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Hi everyone, I hope the holidays are treating you well,
I’m posting this to help gather support against my local dealer, Toyota Marin, as they’ve decided not to honor their written contract with me to sell their first incoming GR Corolla at MSRP.
At the very least this post will serve as a warning to others who might want to patron Toyota Marin and shed a spotlight on yet another dealer who values greed and money more than their integrity and of the agreements they entered into.
To Toyota, please let this be another example of how your brand image is being tarnished at the dealership level. I’ll begin with a brief history;
April 25th, 2021
After Toyota’s announcement that the US would be getting a hot hatch of their own, I exchanged emails and phone calls with my local dealership, Toyota Marin, and on this date I put down a deposit for their first allocation of a GR Corolla at MSRP. Leading up to placing my deposit, the General Sales Manager stated in calls, through email and in person that Toyota Marin only sells cars at MSRP and that the GR Corolla would be sold at MSRP. With that confirmation I went to the dealership and had a written contract drawn up stating that I was #1 for the GR Corolla and it would be sold at MSRP, printed out through their system, with the General Sales Manager’s business card, a copy of the credit card receipt for my $500 deposit and signed by the General Sales Manager.
March 31st, 2022
Toyota officially announced the GR Corolla to the public, I reached out to my dealership to express which trim I would be interested in now that the model and specs were revealed, ideally a Circuit Edition depending on how dealerships received incoming stock. I had a few email exchanges with the General Sales Manager and he concluded with, “I’ll find out more and stay in touch”. I sent follow-up emails on on 4/4 and 4/11 and did not hear back.
April 13th, 2022
I receive a call from from the General Sales Manager and he states his General Manager came down on him for taking a deposit at MSRP for the GR Corolla and they had no intention of honoring the agreement they entered into with me. He stated several times he was worried for his job and the repercussions it would have for his family if he lost it. I expressed it was not too late for the dealership to honor it’s commitment to me and that I wished to keep the deposit in place, both verbally and through email, so they have an opportunity to keep their word and do the right thing. I did not receive a response back.
December 3rd, 2022
I send an email to the General Sales Manager about Toyota Marin’s incoming stock as I see on the car forums that West Coast dealerships are getting their VIN numbers and allocations, I did not receive a response back.
December 18th, 2022
I send an email to the General Manager of Toyota Marin regarding the status of the GR Corolla and the contract I have with them. Soon after I receive a call and voicemail from the General Sales Manager to call and discuss the GR Corolla. I follow up with an email requesting a written reply, with the General Manager cc’d, so we all have visibility together about this discussion and did not receive a response.
December 21st, 2022
After not hearing back for a few days again I sent another email to to the General Manager, who replied on 12/22 that the General Sales Manager would be reaching out to me. We subsequently speak on the phone and he informs me they are getting a Red Core GR Corolla into the dealership and plan to load it with dealer installed accessories and sell it for market price and that they have no intention of selling their first allocated GR Corolla to me at MSRP if I choose to take a Core model, they would sell me one at MSRP when they decide to sell GR Corollas at MSRP.
So here we are with my deposit is still in place with Toyota Marin since I still believe they can make this right, honoring their commitment to a local resident and car enthusiast, but I don’t think that will happen without the support from the community. I have notified Toyota Corporate with documentation and now plan to file a complaint with the BBB, post my experience with the dealership on social media, reach out to automotive news outlets, local media and advocates who specialize in helping consumers and of course all of my fellow enthusiasts on the car forums.
Attached is my sales contract, redacted for privacy, and I have plenty of documented exchanges with my General Sales Manager as I move forward with this. Thank for taking the time to read through my history of trying to buy a GR Corolla and please spread the word. While this won’t be a cure all for the broken state of dealership ADMs for enthusiast models like the GR Corolla, hopefully we can at least make dealerships accountable for the signed MSRP agreements they entered into.
After owning many other brands over the years this would have been my first Toyota, I was excited to see that they were coming out with a driver focused hot hatch in the US but that enthusiasm and their potential to have a new Toyota customer has been tampered by dealership greed. I'll follow up with updates, thank you again for the support and all the best with everyone else's attempt to get a GR Corolla.
