This forum and Warranty work?

Just wondering if there are any cases where someone has posted that they did a DIY, and didn't change the oil when the manuals says too, or didn't use their 4x4 once a month, or modded the hell out of their truck. etc etc...and it was publically posted here. Then had an issue with their truck, went into dispute with TOYOTA CORP and LOST due to TOYOTA finding out it was the customers fault by reading posts here on TW or TN?

Now theoretocally this shouldn't happen because we all have "usernames" but pur the right price info can be baught or hacked right?

should we worry about what we post?

Lets Discuss!

 

An old friend of mine was denied warranty work on his Mistsubishi Lancer Evo because he had drag raced it. The service writer showed him his picture in the local paper (he won his class) and said "your new clutch will be $xxx." LOL

 

Can't imagine Toyota taking the time to figure out a customers TW user name and then doing a search to see if they ever admitted something

Hell we can't even get regular members to use the search

 

I've seen more than 1 mitsu owner get screwed this way.
I've seen a few forum users have there posts come back to haunt them too. A cobalt guy was racing his car and he went to get the transmission fixed after it grenaded. Well, he posted pics of his ordeal on the site and then one of the techs at the dealership put 2 and 2 together and the denied his warranty work. They even voided his entire warranty. He fought with them and eventually lost. He was pretty shady to begin with so I can't blame the tech.
Here is the rule I live by, if I mod it, I fix that part when it breaks. Now, some of my history. I bought a cobalt, modded it and told the dealership everything I did. I installed a new header and a few days later I had a horrible tapping. Well, I thought it was a valve. Come to find out, one of the header bolts backed out. The tech fixed it and even tightened the rest of the bolts. The dealership didn't charge me for the work but I did give the tech a $20 for his help. Ever since, they've looked at everything I needed. After I installed coilovers, they even helped me get the shock settings dialed in. I must have spent a few hours on the alignment rack and only paid for a single alignment.
They knew I reflashed the computer and never once voided any part of my warranty. Granted, I never went in for mechanical issues other than what I thought was the valve issue.
I know the Magnuson Moss act protects consumers but there is a limit to how far a dealership wll go.

hth

 

If you mod equipment and then it takes a shit, then warranty won't cover that, right?

 

Not sure is Toyota lurks on here, but Mazda does. Alot of my old RX8 buddied had warranty claims denied specifically for things they said on a forum.

But there are so many tacomas out there and a much smaller percentage of them are active on forums than for boy racer cars.

 

Several years ago the Windy City Miata Club stopped posting autocross results by name because they had heard that Subaru was using that sort of information to deny warranty claims.

If you post that you thrashed your truck on Sunday and take it in for suspension or driveline work on Monday, you could get a Big Surprise. The auto industry is hurting and that includes Toyota. Someone there might consider it reasonable to use the Internet to identify abuse so they can avoid supporting it.

 

Hi tig1 calling- I told my dealer that I wanted to detail my truck up and they even told me what was the best shop to deal with for parts.when I approched them about a 3" lift they suggested two places to go other than them and no it will not affect my warranty as long as it was a lift special made for tacomas.

later tig1

 

Like the saying goes: "Everything you say (and these days, type) can and will be used against you in a court of law" It seems warranty's these days are as good as the people honoring them. They are false security, which can be pulled from under you on a whim. Most vehicle warranty's can be voided if the owner fails to document, and perform every scheduled maintenance required in the manual, be it dealer serviced (easy to prove), or DIY (difficult to prove). Getting a product that is more likely to not need warranty repairs in the first place is a much better option.

 

There was an old XRU member who was one of the first to S/C his truck.

well needless to say he didnt knwo what he was doing with the tuen and dumped a full tank of water/meth in a 1/4 tank of gas and popped the motor.

After the install he had taken a bunch of vids of himself doing burnouts and reving and racing around.

He stripped it and took it in to try and get the motor warrantied and they found the videos of him in the truck, with the s/c on it, doing all that stupid stuff. Warranty was denied of course

Just be careful as to what kind of trail that you leave.

