ComplaintsforPerformance Toyota Volvo

• Initial Complaint

  06/27/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  BBB Toyota I made a deposit on 2/3/23 for $500.00 a toyota car that was not in stock at the dealership. The dealership promised me that I could get my deposit back if I do not like the car when it comes to the shop. When I placed the deposit, they did not tell me the final price of the car and said they wouldn't know until it arrives. I tried to get ********** to resolve the deposit but they did not. I called the company multiple times and they refused to resolve the claim.

  Business response

  07/17/2023

  Per the attachement That I uploaded, her refund check was issued on 3/13/2023 and cashed by her on 3/17/2023

• Initial Complaint

  02/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The purpose of this letter is to make you aware of a serious problem I have with my Toyota Vehicle. In September 2007, I purchased a new Toyota ****** pickup truck from one of your dealers. I still have this vehicle and have kept it in immaculate condition. In addition to being mostly garage kep,t it has always properly maintained, inspected, etc. and I have kept all records proving so. One of those records concerned a recall from Toyota to have the truck’s frame inspected and coated to prevent corrosion damage from highway chemicals encountered in everyday use. It was taken to Performance Toyota where it was purchased to have this done. Apparently, there was some evidence that the frame of this model truck was subject to corrosion when exposed to certain highway treatments. They coated the frame but never said that the frame was in need of replacement. Toyota then extended the warranty to 2019. I was already retired when I purchased this vehicle. Therefore, it wasn’t necessary to use it when inclement weather was a factor. It was mostly garage kept or removed from our narrow dead-end street and parked in our driveway if plowing and salting were necessary. In addition, I live up on a mountain so water does not remain on the street for a very long time. Exposure to corrosive chemicals was very limited. When I had the truck inspected in November 2021, I was told by the garage crew that I should have the under-body and frame coated because there was evidence that the frame was beginning to show signs of corrosion, even though it was coated by Performance Motors to prevent this from happening. They never said it was so badly damaged that it wouldn’t pass inspection. I did this within a week at a cost of $500 and have a copy of the bill to prove it. In November of 2022 I took my truck to Performance Toyota, where I had purchased it, for inspection and service. A service technician came to see me after about 45 minutes and said my truck would not pass inspection because the frame was so badly corroded it was no longer safe to drive. He said that I would need to have a new frame installed at a cost of $12,000. Apparently, the coating done the previous year was too late to protect the vehicle. I took the truck to a different garage that same day to verify the condition of the frame. It was put on the lift and I and the technician inspected it. Sure enough, the frame showed signs of massive corrosion. He said it could be patch-welded at one point near the right rear wheel so it would pass inspection. He also said if I wanted to keep the truck for a long period of time it would need a new frame. He said the frame would cost $4000 and the labor to install it would be about $3000. That’s $7000, $5000 less than the Performance Motors quote. I eventually went with a weld-patch at a cost of $1100. It took me until January 9 to get it done. I bought this Toyota truck because I was happy with the two *****’s and the ****** I owned prior to the truck purchase. I relied on my previous Toyota experience when I bought this truck. How wrong I was. This truck has 38,800 miles on the odometer and looks great. It is mechanistically perfect. The ***** Blue Book rates its present dollar value at $8500. Of course, it can now only be sold for parts. Prior to my ****** I had a 1996 ***** **** pickup I bought new. In 2007 I traded it in on the ******. It had some mechanical problems but no corrosion problems and I live at the same place. So here are the facts: 1- I have a 2007 Toyota pickup truck that is physically flawed and therefore defunct. 2-- Your ads show this truck driving in creeks, up steep mountains, etc. Absolutely impossibly. 3- If all 2007 Toyota ****** trucks have the same frame as this one, they should be in the scrap yard by now. If not, then the frame installed in my truck was a substandard mistake. 4- This truck was driven more like a car. I moved furniture, picked up large items, got mulch for my Garden, etc. Physically it no longer qualifies as a truck. 5- This truck has only 38,900 miles on the odometer and has never been in an accident. The ***** Blue Book lists its value as $8500. Toyota can buy it back for this price. 6- Performance Toyota is guilty of not telling me about the amount of corrosion that was visible on this frame when they inspected it as per a recall notice. The recall said if the frame has extensive corrosion it must be replaced. It was coated instead. 7- I bought a pair of running boards shortly after I bought the truck and installed them myself. They look like the day they were installed because they were made with corrosion resistant metal alloys. Too bad the frame wasn’t made with a similar alloy. 8- The frame problem has nothing to do with me, where I live or drive, etc. Toyota mistakenly installed a frame that was very susceptible to corrosion and I either want it replaced or bought by Toyota for $8000. Copies of this letter will be sent to the following businesses: Toyota Corporation Performance Toyota, 4681 Penn Avenue, Sinking Spring, Pa 19608 ******** ******* Pennsylvania Better Business Bureau Vehicle description: 2007 Toyota ****** pickup truck Serial # ***************** Purchase Dealer: Performance Toyota, September 25, 2007 **** ** ***** **** ******* **** Reading, Pa. ***** Phone ###-###-#### Cell ###-###-#### *******@*******.net

