Full review text opened.
DealerRater - Sep 21, 2021
On 9/17/21, I have been on the lookout for a great example of a 2017+ Toyota 86 for the past few months and saw one come for sale at my local First Team Subaru. It was a 2019 Toyota 86 TRD SE for $32,898. I sent an inquiry via TrueCar and promptly I received a call from Inda. We scheduled an appointment to come look at the car.
I show up around 5 minutes early. I walk into the front door and first thing I notice is one of the sales representatives playing on his phone while others behind the desk are speaking to other customers. He initially looked at me and then went back to his phone and then around 30 seconds later I was greeted by him.
I spoke and said I had an appointment to come look at the car they have for sale. He directed me to the sales manager. The manager then went on to tell me this car is hard to find and being sold at a great price. He also stated that the car is very low on mileage. I informed the sales manager while that is sort of true (as they only made 1,418 of this specific trim) that there are currently 25 other manual units for sale nationwide and that the mileage was about average.
He informed me that I could go look at the car but they had just got it in as a trade in and has not been cleaned. I would only be able to take the car for a test drive around the lot.
I went with the representative to look over the car and when walking over he said that the car was a local trade in for an individual that needed more room as they were having a child. Was told the owner converted the car back to stock. This was the first initial yellow flag. I proceeded to do a visual inspection.
These are the problems I found:
1) Front lip has curb rash on the underside
2) Cars interior is trashed
3) Drivers side skirt needs repaired
4) Pinch welds near the jack points are bent
5) Has no battery tie down (it's a bungee cord...)
6) Missing the OEM TRD stripes
7) Interior pieces and badges are painted purple
😎 Non OEM shift boot, nor intake tube
9) Hesitates at low speed.
10) Car has door dings on both sides
I went in and told them with current condition, I cannot justify the price for its age. Car was brand new $33,340. The asking price they want is $32,898 ($442 off MSRP).
Thinking about it more as I am in the market for one, I decided to go look into the car's service history. Luckily Toyota has this great site for “Toyota Owners” that you can type the VIN in and see the service history. This is what I discovered..... Car was regularly serviced by Wyler Toyota in Illinois (So much for the ads “Locally owned vehicle!” quote, though it does have some local car club stickers on it).
TOYOTACARE: Expired as of November 11, 2020 and this….
7/2021
CUSTOMER STATES VEHICLE HAD TO BE TOWED IN. JUST BELIEVES ENGINE BLEW UP. VEHICLE WILL NOT START. STRONG SMELL OF COOLANT IN ENGINE BAY AND VISIBLE LEAK OF WHAT LOOKS LIKE OIL. CHECK AND ADVISE PLEASE. 13744 (miles) VEHICLE TOWED TO SHOP, FOUND HOLE IN BLOCK UPON INSPECTION VEHICLE THREW ROD. TOYOTA CONTACTED AND CASE OPENED CASE XXX303, VEHICLE HAS BEEN USED FOR HPDE, TOYOTA REQUESTS CUSTOMER AUTHORIZE TEAR DOWN TO DETERMINE CAUSE OF FAILURE. CUSTOMER DECLINED
No mention if the car was rebuilt by Toyota or if the owner threw in a used engine. I do not know if the car still has the factory warranty or with it being branded as a HPDE if it was voided.
Going into the dealership looking for a car that is $442 off the new MSRP and no mention of any of this in the ad. For those that don’t know HPDE basically means that the car was used for some form of racing. That would explain the service history and the lug nut issues.
I emailed their Sale Manager, Mr. Han, but have yet gotten a response. This is not what I expect for First Team as a dealership. I sincerely hope this was just a fluke and not the normal experience and that I dodged a $33,000 mistake.
VIN JF1ZNAE19K9702581
