Putnam Toyota Review By Brandon F.

I don't normally write these types of reviews, but felt the need to after my experience at Putnam Toyota in Burlingame. Specifically with Mark Putnam, Fleet Internet Manager. I had been shopping for a Toyota RAV4 for a couple of weeks now and knew exactly what I wanted. I also had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to pay for the vehicle based on my research online and with consumer reports data. So I visited a couple of bay area dealerships and received quotes for the vehicle. What I found was that the quoted prices sound great at first look until you see line after line of extra fees tacked onto the final price of the vehicle. These fees (TDA advertising, gasoline, dealer holdback, wholesale financial reserve, etc) start to add up. I already had the number I wanted to pay in my head, I didn't want to play games arguing over these extra fees. Especially fees which are very shady (i.e. dealer holdback). At this point I was getting very tired of haggling over the specifics of the deal. I just wanted someone to give me a fair price for the vehicle with no extra fees attached. That's when I received an email from Mark Putnam, Fleet Internet Manager at Putnam Toyota, asking if I was still interested in purchasing a Toyota. I sent him a very brief email spelling out the exact vehicle I wanted configured to my liking. Within minutes I received a response which clearly stated he had the exact vehicle I wanted with the options I asked for. Right next to this in plain english was the price followed by "plus tax and license". The number was exactly what I was looking for. Hooray. Wait a minute, there has to be a catch here. So I emailed him back asking if his price included all of the extra fees and the extra options I wanted on the vehicle. I fully expected to get back an email saying how he made some mistakes or he forgot to add this or that. Minutes later I received my answer. That was the price, no extra fees, no haggling. Just tax, license, typical government stuff. His first number was the final number. I immediately called him on the phone and told him he had a deal. I met with Mark the next morning and we went over the specifics. And guess what, there were no hidden surprises. I'm now the proud owner of a new Toyota RAV4. It's not every day that I go out and purchase a new car. I had such a positive experience working with Mark Putnam that I felt the need to share with the rest of you. Good luck.