I’m posting this to help gather support against my local dealer, Toyota Marin, as they’ve decided not to honor their written contract with me to sell their first incoming GR Corolla at MSRP.
At the very least this post will serve as a warning to others who might want to patron Toyota Marin and shed a spotlight on yet another dealer who values greed and money more than their integrity and of the agreements they entered into.
To Toyota, please let this be another example of how your brand image is being tarnished at the dealership level. I’ll begin with a brief history;
April 25th, 2021
After Toyota’s announcement that the US would be getting a hot hatch of their own, I exchanged emails and phone calls with my local dealership, Toyota Marin, and on this date I put down a deposit for their first allocation of a GR Corolla at MSRP. Leading up to placing my deposit, the General Sales Manager stated in calls, through email and in person that Toyota Marin only sells cars at MSRP and that the GR Corolla would be sold at MSRP. With that confirmation I went to the dealership and had a written contract drawn up stating that I was #1 for the GR Corolla and it would be sold at MSRP, printed out through their system, with the General Sales Manager’s business card, a copy of the credit card receipt for my $500 deposit and signed by the General Sales Manager.
March 31st, 2022
Toyota officially announced the GR Corolla to the public, I reached out to my dealership to express which trim I would be interested in now that the model and specs were revealed, ideally a Circuit Edition depending on how dealerships received incoming stock. I had a few email exchanges with the General Sales Manager and he concluded with, “I’ll find out more and stay in touch”. I sent follow-up emails on on 4/4 and 4/11 and did not hear back.
April 13th, 2022
I receive a call from from the General Sales Manager and he states his General Manager came down on him for taking a deposit at MSRP for the GR Corolla and they had no intention of honoring the agreement they entered into with me. He stated several times he was worried for his job and the repercussions it would have for his family if he lost it. I expressed it was not too late for the dealership to honor it’s commitment to me and that I wished to keep the deposit in place, both verbally and through email, so they have an opportunity to keep their word and do the right thing. I did not receive a response back.
December 3rd, 2022
I send an email to the General Sales Manager about Toyota Marin’s incoming stock as I see on the car forums that West Coast dealerships are getting their VIN numbers and allocations, I did not receive a response back.
December 18th, 2022
I send an email to the General Manager of Toyota Marin regarding the status of the GR Corolla and the contract I have with them. Soon after I receive a call and voicemail from the General Sales Manager to call and discuss the GR Corolla. I follow up with an email requesting a written reply, with the General Manager cc’d, so we all have visibility together about this discussion and did not receive a response.
December 21st, 2022
After not hearing back for a few days again I sent another email to to the General Manager, who replied on 12/22 that the General Sales Manager would be reaching out to me. We subsequently speak on the phone and he informs me they are getting a Red Core GR Corolla into the dealership and plan to load it with dealer installed accessories and sell it for market price and that they have no intention of selling their first allocated GR Corolla to me at MSRP if I choose to take a Core model, they would sell me one at MSRP when they decide to sell GR Corollas at MSRP.
So here we are with my deposit is still in place with Toyota Marin since I still believe they can make this right, honoring their commitment to a local resident and car enthusiast, but I don’t think that will happen without the support from the community. I have notified Toyota Corporate with documentation and now plan to file a complaint with the BBB, post my experience with the dealership on social media, reach out to automotive news outlets, local media and advocates who specialize in helping consumers and of course all of my fellow enthusiasts on the car forums.
Attached is my sales contract, redacted for privacy, and I have plenty of documented exchanges with my General Sales Manager as I move forward with this. Thank for taking the time to read through my history of trying to buy a GR Corolla and please spread the word. While this won’t be a cure all for the broken state of dealership ADMs for enthusiast models like the GR Corolla, hopefully we can at least make dealerships accountable for the signed MSRP agreements they entered into.
After owning many other brands over the years this would have been my first Toyota, I was excited to see that they were coming out with a driver focused hot hatch in the US but that enthusiasm and their potential to have a new Toyota customer has been tampered by dealership greed. I'll follow up with updates, thank you again for the support and all the best with everyone else's attempt to get a GR Corolla.
