About six months before FJ Cruisers came out, I decided I wanted one. Signed up for the forums. Tracked the rumors. Got excited. Longo Toyota was taking early deposits and had a good reputation on the forums, so I drove out there.
The first salesperson who walked up to me on the lot is the one you’re stuck with. This is not a rule I invented — it’s just how it works. This one I’ll call Salesjerk. He knew less about the truck than I did, and I’m fairly certain I knew more about selling cars than he did.
He tried to get me to trade my vehicle on the spot. I told him I wasn’t ready for that — I didn’t have the new car yet, and I planned to sell the old one myself. He took my deposit anyway, after some confusion about how to do so. I told him specifically: manual transmission, yellow or blue.
Through the forums I learned there was someone there — I’ll call him FJSales — who actually knew what he was doing. I called and asked to make sure FJSales was my contact when it was time to buy, and that I would not be speaking to Salesjerk again.
Two months later, when FJs started arriving, Salesjerk called me. My car was there.
I drove down with my wife so she could drive the old car home after I picked up the new one. Salesjerk was the only person who’d talk to us. We got in a golf cart and headed to the parking garage.
The garage was dark. There were two FJs he could sell me: a black one and a bruise-purple one. Both automatic. Both with options I hadn’t asked for. The yellow and blue manuals might take months, he said — people had pre-ordered them.
Oh, and no test drives. We could start them and move them in and out of the parking space.
Sitting in the car, already annoyed, I noticed the visibility was terrible — like driving a cave, though the dark garage wasn’t helping. The back seat was claustrophobic. The rear cargo area was tiny. There was an optional speaker system back there I didn’t want, taking up space I needed. The whole thing felt cheaper than I expected, and I wasn’t willing to pay full retail for something I didn’t want. My wife hated it.
I asked for my money back. Got it two days later — one star, because I can’t give zero.
I called FJSales and explained. He asked if there was anything he could do. Too late.
Drove down to Land Rover two days later. Bought a low-mileage preowned Discovery. They were professional. I paid about two-thirds of what the FJ would have cost.
Every time I drive past Longo Toyota I give them the finger. I sneer at every FJ Cruiser on the road. This is what bad sales experiences cost you — not just the immediate sale, but every future sale and every person that driver talks to.
And that’s how avoiding a bad Toyota purchase led me to buy a second Discovery, which, as previously established, was a mistake. But at least it wasn’t Salesjerk’s mistake.