Customer Reviews of Walser Toyota
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Misleading Information and Wasted Time
by Hieu on 07/02/2024I had a highly disappointing experience with Walser Toyota. I was told that a specific car was available and scheduled an appointment to test drive it. I took the time to drive 40 minutes to the dealership, only to find out upon arrival… that the car had already been sold. The staff then informed me that there must have been an error in their system. This level of disorganization and lack of communication is absolutely terrible. I expected much better service and will not be returning.Tricky sales staff. Buyer beware
by Irate on 11/09/2022The worst. They sold us a car with failing transmission and deliberately withheld information about policies that would have protected us. We called a few days after purchase, when we realized we'd been sold a junk car, to give them a… chance to make it right, but they ghosted us. 4 weeks after our temporary plates have expired, we are still waiting for license plates, because apparently the dealership did not actually have the title from the previous owner, which makes me question how it was legal to sell us the car. We will never deal with this group again. I recommend you avoid them at all costs. Would give zero stars if I could.BEWARE OF BUYING USED
by SamB on 07/25/2022I purchased a 2011 Ford F-450 from Walser Toyota with 9,500 miles. I purchased it because it had such low miles. Upon further inspection of the truck when I got it home to my mechanic, the tires were original. This is not right as 11 year… old tires are not good, however they paid for new ones. Then at about 12,000 miles the truck started running rough from time to time. My driver was on a trip and we couldn't do anything about it until it got back. When it got back it had 14,000 miles on it and we took it to Apple Valley Ford where they said the injectors were bad. This was a $2,500 fix and I knew I bought a used truck so I knew I had to pay for that, Walser did say they would pay $500 of it. When AV Ford got to the injectors they found it needed a new engine. This is a $18,700 fix. I called Walser and the best they would do is give me $2,500. I put 4,500 miles on this truck and it needed an engine!! That is just wrong. They said well we have a 3 month 3,000 mile warranty and that's it. They never offered me an extended warranty. I am very upset, I am a small business owner that can't afford to stick $18,700 in a truck that I just paid $55,000 for, which is well over the retail price and I was fine to pay it because it only had 9,500 miles on it and should last longer than a month and 4,500 miles. I would be very careful buying from Walser Toyota. I could have bought a brand new truck for what I will have into this 2011. They did say they would buy it back from me for $38,000. Which makes no sense as I would still be out the $18,000 plus. Very disappointed Walser. You should either buy this truck back from me for $55,000 or pay for the engine.Used car buyers beware
by Megan on 07/12/2022Terrible experience buying a used car from them. It hadn't been detailed well and was dirty. It did not seem they had inspected it at all. I had to bring it in for two appointments to fix a large crack in the windshield and a headlight… out. A few weeks and less than 500 miles later, it was low on oil so I brought it to Walser Subaru, where they did a complete inspection. They found the tires were close to bald, it had at least 3 other lights out, it had two dirty air filters, and it had an oil leak, which was causing it to lose oil. When I contacted them, I was passed around to 3 different managers, none of whom wanted to just admit they made a big mistake by not looking it over and fix those things. They tried telling me that lights had gone out after I had it, etc. Really poor follow up. I will never go to Walser Toyota again.Communication
by TB on 06/26/2022The communication about the order on my 2022 was absolutely awful. I reached out monthly and got the same - well this is the times right now, I understand your frustrations, we are frustrated too. Blah blah!! I talked with another Toyota… dealer and the were baffled at the lack of communication. They also told me they were able to track the progress of and ordered vehicle. WTFHelpful & Accommodating, A Quick & Easy Process
by Anne G on 01/08/2021We had a great experience purchasing our Rav4 from Walser Toyota last Spring. We worked with Philip Pryor and he was so helpful and accommodating. It was right in the beginning of the pandemic, he got us the car we wanted for the price we… wanted really quickly and easily. It was the best car buying experience we've ever had. We will he back when it's time to buy again.Terrible experience
by Rude salesman on 11/20/2020Salesman was rude. Made me feel like a jerk for pointing out things that were incorrect on the paperwork and something broken on the vehicle. Wanted me to pay for repair before I even signed paperworkWent there to look - left with a new Highlander!
by DarcyKim on 10/23/2020Worked with Hannibal - visited thinking we were just going to get info and ideas and left with a brand new Highlander. He was outstanding -- very helpful and patient. Found us exactly the car we wanted on their lot. How could we leave… without it? Appreciate the attention. Also appreciate the service from General Manager Greg. If you are in the market for a Toyota, Walser is the place to go.Tim Kahlow was great!
