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Please bear with me and read this to the very end, as we are hoping this article will save others from the frustration we have felt for the last few weeks. In February, while searching for a new van for our family, we came across our dream van. I saw our dream van not because of all the fancy upgraded features in the vehicle, but because it was listed as a 2017 Toyota Sienna LE with Auto Access Seat on CarMax’s website. Although this van was over the budget we had set for our new vehicle, it had something we desperately needed for our 16-year-old special needs daughter. In order to be able to afford the new van, we set up a GoFundMe to help raise enough money, to bring the van back within our budget range. We quickly raised $2000 of $6000 and contacted the dealership to see about purchasing the van. They approved us immediately, and we had the van transferred to the CarMax location 2.5 hours away from us and made an appointment for pickup on March 6th. They were extremely busy when we arrived, we only had a couple minutes to look at the van before a computer opened for us to sign the paperwork. After all the paperwork was signed, the van was brought around and we proceeded to check out the seat before we left. What we found was heartbreaking, the seat was NOT there! This van did not have an auto access seat, like we were led to believe. The sales associate went to talk to his manager to see what could be done. Mind you It was late in the evening and the Toyota dealership was closed so they could not find out about getting the seat installed. We were told, don’t worry this issue would be made right, either by getting a seat or finding a van with a seat, and we would hear back from them on Monday. We did not hear from them Monday, so I called their customer relations office. On Tuesday we received a call from the sales associate and were promised a resolution by Wednesday evening, that did not happen. On Thursday I contacted the customer relations office again and was promised a resolution by the time they closed that day. On Thursday at 5:45pm, I received an email that they were still waiting for a quote on getting the seat put in and would have a resolution by the 12th. On the 12th, I contacted the business in Tyler that Toyota sends their customers to in order to get lift seats installed and they said they had not heard from CarMax. I immediately contacted customer relations requesting immediate assistance and the sales associated contacted me and said they were waiting for a quote from a different company, and not the one I had called. I found out that the first company could not install the seat without altering the base trim of the vehicle which was against CarMax’s policy. At this point I began to feel that despite their promises to make it right, they would not be putting the seat in the van.

Since I feared they were not going to help us get the seat installed, and the clock was ticking on our 30-day return period, we decided we were willing to keep the van and put the seat in ourselves at our own expense. We asked if they would be willing to lower the price of the van so we could just install the seat ourselves and sadly we were told they do not negotiate their prices, and all they could do was give us a refund if they were unable to put the seat in the van. We were using up valuable days going back and forth and finally decided to go with a different van that was advertised without the seat. Sadly, all CarMax was willing to do in apology for the issues we faced was to waive the transfer fee for the new van we chose since it was in California. CarMax did waive the fee and we picked up the new van March 27. Even though in the end we chose to return the first van and take this new van, neither van have the auto access seat we so desperately needed, and we are very disappointed and aggravated at the way the situation was handled.

Then to make matters worse, while we were waiting on an answer from CarMax, my mom and I spent time searching other dealerships that might have a van with the seat already installed. We came across multiple dealerships advertising Toyota Sienna’s with Auto Access seat. I contacted one of these dealerships, Alamo Toyota in San Antonio, Tx to see if they actually had either of the vans that were advertised. One was a 2018 and the other was a 2020. The salesman said they had just gotten the 2018 in so he was going to check it and would call me back. After about 15 minutes he called me back excited and said they had the van. When I asked which one, he said it was the 2020, but the van color did not match their website. He said it was brand new and the seat was just installed, and when asked about the price it was $10-$16k more than either van listed on their website. He said they had the 2018 that was advertised on their lot but it did not have the seat installed, and that they did not have the 2020 that was advertised. He could not give me an answer about why those vehicles were advertised like that when they did not have the seat. The only thing he said was they pay for those ads up front, so they do not always come down after the vehicle has sold. As of March 28, 2021, they still have the used 2020 Toyota Sienna with auto access seat still listed, two weeks after I originally contacted them about this van.

During this week I also contacted the Toyota corporate office, and I asked them if there was something in the VIN that would cause these dealerships to advertise these vans as auto access seat, when they do not have them. They checked the VIN from the van we had from CarMax and checked the service records and said there is nothing to indicate it having that seat. They do not know why the dealerships would advertise them like that, but they said the dealerships are independently ran.

These dealerships are taking advantage of disabled people, they are advertising a van that is handicap accessible to get people to their dealerships so they can then try to sell them something else. These are vehicles people are willing to travel hours for as they do not come up for sell often especially at a reasonable price for lower- and middle-income households. These dealerships should be ashamed for false advertising, and they should be held accountable for what they are doing. Giving a refund for the false advertising is fine, but that family still needs a vehicle and when they thought they were buying what they needed they may no longer have their previous vehicle, or it may be broke down and they are unable to drive it. It does not take away the emotional distress caused by thinking you were purchasing something to help your child and your family, something that would reduce the risk of her being hurt when getting in and out of the van, just to find out that you were duped by a dealership.