Bad service appointment

I just had my 2009 Tacoma in to the local Toyota dealer to have 4 tires installed on my truck. The installer was quite careless with the wheel wrench and left several small chips and scratches on my rims. I wrote this letter to them and I am still waiting to hear back from them. Has anyone else had this sort of bad experience with their dealership and was there any sort of end result from it?

"Hello, I just had my truck in at your shop for a safety inspection and to have 4 new tires installed (Aug 1/13). At first glance, the service seemed very good, but after I washed and waxed the truck, I noticed that there were small dings and scratches in my wheel rims that were not there before. I am very anal about my truck as it took me a long time to get this truck, so I really look after it. It appears to me, that this is a simple case of the tire installer just not being careful with the wrenches. Now 3 out of 4 rims are chipped or scratched and I do not think there is anyway to properly fix this. Sorry, to be the "whiny" guy, but I think this should be brought to your attention. I am quite displeased with the service. Hopefully something will be done here to make me satisfied as it is all about customer service at the end of the day."

 

I hate to be this guy, but unless you have your own shop, staying away from small dings on your wheel is almost impossible.

Putting a tire on is fairly difficult. They usually use a disposable plastic clip to keep the wheel lip from getting scratched.

I'm guessing your scratches are near the lug nuts?

Are you sure they are from installing the wheels? You can get scratches just from driving through one construction area one time.

 

I would have omitted the last sentence and ended the letter with "Awaiting your Reply" so it doesn't sound like you are trying to get something from him. Then the follow up could contain your desire for the problem to be fixed...that way you know tithe noes about the problem, and if nothing is done about it, I would take it to the next level...

The rims do chip/scratch easily, but that's not an excuse. I would want new rims...

Unless the scratches are from where your old wheel weights were...then it's just the nature of the beast.

 

That's why I always have my rim weights applied to the back side of the wheel.

 

Just nitpicking, but when I write stern letters I avoid using words like "anal" to avoid seeming like I'm not someone to not take seriously.

I'd go to the dealer and ask for the service manager. Show him your truck and hope for the best. Driving away was a mistake.

 

You cannot properly balance a wheel with weights only on the back side. That is only balancing the wheel in one plane. In order to get a better balance they need to be installed in both planes which usually requires weights on both sides of the wheel.

 

^This.

Sucks for the OP, but it goes with the territory of having someone else service your vehicle. You could always threaten him with violence? When this sort of thing happens to my stuff, I just remember that nothing lasts forever, and in 5-10 years who the hell is going to care anyway?

 

When I have mine done, they use the tape weights as close to the back of the spokes as possible, plus the hammer on kind on the back side of the wheel. I have no weights on the outside of my rim, and I have absolutely no problems with vibrations/balancing on both my summer set and winter set of wheels/tires.

 

I just had a set of tires mounted on my new wheels. I went to the Toyota dealer specifically because I figured the techs there would be a little more skilled and experienced than the local tire joint, and chances are they'd be balanced correctly. When I dropped it off I made it a point to tell the service rep they are painted wheels and please be very careful not to scratch them. When I picked it up I inspected the wheels and noticed a light scratch on one of the wheels. Not a bad one but still they are brand new wheels out of the box. When I told the service rep about it she said "yeah sorry bout that". its a light scratch and not that noticeable, so I guess I'm lucky that's all that was damaged. I was really unhappy with her lack of giving a shit. As for the balancing, my steering wheel shakes a little sometimes between 50-60 mph. Sooo hard to find decent service now a days.

 

Yeah! Since that you drove off the lot they don't know if you did the damage to your vehicle after you left. Since that you never spoke up at the dealership when it was done, the chances are none they are going to do anything. If you don't like the job someone else does then maybe you should do it yourself. Save yourself the trouble down the road. At least if you mess it up the only person you have to blame is yourself.

 

You should always check before you leave the dealership and buy wheels that are not painted if you don't want to see chips

 

During my 10000mi service I had kearny mesa toyota in san diego flip my tires so the white letters are in. After getting home and looking close at the wheels i noticed a circular scrape in the clear coat across some on the alloy spokes on all wheels about halfway in from the center, also they hammered the weights on so hard the clear coat is chipped off and one of the center caps was installed un even.
Well I called the next day and after a few messages and a bit of a run around to talk to the service manage Scott I told him what happened. He tried to say they will refinish them but I refused and said I want new wheels and a loner while they fix this issue.
I went to the dealer after work and Scott saw the damage, took pictures and quietly went to his office and ordered the new wheels. After the new wheels are installed I will be going to a different dealer for service.