Toyota charging me $$$ for frame replacement.

First I'd refuse to pay it because it is excessive and not a single price or update was given during the process.

AT MINIMUM, tell them to remove the exhaust system. Have it towed to an exhaust shop and have them do the exhaust and cat.
Cutting the exhaust is absolute bologna. They should have taken an acetylene torch and torched off the bolts. Then they could have removed it that way (which is what every exhaust shop does) and a year is plenty of time to do that. All you'd end up paying for there is new hardware, gaskets, hangers and that is it exhaust wise.

It's all a load of crap. They took the easy way to chop everything off. Ridiculous.

 

Get a complete system replacement quote from a good exhaust shop and offer to pay that amount for the exhaust portion.

 

ORS 646A.482¹
Estimate required before beginning work

(1)A vehicle repair shop shall prepare an estimate of the cost of work the vehicle repair shop proposes to perform on a motor vehicle before beginning the work. The vehicle repair shop not later than before receiving final payment shall give a copy of the estimate, either as a separate document or in the form of an invoice, to the owner or the owner’s designee. The vehicle repair shop shall retain a copy of the estimate. The estimate, at a minimum, must:

(a)Describe the general nature of the proposed work;

(b)Divide the work into separate tasks, to the extent that the work may be divided into separate tasks; and

(c)List:

(A)The estimated cost of labor and the parts or component systems the vehicle repair shop proposes to replace;

(B)The amount of any incidental charges; and

(C)The total estimated cost, which may consist of a reasonable range.

(2)If a vehicle repair shop proposes to disassemble all or a portion of a motor vehicle or to remove parts or components of a motor vehicle in order to evaluate the condition of the motor vehicle for the purpose of recommending or proposing additional work, in addition to complying with the requirements shown in subsection (1) of this section, the estimate must:

(a)List the total estimated cost of performing the disassembly and evaluation and a separate estimate of the cost for reassembly, assuming for the purpose of the estimate that the owner or owner’s designee elects not to proceed with work the vehicle repair shop may recommend or propose after evaluating the condition of the motor vehicle; and

(b)State the estimated amount of time, calculated from the date on which the owner or owner’s designee authorizes the disassembly, evaluation and reassembly of the motor vehicle, that the vehicle repair shop would reasonably take to reassemble the motor vehicle if all necessary parts are available and if the owner or owner’s designee, on the day that the owner or owner’s designee receives the estimate, elects not to proceed with work the vehicle repair shop recommends or proposes after evaluating the condition of the motor vehicle. [2009 c.133 §2]

 

ORS 646A.486¹
Prohibited actions if estimate exceeds $200

(1)Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a vehicle repair shop may not take any of the following actions if an estimate prepared under ORS 646A.482 (Estimate required before beginning work) shows that taking the action will cost the owner or the owner’s designee more than $200:

(a)Evaluate the condition of a motor vehicle.

(b)Disassemble all or a portion of a motor vehicle or remove parts or components of a motor vehicle in order to evaluate the condition of the motor vehicle.

(c)Perform labor or replace or recondition a part in order to:

(A)Repair a motor vehicle; or

(B)Maintain the motor vehicle in or restore the motor vehicle to an operable condition or a condition that conforms with an identified or recognized standard.

(d)Use a work method or procedure, perform a task or labor or replace a part in a manner that differs from the method, procedure, task, labor or part described or identified in the estimate, if the change increases the cost specified in the estimate by more than 10 percent or by more than $200, whichever amount is less.

(2)A vehicle repair shop shall obtain a separate authorization from the owner or the owner’s designee before taking an action described in subsection (1) of this section. After consulting with the owner or owner’s designee, the vehicle repair shop shall:

(a)Cross out, remove from or otherwise indicate on the estimate prepared under ORS 646A.482 (Estimate required before beginning work) the work the vehicle repair shop will not perform on the motor vehicle and recalculate and display on the estimate the cost of work the vehicle repair shop will perform before obtaining authorization or assent from the owner or owner’s designee; or

(b)Prepare a new estimate in accordance with ORS 646A.482 (Estimate required before beginning work) and void the previous estimate before obtaining authorization or assent from the owner or owner’s designee.

(3)The vehicle repair shop may obtain authorization or assent by any of the following means:

(a)Obtaining the signature of the owner or owner’s designee under a statement printed on the estimate that authorizes the action.

(b)Obtaining the oral assent of the owner or owner’s designee by telephone. The vehicle repair shop shall provide the owner or owner’s designee with all material information shown on the estimate and shall note on the estimate the name and telephone number of the person that gives the assent and the date and time of the call.

