What is with the pregnant woman drinking champagne in the ad on this page!?!

Oh, c'mon, David. She's just having one for the road! Don't be such a square.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Cincinnati.com (on the right)

11 Least Fuel Efficient Hybrid Vehicles

1-2) (tie) Chrysler Aspen Hybrid & Dodge Durango Hybrid 19 MPG

3-5) (tie) Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, Lexus LS 600h L, GMC Yukon Hybrid 21 MPG

6) Lexus GS 450h 23 MPG

7-8) (tie) Lexus RX 400h, Toyota Highlander Hybrid 26 MPG

9-11) (tie) Ford Escape Hybrid, Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Mazda Tribute Hybrid 32 MPG

Hybrid Cars [HybridCars]

Why buy used? Well, as CR says "depreciation accounts for 46 percent of the owner costs over a five-year period." Why not let someone else take the hit?

By focusing on a nearly-new model, say 2-3 years old, you can find a vehicle that offers comparable fuel economy, performance, safety, and reliability as a new car, often with some transferable warranty coverage remaining.

Amen! Anyway, here's the list. Some of the cars are older than 2-3 years, but hey. They're all under $10k.

Here's the list:

1. 2000 Honda Insight (manual) 51 mpg
2. 2001-02 Toyota Prius 41 mpg
3. 2000-05 Toyota Echo 38 mpg
4. 1998-2002 Chevrolet Prizm 32 mpg
5. 1998 Mazda Protegé LX 32 mpg
6. 1998-2000 Toyota Corolla LE 32 mpg
7. 1998-2001 Acura Integra LS (manual) 32 mpg

Consumer Reports also has a list of the top cars from $10,000-$20,000, which you can view here.

Best used cars for fuel economy [Consumer Reports]
(Photo: smcgee )

In March of 2007 our civil suit attorney contacted Dan Wolf. Dan Wolf owns Toyota of Naperville and other dealerships in the chicagoland area. Dan Wolf immediately fired Mr. James V Gentile in March 2007.... Toyota of Naperville has been served in November of 2007. Mr. James V Gentile aka Jim was hard to serve. Finally April of 2008 he got his papers...

Update on the criminal case... The states attorney has counted 19 blocked phone calls going to my cell phone from his home phone and his cell phone! Starting December 2005 and ending April 2006. Some how the jerk is having his attorney ( James Moore office of Rockford,IL) to pull off getting the case continued. The latest stunt they pulled was this... Court date in April was continued to June 12th because his attorney told the states attorney that he will take the plea. I was happy and I thought maybe there is some good in this man. But no, I get a call from the states attorney on June 12th to come down to the court house to testify! I could not believe it! So I went down to the court house and met with the States Attorney only to be told it will be continued due to the judge assigned to the case is on Vacation! The next court date is set for August 7th, but I am not going to count on it!

To the dealerships out in the Chicagoland area, if you have him as an employee, watch out, he maybe doing this to your customers! To the public, if he is your salesman, please beware of what kind of person he is!

The wheels of consumer justice grind slowly, and they grind exceedingly small.*

Read previous updates to this thread here.

(Photo: Beth and Christian)

* with hat tip to Friedrich von Logau(with hat tip to Friedrich von Logau

"Anywhere you want to look, credit conditions, the job market, stock market, you can see the consumers are getting hammered," Schnorbus said. "If there was ever a time when you want to sit back and wait out the storm, now is the time to do it."

But automakers also suggested some of the weakness in car sales could be due to the short supply of many fuel-efficient models after a rush to buy those vehicles in May.

"That limited supply we believed had an impact," said George Pipas, the director of sales analysis for Ford

Automakers are rushing to increase production on cars like the Prius in order to catch up with demand. Do you want a Prius or are you waiting for something even better? Or are you just, you know, already upside down on your current car loan and barely able to find the money to drive to the grocery store — let alone buy rapidly shrinking food?

Auto sales plunge [CNNMoney]
(Photo: Fast Fords )

Dear Consumerist,

My girlfriend and I bought a new car from Classic Toyota. Along with it we bought the extended warranty. I know these usually pad the pockets of the seller, but she's a high milage driver since she drives for work quite a bit, and since we were able to haggle on the pricing a bit, it came out to about the same price as a AAA membership, and comes with free roadside assistance. I figured it would be worth it. Boy was I wrong, apparently.

On the 9th, she ran out of gas on the freeway I was at work at the time so I couldn't run to the gas station and pick up a gas can. Well, that stinks. Good thing we have roadside assistance, right? Wrong. After an hour's wait (perfectly reasonable, I wasn't upset yet and nor was she) the employee from roadside assistance pulled up in the eastbound lane (she was in the westbound, and told the call center that multiple times) and yelled across multiple lanes of rush hour traffic "Hey are you the one who needs help? Are you out of gas?". She told him that he was and he drove saying "I'm going to go get you some gas". So, apparently when you call up roadside assistance and told them you run out of gas, they don't actually bring gas with them?

Anyway, he drives ahead to the next freeway exit, gets some gas, and comes back westbound to "help" her out. When he gets out of his car she immediately notices something is up. He has a tiny gas can in his hand. She knew immediately that there was no way it held even a gallon of gas. He put it in the tank and told her to start it up. Obviously, it didn't work. My girlfriend drives a Rav 4 with a 15 gallon tank. Half a gallon wouldn't even fill the fuel line. She asked how much gas he put in the car, and the man lied and told her it was 2 gallons! They pushed the car forward a bit to make sure it was on level ground, and it still didn't work. I told her via text message to leave the key in the forward position for a bit to let fuel enter the engine. Still no dice. She asked him again how much gas the man put in. He said "It's two gallons, but half a gallon should start this car. Half a gallon should definitely start this car".