by Kyle S on 09/20/2020After bad luck with one of Walser’s used car salesmen named Sal, who was very pushy and would not hold a car for one day so my wife could come drive it, we got lucky and met Tim Kahlow and decided to buy a new 4Runner instead. Tim was… polite and a great listener. He understood the challenges that shopping for a car during a pandemic with an infant at home and also working full time can present. He definitely went the extra mile and left us feeling very peaceful with our decision. Thank you again Tim.Do NOT BUY from Walser Toyota
by KellyS on 06/13/2020I will never recommend anyone to buy a car from Walser Toyota. During the buying process we were bullied into signing a service contract under the guise we could cancel at anytime. Not true!! The service contract added an additional $50… to our monthly payments which we did not want. We had to call and for 2 weeks and demand for our contract to be cancelled. The second issue, we were given two keys for our car when we drove off the lot. We realized one key was not for our car. We had asked to have our second key found/replaced and we were told no way. If we want a second key it will cost us over $400 to have replaced - we didn’t lose the key, they did. I will never buy from there again and I have been sure to tell my family/friends of the horrible experience we have had.Great used car salesperson
by Scott E on 03/18/2020Worked with Phillip Pryor at Walser Toyota Bloomington. Genuine, honest, not sales-pitchy, no pressure, and even worked out some extras for us to make the purchase more attractive. Wonderful to work with and most highly recommend!Couldn't be more disappointed
by Hard Working Mom on 10/29/2019We bought a used 2010 Toyota Sienna in March 2019. The van had "perfect maintenance records," one owner, reasonable miles and had "passed the Walser inspection with flying colors!" As soon as the snow melted we noticed a sound, three… visits to the mechanic later they said they were shocked because they wouldn't expect it on a van like this, but that all that was left that could explain the noise was that it needed a transmission rebuild! When we had discussed buying the extra warranty at Walser our salesperson said (and I pretty much quote), "It's really up to you, with a van this age you could run into the automatic doors stopping working or other typical issues that an almost 10 year old van would have, but it's not like a toyota with this service record and milage is gonna need a new transmission or anything crazy like that!" We decided we'd owned toyotas for years and we'd assume the reasonable age related wear and tear costs and forgo the warranty. When we got the quote from the transmission place (at least $2500 for labor plus whatever parts) I called Walser's service department and our salesperson both. The service department said the only thing they could do was put in a Toyota rebuilt transmission for $5500, the salesperson said he'd text me the number for a transmission place he's heard good things about and wished me luck. I reached out via email to Walser and asked again what they would do to back their sale... I got an automated message and no follow up. When the transmission was done, our bill was $5000. Making our $13,000 used 2010 minivan into a $18,000 used minivan... just months after we'd purchased it from Walser. Shame on them for not taking any responsibility or wanting to do right. I will NEVER go back and will tell everyone I know never to trust this dealership. This gives used cars a bad name. So disappointing.Great Teamwork
by Adjh13 on 10/12/2019Great teamwork by Kela Smith and John Diffley. John really got to know us on a personal level and was real down to earth. Like a good friend should be he helped us make the right choice for us. We walked out of there with a great RAV4. Much… appreciated guys. Wish I could leave some emojis.Great car buying experience
by Jsunshyn on 03/09/2019When I walked into the dealership to test drive the vehicle I was interested in, I asked a woman at the front desk to pair me with a salesperson that she would want her own daughter to work with. She took a look around and paired me with… Jeff Schultz. From the test drive to signing the paperwork, Jeff made the buying process feel unpressured and stress free( as much as possible when buying a car). I drove away with the car that I wanted. I would highly recommend requesting to work with Jeff when you walk in to Walser Toyota! When I walked into the dealership to test drive the vehicle I was interested in, I asked a woman at the front desk to pair me with a salesperson that she would want her own daughter to work with. She took a look around and paired me with Jeff Schultz. From the test drive to signing the paperwork, Jeff made the buying process feel unpressured and stress free( as much as possible when buying a car). I drove away with the car that I wanted. I would highly recommend requesting to work with Jeff when you walk in to Walser Toyota!Great Experience
by RF_Minnesota on 12/29/2018Purchased a used RAV4. Great service from Paul Ames.No hassle buying experience
by tramakri on 05/15/2017Did all the negotiations over email and phone from CA and settled on a deal. Flew in for the weekend and had a new car waiting for us. All the paperwork was ready. A few signatures and we were off in a shiny new car. No other dealership in… the area could even match the price. And a huge thanks to Kela Smith for the most pleasant car buying experience I have ever had. He was professional, knowledgable and courteous. Ask for Kela and I can assure you of a good deal and a wonderful experienceGreat Car Buying Experience
