Balise Toyota

I went to Balise Toyota on May 16th, 2016 to look at a used 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX that had been advertised on Autotrader.com a day after speaking to Donovan on the phone about it. The test drive on went well aside from the presence of a vibration in the steering wheel (bent or unbalanced wheel?). My subsequent inspection of the car revealed only some minor defects - a crack in the front bumper, some scratches/chips and dings, a little curb rash on the wheels, and a nonfunctioning latch in the center console. I related these issues to Donovan, who assured me that they would be dealt with asap at the Balise body shop using factory paint and OEM parts and then I could take the car to my mechanic for an inspection and hopefully purchase it by the end of the month. I put a $1000 deposit down to hold the car and put my car up for sale. I did not hear from Donovan until I called a week later to check in. The car had still not been serviced, but Donovan assured me that it would be done by the end of the week. He called me to let me know all of the work was completed Thursday the 26th and I made an appointment with my mechanic for an inspection on May 31st. Donovan again expressed some anxiety over selling the car by the end of the month and repeatedly asked me about when I would be able to sell my car, the funds from which I was planning on using as a down payment. I finally came in to pick the car up for inspection on the last day of the month to find Donovan actually frustrated if not angry that my car had yet to sell ("It's been like a month man, when are you gonna get it to sell?" - it had been two weeks...). When I began driving the car, I was dismayed to learn that the aforementioned vibration was still present. Things only went downhill from here. Upon arriving at the garage, I walked around the car and discovered that while the front bumper had been replaced, none of the scratches on the car had even been buffed and the chips, several of which went though to the sheet metal, had gone untouched. My confidence was beginning to falter but I figured why not have the inspection done since I was already there. When the car went up on the lift the extent of the abuse and neglect this car had suffered finally became apparent. Among the most salient issues were leaks from the A/C compressor and the driver side valve cover gasket (this is an engine-out repair so not cheap!). The oil leak was bad enough that drips could be seen falling from the car at ~10 second intervals (the motor was not even running). We thought it was actually pretty funny that the area around the valve cover gasket, aside from the oil, was the cleanest part of the whole car - apparently the Balise techs thought that cleaning this area would hide such a massive leak - which resulted in a chorus of laughter from myself, my girlfriend and the group of mechanics that had gathered to marvel at the sheer recklessness with which this car was "prepared." The list goes on, but the highlight reel includes a rusted exhaust, half-dead battery, worn out front rotors and pads which had been documented as being serviced by Balise, deeply scraped and unpainted surfaces on the backsides (!?) of the wheels, and perhaps most telling of the carelessness of the Balise techs, the front tires were mounted on the wrong sides (AWD car, directional tread; there is a red dot on one sidewall of each tire that means "outside!"). Furthermore, the tires themselves, brand new from Balise, were cheap all-seasons, a significant downgrade from the performance summer tires that were original equipment on this car. Needless to say, I was very disappointed that I had wasted so much time on a car with such obvious and significant issues. I am not a mechanic and yet had I put the car on a lift, I could have pointed out more than half of these issues myself. It is beyond impossible that the service department at Balise were not aware of them. This experience speaks volumes about the way Balise conducts business at all levels. From pushy salesmen to careless techs trying to hide glaring defects, it is apparent that Balise as an organization is not only unconcerned with ethics and respect for their customers, but that they don't even care if they are caught red handed. I am frankly amazed that this network of dealerships has grown so large when this is the way they do business. I can assure you that I will never set foot in a Balise dealership or purchase a car that has been serviced by Balise techs. I hope that my experience serves as a stern warning about the unethical, predatory manner in which Balise conducts its business and keeps others from falling into the trap that was set for me.