Atkinson Toyota

6,062 Views | 34 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by Omega6464
Aggie
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AG
I'm sure this will get deleted because staff has deleted These before... not sure why.

This is not a negative post , it is a post to save other Texags users the headaches , anger and frustration I have gone through.

Do not purchase a car from Bryan/ College Station Toyota, we bought a Pre owned vehicle and it has had $12,000 in repairs in less than a year since we drove it off their lot.
The words straight form BCS Toyota to me was " we're in the business to sell cars". Zero customer service .. just hey you bought it, we got your money and to hell with you.
Your better off buying from a shade tree independent dealership

Do not buy a vehicle from these crooks
BCStalk
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For starters, there is no Atkinson Toyota anymore. Atkinson had beyond outstanding customer service. That was a decade ago when Paul owned it and Craig ran the service department. What we have now is a company owned by what I'm assuming is an investment company. Nowhere near the same dealership as the past.
Aggie
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You're right.. not trying to drag Atkinson name thru the mud, that's just what I remember it as.

Bryan/ College Station Toyota .. garbage
dubi
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My parents owned Toyota's for many years and we're screwed every time they had service even when it was owned by Atkinson.

I hear it is worse now.

FC12
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Question...if you sold a car to an individual (private party sale) and 3 months later the transmission crapped out, would you A) take the car back? B) pay for the transmission?
C) offer 1/2 the cost? D) Tell them sorry, it was sold as-is and you are not responsible?

Let's say the AWD system then went out, etc....repeat the same questions above.

To clarify your post, A) what did you buy? B) when did something major break? C) What did you request from the dealership regarding repairs, repair cost comp, etc.?
legalbird
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If you plan on buying a car, call the service department before you purchase.

See if the phone just rings and rings. I had a major recall on my Ford and the phone just rang and rang on different days.

Won't say the dealership name.

Then I took to a smaller Ford dealership about 14 miles away. I asked for my old part numerous times before the work started. When work was done, "your part was thrown in the dumpster."

trouble
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AG
Was it one of their "certified" pre-owned?
AggiePhil
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AG
I think their Madisonville dealership closed up shop too. Try Huntsville Toyota next time.

On another note, I continue to be surprised that we don't have a Lexus dealership here.
Gunner0740
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We just bought a car from them and thought had zero issues. We looked at their used inventory, but after reviewing the warranties and seeing that the vehicle we were looking at was not a "certified" pre-owned vehicle, therefore it came with no outside warranty from Toyota, we decided on purchasing a new car instead of a pre-owned. While I agree that it didn't seem right to purchase a vehicle from a dealership with no warranty, you do get what you pay for in that's aspect. If it was new or certified pre-owned then you always have the "lemon law" to fall back on.

If they are not honoring a warrant that came with the vehicle, then I agree that is poor customer service.
montegobay
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Allen Honda for the win. We've bought so many cars from them and had excellent service every time.
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Broncos
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AggiePhil said:

I think their Madisonville dealership closed up shop too. Try Huntsville Toyota next time.

On another note, I continue to be surprised that we don't have a Lexus dealership here.


Aren't Huntsville and B/CS both owned by the same company?
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woodiewood1
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dubi said:

My parents owned Toyota's for many years and we're screwed every time they had service even when it was owned by Atkinson.

I hear it is worse now.


We had a number of very bad experiences with Atkinson Toyota over a few years and quit purchasing Toyota's due to that and we had five or six in a row. I haven't been there in a few years.
91_Aggie
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AG
I bought a car from there 2 years ago. New. No issues but for the last 6 months i kept getting calls and voice mails left with a message like "we have some exciting/important news about your <car i bought>. Please call us back"

I called back once and got receptionist who did not know what i was talking about and tried to transfer me to someone where i had to leave a message.

I just hung up. Finally answered one time and found out they just wanted me to trade up to a newer model. Sigh.