(c)Receiving by facsimile, electronic mail or other electronic means a written message that authorizes the work. A facsimile message must display the signature of the person that gives the authorization and the date and time of transmission. An electronic mail or other electronic message must show the name of the person that gives the authorization and the date and time of transmission. The vehicle repair shop shall attach the facsimile or a printout of the electronic mail or other electronic message to a copy of the estimate. [2009 c.133 §3]

 

This reminds me very vividly how much I hate law. Especially when it isn't logical.
I'll read the FSM and explain for ya but you're gonna have to tell me what all that sh...tuff means.

 

I found the two above Oregon state laws under trade regulation section.

https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/chapter/646A

 

(1)A vehicle repair shop shall prepare an estimate of the cost of work the vehicle repair shop proposes to perform on a motor vehicle before beginning the work.

assuming for the purpose of the estimate that the owner or owner’s designee elects not to proceed with work the vehicle repair shop may recommend or propose after evaluating the condition of the motor vehicle; and


Pretty clear right here. They should have contacted and given you the estimate before doing anything above $200. As soon as the cost reached that limit anything they might have additionally snapped would require you to be contacted to see what you would want to do.

A ton of dealerships don't quite understand the frame replacement program and they probably thought theyd be making bank by either having Toyota cover the cost or getting you to pay it.

Stay strong, don't falter

 

No way would I agree to pay that. Continue with your appeals process and don't back down, that's what they are hoping you will do .Have that exhaust removed and have an aftermarket installed somewhere else

 

I copy and pasted the second law I quoted wrong. I accidentally reposted the same text twice. I fixed it now.

 

If you pay this, you are insane and they win

 

Looks pretty clear to me!!! Keep all cases open and stand firm not to pay it!! They should have contacted you!!

 

I was thinking about the service managers response to the DOJ...

"I hope you understand that in doing a job like this, frame replacement, there is no possible way that any type of accurate estimate of additional repairs can be made ahead of time. Very much like repairing mold or dry rot in a home. Once the job is started the unknowns that you run into have to be repaired correctly to finish that job in the proper way."​

This answer is just as much bullshit as the fact he never provided me with an estimate before work began and never sought my authorization on work that exceeded $200.
If a contractor was hired to fix dry rot in your wall of your house, they would first inspect then provide an estimate before beginning the work. If after the work began they realized the rot had spread to much larger area, they would stop work and provide an updated estimate. At that point the homeowner could decide how to proceed, get a different estimate, or pay the contractor for the work done already and decide not to continue.

I should have been informed when they realized they would "need" to scrap the whole exhaust system. I could have gotten a second opinion to say how the job could have been done differently saving the existing exhause, or providing non oem parts, or telling them I would take care of it myself.

 

Are you planning on paying, or letting them keep it til this is settled? Do you have to return ur rental by a certain day??

 

5 dollar bolt/washer and 20 dollar bracket...
No fucking way that is dealer cost

 

Response from DOJ
Attached is a copy of a reply from the business named above.

If you feel there are discrepancies in the reply or you feel the business has not addressed the issues stated in your complaint, please advise this office in writing.

We will hold the file open for ten days from the date of this letter for your response. If we hear nothing from you within this time, we will close the file.

----

My Response to DOJ
The issue the business has not satisfactorily addressed is that they didnt give me an estimate or seek my authorization before different stages of work, and the excuses for not doing so are not valid. Under ORS 646.482 and ORS 646A.486 they are required to provide me with an estimate before beginning work (or stages of work) and obtain my authorization for any work/parts that exceed $200.

The service manager claims that there was no way to know what parts were needed until the truck was disassembled. However, he was required to give me an estimate if he could forsee it going over budget from the scope of the warranty/recall package.

Section 1(b) of ORS 646A.486, explain that without authorization on work that exceeds $200, mechanics may not...
"Disassemble all or a portion of a motor vehicle or remove parts or components of a motor vehicle in order to evaluate the condition of the motor vehicle."

However, even after the truck was disassembled and they decided which parts they intended to replace, I was still not provided with an estimate or parts list... even as they continued to order and install parts that I was to be obligated to pay for. Whenever I called for an update I received the similar answer of "we're waiting on parts." But I was not told what parts those were, or that they werent included in the warranty/recall package.

For example, replacing the exhaust system is an obvious enough and big enough expense to necessitate providing an estimate before doing the doing work. I should have been given the reasoning and proof it needed to be replaced, before hand and given the option of how I wanted to address it. Since that did not happen at any stage until after all work was done I should not be required to pay for the excess charges

 

Im not sure what to do about refusing to pay it now or paying it then filing in small claims court. Im definitely pissed off how they handled this whole thing, and feel like because of that I shouldnt have to pay it. They flopped this whole thing in multiple ways.

