ComplaintsforKoons Toyota and Scion

• Initial Complaint

  05/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This is a consumer and public safety issue. On 3/9/24 I entered into a contract for the purchase of a 2019 Toyota Camry with Koons Toyota Annapolis, purchase price of $19639.15. I specifically told the dealership what I was going to take the car out of state. Koons let me drive all the way to the Midwest and back to MD with bad brakes. On 5/3/24 I got home and something fell off the car. It was a break pad. On 5/4/24 the mechanic shop told me that the car needed rear and right disc brake calipers, a rear brake package and BG brake fluid service. The grand total with parts and labor $1343.24. I was then told that the car was not drive able. I refuse to believe that Koons Toyota Annapolis did not know that they had sold me a very unsafe vehicle, that put my safety and the safety of others at risk. To add insult to injury, I have to take on the expense of renting a car as well. The second issue is that when received the certificate of title on the car it had the wrong drivers license listed. It was just some random number, not my driver's license number. The Maryland Dept. of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Administration had to issue me a corrected certificate. I did not pay for any additional warranties at purchase. I also realize that I purchased a used car. However, I have a right to believe that 2019 car with a purchase price of $19639.15 is safe to be on the road. I have purchased used cars in the past, but no reputable automobile dealer would put a car that needed $1343.24 worth of bake repair on the road. Neither would they have put some random driver's license on a certificate of title. Koons Toyota Annapolis did some real shoddy business that definitely caused safety issues and were not consumer friendly. As I am still making payments on this vehicle I believe that a billing adjustment is in order. Especially since I am still without a car as on 5/6/24 and using a rental. Koons has the nerve to charge a "dealer processing charge (not required by law).

  Business response

  05/09/2024

  We have left a message for the customer and they have not responded.  The dealership replaced front and rear brakes on the vehicle prior to purchase.  Dealer looked at customer's attachments however could not see where service work was completed and how many miles were on vehicle.  Dealer would like to talk with the place where they brought the vehicle to get fixed to get more information.  Please have customer contact our Customer Relations Manager at ###-###-####.

  Customer response

  05/09/2024

  
  Complaint: 21675336
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I returned  Koons Toyota's call on 5/9/24. I left a message, but no one returned my call. Probably because they don't want to really talk to me.  Clearly the back brakes were not repaired correctly, . The picture of the old brake pad that fell out as I was driving was attached, did they see that. I have no problem with Koons getting in contact with the mechanic... *** **** **** *** ******* (Good Year ###-###-####.  ) You will see the mileage on attachment here. The previous attachment was my estimate, but here is the final bill. You will see no change in cost, parts or labor. I paid $1343.24.  Mileage in 61152, mileage out 61155. You can see it in the attached picture along with the parts, labor, and grand total.  There is no way that brakes should go bad in a few months. Koons Toyota did not have good back brakes on the car they sold and put me in danger, as well as others on the road.  Once again, the mechanic at the shop told me I could not drive the car on the road. (safety issue) I had to rent a car for the days it was in the shop. Also, there was no response to the fact that they put a strange number on the title, which was not mine. I had to get this corrected at motor vehicles. Do they need me to come to the shop with the car repair bill. I can do that, because I can assure it does exist. Call the mechanic ###-###-#### *** **** **** * ******* ********, you have the number.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *** *****

  Business response

  05/13/2024

  These are the results after our investigation:
  
  As for the wrong driver's license - We understand you had an Ohio driver's license at the time of purchase.  When our tag and title department
  accesses DMV's system it does not allow them to put in an out of state license number.  They contact DMV who gives them a Maryland
  sound-ex number to use to process the paperwork.  We do apologize for any confusion.
  
  Based on the evidence we have determined the caliper seized causing the pre-mature brake wear leading to the brakes going metal to metal.  To clarify our previous response to BBB the brake rotors were turned and the rear pads had 10/32 at time of purchase.  For Maryland State Inspection the brakes need to be above 2/32.  The vehicle has been driven 4,000 miles since purchase.  We also spoke with the Manager (who spoke with the technician) at the place that performed the repairs who also confirmed it was the caliper malfunctioning that caused the situation and not from anything our technician did.
  