He gets back in his van, and talks on his walkie talkie for a bit, then comes back out. My girlfriend asks if he can go get her some more gas. Even pretending that the guy actually gave her 2 gallons of gas, we were entitled to up to 3 plus up $100 for repairs plus a tow. The roadside assistance guys response to more gas? "No. They don't pay me enough for that." Then he got in to his van and drove off! We called up the dealership and raised hell with the general manager, and he eventually got someone to come out and give my girlfriend 2 gallons of gas. But all told my girlfriend spend 3 hours on the side of the freeway in 95 degree heat and 60% humidity because the roadside assistance guy "doesn't get paid enough. Thank GOD my girlfriend was on the way to pick up my infant daughter from day-care as opposed to driving home with her.

I've been wrestling ever since with the dealership and First Extended, the company that handles our contract. First extended tells me I should be calling the company that actually came out. The company they sub-contract to. Roadside Rescue of Cleveland, LLC doesn't return my phone calls. The dealership handed me a $25 gas voucher and told me I can cancel my warranty and have the prorated amount refunded. This outcome is completely unacceptable. Do they have any idea how much day care charges for keeping your baby over? A hell of a lot more than $25. That's how much.

Where the heck am I supposed to go with this, Consumerist? I can't get anyone to talk to me, let alone help me out!

We agree that the contractor Roadside Rescue is at fault and Toyota is also responsible which is perhaps why they gave you a $25 gas voucher and are willing to refund your warranty. We think you should take your voucher and refund and be glad that you are rid of a dysfunctional relationship. Companies usually won't compensate you for events that happened because of their blunder, whether it be lost wages or day care fees so chances are you are out of luck in that area. Also, Consumerist readers might already know that extended car warranties are a usually rip off.

(Photo: Getty)

Castleman responded by angrily withdrawing the scholarships, leaving the four students without the means to attend college.

The president and CEO of Castle Automotive Group, Howard Castleman, said it didn't have to be this way. "We opted not to give it to them because of, quite frankly, attitude," he said in a phone interview. He said school officials accused him of wanting to bring in a "media circus" and would not allow him to hang his company's banner.

Castleman said that having press at the event would have paid public tribute to the teacher who died, it would have encouraged more people to donate to the school, and "we would've gotten some PR."

[...]

"My family was very excited when they heard I would receive the money from Toyota in order to go to college," said one of them, Iftin Iftin, a Somali refugee who graduated from Patterson on Saturday and plans to study English and computer programming.

When D'Anna summoned the students to tell them Castle wasn't donating the money after all, Iftin said, "I couldn't even smile all day." At night, he said, "I couldn't get sleep."

Castleman also decided to cancel his annual Christmas party for poor Baltimore children, saying "This is it. I'll never have another Christmas party for these kids. It doesn't pay."

Um, the missed lesson here, Castleman, is that charity should be its own reward, not a hackneyed public relations scheme.

Firm reneges on scholarships [The Baltimore Sun] (Thanks to Stanton!)

Ford says it plans to sell F-Series trucks "at employee-discount prices this month," according to Bloomberg, but that's too late to help Ford return to profitability this year.

Declining pickup sales contributed to Ford's announcement last month that it would abandon a target of returning to profit by next year. The company had combined losses of $15.3 billion in 2006 and 2007, mostly because of its North American unit.

The automaker is slashing North American production for the rest of 2008 in response to the lower truck sales.

GM, the largest U.S. automaker, said today that it will close four truck plants, build more small cars, and may drop its Hummer brand of large sport-utility vehicles. The company's May sales fell 28 percent, including a 37 percent plunge for pickups, SUVs and vans.

Here are the top five spots for May sales, from the Kicking Tires blog:

• Honda Civic: 53,229 (including hybrid)
• Toyota Corolla: 52,826
• Toyota Camry: 51,291 (including hybrid)
• Honda Accord: 43,728 (including hybrid and coupe)
• Ford F-Series: 42,973

"Honda, Toyota Cars Outsell Ford's F-Series Pickups" [Bloomberg]
"Honda Civic Best-Selling Car in the Country" [Kicking Tires]
(Photo: Kevitivity)

Graphic from CNN:

Marci Solomon considered a Prius but decided the Metro was the best economical choice for her. The article says,

For the most part, Solomon plans on using the car for commuting from her home in Rochester, Washington, to her job. The vehicle she has now, a Honda Element, was getting 28 mpg, and she was filling up twice a week, costing her nearly $100. Stations were charging $3.97 a gallon in her area Tuesday, she said. The Metro is an investment in the future, Solomon said, even if she did pay more than five times the Blue Book value of the car.

"It was all about saving money," she said. "I don't think gas is ever going to go down, and these are going to be the types of solutions we have to turn to. I wanted to beat the rush."

The rush may have begun. The 1996 2-door 3-cylinder Metro Solomon now owns opened on eBay May 7 with a bid of $200. A week later, Solomon won the car auction with a bid of $7,300. In 1995, a new Metro hatchback sold for about $9,000, according to Auto Mall USA.

In May alone, 43 Metros of various years and models were sold on eBay, ranging in price from $221.50 to Solomon's bid of $7,300. The cars have been hot items, drawing upwards of 49 bids on certain vehicles, with many of the auctions coming down to last-second bidding wars. On Tuesday morning, 34 Metros were still up for grabs.

It's good to see this little guy making a comeback. Obviously, a Prius is going to offer more in the way of safety, speed, style and features but saving $14,000 on a car that gets nearly as good gas mileage makes good economic sense. So the next time you see a Metro roll up, don't disrespect, they're rockin' 46 miles a gallon!

