Toyota service frustrations.

So the other day i got back from being out of town for a week and got in my truck to run some errands. My brake pedal went straight to the floor. I was able to pump pressure back into it butl the brakes still felt spongy and holding the pedal down it still slowly lowered to the floor instead of remaining firm.

Obvious safety issue right? My trucks only got 23k miles on it so i took it in to have the situation rectified. While it was there i also requested that they address the creaking and inconsistent clutch pedal and fix it under TSB (for the 5th attempt to get them to do it now) as well as trying to get them to reflash my ecu from 04A70 to 04A71 to correct the stuttering and hesitation from 1-2 and 3-4 at 40mph.

Simple right? No. I had to come back in to go for a ride along with the shop foreman who didnt realy seem like he knew how to drive a stick very well, because they naturally couldnt replicate my issures (groan) He confirmed all my issues so im expecting it all to get taken care of right?

I had to rent a car from toyota because the parts had to be orderd overnight. Fine whatever, whats $39 for a rental car for a day. 2 days go by and not a word from them. I finally called them on day three to see wtf is going on with my truck. "Oh your truck is ready to pick up, we finished replacing the clutch pedal assembly and MC" ok but what about the brakes and ecu flash? "....let me check with your service advisor". Dude comes back 15min later "your service advisor is off today, what issues were you having?" I had to repeat that i hadnt heard from anyone in 3 days and want to know if they've completed the work on my truck. Again he said oh your trucks ready, come pick it up. Ok but what about the brakes and hesitation... oh let me check on that he disappears for another 15min. He then tells me they couldnt replicate the brake problem or the hesitation and i about lost it. I told him i made a special trip down there to ride along with the shop foreman who CONFIRMED the issues himself. Do i have to get this shit in writing for them?!. Oh well let me check and we'll call you back later this afternoon. No call.

Im sitting at day 4 right now with no truck and a mounting rental car bill. Im getting pissed. What should I do at this point? These guys are fucking ass clowns. Am i unreasonable to expect them to cover my rental car at this point? Im getting real close to writing Toyota a long letter about the jeckel and hyde pos truck ive had problems with since buying brand new and their even shittier dealership? How would you guys handle this?

 

Dealerships tend to be filled with a giant group of morons and terrible people. I'd open a case with Toyota Corporate and bring it to another dealer filled with different morons and terrible people.

 

Ughh another moron filled dealership is 45min away. What can i expect to come from a letter to corporate?

 

Don't write a letter to them, call them and tell them the situation.

 

It helps if you are prepared.

Bring anything you can to support your claim of mechanical problems.

Bring a notebook and refer to it when explaining the problem.

Ask the full name of the service advisor and let them see you writing it in the notebook.

This tends to wake up sleepy people that you mean business, and it is useful if you need to contact corporate.

Going in guns loaded and ready for a rumble tends to lead to shitty service imo.

And NEVER refer to "something I read on the internet", specifically Tacomaworld. First rule of Tacomaworld membership is...

Just my $.02

 

Factory warranty? Why aren't they picking up the tab for the rental if they don't carry Toyota parts?

 

Ha! Who writes letters anymore unless you’re a little old lady? Here is a link to your warranty and maintenance guide:

https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/omms-s/T-MMS-18Tacoma/pdf/T-MMS-18Tacoma.pdf

Pay close attention to pages 5 and 9

 

I dunno. Seemed kindof odd to me as well.

 

Truck is under warranty so yes Toyota should cover the rental.
OK here I go:
As for the repair work, did you read the service order they wrote up and it should have included all issues you brought it in to have fixed. Then they must check off each item and its resolution and your repair order will be your record. Without a written order they can play stupid (or stupider than normal). If you are having a dealer problem then tell them you want a zone rep to contact you immediately (they are the regional Toyota next step up - same for all auto companies). If it is not fixed and a safety issue and they refuse to or don't know how to fix see the dealer manager/owner and refuse to accept the truck and address the rental as under warranty work they screwed up. Remind them that you will post the dealers responses to all this online and of course file a report with the NHTSA as new safety recall item and a letter to Toyota also. Remember not to get pissed off and offensive as its all a game to Toyota so play it cool and do not threaten only state what actions you will pursue - been there done this with a previous vehicle. The other company even told me try the lemon law we will tie it up for years. Remember do nothing verbally, write all up and insist no matter what they tell you, or see the manager/owner - write all names down that you deal with each and every time so carry a notepad and document everything - that also proves you will report all issues and names.
You are just another rube (a naïve or inexperienced person) to the dealer so game on! A final option is to take it to another dealer but they all talk to each other so.....

