toyota of berkeley senior citizen on disability ripped off berkeley, California

First off I'll start by saying I am a 63 year old senior on Disability.

I was trying to buy an economy car to save money since I just sold my Ford F350 which was becoming too expensive to drive.

On Jan 27 I saw a car online in the Auto Trader. 1992 Blue Honda civic hatchback

I called and spoke to a salesman named Jason at Toyota of Berkeley.

I asked him many questions about the car and he seemingly gave me answers that caused more interest.

I made several other calls to him the same day and asked more questions, then I asked him to go out to the car and describe it in detail as he walked around it and we spoke on cell phones to each other.

I asked about the condition of the interior, he said it was in very good shape as it was a low mile one owner car.

I asked him to walk around the car and describe the exterior to me.

He said it was all in very good shape except there was a little bit of fading on the roof but nothing bad.

I asked about body damage, or dents, he said there weren't any.

He said he drove it and it ran really good.

I then made another call that same day and said I was interested and would he hold the car until the morning when I could get up there since it was already mid afternoon and it was about a two hour drive.

He told me that his manager said I would have to place a deposit in order to assure me it would still be there when I arrived.

He said $500 would hold it and I agreed to that.

A few minutes later he called me and said he needed $1000 instead.

I told him I would need to transfer funds to that account and I would call him when Icompleted that,which I did.

I asked for the address of the dealership and said I would arrive first thing in the morning.

We set a 10:00 A M time and I actually arrived at 7:30 so I wouldn't have to drive in traffic.

I met him at the dealership at about 9:00 but he told me that the car was in another location, but there was not going to be anyone at that location until later so we should wait where I was and the finance manager would be in shortly.

When he arrived he asked me in to his office and asked to do the paperwork first so I wouldn't have to come back to this location to do it after getting the car which was at the other location.

I said I didn't think thatit would bea problem, but I was not going to pay for something I had not seen nor driven.

He said that was okay and I could pay the salesman, and he would receipt it, and bring the money back to him.

After doing the paperwork, I then went with the salesman to the other location to see the car, and when I first viewed it, I could not believe it was the same car that he had described to me over the phone.

The drivers seat had the upper portion of the side bolster split wide open, the foam was not only hanging out, some was missing,and when I asked him about that, he said he just forgot to mention it.

The front of the hood had numerous dents across the entire leading edge, the right front fender was also bent in and the bumper valance had become separated from it from stress, pulling the attached anchor through it.

The passenger door had dents from it's front edge to it's rear edge that had been pounded out from inside of the door panel causing outward protrusions that looked like bumps all across it's midsection.

What he had described as fading on the roof was actually the clear coat peeling off on it's entirety including the rear portion of the cars fender.

When I once again asked him about why he didn't describe these things to me when I asked him to tell me about all portions of the car as he walked around it when we were on the phone, He said " I didn't think that it looked that bad"

Prior to going to the dealership, through our phone conversations, I told him I was quite particular, I didn't want to waste my time, or anyone else's, and that it would be not only time consuming but I would have to rent a car to drive up there at an additional expense.

So, after inspecting the car, I told him that I was extremely disappointed in it's condition, and that it nowhere reflected his description, and I would not be completing the transaction.

He said he understood, and that he would have my deposit credited back to my account.

Each time I call they tell me that my deposit will be creditied back yet I never get it.

I left and returned to Soquel.

I have now made five phone calls to him asking why my funds have not been replaced and he said he asked his manager, and his manager told him to tell me not to worry, that it would be.

When I asked to speak to his manager he said he did not want to talk to me.

This all started on Thursday, 01/27/2011 It is now in to February

Maybe if you call and tell them your feelings it will help me.

That is over 1/2 of my entire monthly income and I cannot afford to lose it.

Please help, Thank you.