Gas prices drive Geos from clunkers to chic [CNN]

Here's what our readers said when they nominated these two companies:

Clear Channel:

"they have destroyed so much of this country I love."
"Clear Channel is playing to Madison Avenue, despite lip service to the listener. Hell, did you see that Clear Channel is increasing the number of minutes of advertising on the radio? Why not turn every station into an infomercial. Make the whole CHANNEL an ad!"

Toyota:
Toyota was nominated without anyone specifying why they are wrath-worthy.

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america/

STILL OPEN FOR VOTING:
Countrywide Home Loans vs Dish Network
Sprint vs Hewlett Packard
Blue Cross Blue Shield vs CNN
Gamestop vs Monster Cable
Bank Of America vs Toys R' Us
Toshiba vs Microsoft
US Airways vs Washington Mutual
American Airlines vs Blockbuster
Time Warner Cable vs Radioshack
Wellpoint vs Charter Cable
Dell vs Home Depot
Sears vs Citibank
Wal-Mart vs TJMaxx
Mattel vs ATT
Capital One vs Video Professor
eBay/Paypal vs COX
Apple vs SallieMae
Diebold Vs Pfizer
MTV vs TransUnion
CompUSA vs DirecTV
Target vs Best Buy
Allstate vs Verizon
DeBeers vs 1800 flowers
Starbucks vs United Airlines
Exxon vs Crocs
Google Vs Sony
Ticketmaster vs Wachovia
Facebook vs The American Arbitration Association
Comcast vs Menu Foods

It looks like Toyota is attempting to avoid both an official recall and any sort of class-action suit by being pro-active in dealing with the problem vehicles, which is not a bad thing. The opportunity to make a profit off the purchase of your vehicle hassle-free is likely PR and not standard operating procedure, but it's a smart way to lure Tacoma owners in for the free inspection. "This is not a recall," writes the Toyota exec on their blog. "What's important is that we take care of our owners. We just thought you should know that.

"Living Up to Our Commitment" [Toyota Blog] (Thanks to Mark!)

RELATED
"Rusty Toyota Tacoma? Toyota May Buy Back Your Truck For 150% The Value" [Jalopnik]

A friend of mine bought a 2005 Toyota 4 Runner for about $25000. When he went to the dealer, he told them that safety was a big concern as he has small children, and he wanted to get as many safety features as he could on the vehicle he was going to buy. The saleswoman showed him the 4 Runner he ended up buying and pointed out that it had side and curtain airbags, which were listed on the sticker. He bought it, and a week later he took it to get inspected. It turns out that it does not have the side and curtain airbags that are listed on the sticker. He went back to the dealership and spoke to the manager who offered him a few free oil changes, and tried to tell him that that year didn't even come with those airbags so what was he complaining about. What should he do? They already got rid of the truck he traded in, and is thinking that the dealer owes him some cash back on the deal.

(Photo: Getty)

"There is a possibility that a joint in the rear propeller shaft may have been improperly heat treated, resulting in insufficient hardness," Toyota said in a statement.

There have been no accidents or injuries associated with the recall and last month the Tundra became the first truck named an IIHS "top safety pick."

Toyota recalling 15,600 Tundra pickups [Reuters]
(Photo:REUTERS/Gary Cameron)

It seems as I'm falling a victim to a Yo-Yo Car Financing | Spot Delivery Scam from a car dealer...

I purchased a new Toyota (scion) vehicle at a dealership exactly 2 weeks ago. I drove away. The total price was $20600 - I left a $500 down-payment. 13% APR in my contract. $470 payments for 60 months. Finance manager pressured me into purchasing GAP and extended warranty (around $2100 total) saying that banks would likely grant me a loan if I show them I'm serious about investment. Well, my credit is sub-prime (620 FICO) with few accts that are almost falling off and 2 recent ones for a few hundred bucks. But I still smelled something fishy though...

To make a long story short - last Friday, finance manager called me and told me he wasn't able to obtain financing through 5 banks. I told him I had a blank check from Capital One, that I'd be willing to use after verification process - so I'm working on that now. He said that's fine. But he also asked if I could put more money down, to which I said "NO", explaining that my rent and other monthly expenses need to be covered. I'm in the process of repaying debts to my friends, so I'm not able to put more money right now.

My question is - what happens if Capital One doesn't finance? Am I correct believing that I'd have to return the car back to the dealer? Will they refund my $500 down payment? What about car not being new anymore and having 1300 miles. I heard about dealers asking to bring car back before - but not sure how the process goes. I have that long contract on my hands with APR and payments, etc. - and it says Toyota Motor Finance. I actually don't mind bringing car back to punish them *they knew what my credit was like*, I'm just worried about down-payment. I think they'll try to pressure me into higher APR / payment situation. Do you know what the proper course of action is?

Great advice,

Thanks Ben. I just spoke to a friend's brother (who was a Toyota selling guy for 10 years) and he told me that I was scammed and that I should a) do what you suggested + cancel my gap and extended warranty.
The only thing I'm not clear about is the deposit - actually it's not big by any means (but 500 is 500) and I did put 1200 miles in 2 weeks - so I'm wondering whether they'll try to charge me. I actually realize that it doesn't make sense to them to take the car back, since it's not officially new.
I'll keep you posted. Have a great holiday season!
My only concern left is whether: A) I should arrange my own financing (possibly with higher APR) - I really don't want that and I think I could live without a car for few weeks till I get something else.

-Andriy

As for your next car, ever think about driving a used beater? There's a concept we enjoy on the site called, "don't buy what you can't afford," which is to say, avoid going into debt. If this is too hard, and you do go through a dealership, come with your own financing, i.e., arrange your financing with your bank or credit union first and walk in with that.