Just saw the warranty reference above - good one. As for calling Toyota go for it but do not expect much and they are really slow and their response will probably be BS as I have experienced. They want more documentation then anyone every has.

 

This is very good advice.

 

You should check out the documentary with Micheal Douglas where he teaches you how to get the cheeseburger you want.

 

Just remember, once you start down that road, you have to take it all the way to the end...

 

They should at least compensate you for the rental vehicle.

 

Great post!

 

The warranty is a performance contract between the owner of the vehicle and Toyota. The dealership is not a party to that contract...they are only the authorized agent to perform the work on Toyota’s behalf and they are under no obligation to perform such work because you have no claim. Be best to file a claim because claims are always heard before concerns or complaints and I’m sure your paperwork from the dealership will reflect the latter.

 

Shit man, that really sucks. Honestly my experience with my stealer was similar, i hate dealing with those fuckers. They just do not give a shit unless you really push them.

Its taking them almost a year to fix the upholstery on my seat. Sometimes they wouldnt return my calls for days and sometimes it would take them a month to reply to an email. They lied to me about them calling me back when i know 100% i never recieved their calls.

I had other minor issue with my truck and i had terrible experience. You have to fight with them to get your shit fixed, when its absolutely not your fault. I feel your pain man.

I noticed what worked for me was, as soon as i started copying GM and General Sales Manager in my emails, the Service manager gets shit done.

Unfortunately, Im still dealing with them because they need to finish fixing my seat. As soon as its done, i will never set a foot in this dealer. I will try different one if anything goes wrong in future, but i have a feeling most stealers are like that.

Good luck to you man.


Edit:
Forgot to mention calling the Toyota customer service helps a lot, do it as soon as you have problems with yout stealer.

 

Well said.

 

Yes

I think this is going to be my next step If I dont have an answer from them today that's satisfactory.

 

If they [dealer] wants to stay a part of the Toyota selling concern, they will follow the purchase and the warranty documents as intended. I know mime stated that if the vehicle had to be left overnight, a loaner vehicle would be procured for me until said time my vehicle was ready.

What it likely really is is that the dealer didn't have any loaners [cheap or has more work then employees] and didn't want to give OP a new vehicle to drive until his was repaired.

Hell, I have an extended warranty on my Honda and a free loaner will be provided along with towing well into the 6 figures on the odometer if a covered repair occurs. [commuter car]

 

I have received both decent and lackluster service from my dealer. A couple things to keep in mind, to see things from the service advisors perspective, and how to deal with this:

1. They deal with a lot of customers/vehicles every day, and most of those customers are probably not fun to deal with given the situation surrounding why they are talking to the customer to begin with. As such, tone of voice and some social skills will go a long way here. Given the volume of people they deal with, don't expect call backs even if they say they will. Don't let this get under your skin, just understand it is the way it is. If you want things to move forward relatively quickly, wait a reasonable amount of time, and then call them back. Obviously, don't do multiple calls in a day, you have to give them some time for things to happen on their end.
2. It is hard to keep track of all the vehicles that come in and go out. As such, there is a hierarchy to service: 1. Those who are waiting in the lobby for routine service, 2. those who have a loaner vehicle, 3. those that used the shuttle service and have a shuttle pickup reserved for the end of the day, 4. those that have a rental the customer is paying for or something else worked out. As you can see, you are lowest on the totem pole in this situation. The best way to get warranty work done, that will take more than a day to do, is to schedule your visit when a loaner will be available. If it work can be completed in a day, and they offer the shuttle for both drop off and pick up, that works pretty smooth, and I wouldn't hold out for a loaner if that is an option. They should have not made you pay for a rental, but they probably didn't have loaner available, and the shuttle wasn't an option given your situation. That's a tough spot to be in. You probably can get corporate to pay for the rental, you just have to submit a claim.
3. They deal with a lot of people who have relatively minor issues (many of which are actually just normal quirks of the vehicle), but want the dealership to drop everything to deal with them, such that the dealership will lose money. Corporate is pretty stingy when it comes to compensating dealers for warranty work, so many times it's not in their interest to do it, especially if they are worried corporate might pull the rug out from underneath them and deny a claim. I try to schedule warranty work during my 5 month checkups, it is more efficient for the dealership to accommodate me that way. It seems like they are more easy to deal with in that situation. Otherwise, working through corporate first, while at least put the dealerships concerns about claims being paid put to rest, which also helps.