Southeast Toyota Finance

In mid November I turned in my leased 2015 Toyota Prius to the dealership. I had one month left on the lease, but with the dealership agreeing to make the final payment, I decided to purchase a new Prius. I have been a loyal Toyota customer for more than 25 years. I've purchased a Corolla, a Tercel, an Avalon and I've leased a Rav and two Prius. All transactions have been through World Omni and/or SEToyota Finance. I've always made timely payments and returned the cars in good condition with little mileage usage.
Within a week of turning in my last car in November, I received a bill from SE Toyota Finance for excessive wear and tear in excess of $500. I was not present at the time of the inspection. The wear and tear was listed and accompanied by 1/2 by 3/4 inch grayscale pictures. The car is dark gray. According to this inspector there were 50+ scratches on the vehicle, 22 bug spots on the front bumper, a ding and a misaligned bumper. I could view the digital files on line. I brought this bill to the attention of the dealership, who also were surprised by this inspection report. The sales person was so bothered by the report that she had someone buff the car for me. Low and behold all but 2 of the so called scratches remained.

I called SW Toyota Finance to ask if I could have another inspection. They said no. I explained that there were no scratches on the vehicle and what was noted by the inspector were scuff marks which are now no longer there. I was told I could send pictures. I returned to the dealership and a sales manager took 20 pictures of my car, labeled them by car body sections and printed them out for me. I called Se Toyota Finance to ask where to send the pictures. I was told to send them to the address on the bill. I explained that since the car was gray and the pictures were black and white could I send the digital files to them as well so that they could zoom in to get a better view if there was a question. I was told they don't accept digital files and black and white prints are not acceptable. I would need to print the pictures in color and they would need to have a date stamp. My pictures did not have a date stamp. So I asked the dealership if I could drive the car to their collision shop and have someone write me an estimate for the damages. The dealership agreed. The collision shop identified two inch long scratches, a ding and a misaligned bumper. I called SE Toyota Finance again and told the operator what they found. She said this was not acceptable because the collision shop did not address the scratches. I explained they did not address them because they did not exist.

At this point I am totally frustrated. They will not speak to people at the Toyota dealership who can attest to the condition of the car, they won't send out another inspector to look at the car even though I offered to pay for it. I have spoken to 5 different individuals at SE Toyota Finance. The person who reviewed my file is never available when I call.