by psarver on 02/22/2016A truly GREAT experience with our recent 2016 Tundra purchase. Sam Coler provide top notch customer service. We will make Sam at Walser in Bloomington our first stop in all our future car buying activities.No haggle pricing is for suckers
by sterlet392 on 08/05/2015Test drive was a five minute around the block set route affair on city streets. No highway, no hills, no twists or turns. Zero chance to properly evaluate the vehicle. And no haggle pricing? You can do much better pretty much anywhere else… without breaking a sweat. They sell lots of cars --- but none to savvy shoppers.terrible purchasing experience and worse costumer service
by ahill1 on 08/21/2009We had the worst experience with Walser Toyota. After two separate appointments (taking up about 6 hours of our time) and being handed off to about a half dozen different people we finally purchased our vehicle. We were so frustrated by… the experience that we called to complain. When I called I was told that they were sorry and we could bring the car back if we wanted to (which is a totally inadequate response). Amost two weeks later, we get a call that they forgot to have us sign some paperwork so they can transfer the title to us. They were wondering if we could come in to take care of that. Ridiculous! I would recommend that anyone purchasing a vehicle avoid this dealership.very very bad customer service and dismal aftercare
by pkeeley on 02/28/2009recently i purchased a new tundra from this dealership. im going to state the facts of what happened and people can decide on using this dealer if they wish !! first of all the actual process of buying the truck was good the people were… polite and helpfull, thats about where it finished ! i wanted some extras put on the truck before i bought it , wheels boards etc , they were happy to do that. the day after i got the truck it broke down a transmission fault, i took it in and they said they would look at it and fix it , i was told someone would call me later that day. i never recieved a call i had to call them and be on hold forever while they found someone who knew what was going on. i was told nothing was wrong with the truck , and yet the service manager had seen the problem and said a transmission switch had failed. so i went to pick the truck up , after getting to the dealer i was told oh no sorry your truck is undrivable we need to fix it , i waited a week for it to be fixed , nobody called me to let me know how it was going or when it would be ready once again i hadf to make several calls to them !! . then came the time for the wheels to go on etc . i was told to bring it in , needless to say nobody called me and the parts were not in when i got up there, still no phone calls to let me know what was going on !! . later that week my new wheels and boards went on and i was happy i had my new truck and i was excited to drive it . at this point i wish i could tell people that was the end of my bad experience with this dealer but oh no it got worse. walser if your buy a new vehicle from them will give you free washes in their car wash which i thought was great, so one day around 2 weeks ago i took my truck to have the said free wash . to cut a long story short at this point , the guy who sold me the truck took my truck through the wash and managed to smash the right hand side of the truck up and drag it through the wash . basically around $6000 of damage was done , they said they would fix it at walser body , ive had to fight since then to get all the parts replaced new as it was 32 days ago when i drove it off the lot . needless to say they never replaced the door, they filled it and sprayed it , a new front wing went on it , a new mirror and the nice new wheel that i had purchased 32 days ago with the truck has to be replaced as they managed to smash that also , which now is on back order. never once did i get an appology from the guy who smashed it up , the manager decided to stand there in the dealership and argue wether they would replace the door in front of me and my wife , and to top it all off , i had to ask for some duct tape and basically tape my own truck up so it was driveable in their lot with all their staff watching me , they even had the nerve to ask for the roll of tape back when i was done . to this day i have had no formal appology from the dealer or asked if the repairs are satifactory . i have now called toyota and placed this in their hands and will hopefully have them contact me and deal with this . all i can say is in my experience , this dealer is great at selling you the vehicle your a god to them while your sitting at their desk about to lay down several thousand dollars . once you have got the vehicle and drove home with it, their done with you. after that your just an inconvenience to them if you have problems with your purchase. i know people have had good experiences with this dealer and at first i did too, but it went south very fast and i feel basically they washed their hands of me after they smashed my truck up. im sorry to say their customer service is terrible and their aftercare is dismal. it will be the last toyota i buy if this is how toyota think they can treat people and jim walser if you read this you need to find out why your bloomington dealership is lacking in all of the above and why i never ever receivied not one call or even a sorry from your staff .Good 1st experience with 1-price dealership
