Turn the coin over and we find...

Toyota:

I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with these guys. Sure they've been described as vultures, ie not on the lot 10seconds before they're circling around you. But when you think about it, prompt service is a plus when you're buying a car. It shows if at the very least that they want you as a customer.

Being ignored just doesn't instill that same type of "You're a valued customer feeling" in me as hearing "Have you people been served yet?" as we're walking towards the entrance.

So on a whole no worries there, I told our "server" what I was looking for and he was showing my dad and I a perty little Yaris 5 door. Not exactly fully loaded but not really that bad. Took her for a test drive and it was cool, sorta strange to be in a car that feels "light" on the road though.

Either way the guy was pretty thorough, though I can now say from experience that the lack of "rough road" conditions on the route leads one to believe that the ride isn't so smooth on say gravel or even bumpy conditions. Which really makes you wonder. I've had 2 dealers give the car a chance to shine on the rocky roads and 4 who didn't. Then again with two we didn't even get to the test drive stage. Either way it makes you wonder about when some guys go out of their way to show you how their car offering preforms in rough conditions while others seem to avoid the subject.

I also noticed that the Toyota people do all their pricing from the web site and from the behaviour there really wasn't any "wiggle" room in the pricing or the lease financing. It was more, what you see is what you get. Which on a whole it was sort of like "If you don't buy it I'm sure there's someone out there who will. But I guess that's prolly why I'm not buying a Yaris.

Not to mention that although Toyota like many car companies now a days has a Graduate rebate program of one sort or another, it's the only one I've seen that specifies that you if your graduation is from Graduate school or anything other then a Bachelors degree then you don't get the deal. What the frig is that about? The sales guy tried to "gloss" that part over, saying things like "not to worry and I'm sure you qualify." But when it says right there that I don't you sorta begin to wonder, not to mention when he starts to ask me what colour I'd like.

So yeah, Toyota all round an ok experience. They're friendly all right but they still have this feel of "Not to worry, we'll take care of you." while they're actually standing there with their fingers crossed behind their backs.

The Yaris is a "cute" peppy car, but still light on the road. Really makes me wonder what would happen in windy conditions. Call me old fashioned but i like the feel that my car is on the road and secure.

BUt hey in comparison to the last dealer I visited a definate improvement!