Comments: To whom concern Hi, my name is Don Martinez. I have a disconcerting and disappointing story to tell about buying a new Toyota.

My friend purchased a 2010 Toyota RAV4 5-Door 4x2 SUV LTD on 3/20/2010 and on 3/27/2010 the vehicle failed. The car hesitated to advance and after 2 or 3 more tries did not responded at all. So my friend called the dealer to have the dealer pick up the car. She was interested in knowing what was wrong with her new car. The car was picked up the same day 3/27/2010.

On March 29, she called the dealer to find out about her new car’s problem, and the salesman (Harry Zhu) told her they do not know what the problem was, but Harry said, “THE CAR NEEDS A NEW Engine€.

So she asked for people€™s opinions and everybody strongly suggested not to keep the car. Since she is a loyal Toyota car user, she asked me to go with her to the dealer and ask for another car. She didn't€™t understand how her brand new car needed a new engine after only driving the car for one week. She worried that if she kept the newly purchased car, she was going to have to do some major car repairs the more she drove the car. What will the car need in one year if after one week the car needs a new engine? She was already worried that the car has been recalled, so why buy a Toyota and pay for a problem that would create more headaches for her?

She loves the RAV4 and was convinced to ask for another RAV4, same model, same price; just another RAV4…… sounds fair, sounds easy, for her, NOT FOR YOU.

We arrived at the dealer, shook hands with Harry (salesman, good man) who then took us to talk with Mr. Russ Hensley (business Development Manager). We introduced ourselves and walked into his office. I explained my friends dilemma and her concerns and asked for options. I was very clear in stating that she did not want the same car. I also asked him if he has the authority to make a decision about what will happen to my friends one week old car. He said yes, but his boss makes the final decision.

The option he offered was to replace the engine. So I stopped him and I repeated one more time that my friend was not interested in keeping the same car. So he said, he would talk with his boss the following day, 3/30/10.

So my friend and I arrived at the dealer at about 17:20 on 3/30/2010. We went into Mr. Hensley’s office and the first comment he made was, “What is your relationship to the car buyer?” I responded politely, “Does that matter?” He said: “If you are not in the contract get out of my office. My friend agreed to have me talk on her behalf. Mr. Hensley was not satisfied with my friends decision and went looking for Harry (salesman). Mr. Hensley wanted Harry to translate so that my friend could hear the conversation in Chinese.. My friend declined the translation offer and asked to have the conversation in English.

Mr. Hensley started the conversation by talking about replacing the engine in my friends one week old car. I interrupted him, and clearly stated one more time that my friend is not feeling comfortable with the same car and does not want to keep the same car. I continued and said, “If you have no more options, then I will have to find help somewhere else, but if I step out of your office without another car to replace the original non-working car then I will ask for my friends MONEY BACK.”

He clearly stated NO EXCHANGE and NO MONEY BACK.

I stood up and my friend and I decided to go to another dealership because Mr. Hensley insisted on replacing the car engine. My friend is a true believer of Toyota customer service and assumed that a deal with Toyota would be fair and sensible. My friend spoke with Mr. Hensley alone for another 25 to 30 minutes and when she walked out. Can you guess what she walked away with? Tears…. and more tears. She could not understand the idea that she was willing to pay handsomely for a limited edition high quality and reliable Toyota car and what she received from the dealership was unfair, rude, and disappointing customer service. What would she tell her friends about Toyota? Don't buy a Toyota because you'll have to replace the engine after one week. And don't ask the managers for help resolving problems because they will not be able to help you? How will Toyota keep customers with the service she experienced?

Now, my friend has no choice but to ask for no less than her money back. Her experienced has opened my eyes to the way that the Toyota dealership takes advantage of their customers. More people will know about this story and I know that is only one of many stories you hear, but I hope you will learn a lesson from this story. Customer service can either help or hinder your business and in this case bad customer service turned away a loyal Toyota customer who wanted nothing less but to drive her brand new RAV4.

Mike Calvert Toyota Russ Hensley Business Development Manager 2333 South Loop west Houston TX 77054

2010 Toyota RAV4 5-Door 4x2 SUV LTD Vin: 2T3YK4DV1AW005831 Color: Pacific Blue Me/BisQue $ 32,474.00 Total: 34402.44

Sincerely, Yvonne Huang (Buyer) Don Martinez

How do you care? Your Question has been Submitted Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. We have received your email. We are extremely sorry, that due to high contact volumes, we are unable to respond to your inquiry in a timely manner, and it may take several weeks to receive a response to your inquiry. We sincerely apologize for this delay and appreciate your understanding. It is never our intention to keep a customer waiting and we can assure you we are doing everything we can to bring our email response times back to a more acceptable level for our customers. For the most up-to-date information on Toyota's recent recalls, you may copy and paste the following URL address into your browser: www.Toyota.com/recall

From NHTSA Web Site. Contact Information: Last Name: HUANG First Name: YVONNE Email Address: yufang0317@gmail.com NHTSA ID: 209157