Fred Anderson Toyota of Asheville

Reviews 3

MR

Mr A

New car sales was great, service, not so much... We bought a new car at Barkley and it was a smooth process. It should be, since they price new cars as competitively as anywhere within a reasonable radius. They seemed friendly enough, though I doubt any of their new car "sales" people would make it in any other sales environment. Thats fine with me, since I tend to despise how most car sales people treat customers. On the other hand, their service department must be managed by somebody who doesnt speak English. Its the only way I can justify how poorly run it is. First off, I have scheduled all three of my appointments well in advance and have always chosen a time considered less busy than the rest. Since the appointments are for warranty mandated service, youd think theyd be quick. Well, youd be wrong. I didnt even get an oil change the first time. The only service that they did worth mentioning was rotating the tires. I have almost no tools and could do that in 30 minutes flat. It took them a little over an hour. My second visit was worse. This time, the car was due to have its scheduled oil change. Well, block off your morning, because this appointment went almost 2.5 hours. I was early, scheduled the appointment for when they first opened, yet they cant do an oil change and rotate tires in less than 2 hours? To me, even 1 hour is slow for that. The third visit was another trainwreck. I dont drive the car on a regular basis, my wife does. So, on the way there I noticed some vibration in the steering wheel at highway speeds. I wisely decide to have them balance the tires while the car was in for servicing. Sounds pretty easy to me, theyre already rotating the tires, right? Nope. The service manager tried to explain to me that they couldnt do balancing since I only scheduled routine maintenance. I explained that I would wait extra time and just wanted to get it done. Youd think I was asking for her to make me an ice cream sundae on the spot because she almost couldnt comprehend my insane request. It came across that way to me anyway. A technician happened to walk past amidst our conversation and she asked him about my request. He replied, "Oh, yeah, no problem, hell need to wait another 15 minutes or so though." So, it got done, after another 2.5 hour wait. Ill take the blame on that wait though because of my ‘outlandish’ request for service. Still banged me $56 for balancing the tires, which is simply outrageous. I shouldve known though, dealers are not the place to get any service done. These are just my visits so far. I havent mentioned how they seem to be clueless about the required regular service for new cars to qualify for the free extended warranty. Ive mentioned it every time Ive been in for service and every associate looks at me like Im crazy. To top it off, their appointment software is pretty slick, but my car got listed twice. Its a little annoying because I’m sure the service history is split between two records. I mentioned the problem and what do you know? Now its listed 3 times. Yay for more inefficiency! There are some great service places in Asheville, fortunately. If you have a Toyota, check out the place on Biltmore Ave that does "mostly" Toyotas. If you need anything tires, the guys at the Weaverville Rd/Merrimon Ave changeover are outstanding. I wont be paying for service any time in the near future at Barkley.

HA

Hannah Hyatt

When I initially went to Jim Barkley, I was in search of a vehicle. I was told what I was looking for was hard to find and they did not bother to upsell me. Therefore, I purchased a brand new 2016 Toyota Rav4 at Johnson City Toyota because they actually took time to show me the features of the vehicles. The next encounter was for a regular service which is free through Toyota for the first year under my warranty agreement. I can’t say that they did a bad service since it was only an oil change, what I can say is, I work at Biltmore and I left my work badge in the center console of my vehicle while they were doing the regular service. When I received my car an hour and a half later, the badge was missing out of the center console cup holder. They did not wipe the car down or vacuum the driver side so there is no reason why anything should have been moved. I was lucky enough that Miguel had to leave a signed service car. When I called the service department, I asked if they had seen it anywhere at 8am that morning and they said nothing was turned into lost and found. I then requested to speak with a manager at that point and that manager must have spoken with Miguel. It was 8:30am when I received a call back and they informed me that my badge was turned into lost and found, although I had just checked and it wasn’t there earlier that morning. When I met with the service department manager, he did not apologize or try to offer any compensation for my inconvenience of having to come back and locate the property that was taken from my car. Not only was I unable to clock for my shift that day, I had to drive back 30 minutes out of my way to get the badge. I learned there that the service department’s integrity was not to par and would not be able to use it. I thought the parts department would be better. Instead, when I go in to get the parts I need the men talk down to me asking if I even knew how to install a crossbar or wiring harness. The parts departments told me they closed at 5:30 and it was 5:35 so I needed to make a decision because they were no longer open. I will NEVER do business there again and I will travel to Hendersonville or anywhere else before I go there again. Thank you for reassuring me Jim Barkley that you were not worthy of my $30,000 and you would rather treat customers like garbage.

GI

Giuseppe Di Silva

Never go to their service department. I came out with exactly the same problem I came in with. After paying over $800! The total required for the tech to test drive and find out the problem was not fixed: a drivers license and a BRAIN! That was too much to expect of the Jim Barkley Toyota certified Toyota technician who test drove the vehicle and found no problem. You think a Toyota dealership would have a minimum level of service and technician skill. WRONG!!! Jim Barkley Toyota proved that wrong big time, with the most overwhelming and indisputable evidence. Obviously a Toyota technician can only be so clueless and inept and work at a dealership if he is poorly trained, supervised, and managed. The obvious reason: the complete unprofessionalism of the service manager. The service manager, who looked like the cleaning lady, had an arrogant, excuse-making, customer be damned Ill suit myself attitude. She and her supervisor were deliberately smug and provocative to a very much wronged and upset customer. Q. Do you think it is right to go out of this service department with the same problem you came in with? A. Service Manager: I don’t know, Sir. Q. If you can’t fix the problem right away this afternoon, will I get a loaner for this evening? A. Service Manager: I don’t know, sir. Not "we apologize for this horrible error, we will make sure that you as a Toyota customer are taken care of." Jim Barkley Toyota would never even consider that. No. The problem was *eventually* fixed, but only after such a horrendous and lengthy confrontation with completely unprofessional people that I would never risk repeating for any amount of money! Life is too short. Never go to Jim Barkley Toyota (or any other Toyota dealer) for service and never buy a Toyota. Toyota Motor Corporation obviously has zero quality standards for dealer customer service, service management, and service management quality. Jim Barkley Toyota proved that in spades!