Also, if you have an honest relationship with your dealer, and take it in for all the maintanances, they will most likely turn the other cheek if something goes wrong and you are slightly modified. If you try and cheat them and they figure it out, you are screwed. and rightfully so.


Justin

 

SecretSquirrel posted something fascinating and it has real merit. Entering into racing events would void warranty work and good for reason--it's abuse. And when you enter those events you have to use your real name and contact info, etc.

Secondly, There is value in keeping your anonymity on the forum, after all, this is a public space.

Moreover, I think it would take a subpoena in order for most forum-site operators to willingly turn over information on it's users. But that implies criminal activity was committed. The supposition that Toyota would contact the site operator (tcBob) and request real names of the users here is just ludicrous to me. If I was the site OP and that request materialized I would politely tell them that I love their trucks! And in the same breath, tell them to go pound sand! Also, this is all based on the presumption you have given your real name to tcBob or entered it in the forum somewhere.

One more point. The notion of Toyota (corp) "hacking" this site or any other site to obtain users' info is rather preposterous, because they would be committing a federal felony, which is rather serious.

Therefore I am reasonably confident you don't have too much to worry about.

Great topic of discussion.

WOW!!! Who would have thought!

 

what about doing OIL changes yourself? I buy all my filters from toyota and keep the receipts...also mark the date of the change in my manual. I have not been keeping oil (Mobil 1 receipts, as i buy it from walmart...maybe i should)...could they refuse a claim based on me not getting oil changes at the dealer? I would think the receipt for the filter and having it mark off in the maint book would be enough? what are all you DIY's keeping for records?


ALSO- So what about our names being private, what about pictures? most of are trucks can be uniquely identified right? what is to stop toyota from getting on and seeing my truck picture, reading a few threads...and putting 2 and 2 together?

Granted all i've done has been install some LEDs and some cosmetic stuff (leather arm rest) ect ect

I GUESS IF ANYTHING MAJOR GOES WRONG, GO BACK AND WIPE OUT ALL YOUR THREADS RIGHT?

 

Toyota can't deny or void your warranty for DIY oil changes or any other DIY maintenace. If I recall there are state laws about this. Keeping a written log book of all your maintenance is sufficient evidence for proving you have done your maintenance at regularly scheduled intervals. It's called due diligence. Receipts and pictures are nice and they'd probably will help if there is ever a dispute, but they're not necessary.

I had a great discussion with the SM at the dealer I visit. He made it very clear that they are not about defrauding customers. They will however confront customers who obviously have not done their maintenance and are seeking to have warranty work done. He said that it must be very obvious, it must be clearly beyond what is reasonable.

As far as public pictures of your tuck on the forum... I suppose if you had pictures of your truck in situations that would constitute abuse then you may have something to worry about. Other than that, I don't think it's a problem.

 

While we're in this realm, I have a question about receipts. For anyone that keeps receipts, have you looked at any that are older than a few years? They fade and eventually disappear. If you keep them in your attic and it gets smoking hot (like mine), they won't last a year.

So I have a LIFETIME POWERTRAIN WARRANTY - as long as I keep my receipts for work and maintenance. What about 15 years from now when my receipts are all blank for the oil that I purchased?

Do we really need receipts or can I just keep a log book with what I did to the vehicle?




On a related subject as well, I have seen companies log into sites like this and replace / repair parts or accessories that are being dissed. On a dirt bike site (thumpertalk.com), I frequently hear people bitching that something they bought doesn't work. Then you'll get a post from a new member saying "send me your info and we'll take care of the problem". I asked one and he said they have web crawlers that look for discussions like that.
There are always eyes watching you on the internet!

 

Veccster, Anything printed on thermal paper (your receipts) will fade over time, and your attic where heat rises will accelerate this process.

I recommend scanning your receipts with a digital scanner and a computer and keep digital images of them for keepsake.

My understanding is that a written log book with dates should be sufficient for all warranty purposes.

 

LOL! It's not often I actually laugh at a post, but I did at that one.

Mike

 

When I bought my truck in aug I asked the same question about oil changes. The guy told me to do them every 3000 miles and i'll be finee. He said, "we can tell when some jackass waits every 8000 miles to change his oil".