Actually, that's the reason I don't want to keep the car. With 3 monthly payments I could get a 10-15 year old Honda....Traffic is so bad around DC that I realized that I'm not driving as much as I thought I would.
I guess I could loose the deposit, but that's better than overpaying $8000 in interest on a $17k car. I'll see how the developments will go. That old pal editor - is a powerful thing anyway. I just sort of feel bad, cause the finance manager seemed so be willing to help me, etc. I guess they have to pretend friendly. Actually spot delivery is something big in MD - Here the say that MD MVA (DMV) doesn't permit temp tags - "

"Temporary registration permits, or certificates and plates, may not be used by dealers in cases where vehicles are released to potential purchasers prior to consummation of a vehicle sales transaction. These types of transactions are commonly referred to in the industry as "Spot Delivery," "Fronting" "Macarthur Statement," etc.
I guess it's just a lot of stress, etc. I'll try calling the manager and let me know what's going on. The only thing I'm worried about is that he doesn't mind me getting my own financing.

A computer glich is causing every single Prius to fail the emissions test. It turns out that the computer that downloads the car's emissions history is incompatible with the hybrid, and the exhaust-testing system requires the car to be able to idle with the engine running— something the eco-friendly Pruis won't do.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Scott Merritt bought his low polluting Toyota Prius to help save the planet, conserve energy and encourage others to go green. He's also a big believer in keeping dirty polluters off the road.

So imagine his surprise and frustration when his electric hybrid failed Georgia emissions testing — not once, but three times.

"I spent a total of three full days getting this resolved," said Merritt, 34, a public relations executive. "I went to three different places, and nobody was able to do the test."

"The woman behind the counter looked at me like I had three heads," Merritt said. "She had never heard of this problem."

Earth-friendly Prius struggling to overcome Ga emissions glitch [Atlanta J-C] (Thanks, Gregg!)
(Photo:Ben Gray/AJC)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would also appreciate it if owners of the Toyota hybrids Prius and Avalon would double-check to make sure their floor mats are installed correctly.

The floor mats aren't defective, but when stacked on-top of other floor mats they can come loose and the results are not pretty.

There were seven crashes and 12 injuries in connection with crazy pedal trapping evil floor mats. Safety officials said, "drivers traveled for miles and reached speeds exceeding 90 miles per hour before the car stopped." Holy crap.

If you have one of these cars, Toyota is going to design a new floor mat and send it to you. Try not to die before then. Make sure your floor mats are gripping the floor!

Toyota to recall floor mats in 2007 Lexus, Camrys [Reuters]
(Photo:NHTSA)

GM, Chrysler, Daewoo, FIAT, GM, Honda, Jaguar, Toyota, Volvo, and VW all use Keeloq.

Once, there was a car with a very reactive car security system sitting outside my apartment. Following a light rain, it would go bloop-bloop! every time a drop of water fell on it from the tree above. My room was in the front of the house and this annoying sound easily penetrated the walls, over and over again. Finally I went out there and kicked the car's tires, causing it to explode with klaxons, screeches and warbles...

I walked up the street a bit. My neighborhood dashed out of his brownstone, looked around for culprits, and examined his car to make sure it was ok. I sidled on over and made casual conversation about how extremely sensitive his car's alarm was. I think he got the message because after I went back inside the car didn't make any more bloop blops to warn its owner that raindrops might be trying to get inside his car.

Now, if those researchers could just use the same method to develop a tool to silence people's car alarms that keep going off unnecessarily...

How To Steal Cars — A Practical Attack on KeeLoq [cosic.esat.kuleuven.be]
[Red Tape Chronicles]

Only 4 brands have lasted 10 years on the poll: Ford (which was No. 1 in 1997), Sony (which was No. 3), Coca-Cola (which was No. 7) and Pepsi Cola (which was No. 10).

How Does It Work?

Poll takers give "spontaneous answers" when asked the following question:

"We would like you to think about brands or names of products and services you know. Considering everything, which three brands do you consider the best?"

The Results:

Microsoft jumped into the top 10 this year at #8, beating Apple at #9. Apple was #10 last year, Microsoft wasn't on the list. Dell slipped a few spots from #2 to land at #4.

Ford was the only American car manufacturer on the list, behind Toyota, but beating Honda. Honda slipped from #6 to #10. Toyota jumped up to grab the #3 spot from last year's #4.

The top 10 brands for 2007 are:

1) Coca-Cola

2) Sony

3) Toyota

4) Dell

5) Ford

6) Kraft Foods

7) Pepsi

8) Microsoft

9) Apple

10) Honda

Coca Cola On Top For First Time In Annual 'Best Brands' Harris Poll (Press Release) [Business Wire]
(Photo:Maulleigh)

•Toyota offers a $400 rebate to recent graduates, and requires proof of graduation;
•Nissan offers a $500 rebate to recent graduates;
•Ford offers a $500 rebate to recent graduates, or students in the last half-year of school.

Incentives from other automakers take several forms, including lower rates and deferred payments. Each offer varies, so be sure not only to ask the dealer, but to get details directly from the automaker. Though incentives help, greater savings can be earned by doing your homework before setting foot in a dealership. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

Some Automakers Offer Incentives to New College Grads [KABC]
(Photo: Justin Russell)

Update: Our resident car expert clarifies: "They do actually advertise these incentive deals — but they don't advertise them in the mainstream. What they do is either buy lists from alumni organizations and do mailings to them, or they advertise in school newspapers, etc. Dealers in big college towns, for instance in East Lansing and Ann Arbor, MI, are well aware of the incentive programs and actively push them to young-looking folks who come in to buy."

