Toyota Motor rip-off! Liars! Claremont California

I leased a 2002 4Runner back in July 2002. My payment was a little high, but it was manageable. I was told that I would only need to keep my 4Runner for of the term before I traded it in without a penalty. Well my husband was stationed in Hawaii and we moved there with the vehicle, however, during the course of time, he badly hurt his knee and was medically discharged from the United States Army.

I also had just found out that I was pregnant with our 2nd child, and was unable to work. We were not able to make our payment, so I contacted Toyota. I was told to come on in and we would discuss our options. My husband and I went in and talked to the leasing manager, and he told us that we could walk away from our 4Runner, and it would be a voluntary termination of lease. We of course needed to be able to get into another vacuole, since the 4Runner was our only means of transportation.

He told us that he would work out a "great" deal for us, getting us into a USED 2001 Ford Expedition, and lowering our payment to $250 less then what we were paying. The manager told us we would need to come up with $3000 to walk away from our 4Runner without any problems and get into another vehicle. We thought that this would be a great idea for us, and a smart move financially. We were able to borrow the money and get it to the dealership.

We were signing all the papers to the Expedition, when the manager told us we would need to sign a few more papers releasing myself from the lease of the 4Runner. I signed those, and he told me to bring the 4Runner in next week (because he was going on vacation and he wanted to personally work with me in my "situation") I trusted him and we took both cars home. The following week we contacted him, and he told us we could bring the 4Runner in.

When we brought the vehicle in, we were hurried in and out, and went on our way. Our baby was born and we moved from where we were staying at to a new home. I currently got a new job and my husband and I were going through a separation. My mother had contacted me and said that I was receiving a couple messages left at her home from a lawyers office. I called the lawyers office and was told that I was being sued from Toyota Motor Credit Corp. for the balance left off the sell of the vehicle. I explained that I didn't understand, nor was anything like this disclosed to me. So they sent over a form that I had my signature on it. It stated that I would be financially responsible for the amount of the loan left after the selling of my vehicle, which was a little over $6000.00!

When I explained my situation to this attorney/debt collector, I got a very negative response and was very rudely told that my situation didn't matter, and they would get their money in any way. When I contacted Toyota, no one would talk to me about my situation, and left several voice mails with no return phone call to different managers.

Not only was I out the $3000.00 for a vehicle that I didn't even need to give them money for, that probably went into that mans pocket, but now I have this collection attempt to deal with.

Toyota of Claremont is one of the most unprofessional dealerships that I, or anyone I know, has ever dealt with. This dealership should not be used to purchase or lease a vehicle. They do not care about the consumer, and are only interested in getting what ever they can out of whomever.

Amanda
La Verne, California
U.S.A.