to return the car for further examination.  I went to another mechanic and got the brake pads and air filters replaced in my car, for less than $200, including both the cost of the parts and the service.  The independent mechaninic was unable to identify a problem with the water pump.  He advised me to take the vehicle back to the toyota representative to see why the heat, speedometer, etc. was not working properly.  I took the car back and spoke to the head of customer service. He looked at the car for 4 hours and never specified the problem (despite having examined my car for that extended period of time).  I was instructed to call the Fix of Operation Manager, Jerry Garren.

I spoke with him to no avail; his only solution to repairing my car was to return to the dealership (yet again!) and consider trading my car in for another vehicle (the second time such an offer had been brought to my attention).  I have since been reading other reviews about this dealership.  This seems to be a common problem at this location (refer to reviews number 1, 2, 3 , and 9  listed below).  Everyone, including the managers, technicians, and customer service representatives must all be in cahoots with one another.  Enough is Enough! Several people have indicated that their car was in worst shape upon leaving the dealership, than when they arrived. I am writing this report because this dealership should no longer be allowed to take advantage of another female customer!!!! 

The reviews I referred to previously are listed below:

1)  Rating: 1 star/5 stars  (10/22/2014) - yelp.com

This place is beyond shady.  They wasted a week of our time with this underhanded bait and switch game.  First they tried to sell us a car at nearly double what it was listed for on their own website. Then, once we signed for a car they suddenly had the Carfax for it, but tried to gloss over the "Major Damage" accident that was listed on it.
After all that they told us we had to pay more than double the already agreed upon down-payment price once we were at closing.

I don't know how this place is still open for business?  I can't say enough bad things about this location.

2) Rating: 1 star/5 stars  (7/19/2014)- yelp.com

Never take your car here! Every time I take my car there they make it worse instead of fixing it. Last time I took it I had to get my vehicle detailed because they left grown man oily hand prints on it. They also caused damage to my vehicle that is going to cost me over $500 to fix! When I called to see if they would cover the damages they said I had to wait 3 days to speak to a manager. Just avoid them at any cost!!!!

3) Rating 0 stars/5 stars (3/1/2014)- yelp.com

If I could give this place no stars I would!  My father was having car problems. He made it to this dealership and they took it to the service department. They told my father he needed a new engine and that it would be over $7,000 to fix it. My mom told my dad no way and he had it towed to our normal Toyota dealership. Final verdict...he needed the engine cleaned. $400.  I will NEVER recommend this place to anyone.

4) Rating: 1 star/5 stars (9/28/2014)- yelp.com

I came here with my mom to look at cars. We were greeted by Rodney, who seemed very nice at first. When we said we were shopping around and would be back, he got very agitated and kept demanding to know our final price. I know he was trying to make a sale but he needed to dial it down A LOT. I would not recommend Toyota South unless you enjoy being hassled.

5) Rating: 1 star/5stars (8/19/2014)- yelp.com

I previously left a 5 star review, but I am revising today, due to my recent visit over the weekend. They've always honored their online service specials (oil change) for my lexus (I mean, in all fairness, it's practically a toyota), but this weekend, the service manager sent me away and said they DO NOT honor their online specials for any vehicle other than a toyota or scion. I told them their website doesn't stipulate that, and I'd come a long way to get their $55 synthetic oil change special, but he said the best he could do is perform the service for $99. I told him I could get it cheaper at the lexus dealership and left. Never going back there. Took my business to the toyota in union city, where I was greeted by Kevin Williams for the best service yet... avoid toy-south if you don't want to be sent away for not driving a toyota... ridiculous!

6) Rating 1 star/5stars (5/19/2013)- yelp.com

Bought a Prius here nearly 7 years ago... Experience was tolerable, slightly better than Toyota standard, but Toyota standard is so bad, that's not saying much. Loved the car, drove it to death, 155K+ without fail.Came time to replace it and my continued hatred of Toyota dealers had me looking for anything else that would be as good. Narrowed things down to either a new Prius, or a Ford C-MAX Hybrid. A quick stop by Toyota South made the decision easy. Once I got loose of the pushy, high-pressure salesman (I guess I'm just not rude enough), I went and bought the Ford.How can any company make such good vehicles (I did love the car), and be so consistently painful to deal with as to drive their customers away?

7) Rating 1 star/5 stars (9/18/2013)- yelp.com

Check your invoice...
Dishonest place to do business.

I've bought a 2 trucks from this place.. first experience few years back..brought it backf for service...still they can't see and won't appreciate the loyalty. Each time for service..tech never reset the maintenance indicator,never clean the steering wheel grease still on it. Just a phone call to inform the customer isn't costs a thing..but do call when you're done with the service..as in double check the complaints from the last time and rectify it. They never did.This will not be a good place for service.I went and bought a truck from another dealer and took my other trucks to that dealer for service. World Toyota.
I will not recommend this place to anyone..

