Phenomenal Toyota Customer Service

I've been having some problems with my 09 DC Sport lately. Took it to the dealer for transmission issues and some idle vibration. Well, to make a long story short Toyota VOLUNTARILY extended my drive train warranty to 8 years/ 96000 miles AND called me 3 times after each of my 7 visits. They even had some engineers look at the idle vibration. Oh, and I got a loaner Tundra too. (F150 is nicer)

I've been a loyal Ford owner all my life. When you take your Ford in for warranty work its like "What the hell are you doing here."

My wife and I will defiantly be buying her a new 4Runner or Highlander when her Escape lease is up.

 

Wow nice to hear someone finnaly had a good experiance with a service department for once.

 

Too bad we all don't live in Columbus, OHIO. Oh well, guess I'll have to put up with the local stealership.

 

Were all 7 visits for the same problem?

 

Im in columbus too - which dealer was it? i have been going to germain east

 

The first few were for a transmission problem. I've never had an automatic before but the truck would hunt for gears under 50. The rest were for idle vibration in D. There would be a noticeable vibration at idle. My last truck (2003 F150 SC 4x4, totaled when I hit 3 deer) had 140000 on it and when I sat at a light there was no vibration.

This thing would idle with vibration through the steering wheel. Both the dealer and I agreed that it was not normal. (we all know vibration will destroy a car) So after 5 visits for the vibration, which is now completely gone, I got a call from Toyota customer service headquarters. They could not believe all the problems I had been having. As a result I received a letter in the mail with 8 year 96000 mile warranty extension.

In my opinion, the auto world is FIERCE and they better do what they can to retain as many customers as possible. The new Fords are pretty sweet. I still want a new F150 but it's so damn huge it wont fit in my garage. To be honest, the Tacoma isn't really that much smaller than my old truck.

 

True but there are plenty of folks, the HUGE majority of them, who have these positive experiences. However, they're not usually motivated to recount said experiences online. Pissed off people do.

 

It's Ford, there's not much more to say. Garbage, in my experience. There's nothing like trading in a vehicle and getting practically nothing for it which was my experience time and again (I've owned many Fords). At least I wised up finally.

Can Ford improve? Absolutely and maybe they have but I wouldn't buy a domestic if you paid me but if I did it would be Ford because at least they didn't take my tax money under the guise of a "bailout".

 

What did they end up doing to fix the vibration issue?

 

I'll be honest with you, after time 3 I just threw the paper in the trash. Didn't even look at it.

In my opinion, idle vibes are caused by a dirty MAF Sensor or Dirty Throttle Body. BUT I can't take the apart without voiding my warranty so I had to make them do it through repeated visits. I don't settle for less than perfect vehicle performance.

To tell you the truth, the only MODS I have are (and I didn't install them) Power Sunroof and Heated Charcoal Leather seats. (I paid extra for the "TRD Sport stitching in the headrests). Oh and I forgot I did the "weather stripping" MOD to make it quieter (silent) on the freeway.

 

Besides for the crappy trade-in value, and it's improving. In INITIAL quality, I don't see a difference between Ford and Toyota. Long term, we'll see. My 03 F150 was fine.

Now GM and Chrysler are WAAAAY down in quality. They have a long way to go.

BUT it's all about customer retention, and that's what matters now. Toyota has pretty much ensured my loyalty (not on FULL SIZE trucks though, Tundra is crap)