I didn’t envision a scenario where I would be writing a positive recommendation about a car dealership, since I hate shopping – – and vehicle shopping is next level. But I’m here to say I highly recommend Wellesley Toyota. I wasn’t even intending to think about replacing my vehicle until at least the summer. However, we found ourselves in a situation in the past month where our 2005 Toyota minivan finally said ‘enough’. So, we’re selling Jay’s car to the kid with the minivan, Jay gets my sometimes-gently-used 9 year old vehicle and then we had to go car shopping. We drive our vehicles forever and cycle them through me, then Jay and then the kids.
It was actually our youngest daughter’s idea that we consider a Toyota for my next vehicle—safe to say 100% that 23 year old Erin is planning for 30+ year old Erin to be sitting in a 200K mile 4Runner. And she might be on to something, as she’s been driving Jay’s mother’s 1999 Lexus for about 5 years, which now has 260K miles. The Toyota minivan that just bit the dust with about 240K miles was originally my mother’s, purchased when the kids were very little so that grandma and grandpa could transport them. The van eventually became Adam’s ride, and has served him well—perfect for ski trips, road trips, camping, etc. It was a great vehicle and it was body issues, not anything mechanical, that got the best of it. If it had always been garaged and/or had more trips to the car wash, I think it’d still be humming along fine.
I consulted my very popular story Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles Near Me and scoured the available Toyota inventory. There was a decent selection of ‘maybes’ at Wellesley Toyota, so I called and talked through options with the guy who answered the phone—Brad Trefey, the sales manager. Jay and I were up for a ride, so I created a Spotify playlist with the search term ‘driving songs for people with very different tastes in music’, and we hit the road. From Princeton we were there in under an hour.
We started a conversation with Marcus Mason, the least pushy car salesperson I’ve met. Marcus really listened, and since I have so many specific wants, needs, absolutely-nots and strong opinions about vehicles, plus I’m frugal but also treat myself occasionally, his head was probably spinning after that first visit. But he listened and asked further clarifying questions. We ran out of time and brain space that first visit but he and Brad sent us home with a lot of information to consider.
I followed up by email so that the Q&A was in writing and then we did a lot of fact-checking, review-reading, number crunching and really thinking about what would make sense for our particular situation. Every vehicle I had questions about, they would send specific details and answer all of my questions clearly. This really allowed us to thoughtfully consider our options without feeling like hurry up, quick decision, etc.
After a lot of conversations and math on the homefront, we dialed in on a specific 4Runner they had available. We took a second trip to Wellesley Toyota on a Saturday and drove the vehicle that, on paper, seemed to be the right one for me. It was a match.
I’m so happy to have found a go-to vehicle connection with Marcus Mason at Wellesley Toyota. Buying a new vehicle can be very stressful (especially if you do it as infrequently as I do). If you’ve been reading my newsletter for long enough, you might remember that when I hit a tree, totaling my last vehicle on Bolton Road in Westminster, I tasked Jay with finding exactly the same certified pre-owned vehicle as a replacement, maybe one color shade lighter or darker—and that’s what he did. Car shopping is never fun, but Marcus made it quite comfortable.
Then it came time to visit the finance manager’s office, the place where people, myself included, put their suit of armor on to hopefully come out with the good attitude they went in with, or at least come out alive. *By the way, don’t miss Jay’s story this month about our visit to see actual suits of armor at the Worcester Art Museum.
We sat with the finance guy, David Van Allen, who was extremely easy to talk through options with. If I said no, it stayed no. We had questions and even though the dealership was closing as it was past 6pm on a Saturday, he took all the time we needed. The only thing that went a bit—I don’t want to say sideways—but unexpected, was that I went in with a preapproval from a lender with an excellent reputation for vehicle lending. David ran my credit and had many more options, including a local credit union whose rates were lower than the preapproval I came in with. This savings in my monthly payment covered more than half of the maintenance plan I was considering. I went with his local credit union and now have the maintenance plan I wanted but that I didn’t want to pay for.
I went in to Wellesley Toyota with my guard up, but the whole series of interactions proved to be very comfortable—the initial call, the first in-person visit, several days of thinking on it, more and more and more questions, second in-person visit and more driving, through the paperwork and financing set up process and then Marcus taking as much time as I needed to get me all set up with how to actually use the features of the vehicle. All good. And the best part? I’m done with vehicle shopping AND it happened to be on the last few days of the month when I came around to my decision to purchase a 4Runner, so my research tells me I got a good deal on the vehicle. A day in the life in my business requires constant maneuvering and negotiation—I wasn’t in the mood to bring that to my personal life, and I didn’t have to in my dealings with Marcus Mason and I highly recommend Wellesley Toyota!
Considering a new vehicle, possibly a Toyota (so far, so good over here!)–reach out to Marcus.
Marcus Mason, Wellesley Toyota
243 Worcester Street (Route 9), Wellesley, MA 02481
781 239 6732
marcus.mason@wellesleytoyota.com