  Business response

  03/20/2023

  When performing these frame inspections, we had very strict guidance to follow from Toyota Corporate. Even though the frame may have been rusted, if there weren't any holes in the frame larger than 10mm, we were instructed to coat the frame. In all honesty, we would have preferred the frame need to be replaced for we get paid a large amount of money from Toyota to do this. But like I said, we had very strict guidance including photos that needed to be sent in for approval. Toyota is the only manufacturer that has extended a warranty of this scope to their customers, when in fact, they don't produce the frames, they were produced by ****. Working for various manufacturers over the years, I've seen many 16 year old vehicles with rusted frames and the manufacturer does nothing because the corrosion is due to an outside influence.

  
  

  All the best,

  Jim H****
  General Manager

• Initial Complaint

  09/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On September 2, 2022 I took my car to Performance Toyota for repairs. On September 5 Mr. D***** the Service Advisor contacted me and said the car would take a new manifold pipe and spark plugs and it would cost approximately $1400. I okayed the repairs. On September 7 Mr. D***** contacted me and said it was still misfiring. They were going to look into it the next morning. I received a call later in the day telling me the car was ready to be picked up. I picked up the car the next morning and Mr. D***** said they just had to adjust the EGR valves. I drove the car to work and the same exact problem I had before still existed. I called Mr. D***** the next morning September 9 and he said he was too busy to talk to me. I called back later, and the phone went to voice mail. I left a voice mail for Mr. D***** still no call. I left a text message for D***** and still no return call. Later that day I attempted to contact the Service Manager and the call went unanswered. I left him a voice mail and a text message and still no answer. On Saturday September 10, I contacted Toyota complaint department and they attempted to call the dealership, and no one answered. They told me if I did not receive a call after one business day, I should call them (Toyota) again. As I write this, I have still not received a call from the dealership. I think it is safe to assume they knew the car was not repaired or why would they not take my call.

  Business response

  10/05/2022

  Sorry for the delay as we were working with ************************. Let me preface this by saying that his vehicle was originally diagnosed and repaired by a 30+ year Master Toyota Technician. After the initial repairs the vehicle passed all checks and was deemed repaired. Once he returned, we found that there was a "deeper" repair that needed to be done. We spoke with him and offered the repair while discounting what he already paid, after a few days, he declined. We cut him a check for the original amount paid and he picked up the vehicle.

  
  

  Best, 

  JimH**** General Manager Performance Toyota / Performance Volvo

• Initial Complaint

  04/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a used vehicle from Toyota performance at the end of February. A week or so after buying vehicle I noticed the leaf spring was broke on the vehicle and it was just inspected which it shouldnt have passed. I spoke with sales manager **** (I think was the name) about it and he told me they werent fixing it until I threatened to report them to the state. I dropped it off and it sat there for 2 weeks or so and they called me saying it was done. As I was on my way to pick it up they called and said it was the wrong leaf springs on the vehicle because they went with a non oem company and it lifted the vehicles rear 3. Offered to give me a lift kit for the front which I denied. So then I said I wanted oem and the general manager *** told me that was next to impossible and they were getting me another set of aftermarket springs. Took them 3 more days. When I received the truck back I noticed my radio was messed with and not put back together properly. *** stated they were going to fix it. Once I got home with it that day I also noticed a bunch of dents and grease on the roof of vehicle. I told *** about it and he claimed to have no idea what had happened to it but he will fix it for free as well. (Both are scheduled for next Friday). I have not even been able to put 1k miles on the vehicle in the 2 months I owned it and majority of it was driving back and forth to the dealer. *** did pay my first month payment on the vehicle ($381). I was denied a rental car during all this so I had to buy a beater car in the mean time along with trying to catch rides to work etc. I have asked for my money back multiple times from *** and he said no. After the dents and radio incident he offered me ****** for my truck back that I wasnt even able to enjoy my self after paying $26,875 total for it. I told him I wouldnt mind taking a little loss just to get away from him and his company but not that big of one. And now trans is slipping.

  Business response

  05/10/2022

  So here is the full story on *************...