Chris writes:

Thanks for the advice. I read the comments people posted on my story. I agree that the repair bill was very high to begin with. I took my car to the dealership because I thought that the repair would be covered entirely under the warranty, or would be something minor, like just balancing the tires. I called Toyota Warranty myself to try and argue that the rotors/pads should be covered because the damage was caused by the failing part, but they wouldn't budge because it was 'consequential damage'. I decided to get it repaired at the dealership anyways, because I thought it was worth paying extra to get their customer service, the nice rental, and to save myself the hassle of taking more time off work to go to another garage. As I said, I really liked the people I had dealt with when I bought the car. It was no pressure and they were reasonable in negotiations, so I got it for a very good price.

So here is how the whole thing ended. I eventually called the service desk myself, annoyed they hadn't contacted me, and they said they were working out a deal and would call me in a few hours. They did call me, and I spoke with the assistant service manager. He brusquely apologized and offered $50 off. I said I saved them from a lot more than that in fines, and they had taken up a bunch of my time. I was firm and polite. The manager seemed indifferent, he interrupted me several times to try and speed things along, offering $100, and then asking what I thought was fair. I had considered this, and I asked for half the repair bill to be taken off. I thought that was reasonable for both of us. He said he wasn't authorized to do that, so he would have to speak with Jamie the customer relations manager and get back to me. I asked if I could just come in and deal with Jamie directly, he said yes, and that my car was ready to be picked up.

I decided at that point to contact Toyota Corporate and see if there was anything I could do with them. They essentially took my complaint and forwarded it to the dealership, which was completely useless - as Consumerist predicted.

I left work early and drove to there with several photo copies of the ticket. I went in and asked for Jamie, they sent me to an office in the back of the service area. After knocking on his door and waiting for him to finish a phone call, we sat down. We reviewed the incident, he apologized several times on behalf of the entire dealership, but he attempted to minimize the situation, saying that the police had made mistakes, and that this had never happened before. Several times he said "No one has ever gotten pulled over in one of our rentals for something like this.", and each time I would reply quickly but calmly "I was." He said that they didn't have the customer copy of the rental agreement, was I *sure* I never got it? I told him I was 100% sure. He claimed if I had the agreement, they would have let me go and there wouldn't have been an issue (implying it was my fault). I told him that I still would have been pulled over, and even if I had the agreement and they let me go, it was hardly what I expected when I rented a car from them. I asked if he would consider it a success if every car he rented was pulled over by the police, but was let go if they showed the rental agreement. He admitted that would be a problem.

I think he realized that I wasn't going to back down on the facts of the situation and that it would be better to just settle the matter. He got the finalized bill, which had been lowered $50 already, because with tax it was just $583. I asked him what he thought would be fair, and he said "Want to split it down the middle?" I clarified that he meant we would each pay half, then agreed that that would be fair. So my final repair bill came to $291.50, which after everything seemed like the right price to me.

Thanks for your help, consumerist!

-Christopher

Way to stay strong, Chris. You'll be amazed what you can get by being firm and polite.

That dealership's new motto: If all else fails, we have excellent customer service. — BEN POPKEN

Chris took his car in for repairs and they rented him a loaner car. While driving it, the police pulled him over and could've written him a ticket for several things that were the dealership's fault: unlawful plate display, driving an unregistered vehicle, and there being no rental agreement in the car. They let him go without a ticket but wrote out on the back of a ticket (pictured) all the citations they could have issued.

The police wouldn't let him drive the car back so Chris had to wait for the dealership to come by and pick him up. The dealership dudes were very apologetic and hooked him up with a new rental, and a slice of pizza, but Chris feels he should get more for all the hassle he endured.

We do too. The dealership manager should call and apologize and should knock off the price of one of Chris' repairs, say throw in the tire balancing for free.

Resolving customer service issues like this takes two ingredients:
1) an apology from a supervisor and
2) a material gesture of apology (i.e., something of monetary value to the business (no, the pizza doesn't count))

Chris' letter, inside...

Chris writes:

I took my 03 Corolla in for repairs because it was shaking intermittently at high speeds. I took it back to the dealership where I purchased it in November 2006. I've only driven 2700 miles in that time, and the car is still under the factory warranty, and the 3 year / 36,000 mile warranty I purchased. Part of the repair cost was covered by the warranty, part of it was not (calipers broke - covered, rotors and pads had to be replaced as a result of broken calipers - not covered).

They gave me a rental, covered by my warranty, a new Prius. I drove it to work from the dealership. On the way home from work I was pulled over by the police. The registration sticker was out of date, the plate was improperly displayed, and the plate didn't match the VIN (discovered after they pulled me over). The police were very friendly and told me that the dealership had really screwed me over, and that I definitely couldn't drive this another inch. The dealership hadn't given me a rental agreement, and I had assumed it was in the glove compartment (as it had been before when they gave me a vehicle after my initial purchase while they did minor repairs I negotiated during the buying process) - it wasn't.

I gave the police the business card for the dealership and they arranged for the dealership to drive out and pick up the car, and give me a new rental. The office wrote up all the citations he could have issued on a blank parking ticket, which he told me to show the dealership. I have attached a picture of it, the text reads:
1372-3 117.50 - Unlawful Plate Display 1301-A Court Unregistered Vehicle
6308-A 117.50
Police Investigation No Rental Agreement
Tow Charge $135.00

Only his manners saved him and dealership fines.

The officer said the unregistered vehicle charge could carry a fine of up to $1000. The officers left to go on another call and told me not to move the vehicle.

