Testimonials - Caroline Grossinger Toyota North

I would like to Thank all of you for your excellent service.
It was a pleasure to do business with Grossinger.
This has been a company my family has trusted for almost 20 years.
Please pass this on to anyone I might have missed.
From the salesperson (Andy Makda) to the guys that washed my car, again I wanted to thank you for a great car buying experience.

Stanley checked to see if the part was in the warehouse and stated that he would call me when the part arrived at your store. I gave him my cell number. Stanley wanted to make sure there was no way that my husband would answer the phone. I told him that the number I gave him was my business line and that my husband would not answer. But just in case, Stanley told me to remember his name.

Imagine my surprise when I received a call the very next day and a familiar voice said to me, "Hi, this is Stanley. Your order has arrived and you may pick this order up at any time. My husband happened to be sitting next to me and heard the call. My husband never knew what was ordered until he opened his present on Christmas.

I just wanted to share the marvelous experience I had with your Toyota Sales Group purchasing a Camry LE. Our salesperson, Joe Delvecchio, took great pains to treat us with excellent courtesy and painstaking care. Whatever information he did not know sent scurrying off to immediately get us answers. His honesty combined with humility and his willingness to overcome ever hurdle to expedite the delivery made us feel welcome and very appreciated. He continually looked at the challenges from the customer's point of view. Oh, he did all the usual things a perceptive salesperson does-supplying us with water, making us comfortable, apologizing for delays(sometimes necessary due to inventory shifting during construction) and always keeping us informed on the order status. His thoughtfulness was symbolized by providing us with a copy of his own handwritten, duplicated list of the Service Hours. I hope I do not get him in trouble for thinking outside the box, but to me, this was a great example of thinking of customers first and just getting it done. It must be a genetic skill, because they certainly could not afford to teach that in the military. And, speaking of the military, it is very gracious of Grossinger to invest the effort to hire discharged veterans.

We were then turned over to Michael Jackson to "show us around the agency." He didn't just show us around, Mr Jackson took time to provide inside information and explain the "extra benefits" in buying from Grossinger. Now, Please, I do not mean any disrespect what-so-ever but although Mr. Jackson may not have tons of outside "brass," his genuine enthusiasm and passion for working at Grossinger were beautiful things to see. That sold me on Grossinger! If you could bottle his Grossinger Pride and spread it around the staff, you would have even more dedicated staff and very satisfied customers. Of course, when you check to see that I did not actually buy any of the services Mr.Jackson was promoting, you may doubt my appreciation for this fine gentleman. Actually, he "sold" me a much more valuable commodity---the confidence that everybody at Grossinger would take good care of all our service needs.

One of your Finance Managers--Mr. Tom Galloway was a welcome site because he knew we were anxious to leave and he had everything on his desk perfectly organized, waiting to be signed . His confidence at having done this many times was quite evident and he sped us along while graciously pausing when he thought some point needed further explanation

Whatever you are doing, it has prompted many successful strides from your staff, top to bottom. The perfect ending was the meticulous way the clean up crew so carefully removed the items and stickers and placed them on our new Camry. I drive by one of your shops almost every day and always noticed how each move was to bigger and larger buildings. Now that I know the people inside, it is easy to understand Grossinger's Grandness.

I have been repairing my car at Grossinger for many years. Most of the time, Grossinger service is very good. Last time I brought my car in for repairs two weeks ago. Alan Weissman helped me out. If I were to grade his service from zero to ten, I can say it's a ten. He was very helpful, competent, and accurate. The reason why I am sending you this e-mail is because I believe that individuals make a difference: they make the business either successful or not. I believe the company management should encourage excellent work. I don't know what Grossinger does to encourage their employees, but I think you should do something for Alan Weissman, to show him your and my appreciation.

Thanks toGrossinger Toyota for helping me purchase a car I never dreamed of owning at a price I didn’t think possible: 1997 Toyota 4Runner. Grossinger Service Department

It may seem odd to thank a car dealership for a ten year old car, but I am grateful. I’m grateful for a very good looking ten year old Toyota 4Runner and for a business transaction that has me telling friends, “I just got a great deal on a Toyota 4Runner at Grossinger. “ Special thanks to Mark Krochmal, David Hermiz and Mohammed Shamsi.

Like a lot of people, I had started using eBay to look for a used car. Just last week I was about to purchase a used car near St. Louis, Missouri when the deal fell apart. As soon as I mentioned the phrase “car inspection” the eBay seller became nervous about selling me a car. That’s why I decided to give Grossinger a chance to sell me a car.

After all, I had already purchased three good automobiles at Grossinger (a new ’86 Volvo station wagon, a used ’96 Volvo sedan and a used 2002 Toyota Camry). The two Volvos protected my kids while they learned how to drive and the 2002 Toyota Camry has been trouble free for two years. So I gave Grossinger a chance to sell me a car. I knew Grossinger wouldn’t mind me inspecting any vehicle they offered for sale (“Goodbye eBay Motors.”).