8) Ratng: 1 star/5 stars (3/27/2013)

This dealership's management can definitely benefit from customer service training in order to generate customer loyalty and new business.

I had a negative experience there compared to other dealerships.

9) http://www.bbb.org/atlanta/business-reviews/auto-dealers-new-cars/toyota-south-in-morrow-ga-13000706/complaints (10/25/2013)

Took my vehicle in for an oil change, air filter replacement, and tire rotation. Now my vehicle needs a new head gasket and engine. 
On Monday, Aug. 5th my fiance & I took my 2002 Sequoia to Toyota South for an oil change, air filter replacement, and tire rotation. My service advisor was **** ******* and he was not very friendly from our initial interaction. After the vehicle was serviced, Mr. ******* gave me the invoice (**********) as well as the Multipoint Visual Inspection Form and stated that I needed to have work done on my rear brakes. Nothing else was discussed. I paid the cashier $114.70 via debit card and left the dealership. My Sequoia was in good working condition when I left just as it was when I arrived for the oil change. I looked over the Multipoint Visual Inspection Form while driving home and it stated: (1) Need headlight restored (2) Need rear brakes (3) Check history on spark plugs & (4) Trans fluid service. 

On Tuesday, Aug. 6th my fiance, *** (******) ******, drove the Sequoia to his park and ride stop at 5:00 am (just as he does every morning) and noticed that the truck was not driving correctly; however, it was dark and early and so he left it parked and went on in to work. That afternoon around 5:15 pm when he arrived back at the park and ride stop and proceeded to drive home, the Sequoia begin to sputter and would not accelerate over 50 miles an hour. ****** called the dealership and spoke to **** about the problems and **** had a very nonchalant attitude. He told ****** we needed spark plugs and he didn't know what was wrong with the vehicle. I then called Toyota South and spoke to ***** **********, Service Manager. I explained to him that we had brought the vehicle in the day before for an oil change and now the vehicle was having major problems. I explained to him that ****** was on his way to bring the vehicle back in and that we needed to know what was going on ASAP. I met ****** at the dealership and they ran a diagnostic test to get an idea of what was going on. After waiting over an hour, we were told by another service advisor (whose name I never received) that either the head gasket was blown or the engine was cracked. He also stated that our paperwork from the previous day showed that the check engine light was on in the vehicle when we brought it in for service and when we left the dealership. Neither of which was true and neither was any of that stated on the paperwork I received. We went in to speak to ***** ********** and he basically told us that the check engine light was on in the Sequoia and that we needed to check with whomever had been working on the vehicle to see what they had done. I told Mr. ********** no one else had worked on my vehicle and I certainly would not have left the dealership the day before with my check engine light on. Especially since the indicator was not on when I brought the vehicle in for service. Mr. ********** stated that there was nothing the service dept. could have done in the process of changing the oil that would damage my engine and continued to speak to ****** and I as if we were very unintelligent. I am 6 months pregnant and saw myself getting VERY frustrated and stressed with the conversation so I got up and walked out the office. ****** continued to speak with ********** to no resolve. We left the Sequoia at the dealership for an in-depth look at the problem. Before we got in the car, ********** had the audacity to ask if we would be interested in purchasing another vehicle!!

Wednesday, we get a call stating that the head gasket is in fact blown and we needed to replace the head gasket and/or replace the engine. We were quoted $6K for the head gasket and $8K for the engine. We picked the vehicle up on Wednesday evening and white smoke was coming out the exhaust pipe and the the vehicle was running hot. Again none of which was taking place two days prior when we took the vehicle in for the oil change. We have placed over 4 phone calls to the General Manager regarding the issue and are yet to receive a call back!! - See more at: http://www.bbb.org/atlanta/business-reviews/auto-dealers-new-cars/toyota-south-in-morrow-ga-13000706/complaints#sthash.rQJi8QRm.dpuf

10.) http://www.bbb.org/atlanta/business-reviews/auto-dealers-new-cars/toyota-south-in-morrow-ga-13000706/complaints (1/24/2014) 

Purchased certified vehical 2010 Prius was defective deceptive sales vehical got only 35 mpg returned to dealership denied to sevice dept refused to check it. Told me it was my fault the eay I drive it , tool 3 hrs to get there. Took to High COUNTRY Toyota SCOTTSBORO AL , VERIFIED COMPUTER codes computer vehical had to be recalibrated to get 44 mpg by service manager.Vehical will not operate in ev mode always low bsttery never stayscharged sufficient.Needs new battery . Sold extended warranty that was to be factory that was third party. Attempted to collect high doc fees.Sent insufficient amount dmv for license plate I had to come up with $200 more refused to correct issue. The staff is the most rude and unprofessional auto buying experience I have encounterd no service after the sale even with warranty!
Product_Or_Service: 2010 Toyota Prius - See more at: http://www.bbb.org/atlanta/business-reviews/auto-dealers-new-cars/toyota-south-in-morrow-ga-13000706/complaints#sthash.rQJi8QRm.dpuf