I remained there for another twenty minutes, for a total of about an hour by the side of the road, before the dealership vehicle showed up. However, instead of another rental the had just driven up in one of the dealership branded lot vehicles. I had to return to the dealership with one, while the other drove the Prius (against my polite recommendation not to). I asked why they couldn't have brought a new rental and a rental agreement, they said I had to do it at the dealership.

Once I arrived they were apologetic and attempted to rent me another vehicle as quickly as possible. I said I didn't want to sign an agreement until they told me what they could do to make this right, since I had been inconvenienced by their mistakes, and I had saved them from getting a bunch of citations and fines.

I spoke with a couple of the guys there, and unfortunately neither of them were in a position of power (the manager of the service center wasn't there) to do anything, but they were both polite and empathetic, promising to explain the situation to the manager the next day and "go to bat for you". I accepted this (and a slice of pizza since I was starving, and they were nice enough to offer), and signed the rental agreement and went home, arriving just over two hours from when I was pulled over.

All that happened yesterday. Today I haven't heard from them yet. I am supposed to come tomorrow morning to pick up my car and turn in the rental. My repair bill is going to be $609.95 (Deductible on calipers - $50, New Rotors & Pads - $395.00, Brake Flush - $95, Rotate/Balance Tires - $69.95). They told me that everything but the rotate/balance is really required for the repair, and they recommended the rotate/balance.

I am pretty mad and frustrated with the experience, but other than this, I have had very positive experiences with the dealership. What is a fair resolution? What should I ask for if they don't volunteer anything? Would it be useful to contact Toyota Corporate at any point?

Oh, and don't bother contacting corporate. They rarely give a damn what their dealerships do. — BEN POPKEN

We're interested in negotiations, compensation, car brands, used cars, new cars, financing, customer satisfaction surveys...you name it.

Please organize your tips by the make of car you work with. Toyota, Ford, Chevy...etc. We can't wait to hear from you! Remember, helpful tips! Here are some good examples:

9 Confessions From A Former Enterprise Rental Salesman
8 Confessions of An Alltel Sales Rep
11 Confessions of a T-Mobile Sales Rep
6 Confessions Of A Former Sprint Sales Rep
MORE CONFESSIONS....

(Photo: morsteen)

The credit has already begun to phase out for Toyota and Lexus hybrids purchased after September 30, 2006, and others will follow suit as they reach the sales volume target. The 2006 Prius' tax break, for instance, dropped in half to $1,575 if it was purchased after that date, and it will split again to $788 between April and the end of September, 2007. After that, the Prius rebate disappears altogether.

Hybrid Cars and the Vanishing Tax Credit [Consumer Reports]
Hybrid Cars and Alternative Motor Vehicles [IRS]

The customer's husband suspected that the salesman refused to sell his wife a car because he was afraid of receiving a poor customer service survey from them. It turns out that he may be on to something, if what our tipster says is true. He claims that his roommate used to be a CSR for a Toyota dealership and it was the roommate's job to make sure the customer either did not fill our the survey or filled our paper surveys so the answers could be changed or poor reviews thrown out.

The tipster writes:

Toyota pays each dealership an extra amount of money for marketing based on the customer satisfaction surveys that are given to each customer after they purchase a vehicle. If they do not score a 90% or better they do not get the extra money each month, (part the extra money is then distributed to the employees so there was significant incentive to get positive surveys) anything less then a 5 on a 1 to 5 scale will reduce your customer satisfaction score. My roommates job was to get those surveys back to the dealership (while they are still not filled out) by offering free tanks of gas, carwash etc, and to not let the customer fill out the survey online. My roommate would then fill the survey in for the customer online (using as many different computers as possible, in case Toyota was looking for a repeat IP address) or fill in the paper survey and return it to Toyota. If the survey was already filled out they would either change the answers or throw the survey away so that Toyota never received it. It was a constant battle each month to try and change enough surveys to counter balance the surveys that people submitted without returning them to the dealership. If you want to get the free incentive and still get your opinion heard, fill out the survey online and then take the paper copy to the dealership for the free tank of gas. I do not know if all the Toyota dealerships work this way but the way the system is set up I imagine that many do it this way.

(Photo: Leonid Mamchenkov)

It started when J and his wife called Berkeley Toyota to ask if they had a gray Prius with a certain options package available. The salesman said they did, and they made an appointment to see the car. When they arrived at the dealership, they found out that there was, in fact, no available gray Prius. That's when things got weird.

From J's website:

Javier returned about five minutes later and told us that the car he assured us was available on the phone had actually been damaged and needed repairs before they would sell it to us. Mr. Rios said his manager noticed that we "were upset or in a bad mood," and wanted to be sure we would be happy.

Of course, we were not happy about coming in to the store to discover the car we wanted wasn't available. We told Javier on the phone exactly what we wanted, we had already researched the car and wanted to close the deal, not re-negotiate the deal or be offered a different color. They didn't have the car they promised us available, so we left.

My wife phoned Mr. Rios a few hours later to ask what the manager might have meant by that comment about us being in a bad mood. She explained that at this point she was interested in ANY Prius with a Package #2 and a dark interior, and she was willing to come back in to discuss another color. Javier agreed and said that he would look into what was available and call her back.

Imagine her shock when Javier phoned back a few minutes later (presumably after discussing it with his manager) to say that he "feels uncomfortable selling us a car" since we were so angry and that her husband made him "feel like dirt" on the phone. She reminded him about the circumstances of our experience—that we were ensured that the car was there, that we had no time to negotiate, that we could come right in and sign the papers if they had the car we wanted, and that we were rightfully upset. Nevertheless, Mr. Rios insisted that he could not sell us a car, that he was uncomfortable taking our business.