Told then i am guy who will keep a car until it dies and to take me off their call list for dumb people who believe they always have to have a car payment.
JP76
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This is the exact reason i have bought my last 7 Toyotas from my connection in Dallas. Great price, no bs, no pressure and delivered to your driveway
armymom
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We have bought several new cars from our local dealer. Zero issues. Although I have noticed that under the new ownership employees don't Seem to be as "happy" about their job as before.
MisterShipWreck
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The local Toyota dealership once had the best service dept in town. That's too bad. I wasn't aware that they had new owners. From 2003 to a few years ago, I was very impressed with the service dept there.

I will say that while I loved their service dept, buying a car there sucked when my ex wife (married at the time) bought a car there a few years back (still Atkinson Toyota). The sales manager was very rude and pushy.

The Toyota I had before that was bought in Houston, and we just used the service dept in Bryan.

I've been satisfied with Douglas Nissan. I had heard mixed info on thee Mazda/Hyundai dealership. But now that Douglas Nissan owns the Mazda dealership, maybe that will improve.
DFWag84
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montegobay said:

Allen Honda for the win. We've bought so many cars from them and had excellent service every time.


How about charging $5k over sticker for a Passport?

I would not buy anything from Allen Honda.
Worst dealer in town.
GiveEmHellBill
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Bought our last two vehicles from Honda Bob at Allen Honda.

Would continue to buy from him as long as he's there.
dubi
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DFWag84 said:

montegobay said:

Allen Honda for the win. We've bought so many cars from them and had excellent service every time.


How about charging $5k over sticker for a Passport?



I would not buy anything from Allen Honda.
Worst dealer in town.



We saw the same thing and laughed as we drove away. Honda if Clear was advertising $3,000 off sticker so an $8,000 difference.
montegobay
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Who buys based on the sticker price ?
91_Aggie
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montegobay said:

Who buys based on the sticker price ?
Well if you are trying to haggle down from the sticker pricing, adding $5000 to the starting point, really makes it difficult to get to a valid price.

and even if you had a different method, why would you give your business to a dealer who would even put that on their car... that's ridiculous... it means they hope to sucker someone who isn't as savvy about car buying.

To me that means you are dealing with a dishonest person/dealer before you even start.
jasonw
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Wow...I haven't been to the honda dealership here in College Station, but if someone wants to pay $999 for a cargo mat and some wheel locks and then pay $499 for the front two windows to be tinted....that insane.....but as I googled what the "pro pack" was, I found that other dealers do the same. And the nitrogen in the tires....I doubt it ever happens.
nthomas99
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91_Aggie said:

montegobay said:

Who buys based on the sticker price ?
Well if you are trying to haggle down from the sticker pricing, adding $5000 to the starting point, really makes it difficult to get to a valid price.

and even if you had a different method, why would you give your business to a dealer who would even put that on their car... that's ridiculous... it means they hope to sucker someone who isn't as savvy about car buying.

To me that means you are dealing with a dishonest person/dealer before you even start.


Just ignore whatever they have listed. If the market (or most people) would actually bear a $5K markup, why do you blame them?

When I bought our Odyssey 6 years ago, I had emailed several dealerships in Houston and had a reasonable offer in hand from one, documented in an email. I printed it out, walked into Allen Honda, and said "if you can come with $200 of this, I'll buy here and save myself a trip to Houston."

90 minutes later, papers signed and they delivered as promised. Of course they tried to add a fee or something, but I just said no and that was that. I won't say it was a pleasant stroll down the beach, but on the scale of my other car buying experiences, it was pretty mellow. The key is go in with homework done and exactly what you want to pay, and just leave quickly if they won't match it before sinking a lot of time into it.
MisterShipWreck
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Granted, this was about 10 years ago. But I went to Allen Honda and tried to make a deal. The salesman specifically said: "We are selling Hondas, we don't have to make deals." We left. Never gone back.

It's easier to go to Katy or Houston to buy the car, and then use the service dept here.
BQ_90
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I,had tundra from 2012-2019; bought in Houston. Atkinson didn't wanna help at all, only wanted to sell me what they had in stock. So found what I wanted for better deal in Houston

But I used them for service and never had any issues.
Orlando Ayala Cant Read
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MisterShipWreck said:

Granted, this was about 10 years ago. But I went to Allen Honda and tried to make a deal. The salesman specifically said: "We are selling Hondas, we don't have to make deals." We left. Never gone back.