by careyd1 on 11/17/2008I recently leased 2 new cars on 10/31/08, a Nissan Altima and a Toyota Matrix -both from Walser dealers here in the Minneapolis south metro. FYI-There are a LOT of Walser dealers of almost any car brand in this area. About me: I am an… internet savvy, leasing-savvy, smart shopper. I have done many leases in the past-some good, some fair, but at this point I know exactly what I want and know what cars are 'leasing good' and pretty much the exact feature set I want, and it's invoice price, before I ever set foot in a dealership. At that stage, it's just about driving the vehicles to sort out what I like, and about finding a good salesperson/sales team to work with. Numbers. It really is a numbers game and everything comes down to price. Actually, that's the most important thing. I'm not trying to deny anyone a fair profit, just a big or un-earned one, but I can proudly say haven't bought or leased any car above invoice in at least 6 or 7 years. This was my first experience with the Walser no-negotiation way of doing business, and at first I figured it was just a marketing gimmick, and that their initial asking price would certainly have room to go lower. "I know I will get them down", I muttered to myself. Well, that was, until I took their quotes back home, realized their 'one price' was actually a few bucks under invoice. I then researched to see if there was any additional incentive cash in play and-for a lease-there was none. Then of course I investigated the money factors and residuals and found them very good and exactly at the rates of the national programs in play for October 08. Again, I found that the dealer had been entirely transparent right away. Also, they claim the salesmen do not work on commission. I believe that to be true, but I think they still are compensated based on performance (units sold) and also on their customer survey rating. So, it's not about the profit in a given deal, it's about moving 'units' and customer satisfaction. This really changes the tone of the salesman/customer relationship. I had found a salesman, Martin Schuman, that I liked working with quite a bit, and even asked if he could accompany me over to the Walser Toyota dealer to complete that deal. (I realized my request was a bit unorthodox but since it was all in the (Walser) family, I'd ask. I think he split that 'sale/unit/credit' with the nice gal, Bridget Quinn-Engstrom who helped us at the Walser Toyota location). So far, I kind of liked this way of doing business. Nevertheless, old car-buying habits die hard and I decided I still had one more angle to attempt negotiation. That was the fact that I was getting TWO cars, not one. Sure, they were from different dealerships, but all owned by the Walser Group. I figured I should get a concession for that. But when I got the quote on the Toyota Matrix, that turned out to be about $150 under invoice. That wasn't a special quote for me, that was the price on the windshield. With my research I know their holdback is 2% for both Nissan and Toyota. At 2% holdback these guys already had a super-skinny deal going on both of these cars. But I tried negotiation, and they politely declined, citing company policy first and their already low pricing. Here's the thing: I did my homework, and I believe them. They were at the bottom. The only way that car is going to get cheaper is through a factory incentive/subsidy program that currently does not exist. (The Toyota lease had a ridiculously low money factor (.00037)-so that's already subsidized in a way, and the Nissan one was competitive (.00191) as well). The details of these deals are posted in the respective Altima and Matrix lease questions forums. I took delivery of the Altima 2.5SL (Black with tan leather) on Friday morning 10/31/08 and then took delivery on the Toyota Matrix (Black with black cloth) in the afternoon. Then headed home-had to work the whole weekend. Sunday came, and while working and thinking
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About our dealership
Welcome to Walser Toyota, where our expert staff will assist you with sales, service and financing for a new or pre-owned Toyota vehicle. Whether you want to buy or lease a new car, or need maintenance performed on the vehicle you already own, our Toyota dealership in Bloomington, MN, will take care of everything you need affordably and quickly. Plus, you can take advantage of additional perks like the Walser Best Price first, additional warranties and more. Come purchase your next vehicle at Walser Toyota today!
What sets us apart
We offer great, up-front pricing without the hassle of negotiations typically found in car dealerships. Every vehicle is clearly marked with our pre-discounted Walser Best Price. There are no hidden costs and no negotiations.
Walser invests in the people and organizations in the communities in which we live and work through charitable giving and volunteerism. Walser Automotive Group donates 5% of pre-tax earnings to the Walser Foundation.
Amenities
- Complimentary Loaner Cars
- Complimentary Coffee
- Rental Car Service Onsite
- Cable Television
- Express Service