  Due to our findings there is no assistance for the repairs.

  Customer response

  05/13/2024

  
  Complaint: 21675336
  
  I am rejecting this response because: (1) Toyota Koons did not deal with the facts. They simply denied responsibility. My car clearly was not safe to be on the road. The receipt for service shows exactly what was wrong with the car.  They want to divorce the caliper from the "rear right disc brake" and "read left disc break." How about "rear brake package" or "rear disc brake pad set"  or "rear disc brake rotor" or "BG Brake Fluid service"  Once again Toyota Koons put an unsafe care on the road and put me in danger and everyone else on the road.

  They neglect to take responsibility for the wrong number on the car title as well. If this was so normal, why didn't they tell me the wrong number was on the title to begin with, before I received it in the mail? Why did the department of motor vehicles correct the issue. They didn't say it was normal. Only Koons is saying it it normal.

  Koons Toyota is unethical. I will pursue this matter and anyone who has had this type of poor consumer service and unsafe interaction with Koons Toyota vehicles should do the same.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *** *****

• Initial Complaint

  01/31/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought a car from Koons Annapolis, and have been trying to sell my old car to them. Over the past several months I have visited the location to explain that the car is not titleable and am always told “Okay, no worries, we messed up by signing that we would take the car.” and told they will call if they need me to fill out any paperwork for them to get ownership of the car. Now on multiple occasions, they call back several weeks later seemingly having forgotten what happened before and demanding the title. This is the third time this has happened. On top of that, they called my place of work (I did not give them this number when I bought the car so I don’t know how they got it) trying to get the title. At this point they have harassed me for months despite seemingly coming to a resolution every time.

  Business response

  01/31/2024

  Customer left her Jeep here back in June 2023 and was to bring back the Vermont title to the dealership.  There was miscommunication as the customer thought the dealership was going to help get the title. The dealership still does not have the title and the Jeep has been on our lot since then.  An employee did call the customer and left a message at her cell number to pick up the vehicle or bring the title.  The customer did not call him back, so he called and left a message at her work number.  
  

  Customer Relations Manager called and spoke with customer January 31st. They agreed that customer will come pick up her vehicle from the dealership February 15th as customer still does not have the title.

• Initial Complaint

  01/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Date of transaction : 1/22/2023 Bought Toyota Sienna Platinum 2023. Dealership charged $10,000 over MSRP for mark up Dealership FORCED me to apply through their financing, ran my credit, despite the fact that I had my own financing through my credit union. They only gave me one key fob, citing pandemic

  Business response

  01/26/2023

  The dealership conducts an internal verification process on every customer through a signed credit application. This confirms who they are especially for out of state customers with a third party check. When we are given a third party check we also submit the application to one of our lenders for approval. This allows us to place a hold contract until the funds clear. The customer was made aware of this during the purchase as he did sign the credit application, the contract itself and a hold contract form.
  As for the second key ****** ***** ******* is only giving one key at this time due to a chip shortage. ****** ***** ******* will be in contact with customers directly when their second key becomes available.
  Koons Toyota feels this case is closed and there is nothing further to be done.
  

• Initial Complaint

  10/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In December 2021 I purchased a vehicle from Koons Toyota in Annapolis, MD. Because of my Active Duty military status, my paperwork (title/registration) was to be completed in the state of my legal residence, Florida. A mistake was made and the paperwork was completed in the state I was living in at the time, Virginia. For many months I have been trying to get this resolved, and the dealership continues to have issue after issue, and excuse after excuse why it has taken so long to correct. 1) I have since received a property tax bill from Virginia for over $1000. 2) The interest rate on my auto loan has been raised 15% because of this. 3) The amount of taxes I paid at the time of purchase has yet to be returned to me because FL doesn't charge military members tax on vehicles when stationed outside of Florida. I'm happy to provide any additional emails or information needed to resolve this issue.

