Am I getting played....

I was getting impatient becasue the dealer NEVER communicated with me, I had to call to determine if we were picking up the truck and swapping the loaner. If you have a young family, school, work, daily life - you need to kind of plan your day and afternoons. We live in NH, the dealer is not 5 mintus down the road or on any of our commutes. If the dealer kept me updated or told me, hey this may take a few days or week, we will notify you, this would have been fine. Every time I contacted them, they told us it will be done the next day, this happened 4 or 5 times. Now, I have a sour taste, because out of all of the cars I have owner and I have only bought new (except my first car at 16yo) has a vehicle ever been at the dealer for this amount of time. Two recalls and then this in two years does not exactly equal a good taste.

 

Sounds like the new dealer was thorough this time, took care of what they viewed as all possible causes and checked with the regional folks to get the work covered and/or make sure they weren't missing anything. All of that takes longer than doing what the first dealer did, which was do unrelated work and claim it to be the cause of your actual problem even though they're entirely unrelated systems.

I'd be far more frustrated by the prior time you spent without your truck not getting the problem fixed than the recent longer period that wasn't a bunch of bullshit.

 

Advice regarding the former would be to just plan on not getting it back on any given day if you don't hear otherwise. When they call to say it's ready you don't have to rush right over, you can wait until tomorrow or the next day if you need to. I've never had a dealer get upset that I didn't pick up my car fast enough.

Understand the frustration about the time. Based on what was done it sounds like they may have been at the mercy of parts availability in terms of completing the work... Wiring harnesses and fuse boxes aren't parts that most dealers keep on hand. Good chance they were being promised the parts and not getting them, which would explain both the repeated deadline misses from the dealer and the regional parts manager being involved.

If it's any consolation, my folks just had their Ford at the dealer for almost two months while they replaced a piston with a hole in it rather than just swapping in a new short block (under warranty).

 

What he said^

 

And recalls happen and electrical issues can be very hard to work out. The more tech that is on vehicles, the more chances of something going out and the harder it is to diagnose. Don't let these few things get to you. Tacomas are great trucks and most likely will last a very long time.

 

I get your frustration, and being a service advisor (BMW) I can tell you that no communication is my number one gripe with service departments. I update my customers usually twice a day if not more, even if there is nothing to report. Once in the morning if I haven't had a chance to talk to them at write up, once in the early afternoon with a status, or if it hasn't been in the shop yet, and lastly once in the later afternoon if I am going to hold the car, or when it will be ready for pick up. I't my daily routine and feels normal to me. So when I bring my truck in for service and I don't get a call, I kind of chuckle, but am annoyed at the same time.

On the part about having the vehicle being in service for 11 days, I can honestly tell you to never buy a BMW. Most cases are not like this, but some issues we have are extremely difficult to diagnose, especially when it is not consistent. We have one dedicated "assistant foreman" who is not flat-rate, but is our "problem car" tech. Sometimes he is backed up with a few cars and we have to be patient until he can figure it out. I rarely have an issue because I keep my customers updated and be honest with them. If they get pissed (some do as you can imagine the clientele) I offer them to pick the car up and bring to another shop (in a polite manner, but also me saying if you don't like it, come get it still broken). All of our techs have their strong points and who are great at diagnostics, and others are so-so. It also is not terribly uncommon for these cars to come back with the "same issue" - they're difficult.

Sorry for the rant, I just can relate to some of these dealership posts as I live it every day. For those curious, I've been with the company for going on 11 years now. I enjoy it most of the time, pays well, but the hours suck, the cars kinda suck, and mentally drains you out every day.

 

There's a massive power differential that's not mentioned -- they take your truck back if you stop paying, but somehow you're supposed to be understanding when they really try hard to solve your problems (while you make your payments). I love how everyone tells him to be patient, when ultimately he's the one financing his own patience. Every day that he doesn't have a truck is a day he's paying for something he's not getting. Sure is nice that they're trying to fix his problem, but it *should* be painful for them.

 

This is my biggest gripe was, communication. It kind of stinks going back a few times, but I told the serive manager I jsut want the truck fixed, all I am asking. I did not ask for extending warranty or any freebie stuff, just want the truck fixed. I know it sometimes takes a few days to get parts, take time to properly and have correct tech install them, back log etc.. If said dealer just said, hey heads up this may take a week or so OR just gave me a call to keep me informed I would have been a lot happier.

 

That's the name of the game. You saying Toyota should fix his truck and pay him? That's why he got a free rental car.

 

I understand being reasonable (if you scroll back, I think i was one of those people making reasonable statements). But I still can't help but laugh at the fanboys who feel compelled to run to Toyota's defense like knights in shining armor. Toyota is a massive, multi-billion dollar multinational corporation and it doesn't actually need anyone's help, no matter who is right. They got themselves covered, take my word for it. It's the little guy, wrong or right, who actually should be supported. I don't take it personally when someone has a crummy experience with Toyota, and I don't think it means they're trashing my truck.

And yes, I've had a shitty day. I should probably stop posting for a few hours!

 

Patience is a good attribute. I can just imagine the future all electric cars and problems...I guess they will just put the body on a new motor/chassis and be done...great under warrantee....but out of warrantee?????????

 

Shit happens, my wife's Lincoln spent 76 days at the dealer from Sept to Dec last year....Electrical issues.

 

Lol "fanboy?" I'm not a Toyota fan boy. I will never step foot into the dealership that sold us our Tacoma due to their attitude after we purchased the truck. I understand that some, most in my opinion, dealerships just flat out suck. However, the OP asked for opinions, for if he is "getting played." I read what he had to say and gave my opinion. If that makes me a "fanboy" then I guess I am a "fanboy."

I sometimes forget that we are now living in a society where people cannot understand that others opinions may differ from there's. They ask for an opinion, an opinion is given, then they get pissy when it isn't what they wanted to hear and others come rushing in to choose sides and give judgment and result to name calling and criticism. SMH

 

Mom used to say. If you don't like my apples, don't shake my tree.
Just keep the customer in the honest loop, most service writers try to blow smoke up a customer's ass with things that don't even make a bit of logical sense. I get it that not everybody is a car guy/gal, but they should do their due diligence to try to give a honest answer.