It's easier to go to Katy or Houston to buy the car, and then use the service dept here.

They STILL use this line?? LOL. We have bought many Hondas and Toyotas over the years. Back in the 90s we used to stop in at Allen Honda to browse and they told us this at least a couple of times and we'd walk away immediately and go down to Houston to buy.

On the Toyotas, I don't know about current ownership but surprisingly under Atkinson ownership they beat any Houston price every time we bought a Toyota. We have purchased 7 cars in total from them and never had any issues with the sale, or the servicing. Might help that we used the same sales person for all those cars.
milner79
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Aggie said:

I'm sure this will get deleted because staff has deleted These before... not sure why.



I'm amazed this post is still live.
legalbird
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Take a red pen with you. When you see anything ADDED ON, use you red pen and X through it. Tell the dealer that you do not pay for any add-ons. Tell dealer you now expect those add-ons to be free if already done. If you are scared of the red pen approach, take a buddy with you.

I had a "market appreciation" of a fee for $1000. The salesperson felt zero shame. I left , but I speculate he just waited a few more weeks and somebody did pay it.
Tailgate88
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AggiePhil said:

I think their Madisonville dealership closed up shop too. Try Huntsville Toyota next time.

On another note, I continue to be surprised that we don't have a Lexus dealership here.


Supposed to be one coming soon over by the Mercedes and BMW dealerships.
wareagle044
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Go see Kyle Tumlinson at Jeff Hunter Toyota in Waco next time. Easiest car buying experience I've ever had.
gigemaggs99
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I bought my Tundra from Atkinson in 2005 and have had great service from them when it was needed, which is next to none. I bought a Toyota b/c of their bulletproof reputation.

That being said I was in the market for a used car. I found one on their website, it made me make an appointment, who needs an appointment to see a used car?

I was schedule to be there at 1pm to see the car and test drive it.

I showed up at 12:45. The salesman came back from lunch at 1:20. Then he couldn't find the car. We walked all over the lot. He was confused, I was too, why wasn't it ready at 1pm?

He found it, it was in the service department, they were taking it apart and checking it for any repairs. We couldn't drive b/c they had it all apart. He asked me how serious I was to purchase the vehicle. I told him I needed one b/c I have 3 kids and need a car that will carry 4 people easily.

He said he was sorry and would call me back when I could look at this car. I left at 2:15, didn't get to drive it or really do more than see it through the window.

What is the point of the appointment?

They have NOT called me. This was 3 weeks ago.

I've since purchased a different used vehicle and it was not through them.

Kind of disappointing. Hopefully this was a isolated event and no one else has this experience.

Just thought I'd give my recent visit.
ratfacemcdougal
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legalbird said:

Take a red pen with you. When you see anything ADDED ON, use you red pen and X through it. Tell the dealer that you do not pay for any add-ons. Tell dealer you now expect those add-ons to be free if already done. If you are scared of the red pen approach, take a buddy with you.

I had a "market appreciation" of a fee for $1000. The salesperson felt zero shame. I left , but I speculate he just waited a few more weeks and somebody did pay it.
All dealers have add on bull. I was at a Toyota dealer in Conroe and we were going over all of the numbers. There was a $5 charge (I forgot what they called it) that I asked about. They said that was a charge for them to call me in 30 days and see if I was pleased with the truck. Stick your $5. NO THANKS
Joe Schillaci 48
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AG
Do yourself a favor. Do as much as your homework in purchasing a car before you walk into the dealership.

I suggest viewing Kevin Hunter's You Tube page.

The most dangerous person in a car dealership is the Finance person and not the salesman.

The state of Texas caps document fee's at $150. Do not let the salesman hide other fees in the purchase price.
Be prepared to walk away.


Do not fall for the 72 or 84 month financing.


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