  Business response

  11/02/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/12) */ We do apologize for the situation. The tag service made an error in registering the vehicle. We are in the process of correcting the property bill from Virginia. We will issue a refund as soon as the tag work is completed in Florida. As far as the interest rate is out of our hands as the customer refinanced after the purchase prior to having the title. We would be glad to write a letter if the bank indicated it would help resolve the matter. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/10/12) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This issue is now going on 10 months and it's not just that the tag service made an error, your team has continued to drop the ball on this matter. The attached email correspondence document shows how duplicate titles have been "misplaced" on more than 1 occasion. One of the most frustrating things is that I have to initiate conversation at every instance for an update to the situation. I'd much rather take on the burden of getting the registration done myself than continue to wait without being provided a status on what is being done. I've also emailed management and have never received any type of response to this situation. What is being done, specifically, to resolve this situation? This deal has already cost me thousands of dollars in taxes paid, now an increased interest rate, and a property tax that is now a week overdue. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/10/13) */ This was sent to Mr. Ingham October 12th: Good news! I reached out to the Florida Tax Collector's office again and have been informed that your transfer registration has been completed (finally!!) it is being sent out this evening with arrival to us early afternoon tomorrow. Once received, I will overnight the registration and the refund check for the taxes and some of the tag fees collected at the time of sale in the amount of $3,803.25 to your new address of *** Old Center Street, *********** ** XXXXX. When we processed the Florida titling/registration documentation, we did file a lien for Navy Federal Credit Union. If we can be of further assistance with Navy FCU regarding a letter of explanation or contact Navy FCU on your behalf of what transpired, we will be more than happy to help. I will also include a FedEx return envelope for the Virginia plates to be returned, so that we can submit them back to the Virginia DMV. In regards to the Virginia personal property tax, we had to wait until the correction was completed with Florida. We will make copies of the Florida documentation that we will be receiving tomorrow along with the incorrect information and give this information to the Virginia DMV to release the personal property tax matter. The timeline on this part of the process should approximately be 7 business days. Once again, please accept our sincerest apologies for the issues involved in this process. I know it has been a struggle, to say the least, but we're almost out of the woods. Thanks for your continued patience.

• Initial Complaint

  02/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I brought my 2014 Toyota Sienna in to Koons Toyota of Annapolis ("Koons") in December 2021 for routine service. Approximately three (3) weeks later, my van's check light came on, so I brought the car back to Koons, who indicated that piston 5 was misfiring. I authorized the replacement of the piston and sparkplugs at Koons' suggestion. This proved to not be the issue. Koons continued to investigate and determined that the engine needed to be cleared of carbon build-up, which was likely caused by an engine misfire. I was notified on February 10, 2022, that the car was fixed so I came in and picked up the car. I drove approximately 500 yards off the lot before the engine completely died. After further investigation, Koons advised me that a component to piston 5 fell into the engine and caused irreparable damage. Therefore, the engine would have to be replaced at a cost of $7,258.00. Although Koons offered me a $1,000.00 discount, lowering the total to $6,258.00, I believe that Koons should replace his engine at no cost to me since the engine failure was obviously Koons' fault. As you might imagine, the entire experience has been a trying one. I brought my vehicle to Koons for routine service and expected professional service. Despite substantial payment for the repairs that were not warranted to start with, I now has a vehicle in need of extensive repair.

