Need advice on dealership abusing my truck

I took my truck into the dealer Wednesday morning for a steering wheel that was slightly to the right. Truck has only 2000 miles on it.

After 2 hours I got my truck back, they said they would mail the paperwork since they had warranty stuff to fill out for it.

Took the truck and noticed the wheel was still to the right, not as much but still to the right.

Today (Thursday) I checked online for my service ticket. It was there, but it listed some odd things.
According to the ticket, they cross rotated my tires, then front to back rotated, then flipped the left front tire. Also did a alignment. No way they did all this in 1 hour.

I looked at my truck and the tires have not moved, one of my tires is marked and still in the same spot. I checked the lugs, no tool marks, checked the left front.. no tire lube used for mounting tires, no ring in the dirt from the ballancer.

So they lied about that part. Got me wondering what else they lied about. I checked the tie rods, they have been adjusted. So they did that part of the service.

Later I got the SD card out of my dash cam and watched the service. The tech starts out by flooring it up to 50mph on a frontage road, turns around and floors it again...wtf, I didn't say drivability issue, I said steering wheels not straight.

I keep watching and he brings it into the shop. As he pulls it onto the alignment rack traction control kicks in, then the rear wheels spin a bit. At this point the tech says "real nice f*cking truck, can't even get up a f*cking ramp".

Ok, so it's 8am and he is pissed at my truck because he can't get up the ramps the first time. Starting to question this techs desire to fix my truck correctly.

I went back to talk to someone, of course everyone who can do anything has left for the day. But the service manager is going to call me tomorrow to discuss this.

This is the first service I have had on the truck and first service at this dealership. It has not been the best.

I want the work they claimed they did but didn't do off my trucks record, and I want my steering wheel straight. Problem is, this tech is in trouble for doing this to my truck, techs are friends with each other and now I don't have much trust for any of the other techs.

Should I switch to another dealer after this is removed from my trucks warranty record?
This dealer is close to my work, there is another one owned by another company not far from my house that I can switch to.

I have extensive background in auto mechanics, auto body and spent 6 years as a warranty admin for vw.

 

This could definitely be done in an hour.

This sounds bad

First thing I think is that the tech is a dipshit for not realizing there's a dashcam, and a dickhead for driving the truck like that.

Absolutely yes if feasible. Usually if a dealership has a tech like this, it's a management issue. Don't mention the issues you had with the first dealership because you don't want to be labeled a problem customer. Take it in for the exact same service and see how it goes.

 

I forget to mention that he listed a test drive after each thing.
Test drive -Alignment check - test drive - cross roate - test drive - normal rotate - test drive - flip tire - test drive - alignment - test drive.

Dash cam shows 3 test drives, 6 50mph flooring it times.

And yeah, the dashcam is pretty obvious. It's got a giant screen that lights up next to the mirror, beeps, and has a flashing red light.


Edit: I just realized I posted yesterday in a thread about out of warranty work that techs are lazy, lie and are not looking out for your car... Guess I just proved myself right. Also I said you should have a dashcam to keep an eye on your truck.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/dealer-replicates-issue-out-of-warranty.575626/#post-19045948

 

I wish I could give you some advice other than stay away. You could go back and they will probably redo the work if you show them the proof. But do you really want them working on your truck anymore?

Another reason I try to stay away from dealerships. I haven't gone back to one since they chipped my window during a TSB repair. Since then I've tried to do everything myself or pay a little more for a reputable shop.

 

I'd go to another dealership. Or make sure that tech doesn't touch your truck ever again. Or find a reputable small shop where they actually care about your vehicle. (That guy seems like the type of guy to kick your door in if he bumped his head on your fender.) He's just there to get his 8 hours in.

 

What kinda dash cam do you have. Need one lol

 

I don't know what you want from the internet. Sit down and speak with the service manager like you have already arranged. He is the first person that can address the situation. Until you have spoken to him / her how do you know how they will address the situation?

 

"Treat my property as if it were yours" means different things to different people. I've recently had mine in for an alignment that 2 other dealerships couldn't get right. On the "test drive" with the Service Manager, through all of his, "we have to cross rotate, check the balance, blah, blah..." he punched the accelerator and startled me. Although I may not drive like that, I knew he was trying to see of the vehicle pulled on hard acceleration to determine or rule out tire pull, or anything else he may think that is abnormal behavior.

 

If I were you, I would request a meeting with the dealership General Manager. If you don't get satisfaction from that visit, inform him you are contacting Toyota Corporate. Get a customer service rep and show them the video.

I would bet the visit with the dealership GM will be sufficient enough.

What dealership was this? You should call them out.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

I feel like a call to corporate with the info you posted and a new dealership are in order.
Very astute.

 

Some of that service work they get paid from Toyota for. So this is why they wrote the order up like that and didn’t do the work. Basically it’s fraud. Talking to the service manager might get you somewhere but you should probably reach it to Toyota Corp and let them know what’s going on as well

 

Rexing v1lg mounted to the GoPro moubt

 

Yeah, we used to embellish on some repairs to get warranty to pay, but a crooked steering wheel on a 2000 mile car is a valid claim without need for embellishing.

I'm going to give the dealer a chance to redeem them selves. If they don't I will post the videos here, release the dealership and send it all to the dealership owner and toyotycorp.

They will be getting called if the service manager doesn't resolve this to my liking today

 

Crazy. I had a dealership here in Dallas tell me that my rotors were within spec (vibrating when braking) without even removing a wheel.

 

Upload that video and link it here, for educational purposes.

 

I feel you.

I had a simple rattle on my STi that could be diagnosed in the parking lot. I got the car back with 28 additional miles on it and my tell tale gauges were all pegged. I was super angry.

EDIT:

Forgot to finish my thought. Once I noticed that I threw the car in valet mode from then on out.

 

That is possible if the spokes are large enough or if they put it on a lift. They could use a micrometer.

 

The problem with a micrometer is that it is only 2 point contact and does not reveal indications of warping (or malformed surfaces in general). Micrometer will tell you thickness spec pretty well, but the only way to properly check the surface profile is to remove the rotor and get it properly setup on a surface plate to see if it's shaped like a potato chip.

Edit: Spinning it with a dial indicator on there might work, but I'd still want to take it off.

 

Sounds familiar. I had my first service on Halloween. Showed up 30 minutes early and was told "hey look, we're real behind, might take an hour at least". The tech was done the rotation and all the stuff in 35 minutes.

Then they forgot to reset the service indicator warning, put a new sticker on the windshield and left my steering wheel and shift knob greasy/smeared in soot. I called back that night to complain and the assistant manager assured me that the tech would be spoken to. I'll give them another chance but any more monkey business and I'm finding a new dealer.

 

Agree with others, meet with Service Manager and General Manager telling each when making the appointment, that you have video proof of the abuse. I have had great luck with obtaining a case number with corporate. They track this kind of stuff.