Tampa Bay Area Tacomas BS Thread

I took my 2014 DBL cab to Clearwater Toyota to get a leaking rear differential fixed under warranty and was told its not covered because of the 3" lift. They even wanted to charge me $70 to lube and adjust the rear brakes, the truck only has 20K miles. On top of the $70 they were going to charge me $20 extra because of the lift. I took it to Sun Toyota and the warranty work done with no problem. They will no longer be getting my business.

 

I think they have their own problems. I like toyota of Tampa bay, but others have posted horror stories from there.

 

FWIW:

I live in Hudson and have dealt with Sun Toyota, Clearwater Toyota, Toyota of Tampa Bay and Wesley Chapel.

Sun Toyota
Went there on a Saturday had some punk in a not so fast and plenty furious ricer up my ass into the parking lot, turned out to be the delivery guy for their lunch. 7 salesmen all standing around waiting for the delivery guy. Myself, my wife and my son got out of the car and as I approached the group I was flagged and yelled at to go in the direction they were pointing to look at the Tacoma's and someone would be with me after lunch.... 1/2 way to the Tacoma section an older salesmen pulled up in a golf cart, picked us up and quickly buzzed past the Tacoma's to the sales showroom. He went in, grabbed a brochure and ushered me back to my car. DONE---

Clearwater Toyota
I bought my 14 here, sales service was good and they made a mistake with the numbers they were fudging on the paperwork concerning my "Down payment". That little gem cost them $1500 so I was tickled. I informed them several times I would NOT be having service done there as it would be a 45 minute trip for me one way and I would have service done by my work in Lutz. I get spam called the 1st month of owning the Tacoma. I asked politely 3 times not to call me anymore and informed them very nicely I would not be having service done there and why. They did not take no for an answer so after a handful of calls I popped and threatened to get a lawyer involved if they kept harassing me.

Toyota of Tampa Bay
Took the 14 here for service at 5k. The brake pedal was pulsing like a rotor was warped, I mentioned it and indeed the passenger side was warped. The service manager decided to turn the brand new rotor with 5k on it, even though I asked for it to be changed. I informed him we would be doing it again at 10k, so when I came in at 10k with the brake pedal pulsing even worse we went round and round. 1st they grilled me about driving habits, etc trying to blame the brake issue on me. After a few hours I get the call that they are changing the rotor out and my truck will be ready by days end. I go pick it up and head home, about 1/2 way home I hear a metallic sound coming from the passenger front. Sounded like an older car with the dust shield and something was hitting it. I pull over and find 3 lugs had been snapped off and 2 of the 3 remaining lugs loose. Now I'm pissed but remain composed and call the service manager. I tighten the lugs down and head to work in the AM, 1/2 way to work it starts making the same noise and feels like the tires coming off the truck. I baby it the rest of the way to work and park it. I call them and they send a flat bed over to pick it up. This is around 10am, around 3pm I call because I have not heard anything. The service manager informs me that the tech that worked on my truck doing the rotor got a new torque gun and it was set to high and that's what snapped the lugs. I ask why he sent me out the door with only 3 lugs....silence. I then ask what they are going to do about the rim which is met with confusion. I explain that over torquing the steel rim to a point of snapping a lug off may have damaged the rim. I also ask about the rotor and ask what they intended to do with that to which he informs me they replaced the studs that were broken off on the rotor and put it back on my truck. I explain that in unacceptable and we go round and round about that. I went and picked up the truck at 6pm when I got off work and did a full inspection myself on the lift. That's what brought me to this forum and when I met Scott at Wesley Chapel because I still had the pulsing brake pedal and the truck was wobbling and pulling real bad when braking now.

I later found out at Wesley Chapel when we were going over all the paperwork with the service tech there and the service department that the SOB's at Toyota of Tampa Bay wrote up the 2nd time it was in for front rotors being an issue as a rear brake problem. Fuckers didn't want to chance a lemon....

Wesley Chapel Toyota
Scott was great, the service tech was great even the subsequent visits were good with one exception but its the nature of a dealership so not really a complaint. They fixed the brake issue with new rotors and the tech found one of the calipers was sticking. Soon after fixing the brakes I traded the 14 in for a 15 with a V6 and again Scott was great and the service techs were as well. I had been dealing with one service advisor up to this point and when I went in for my 25k service she wasn't there. I ended up with some joker who tried to tell me I had to drop $500 on service at 25k for service that wasn't even due. At that point I had enough and decided it was time to go back to servicing my own vehicles again. I just needed a break and a nudge to get the bug again, I really got burnt out on it as I have been working on vehicles since I was 15.

For the record I would go back to Wesley Chapel Toyota when I need a vehicle. I will however not have service done there other then the complimentary oil changes, etc.
Scott is awesome, hell he texts me all the time just to say whats up and see how I'm doing or to wish me and my family happy holidays. He's a class act and I don't have any issue sending business his way or giving him my business.

I'm not a particularly difficult person to deal with, however when I drop 30k on anything I expect a little effort on the other end...

 

Happy Birthday @Scoobarooo!

 

Thank you sir!

 

Got all my lift components in a couple weeks ago. Wondering if anyone would be down to help with the install one of these weekends. Let me know, thanks!

 

I'm down

 

The only catch is I'm gonna need someone to host this mod day. Space and resources are very limited where I'm at

 

@SpruceTaco or @Taco No Baka

 

I said I'd do it but unfortunately I can't this weekend. I'd be more than happy another weekend but I know how it is when I have parts to put on, I want it done ASAP. Haha

 

Bad weekend this weekend with citrus. You coming Mike?

 

No gonna have to miss this one. Got house repairs & other stuff to do this weekend.

 

Would be up for citrus the following weekend on sunday? I'll be out there but don't have a group together yet.

 

Haha, Spruce hasn't been to a Citrus meet since he got gigged for being in a verbotten area back at the '15 Annual Meet.

 

Checking in from the Sarasota/Bradenton area with my first Tacoma.

 

Welcome to the party.

 

Is there anyone in the tampa area that has an MGM grill surround that would like to even trade for a chrome one?