  Business response

  03/18/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/03/02) */ ******* ******* brought in his vehicle for a check engine light, the technician scanned the vehicle and found that it had a p0300 which means there are random/multiple cylinders misfiring. When the technician monitored the data list of the vehicle, for misfires, he noticed that most of the misfires were occurring in bank 1 of the engine (cylinder 1, 3 and 5). Predominantly cylinder 5, was misfiring the most. It is a pretty common occurrence for an ignition coil to be the root cause of a misfire, also the customer was due soon for spark plugs, so they were recommended with the ignition coil pack to save the customer money in the future; as the replacement of the spark plugs also require removal of the ignition coil pack. Fouled spark plugs can also cause a misfire to occur. Spark plugs on this engine require additional labor, due to the fact the intake manifold must be removed in order to reach bank 1. We did not replace the piston. After replacement of the spark plugs and ignition coil pack, we monitored the misfires and noticed the concern was still present. The technician created what we call a "TAS (Technical Assistance Service Hotline) case", which is a diagnostic report and contacting a technical representative from Toyota. The technician sent his diagnostic report to Toyota, with data he saved with our Toyota techstream in order to find a solution. The Toyota representative mentioned that there appears to be carbon in the engine based on the data we sent in, and recommended we try and use a carbon cleaning product; we performed a carbon cleaning service called an Induction Service, a BG product which does well at removing carbon. After the induction was performed, the technician monitored the data list from the vehicle, and the misfires were no longer present. The technician then took the vehicle on a 12-13 mile test drive, the engine had no longer exhibited a misfire, technician then called over to his shop foreman Mike A., who then confirmed the misfire was no longer present. The customer picked up the vehicle, and drove a short distance (500 yards?) before the motor would no longer turn, the vehicle was towed back in. We then had to take apart the engine to figure what had caused the motor to seize. Upon tear down we noticed one of the valves for Cylinder 5 had dropped, and had made contact with the piston. There were also pieces of bearing for the rocker arm and other debris in the pan from cylinder 5, as well as some signs of engine sludge. There are gaps in Mr.*******'s service history, which could be the reason for this engine sludge. It is uncertain if it was a foreign object that could've caused the damage or the lack of maintenance. We attempted everything we could to save the engine, in an attempt to keep costs low for the customer. We are replacing the engine with a used long block, due to the older motor having debris scatter throughout, which can cause future issues if a repair was made instead of a replacement. We worked with the customer and were able to reduce the cost by $1,000 from the cost of the used motor. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/03/03) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The statement that "piston 5 wasn't replaced" is news to me. I was lead to believe the was the initial fix due to the engine misfiring, but of course that conversation was verbal and I have no proof. The fact of the matter is that I had a working vehicle, they touched it, and now the engine is shot. I work with computers. If a customer complains that they'd like me to run a diagnostic because it seems a "little slow" and I come back to them stating, "well it's bad timing, but the motherboard crashed and all your data is gone", then that's coming out of my paycheck. Even if it was an act of God, the damage was done on their watch. I purchased this vehicle from them in 2017 when my wife was pregnant with our 3rd child. After signing the dotted line we drove off the lot and discovered a leak in the front tire the next day. We had to pay for a new wheel out of pocket. It's clear that this company doesn't have their customer's best interest at heart. If they continue to stand their ground that this wasn't their fault, then I at least need the cost to come down more for the fact that any way you look at this, it's bad PR. Cut a guy a break because you can see from the outside looking in that this is just wrong! Business Response /* (4000, 12, 2022/03/16) */ The customer received a discount of $2,004.11 along with the dealership paying for a loaner (in the amount of $1,015.00). There is no further assistance. Consumer Response /* (2000, 14, 2022/03/17) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

• Initial Complaint

  09/28/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  took car in to get serviced and received it back with pretty deep paint damage, which I'm worried will rust. I reached out for the service center to schedule a time to correct the damage and they have been evasive in response. Looking for some help as this is a fairly new car and I don't want us to come back and bite me in the future.

  Business response

  01/24/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/10/05) */ The dealer has been trying to get in touch with the customer to inspect the vehicle. The Service Director, Peter S, left message for customer September 28th at 2:32 pm. The Customer Relations Manager, Barbara P, left message on September 30th at 10:46 am.. Customer has not returned call, so CRM Barbara emailed customer October 5th at 8:58 am.. Dealer has not heard back from customer. Please have him contact Peter at XXX-XXX-XXXX ext. XXXXX or Barbara P. ext. XXXXX.

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