It was only 2 days ago I got the long ass email from the service manager saying "sorry bla bla pay me $3700... when are you picking up your truck?" Im still in the rental car for now. Not sure my next move.

 

Ask them to remove the 2 expensive line items from the total bill. They didn’t tell you about these 2 things which make up more than half of the cost. Any reasonable person would not want to pay that cost if they saw the numbers. If I was told ahead of time about that cost, I would ask for alternatives, and about having an aftermarket system made, because you could get a pretty nice one for that price.

 

I would be looking for a lawyer. It looks like the law is on your side, but the dealership may need a legal nastygram to be convinced of that fact. You might spend a couple hundred on a lawyer, but I think there's a good chance if you get a lawyer involved the dealership will just take the loss and give you the truck. You could also try threatening to get legal representation, say you know the law and you guys broke it, and see how they react.

They did a lot of expensive work without your consent or authorization. That's clearly against the law you posted. When I had my frame replaced they made me come in and initial next to all of the parts I wanted that weren't going to be covered by Toyota. It seems like that authorization process got lost when they subcontracted the work.

 

So I just added up all of these parts using conicelli toyota's website and I got $3782.49 without the battery, so they are most likely giving you the parts at cost.
When I was going through I noticed that most of the parts were cheaper than conicelli, only a few were higher.

A note on the battery: was yours fine when you dropped the truck off? Did they discuss a new battery with you? I wouldn't pay for that battery, it's not a great battery anyway.

The 2 $1000+ items are the catalytic converters. Unless these were completely falling apart, these should not have been replaced just because of how expensive they are. The other ~$500 item is the muffler assembly, those usually do fail and should probably be replaced. I would be arguing about those catalytic converters. I have dealt with a dealer in Florida and one in Pennsylvania about costs before, so I know how frustrating it is. They will most likely come back with a counter offer to split the cost, so make sure you ask for more than what you want. I would probably total the cost of the ENTIRE exhaust system and ask for that to be waived. They will then "hopefully" offer to reduce or split it with you.

This may or may not help, but you can potentially use these as examples of "what I would have used if I was doing the work":

Here is a magnaflow (non CARB) 17403-0C011

$353 MagnaFlow Catalytic Converter 23757: HM Grade, Direct-Fit, For 1999-2004 Toyota Tacoma (EPA Compliant)

https://smile.amazon.com/MagnaFlow-23757-Catalytic-Converter-compliant/dp/B001DRJLCW/ref=au_as_r?_encoding=UTF8&Make=Toyota%7C76&Model=Tacoma%7C1037&Year=2001%7C2001&ie=UTF8&n=15684181&s=automotive&vehicleId=3&vehicleType=automotive

The other one is built into the downpipe, this one may or may not be a replacement

$670 MagnaFlow Catalytic Converter 51869: OEM Grade, Direct-Fit, For 2000-2004 Toyota Tacoma (EPA Compliant)

https://www.amazon.com/MagnaFlow-51869-Catalytic-Converter-compliant/dp/B0086C3SPS
maybe someone else can confirm?

EDIT: Actually now that I'm thinking about it, I thought that brake parts and body mounts were included in the frame swap? Or is that just a case by case basis?

 

If (only if) both catalytic converters had to be replaced (I have heard of cat converter needed to be replaced because of rust - usually they fail form broken guts, not the outside shell or pipes) you should have be given an option for aftermarket parts. My OEM catalytic converter was stolen and insurance (Liberty Mutual - FU very much ) refused to pay for OEM (over 900 dollars at that time) - they paid only 150 dollars for aftermarket CARB converter (my truck only needed one).

Here is a story I had with my 1992 Mercury Sable Station Wagon that started to eat tires about what I was notified by tire shop - they told me to do alignment. I went to Ford in Folsom (convenient location) and was told it will take 120 dollars. About hour later I got call from them hat it is impossible to do alignment because wheel bearing is shot and needs to be replaced. They asked for my authorization which I gave. One hour later I got another call that they can't press out the bearing because it is frozen to the spindle (overheated at some point) so I will need new spindle as well. Do I authorize the additional cost? I did. Next hour, next call - the other part of bearing is still on the shaft and while grinding it out might be possible, most likely the shaft is out of spec now so I need new shaft. More money. Again asking for authorization. So by the end of the day I got a call that the car is ready, alignment done - 1100 dollars total. While I was upset, I was not upset at Ford dealer - they did the best to communicate with me all the time, save whatever they could and every time giving me options and at every call I was given the estimate amount to authorize. This is how it should have been done.

That Toyota dealer dropped the ball giving open ticket to outsourced body shop and they took advantage of it. That exhaust system should have never been replaced with OEM without your full authorization of the cost.