Berkeley Toyota Refuses To Sell Woman A Car [Measurement]
(Photo: Beige Alert)

WEIGOLDS: Mr. Gentile changed from jury trial to bench trial. This automatically delays another 2 months! The new date is March 15th. Our states attorney did not do his home work anyway. We are pushing him to obtain Jim's phone records before next trial date. Another wasted day off! Don't know what happened we were told jury trials are expensive.

CONSUMERIST: How do you think this will affect your case?

WEIGOLDS: The statute of limitations runs out 2 years from the date of the last offense. We still have time but..... hurry up and wait! We have contacted our civil lawyer waiting for a return call, we are going to tell him to proceed to file instead of waiting for the verdict from the criminal matter.

— BEN POPKEN

Previously:
UPDATE: Consumer Takes Sleazy Prius Salesman To Court
Consumer Takes Sleazy Prius Salesman To Court
UPDATE: Sleazy Prius Deal Ends in Salesman's Arrest Warrant
UPDATE: Sleazy Prius Deal Ends in Warrant For Saleman's Arrest
Sleazy Prius Deal Ends in Warrant For Saleman's Arrest

Toyota to recall 533,000 SUVs, trucks [CNN Money]

— BEN POPKEN

Previously:
Consumer Takes Sleazy Prius Salesman To Court
UPDATE: Sleazy Prius Deal Ends in Salesman's Arrest Warrant
UPDATE: Sleazy Prius Deal Ends in Warrant For Saleman's Arrest
Sleazy Prius Deal Ends in Warrant For Saleman's Arrest

The highlights:

1) Apple "The American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ASCI)* second quarter report indicates that within the Personal Computers category, customers perceived Apple as the best company in terms of customer service." (Those commenters who are angry about the recent posting of mildly negative Apple news can feel free to apologize and send flowers.)

2) GE In the major appliances category, the ASCI survey has named the General Electric company no. 1. Yay for large appliances!

3) Toyota Reliable cars!

4) Google It's not just a verb!

5) Southwest Happy employees = happy customers!

The list of the 10 worst is, from our perspective, equally unsurprising. The companies on the list are often in the subject lines of our emails.

AOL, Home Depot, Best Buy, AT&T, and Circuit City stand out to us the most. Can we go a single day without someone bitching about Home Depot? No, no we can't.— MEGHANN MARCO

10 Best and Worst Companies for Customer Service [CRMLowdown]

Angela Wiegold tells us that on October 19th 2006 there was another pre-trial hearing for the defendant Mr. James Gentile who entered a not guilty plea to the charge of a Class B criminal misdemeanor.

The State's Attorney has ordered for a copy of Mr. Gentiles home and cell phone records. The Weinglod's call log for April 2006 shows 5 calls in one day.

You can follow the outcome with this online app. Type in: GENTILE JAMES.

The Wiegold's lawsuit against Mr. Gentile is on hold, pending the trial's outcome.

The next court date is Dec 11th, 2006.

Backstory here.

Schwarzenegger's state have decided to quickly follow their recent pledge to reduce emissions by 25% by 2020 with a huge lawsuit against the nation's biggest automakers.

Brought forth by Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the lawsuit named Ford, GM and Toyota, claiming that emissions from their vehicles are costing California millions.

Naturally, this sort of lawsuit is inherently hypocritical. According to the World Resources Institute, Electricity & heat emit a full quarter of the world's emissions. Deforestation's the next big contender, followed by a tie between transport (including planes, trains, whirlybird gyro-copters) and agriculture.

Of course, it's hard to imagine California naming all those planet-killing farmers.

California Sues Automakers Over Global Warming

• Why does my 2006 Toyota Corolla LE make so much noise when I start the car in the morning? [Link]

• Are there any manual transmission driving simulators for the PC that can do a decent job of allowing me to simulate actually driving stick? [Link]

• What is the Best Source for keeping up with the ratings on HDTVs? [Link]

• I'm leaving in a week and I still can't figure out a good solution to managing my US finances from the UK. [Link]

• We have a Chrysler Airtemp A/C unit (more than 20 years old) that's gone on the fritz 2 days before we're scheduled to be away for 2 weeks. Is there any way for me to determine on my own if this is a catastrophic breakdown that will require a new unit? [Link]

• I'm asking for a male friend who has tried Weight Watchers but didn't like going to meetings. So do these cardboard box diets work? [Link]

• My boss purchased a rather pricey item on eBay and we have not received it. She did not request signature confirmation or shipping insurance. She did receive a USPS tracking number and, according to that number, it's already been delivered... 'cept, you know, it hasn't been. Are we SOL?[Link]

• How can I start my own pay for porn site? [Link]

There will also be a note in the suit for the Sheriff about Gentile's outstanding arrest warrant for disorderly conduct and phone harassment. Which brings up something they never told you while suckling Law and Order from the boob tube. Just because you have a warrant out on you doesn't mean you're going to be hauled away by the police any time soon.

Oh and by the way, all those ALL CAPS, all defensive comments under Mark's login? Those were from his wife, who took your comments very seriously. There's a joke about women driving your comments login that we are very most certainly not making. Good luck, Mark, may you find satisfaction.

Mark had some friends call Naperville Toyota to let them know the complaint was on The Consumerist. Reportedly, the annoyed lady on the phone said, "one unhappy customer will not hurt us."

Since appearing here, Mark has received inquiries from area newspapers, included the Chicago Tribune. He also plans on filing on lawsuit and is speaking with a lawyer this weekend.

His outrage so hot and fierce, we were not originally able to put up Mark's whole complaint, with the squirrely financing details and all. The letter is now posted in it's entirety after the jump...

At first glance, the Toyota appears a lot like any other little car but there is one big difference: With the Prius, it helps to read the owner's manual before attempting to start the thing.