On Saturday, November 17, 2007, I met Mohammed, a new employee and car salesman at Grossinger Toyota in Lincolnwood. My final destination was Joliet, IL to look at a Buick LeSabre from eBay. But I stopped at Grossinger first. I shook hands with Mohammed, he listened to the type of car I needed and we both realized that ten year old 4Runners and Rav4s weren’t on the car lot that morning. I told Mohammed I would be buying a car in the next two weeks, he asked for my phone number and I gave it to him. Mohammed’s a nice young salesman with good listening skills. (Thanks, Mohammed.).

About two hours later, after driving 50 miles to Joliet to see a Buick LeSabre in poor condition (it looked good on eBay), I received a call on my cell phone from David Hermiz. David said he was from Grossinger Toyota, he had spoken with Mohammed that morning and knew I wanted a 10 year old 4Runner or Rav4. He had “a car I would like” which was taken in on a trade after I left the dealership that morning.

David said it was a 10 year old Toyota 4Runner with 119,000 miles in very good shape. But then he said, “This Toyota was sold to a friend of Caroline Grossinger, the owner.” That did get my attention. I asked David to give me his “best price” on that 4Runner and make it worth my time to drive another 50 miles back to Grossinger Toyota in Lincolnwood. David gave me that great price and I drove to Grossinger immediately. (Thanks, David).

When I returned to Grossinger Toyota that Saturday afternoon, salesman Mohammed found me immediately at the door. I was introduced to Mark Krochmal, the general manager, who immediately took me on a test drive in ’97 Toyota 4Runner. I knew I was receiving especially good treatment when the general manager of the dealership gave me the test drive. (Thanks, Mark).

Mark knew I liked the car and I asked him if I could drive it back to Chicago to show it to my wife. If my wife liked it, we would drive it over the weekend and make arrangements to purchase Tuesday evening. Mark said yes, I signed a few papers for insurance purposes and I drove off.

My wife and I purchased the car on Tuesday evening from Mohammed. Johnny Koutselas helped with some last minute details which I appreciated. Mark Krochmal and David Hermiz came by to say hello and asked me about the Toyota 4Runner. I thanked them both for their quick responsiveness in selling me a fine vehicle at a very good price. Others came by to offer service; I wish I had written down all their names.

It’s Thanksgiving Day and my wife just returned from some early AM food shopping. Both the Toyota Camry and 4Runner (both from Grossinger Toyota) were in the garage when she went shopping. “Which car did you take?” “I took the 4Runner,” she said. I guessed right. My wife likes the 4Runner as much as I do.

Thanks again to Grossinger Auto Group. Thanks to Mohammed on his new career, David Hermiz on his quickness and attention to detail in calling me quickly and to Mark Krochmal for his excellent management and salesmanship as general manager. Please offer my thanks to the Grossinger family, also.

If you’re from Chicagoland, if you’re interested in a fine new or used car with good business people, remember the name Grossinger. The name Grossinger has meant car dealership excellence in Lincolnwood and Chicagoland years before the Internet and eBay ever existed.

Many consider glitches as a part of life, but apparently you, Allen Farber, your Service Director, and his staff are not among them. Mr. Farber and his associates stepped up to the plate when I arrived for my service appointment only to learn that the appointment had been lost in the system. Mr. Farber overheard my conversation with service associate Al Weissman and immediately stepped in to make things right for us. He and his excellent Service Staff, including Rich Sherman, John Clayton, and Mr. Weissman extended themselves over the next two days to make sure that our experience with Grossinger's Service Department was nothing short of excellent.

As previous Lexus customers for the past ten years, I cannot emphasize enough how professionally you and your people responded to our needs and our concerns, and always with a positive "can do" attitude. I am beginning to think that maybe Lexus learned from you and your staff how to provide such excellent service. Please pass along our gratefulness to Mr. Farber and to Rick, John , and Al and to all of your team members.

Thank you so much for a "down to business" sale of the 2008 Toyota Camry LE which we look to complete in the next two weeks. I greatly appreciate your efforts to meet my expectations for the sale, and will look forward to doing business with you again in the near future.

I have been a customer for a little over 3 years now, and I would like to take the time to acknowledge your employee Angelo Beltrano. Angelo has been extremely accommodating to my family and I. Currently we have purchased four cars with Angelo's assistance.

He is a very unique Sales Manager. He is patient, understanding and most importantly he is not pushy. In all my years of dealing with sales people and sales managers, Angelo is the best that I have dealt with. My Family and I would like to have his efforts acknowledged and we hope by taking the time to write this letter to you, you will do so.