  
  

  He purchased the truck and after 600 miles had called and stated that a leaf spring broke when he went over railroad tracks pulling his side by side on a trailer. He became belligerent with both my Sales Manager as well as my General Sales Manager before I got involved. We agreed to fix the vehicle at no charge to him even though the spring was not broken when he purchased it. The vehicle has close to ******* miles on it and these things unfortunately happen. OEM springs are on a National back order with no ETA so we ordered an aftermarket kit and notified him we were doing so. In the end, a leaf spring is a leaf spring. The springs arrived and we installed them only to find out that they were heavy duty springs which made the rear of the truck sit higher; there is no way to tell by just looking at them. I immediately called him and offered to either install a lift kit on the front at no charge, or order another set of springs; he opted for the springs. I ordered them that day (Friday) and we replaced them on Monday. Mind you, he had been trashing us on ************ this entire time with lies; you can see one of his reviews below along with my consequent response...

  
  

  During this whole debacle I made the mistake of giving him my cell phone number and told him that he could call / text me at any time. I was at *************** for training and got a call from him one evening stating that his truck was returned from the leaf spring installation and that he noticed that there were dents on his roof that weren't there before. After expressing my doubts regarding how we would've dented his roof while replacing suspension under the truck, I agreed to repair them, once again at no charge. Once I saw the picture, my suspicions were confirmed; there was no way possible that we could have done this. It looks like the Harlem Globetrotters were practicing on his roof; see below...but, we repaired them, again at no charge.

  
  

  As for the radio, we noticed that his airbag light was on and decided to look into it; once again at no charge. We had to remove the aftermarket radio that he installed and found a connector unplugged. We repaired the connection and during the radio removal, a retaining clip broke which we had to order. The dents and the radio clip replacement were scheduled at a later date when he was going on vacation. His claims of being denied a loaner car are false; he demanded a truck, which we unfortunately don't offer in our rental fleet. And yes, I did offer, and consequently cut him a check for his first payment; again out of goodwill. I did make him a generous offer to buy the vehicle back, which he declined. He paid $22,450 for the *********** offered him $21,500 which is well above market average; I would've lost money reselling it while owning it for that much. Not to mention all of the other money I had already absorbed for the other repairs. In the end, I ended up blocking his number due to him and his buddies texting me incessantly.
  

  
  

  All in all, we did not have to absorb any expense to repair any of the items on his truck. I only tried to help because I do believe in taking care of our customers, within reason, even when we're not obligated to do so.

  
  

  Best,

  --
  

  *****************

  General Manager

  PERFORMANCE TOYOTA

• Initial Complaint

  04/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In May 2021, I bought a 2015 Volvo *** from this dealership. 3 months in, and its burning oil. They never mentioned an oil consumption issue before I bought it. That is why  I’m asking them to right their wrong. It doesn’t matter that I don’t have a warranty. They falsely advertised that this car had no issue of the sort. I’ve read multiple reviews for this kind of car with that issue because of the piston rings. They have a technical review journal on the Volvo website for this issue. I even went to a different Volvo dealership to have them look at this issue, and they also said they were surprised and disappointed that I was sold this car without precaution. They check the cars they put out before selling, and they can easily check for this issue with a compression test and leak down test. On top of that, I’ve had to deal with the service department selling my parts to someone else twice for my appointments. Another time they kept my car another day without telling me, I had to call them. I’ve used multiple days of vacation from my work because of this. The service manager did a oil consumption test for me to see if the issue was real, but now manager (Jim H*****) won’t respond. I’ve emailed twice and called twice, but the service manager said he knows of the issue at hand already. The least this place can do is replace the piston rings free of charge. It’s dangerous if the car went out of oil, the engine broke, and left me stranded on a busy highway. They should tell their consumers of major car issues before they sell it to them. The fix is $4-7k, and in this kind of market, it’s hard. I’m not even asking for a refund for all the oil I’ve had to buy. I’m asking for them to fix their mistake of false advertisement. 

  Business response

  04/21/2022

  ********** purchased the vehicle in question AS-IS with no warranty and signed all documentation expressing just that. Her claims that we knew about the problem are false. Without going through the proper oil consumption tests, there is no way to know; we do not perform these tests on our pre-owned vehicles, nor does anyone that I know being in the business for 20 years. The proper test procedure requires driving the vehicle for 800 miles. Unfortunately, there are assumed risks when purchasing a vehicle with over 100,000 miles, which is why we clearly sell them AS-IS. We did reach out to Volvo to see if they would be willing to assist and they offered $500 towards the repairs, and to my knowledge, she declined this assistance.
  
  Best,
  
  --
  Jim H********
  General Manager
  PERFORMANCE TOYOTA
  PERFORMANCE VOLVO CARS

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