None of the computer-savvy members of the ConsumerAffairs.Com staff were able to start the car without consulting the owner's manual or asking for help.

And while Mark already informed us that the gas mileage certainly wasn't the 60mpg that Toyota claimed, Consumer Affairs backs it all up, pointing out that they only got 3/4ths of the mileage claimed in the brochure.

So it might be wise to wait to drop your 30k, even if you're not worried about a salesman writing your wife's name on a bathroom stall.

Test Drive: 2006 Toyota Prius

One of the assumptions of modern consumption is that if you buy something you don't like, you get to return it. You also assume that the salesman isn't going to write your wife's name on the bathroom wall and say she willing to have sex for money. Both of those assumptions, and more, proved not true for Mark when after he bought a Prius from Toyota of Naperville, IL.

It's bad enough that the salesman, Jim Gentile, committed outright fraud on Mark's car financing. But then after Mark complained and tried to return the car, not only was he subject to more bilking and his efforts rebuffed, his wife started receiving lewd phone calls from people who said they found her name and number on a hooker website. A phone trace revealed the phone numbers harassing Mark's wife belonged to one Jim Gentile.

When Mark called the dealership to confront Jim, he found that Mr. Gentile no longer worked there. He worked for Pontiac and was promoted to manager.

A warrant is out out for Jim's arrest for phone harassment and disorderly conduct but Mark's thirst for justice is not slaked. He demands restitution from Toyota Corporate.

Anatomy of a sleaze bucket, after the jump...

[Ed. Mark's letter is too long to post in its entirety, so we're just printing the parts that have to do with the harassment.]

After trying to return his car and being told by the manager to "get that car off his lot" before he called the tow truck and had it impounded, Mark reports:

"I received a call on my wife's phone, the number was blocked. A man with an east Indian accent asked if my car was for sale claiming "there was a web site for losers who could not pay for their cars" and that my name was on it with a Prius for sale. The voice would not state their name so I hung up. This was the first of MANY bizarre calls surrounding our purchase.

During that month the content of the bizarre blocked incoming phone calls changed. They used to be at random times with the same male "east Indian" voice claiming to be Toyota corporate or Toyota finance, the calls were about paying for the car. Some were threatening, saying if we did not pay for the car we would lose our house at 1088 Heritage Hill Rd (that address is an apartment). The newer calls were directed to my wife Angela, the voice said there was a website stating she would have sex for money. My wife was absolutely horrified and demanded identification when none was given she hung up. These types of phone calls kept coming in, each one more disgusting than the previous.

The nasty phone calls continued at random times until April 21st when my wife received 5 blocked incoming calls in 1 day. All of them were sexually suggestive and vulgar in content. We called the Winnebago Sheriffs and had an officer sent to our residence to file a report. We had a sneaking suspicion that Jim Gentile was the person behind the telephone voice. The call about losing our house in Naperville came after we had moved to Rockford, but our phone number and old address were on paperwork filed with Toyota. The officer took some information and suggested we file charges for harassment and disorderly conduct. We went down to the Sheriffs office and filed charges, we waited the 48 hours necessary to complete filing a charge, then we finalized it. Monies from tax return allowed us to finally retain a lawyer. After discussing the case with the lawyer he said we had a clear case of fraud. He was intrigued by the phone calls and stated that it would be interesting if we could find out about the phone calls and Jim Gentile.

"We subpoenaed our phone records since phone representative said as long as the phone was answered by a human, the calls could be traced. The records could only be obtained for 45 day prior to request. It took a few days for the information to come in; when it arrived we went over all the numbers. The records showed two different numbers repeatedly calling Angela's on April 21st. We did not recognize the numbers so we called each as a test. One I called was answered by a male voice, I asked if this was Bob and a familiar voice said that I had the wrong number. I quickly asked if this was Jim, the voice said "yes this is Jim". I hung up and tried the other suspicious number and listened to a message stating "this is Jim Gentile; I'm not able to answer....." Now I had proof that it was our Toyota salesman harassing us over the phone through a course of over four months. He had obviously been reprimanded or possibly fired over his fraudulent actions. I called Toyota of Naperville and asked for Mr. Gentile. They said "he no longer works here he was promoted and now works for Pontiac"."

"I deserve some comeuppance for mental, physical, and monetary stress including destroyed credit which is a direct result of a soured business dealing with Toyota Motor Corp."

"As of June 14th, 2006 Winnebago County States Attorney Issued a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Gentile for phone harassment, and disorderly conduct."

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• UPSIDE-DOWN-BACKWARDS OOPSY DAY: TOYOTA RECALLS CARS TO MAKE THEM LESS SAFE [CNN] " Toyota's Totally Bizarre Recall"
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• WHY BOTHER TRYING TO INFLUENCE BLOGGERS WHEN YOU CAN BUY THEM OUTRIGHT, COCK-STAR INTERNATIONAL? [Free Press] "Polluting The Blogosphere"
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Toyota has initiated a massive worldwide recall of ten of its models, including 170,000 Priuses in the U.S. alone. The problem seems to lie in the sliding yokes that drive the steering column, which can cause the wheel to distort or crack, sending drivers swerving out of control and right over that conveniently placed canyon to the left.

The vast majority of the vehicles are being recalled in Japan, but if you own a 2002 through 2005 Toyota, better make sure your car isn't in this list of brands: Wish, Isis, Prius, Corolla, Corolla Runx, Corolla Fielder, Corolla Spacio, Allex and Ractis,

Every two hundred readers who die in a nightmarish automotive inferno are another ad dollar we lose out on. So if you've got one of those cars, please give Toyota a call.