Lithia Toyota of Abilene

I Purchased a preowned vehicle, 2021 Toyota Sienna XLE, from this dealer and I was told that I'll be getting a certified Toyota. When I spoke to Matt, the sales person, on Feb 4 and asked him if the car has any damages, he assured me that the previous owner had taken very good care of this vehicle. I proceeded to finalize the deal and was offered to have the vehicle delivered to me for an additional $300 on Feb 6. Trusting that what I was told, I agreed to have it delivered. Not knowing what to expect, I briefly inspected my 2021 Toyota Sienna XLE and didn't see the damages in the back cover of the front seats and the headliner, i felt rushed to sign the documents sent by the driver. These damages look pretty bad and there is no repair without having to re-upholster both seats and the headliner. I immediately called Matt and he told me that he will bring it to managers attention. I received a call from Ruben on the next day and he told me that he will talk to his GSM and get this issue resolved. Of coarse, I called the next day to get this promptly resolved but again i felt like I'm getting the run around. I finally spoke to the GSM, Andrew, and was very rude and claimed that this vehicle is priced 11k under market value. He is out of his mind. There were several other vehicles in san antonio, where i live, and were offered around 34.5k, which is couple of thasands mare than this vehicle. I knew from his attitude that i got to the end of the line with no solutions. He offered to take care of only fog light and claimed that the other two items were very visible on the pictures. I replied very firmly that the back of seats are not very clear because picures were not taken close to the damage and it looked very pixely on CarGurus. The headliner is no where showing in any of the other pictures and no where damages were stated. I ended up texting Chris, the finance manager, and he told me that he will take care of it and asked me to give him a day or so to search for a place in San Antonio that will upholster the head liner. Today, he finally called to inform me that they will not take care of upholster neither one of the two items and that basically I'm out of luck. I took the time to write this review and will proceed to contact every other source to file a complaint because this is not acceptable to anyone. BE VERY AWARE THAT THIS IS A CLEAR MISREPRESENTATION. Don't buy from this dealer. Be very aware. FYI, I was told later by Andrew that this is not a certified Toyota rather it's a dealer certified vehicle. Be aware that dealer certified is nothing but have a powertrain extended warranty which is not Toyota certification. HUGE DIFFERENCE

Once I got in touch with the salesperson, & more explicitly communicated my situation, things got better. They've had no prior experience w/ email checks from out of state Credit Unions. They're still getting their head around it & learning about it. Hopefully they'll resolve it by next week.

Jeff Mcclendin is the rudest employee I had a appointment &car 1230 was out of there at 3 . I told him I was going to wait in lobby for my car so he asked me for my phone number & he says oh we have another # so I said that's my husband s so change it to mine because he said they text the customer when. Car is ready .I was there till 3 I finally got up & asked about my car .he said yes oh yeah just got it. So I left very upset got home my husband asked what's wrong I told about the long wait & rudeness I had experienced. . So he says why did you have to wait so long they text me at 2 that car was ready. After I had told Jeff to change phone number. And also that I was waiting in lobby .They announced everyone else's name when there car was ready except mine . No telling how long they would have me waiting.

