Got Some Bad News.

And, as you've said and as we can all see, there's no excessive wear and tear on any other parts. The dealership CAN'T say that you wore it out and made it break b/c it's the ONLY broken part. In order for that excuse to work there would have to be evidence that you actually abused the truck.

Make them put your truck back together w/ a new part for $0.

 

All of you Toyota and dealership bashers amaze me. So you're saying no matter what a customer does to his vehicle that it should be covered by warranty? Obviously I'm looking at the situation as someone who was on the inside for over 10 years, but still you have to be somewhat reasonable in your expectations.

I'm not saying that this particular case is or is not due to customer abuse, but he has admitted doing burnouts. The clutch hub may in fact be a weak link in these manual trans trucks, but the sequence of events is obvious to me....burnout makes a tiny stress crack where the hub attaches to the disc. Repeated burnouts make more cracks and they continue to enlarge each time the clutch is engaged. Eventually it completely breaks loose from the disc and spins around the shaft.

If this is a somewhat common problem then I completely agree that Toyota should at least offer a parts warranty since the truck is already torn down. That being said though, you all still have to realize that the customer has a responsibility to treat his vehicle well and in the way it was designed to be used if he expects the dealer and manufacturer to back him up.

 

The real problem is that auto companies write and "sell" their warranties as if virtually everything is covered and then when you have a legitimate problem, they pull out the fine print. They do this to sell vehicles, pure and simple.

 

It's the consumer's responsibility to educate themselves and read that fine print. Seems that we have some members here that think it's Toyota's fault every single time something breaks without consideration about how they might have contributed to or caused the problem. Toyota builds a great product, respected around the world and for the most part backed up by quality dealers. If you feel your dealer isn't being fair then you have every right to go elsewhere or demand that they take care of the situation. Obviously things break, nobody makes a perfect product, but more often than not things break for a reason.

Basic rule of life though whether you're dealing with cars or people, treat them well if you expect them to treat you well in return.

 

"It's the consumer's responsibility to educate themselves and read that fine print." - Technically and Legally correct, but from a practical standpoint, bullshit. Dealers have monopolistic geographical sales areas, to say you should go elsewhere is disengenuous.

 

Guess that depends on where you live, some smaller communities or rural areas may well only have one option for a dealer. There are certainly some less than scrupulous dealers out there but I still believe that most are decent places that will help out their customers. In this day and age every customer counts, you can't keep a place in business if you treat people poorly and have a bad reputation for after the sale service.

I stand by my previous comments about taking personal responsibility for your vehicle as well, like we used to say in the dealership world, "you can't warranty stupid."

And UntamedSS, please don't take my comments personally, I'm referring to the bigger picture, not your particular case. This thread just got me on a rant and I've read and seen enough other instances that I felt the need to speak up.

 

Untamed should have let the dealer take it apart....I agree.....then argue.

 

If I had the money, I totally would have. But I'm a student with only military reserves weekend money. I just couldn't afford it.

 

It's all cool man. I have the need to rant sometimes too.

 

So, anyways, New Update guys. My dad wanted to just go ahead and fix it now. He made me go pay for the clutch, so I did. When I was ordering the part, I asked the (rather attractive) parts specialist lady if they gave discounts to small business owners or trucking company owners. She said no. Then I said, well do you give a military discount? Guess that one. Then I asked if they gave student discounts? You're right, no. Then I said, "Well Toyota is just a bunch of greedy people huh?" We laughed a bit, then she said, "OK, your total is $170.xx" The laughter stopped.

I spoke to the service manager a bit, and he told me if there is ever a recall, then he'll try to get me reimbursed. I'm not sure if he meant it, but it sounded cool. And I also found out he lives less then half a mile from me, just one street over.

Anyways, I'm going to fix everything tommorow. And I'll be even more careful driving the truck like an old man. (no offence gentlemen) Hopefully I'll just let this all pass and not let it bother me. I'm sure some guys will disagree though.

Thanks a bunch guys.

 

OK it seems to me you just let your dealer rip you a new one! I would have not settle unless they fixed the truck under your warranty.

 

So, does it drive now?

 

At least you'll have your truck back on the road soon. Would have been nice for them to pay for it but could have been much worse than $170. You sound like a young guy with his head on straight, never took offense while we were interrogating you. Best of luck getting it all back together tomorrow.

 

Yeah, maybe a little. But I couldn't wait that long to have my truck moving. I'm way to busy to have my truck out of commision. I'm sure over time I could have gotten it done, but I just didn't have the time to fool with it. I know, that sucks a little.

 

Should drive perfectly around noon thirty Thursday afternoon. Even sooner if I decide to skip school and work on the truck.

 

Well that's an obvious no brainer

 

LoL. Yeah, but math is giving me more trouble than the dealer!

 

Thank you for acknowledging you have no objectivity. Just because you dealt with a couple of folks who tried to get over on your employer doesn't mean that everyone does. Hey, it's part of doing business, like it or not.

Isn't that counter, or at least contradictory, to your previous statements? Of course I agree with you, just saying.

 

I think you just like to disagree with me WTD. How is treating your vehicle and people well contradictory to any of my statements? Just wondering...

Untamed is manning up and taking some responsibility for his actions, whether those actions caused his clutch failure or not. I respect that. I was interested to learn of other clutch disc failures and perhaps with enough pressure Toyota might have at least paid for the replacement parts, but in the big picture it was a fairly cheap repair for him.

As far as people trying to get things over on dealerships, I think it obviously works both ways. Just read back through the inflammatory comments about dealerships on this thread, every other post was "f**k them." Makes me wonder if all you guys have really be mistreated that badly by dealerships or if this type of reaction is symbolic of a generation that thinks the world owes them everything, personal responsibility be damned.

That should stimulate some conversation.

 

For the issues I have with my 3 day old ( brake pulsation and cargo capability misrepresentation as well as warranty misrepresentation ) Well maybe not misrepresentation, but jerking me around a bit...