Dealership mistake

I'm pretty good friends with my recruiter so when I was home last week I went to say hi. He looked at my truck and complimented me on it then showed me his FJ that he bought about a year ago for his wife to haul the two little ones. Since it was about time for his oil change and tire rotation he asked if I wanted to tag along so I agreed. We pulled into John Harvey Toyota and they did their thing and let us know it was ready. As we pull out of the garage I said something about the ride feeling a little different. He brushed it off until we were stopped at a red light and a lady got out of her car to let us know our rear passenger side tire was wobbling pretty bad, almost like it was going to fall off. So I get out and see they somehow FORGOT to put the lug nuts back on! We'd been driving a mile down the road with a tire about to fall off. We pulled over and I put one nut from each tire onto the wheel while he calls the dealership. We pulled up and I saw the ass reaming of a life time. They offered him a bunch of free crap but he said f that and took his FJ to the Volkswagen dealership that day and traded in for a VW Passat.

Needless to say he was furious. Especially since that is usually his wife's dd. I'm not sure if he's looking into a lawsuit or anything, but I know I will never go to that service department ever again. Honestly I felt bad because I don't know how I didn't notice the lack of nuts on the wheel when I got in. But I guess if I thought there's one thing the service department could get right it was putting the nuts back on the wheel.

 

Same thing happened to my friends F150 from the Ford dealership. Only difference was that his family was in the car, and the wheel did in fact come off. I would think lug nuts would be something big to check for, but I guess that's why I'm not a mechanic.

 

Wow! What did he do? And what did the dealership try to do/offer to make up for it?

 

Thats pretty shitty of the dealer... but why oh why on earth would you take it out on the poor FJ and trade it for a shitbox VW? this incident had nothing to do with the quality of the vehicle and just the idiot kid the dealer hired to rotate tires.

 

I was thinking the exact same thing.

 

They do forget things once in a while... I always make a point to check the lug nuts anytime the tires get touched by the dealer or tire shop.

 

I agree 100%. I guess he just doesn't trust Toyota anymore. I told him to just do it himself from now on but he's a bit hard headed.

 

Im sorry for your friends inconvinience but he should keep the fj... lol maybe for all his trouble get a new 4runner plantum lol. Im gunna look our for that now when I take it in, worse ive had is a missing dip-stick.

 

Thats why you do stuff like that yourself cause if you screw up you have nobody to blame but your own stupid self.

 

Sorry to hear about your friend's bad luck. That is exactly why I do not let a dealership work on my vehicles, if I can avoid it. But, it's true for anything you get serviced...always check the work if you can.

 

I always change me oil and do the basic stuff myself, but since I just bought my truck 3 months ago I have a free oil change and tire rotation coming up. I had planned on bringing it in but I'm not so sure now. I haven't heard anything bad about the dealership near me though so I might give it a shot. I'll just be sure to check if the tires are on the truck lol

 

My mom had a jeep cherokee she bought new in 1998 I believe. She took it to the dealership for an oil change... they forgot to put the drain plug back in.

 

I just went in for service this past Friday. Had that same scenario running thru my mind as I waited for my truck. I checked every single bolt....well except one....shit

 

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YIKES ... ... he traded a FJ for a Passat ... ... did he cutoff his own legs to spite the dealer ...

PS ... I check almost EVERYTHING (via a walk around) before and after a dealer visit (including body/wheel damage) (and note it on work order) ...
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Yelling at the dealer is appropriate but I thinks it's an irrational response to trade in an FJ for a VW.