I have had several disappointing experiences with Lithia Toyota in Abilene, first with the service department and then with the sales manager, Jim. I will now go out of my way to avoid doing business with Lithia; they have worked very hard to sour my opinion of their dealership. The service department has poor communication and makes promises they can't keep. I needed a tire replaced a while back, and one person told me it was no problem and to bring the vehicle in to have it done. I took it in the next day, and the original person I spoke to was out of the office. The person I spoke to next acted as if I was making some ridiculous demand and was very obviously flustered when I didn't take no for an answer. At one point, she turned around a screen and walked off like an angry toddler. Extremely unprofessional in every way. More recently, I had been working with different sales folks to buy a Toyota 4Runner. I decided on one and was sitting down, ready to buy the vehicle. When it came to negotiation, apparently, negotiating is "unfair" to the dealership. That is the silliest thing I have ever heard in my life. The 4Runner I decided on smelled nasty and had obvious scratches and dents on it, and they were trying to sell it as if it was a "clean" example. When I attempted to negotiate, I was treated as if I were a criminal or something. Jim Buckner, the sales manager who came to negotiate with me, was overly aggressive and seemed to have no intention of selling me the vehicle I was interested in. He was condescending and had the people skills of a potato. He told me there was no justification for the price I was asking, and when I offered the example of online sales, he asked me to open it up on my phone and show him. He had lost the sale from me at that point, but just out of my amusement, I asked him why I should have to do that if he is the salesperson. He then told me that since I was the one who brought it up, I should have to do it. Again, this angry toddler mentality resurfacing in the sales department. I guess Jim hasn't heard of AutoTempest.com. It is a wonderful website that anyone can use to look up cars, but it searches many different platforms at once. It is a useful tool for anyone who wants to sell a vehicle at a competitive price. Once I left the dealership, I sat in the parking lot and found a good 20+ vehicles of similar mileage and trim across the country that were priced as I had proposed. In the age of the internet, you can't just negotiate regionally and expect to make a deal with savvy shoppers. Especially when your sales manager acts like there is no competition. Why would I have to show the sales manager online prices? Wouldn't it be advantageous for them to look it up and prove me wrong? (which they wouldn't have been successful at) What a strange request from a sales manager in 2024... This isn't 2021 anymore, Jim; you have to negotiate. You have a lot full of overpriced and over-leveraged vehicles; it's not the consumer's fault, so why should we pay the price? Honestly, I have to thank you, though. The same day, I found a very similar vehicle with similar mileage across town for $15K less than what Lithia was trying to scam me out of. It was an older vehicle but smelled clean and was in far better shape than the one at Lithia. And guess what? The salespeople were so kind and personable! They also negotiated with me, but I didn't feel the need to get the best deal since they obviously took great care in making sure I was satisfied. Shame on Lithia Toyota! Toyota dealerships are supposed to be a cut above the rest, but you have managed to garner a reputation for being hardheaded and having poor customer service. I spoke with a number of other sales folks and family/ friends around town, and they all had the same opinion of Lithia Toyota. Yikes, guys, do better!

I used to love coming to Toyota and going to Sara she did great and she actually helped you no matter what. I went in today and talked to Phillip and was not pleased at all. He gave me no hope at all and when I called to check to see if he found anything for me after him telling me it was going to take awhile and to go home. He then told me he was working with another customer and didn’t believe I was going to get approved for anything. Worst experience I’ve ever received at Toyota

Do not go here. 2 months after buying suv had serious probaremos with it. Called them to trade in and do something for me and never heard back. Sketchy.

I went in to get a cheap car to run around town in, as I am wanting to keep miles off my primary vehicle. Worked the deal for two days. Ran my credit report twice to get the deal done. Went in at the end of the day to drive the vehicle one more time, after I was approved by my local bank (which dealerships do not like). I was told there were other customers there ready to write a check. I was appalled and at a loss for words. Then I was given the analogy, "It's like when you go to Best Buy for a PlayStation and the people in front of you buy the last one". Fortunately, for me I haven't ever bought locally, as I was going to give it a try. This is not something I really expected from a dealer I was about to spend money at, rather it be 5k or 125K. I have since found a better car for the same price with awesome customer service. However, I hope if you choose to buy a car from this dealership, someone does't come along before you swipe your card, to "write a check". It was clear it wasn't about the customer; it was strictly about who could write the check faster. Thank you, Lithia, for showing your true colors before I spend a dime with your dealership. Also, consider looking at the reviews on Better Business Bureau before doing business here. Kenan and Andrew are clearly about the dollar and not about keeping people coming in to buy local.

I have updated my review, as I am very pleased with how the dealership rectified the situation. Thank you very much for reaching out and making this right. I very much appreciate it.

Excellent! I didn’t have to lift a finger. Steve at Lithia Toyota treated me very well. Their treatment of my trade in was great. He understood my situation and helped me with trading in my car. I could not have asked for better treatment and a fair deal. I will continue to trade with Lithia as their treatment of me is far superior to what other dealers offered me in Abilene. I didn’t have to wait 5 hours either.

Bought my used vehicle a month a half ago. I only had 2 things that I really wanted,1) remote start 2) heated seats. First morning to drive, no remote start. Nor would the driver side mirror adjust. Called the sales person and asked about it, “Oh, well I was told it had it, can’t help you.” Took it on a long distance trip, brakes are bad. They did fix that. Now a month out and on another long distance trip. Half way there and the AC has gone out. I’m sorry to say I think I have bought a lemon!!