What would you do? 2013 failed Emissions & Dealer wants to charge to troubleshoot, Under Warranty

Hey Everyone,

Hoping to get some additional opinions for the current situation I'm in...

My 2013 Tacoma with 26,xxx miles failed the MD State Emissions test, throwing error code P0456 Evaporative Emission System Leak Detected (very small leak)

I took it back to the dealer, Koons Toyota of Westminster for repair, being that I'm still in the 3 year Toyota Warranty window. They kept it for the afternoon to run a smoke test on the fuel system to determine where the leak is coming from. During the test, they found smoke coming out of the top of the gas tank, but couldn't see exactly where, and informed me that to find the actual leak, the bed would need to be removed, or the tank dropped.

They also tell my that debris was found on the gas tank, and that if they take off the bed and find that a hose or line was chewed through by a rodent, it would not be covered under warranty, and I will need to pay the repair. If it busted from any sort of external force, I will need to pay for the repair. If they find that it is in fact a factory issue and covered under the warranty, they cover everything and all is well.

Now... here in lies the rub. If they take the bed off (2 hours of labor job and ~$500, according to service manager) and find that there is rodent/unicorn/gremlin damage... I have to pay for the labor hours they used to find out. Am I out of my mind to think that the dealer should find out what exactly is causing the leak because this truck is under warranty, and not charge me labor hours for doing so? I feel like troubleshooting a warrantied vehicle is part of doing business, whether it takes them 5 minutes or 5 hours, because it is still under warranty! Instead here I am about to flip a coin, heads I pay $500+, tails its under warranty and all is well.

Side notes... this same dealer during the Toyota Care complimentary oil changes, have done an amazing job at always botching up my vehicle. First time it was symmetrical V scratch marks on the very top of the truck, as if someone tried to fit it under something they shouldn't have. Dealer took care of it, and that was that. Second time, when rotating my tires they stripped 2 of my lug nuts, sheering them right in half. Also scratched my wheel center caps and wheels in the process. Because they are "after market" wheels they said it wasn't there fault. They are Factory Toyota FJ wheels! No compensation except replacing the 2 lug nuts they broke. And Lastly, this past oil change they left a plastic qt oil container in the engine bay, pressed up against one of the belts, putting burn marks on the empty qt bottle. I took it back, showed it to one of the services guys, he told me the manager was out but he would call me. Never heard from the manager on the issue.

At any rate, thanks for any possible advice, and happy National Hot Dog Day!

 

Go elsewhere.

 

In a case like the OP has posted would it do any good to give Toyota headquarters a call and complain. Or would it fall on deaf ears?

 

It'd be faster and easier for him to go elsewhere. If 2 dealers feel the same way, then I would call. But I'm not experienced first hand with the speed of Toyota Corporate and righting a wrong dealer, or for all we know, Toyota could feel like throwing a curve ball and backing up the dealership. They have surprised us before.

 

Go to a different Toyota dealer.

 

I go to this dealer because I can walk there from work. But, like I've said, they constantly mess something else up while doing simple oil changes and tire rotations. Next closest dealer is 45 minute drive. I've always done the basic stuff like this myself because growing up, my father said shops constantly mess things up (man was he right!) Figured I'd take advantage of the maintenance here because it was included. Looking back it would have been easier for me to skip it and do it all myself.

 

They have had the worst track record of a dealer in recent TW memory and you want to roll the dice on $500 (minimum) to save a 45 minute drive?

Go on ahead then. Why ask if it's smart? It obviously is stupid. Don't compound stupid with more stupid.

 

This service department sounds awful I would RUN to a different dealer and never look back.

I've never been impressed when trying to get a price quote from Koons on any new vehicle, they always seem shady.

My wife's minivan I went through Truecar and found Koons the price was one of the lowest, until they added $700 for mudflaps wheel locks and pinstripes and wouldn't remove them off the price needless to say, I didn't buy it.. Also, the owner lady in their commercial has some CRAZY eyes.

I price shopped them for my Tacoma in Easton, MD, they nickle and dimed their "wow" price up more than $1,000.

 

yeah fun as far as you possibly can from that dealer..... dont even think about going back.

 

Even if you get no satisfaction from the dealer its not a big deal to remove 6 bolts and unplug a wire harness + the filler neck then 2 people can slide the bed back far enough to see if it is rodent related or pinpoint the problem and fix it or put it back together and take it to the dealer then if he try's to blow smoke up your ass [pun intended]you will have the upper hand.

 

That code is usually because of a loose or defective gas cap.

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0456

Before having the dealership do anything, I would check the gas cap, clear the code, and see if the code reappears.

 

exactly

 

I even said to the service manager... with all of the past experiences I've had with this department, you're telling me you can't eat 2 hours of labor to troubleshoot the truck? He said, "Drop the truck off tomorrow morning, and I'll take care of you." Tomorrow came (today) and I called to say I need my truck for work today, so will have to drop it off later to buy some time. GF said you need more that a verbal, "I'll take care of you" in this scenario. She also said take it too another dealer and tell them to pound sand.

I know very well that if this dealer finds even the smallest trace of a possible outside factor causing the issue, its going to be my responsibility. The most frustrating part is they won't step up their customer service game and offer to find the issue, then re-evaluate the situation if need be. Threatening me with a possible $500 bill and bringing insurance into this is NOT how to do business.

 

I took it to advanced auto to read the code three times prior to taking it to the dealer, because they had the same advice. Three separate times after clearing the code, it came back. I even went through New Jersey, and had a professional Wawa worker fill my tank. Error code came up two days later.

 

So is the plan to complain about how they suck and then go there anyway, or can you deal with a 45 minute drive to save $500?

This thread is going nowhere, because you aren't doing anything but repeating how this dealer sucks, and you want them to work with you because they're convenient. They already responded with "No, we won't. We will charge you for anything unrelated to warranty work."

Okay. So we have agreed and decided that they suck and don't deserve your business. What's next, OP?

 

You say you had code cleared 3 times but I see no mention of getting another gas cap......Have you bothered to change out the gas cap and see if fault comes back or just keep clearing code and hoping the unicorns/gremlins/rodents have given it their blessing? Eliminate the simple stuff first if you haven't. If you have changed the cap and gotten the same code then do yourself a favor and go to another dealer and quit subjecting your poor truck to the abuse from the assholes at the Koon ripoff center. Then do other people a favor and at least report them to Toyota Corporate and BBB and whatever other ripoff people website you can list them on.

 

But was the gas cap replaced? If it is defective, it will keep giving that code.

I had a truck with that code and failed emissions. Bought a replacement OEM gas cap at a dealership for $28. Expensive, but cleared up the problem and saved me time and $$ that would have been spent at a dealership.

 

OP,


I use to live in Westminster and now in Taneytown. Take your truck from Koons, you'll be doing yourself a huge favor.

Take your truck to Owings Mills, MD. The dealer is R&H Toyota @ 15 Music Fair Rd.
I use to work there, great people and have covered my truck on a few things years back.

Ask for Franz Picardo if he still works there or look for the service manager Jenny Kirby. They'll set you straight with a better diagnostic team of mechanics.

 

How hard is it to drop the tank compared to removing the bed? Seems like an easy way to peak without removing the bed, but why is removing the bed a 2hour $500 job? Are they charging $250/hour?

I don't allow people to work on my vehicles because of shops like this one.

 

^^^ Doesn't sound like a loose gas cap if they saw smoke coming out of the top of the tank.