Toyota charging me $$$ for frame replacement.

I wrote a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission for whatever thats worth and saved a copy of it I can forward to news outlets and use bits of to post online reviews of the dealership. Also going to write to the Customer Relations Manager and CC the Service manager to start a documented thread.

This is the FTC complaint:

I began communicating with Toyota Customer Experience Center back in August of 2017 about a recalled spare tire carrier on my 2003 Toyota Tacoma, and whether my rusted frame would be covered under their extended warranty. I had the frame inspected at Mcminnville Toyota in November of 2017, and the service manager notified me sometime early the next spring that Toyota corporate was going to cover the repairs. In July 2018 Mcminnville Toyota took posession of my truck and put me in a rental car with the expectation it would take a few weeks to a month to order all the parts and get the work done, but that they would get back ahold of me with a parts list soon. I dont remember signing any specific work order and never saw a parts list. After several months of the truck sitting on their lot it was transferred to Precision Body and Paint in Beaverton where it sat for several more months while they deliberated on terms of service and how much was being covered by Toyota corporate. That shop eventually didnt take the job and sent it over to their sister site- Precision Body and Paint in Gresham- where it sat for several more months "waiting on parts." I was very seldom communicated with through this whole process and never shown anything in writing even when I asked. I would call Mcminnville Toyota regularly (weekly, then every other week, then once a month) and the service manager was almost always unavailable, and almost never returned my calls. Supposedly, Precision Gresham got the work done and sent the truck back to Mcminville Toyota 2 months ago and I still havent seen any finished paperwork about the job. Precision won't show me a work order or tell me the extent of work that was done, only mentioning that they replaced the entire exhaust system which was not part of warranty package. I never approved for the exhaust system to be replaced. I've been in a small rental car for over a year while my truck was getting fixed under warranty/recall and now the last thing I heard a few weeks ago was that the job went over budget in parts by around $5000 which arent covered by the warranty/recall package and that I will need to pay that to get my truck back. I was never given any itemized list of these parts that were or werent covered, or a given a clear estimate to agree to, or any specific rationale as to why specific extra parts were needed- such as a new exhaust system. I never signed any work orders, and I was under the impression the extent of the work needed was covered under both a recall and warranty package and that anything above and beyond that I would have a say in. Now my truck is supposedly done, I supposedly owe around $5000, I still cant get any straight answers from Mcminnville Toyota or Precision, and I still dont have my truck back. I feel like they are holding my truck hostage on charges I never signed for, on a job that took over a year to negotiate, and another year to complete.

 

In addition to the above... your statute of limitations is running. At some point you might not even have any legal action.

 

I absolutely would not pay anything Get the news station involved, make it as public as possible But i would never pay them anything

 

Hmmm... when would the date for statue of limitations even be? This whole thing has been so muddy I dont even know at what point of this slow boil would be relevant. But it seems it would be linked to the date i signed a contract or wrote a check which I havent done either.

 

It's probably atleast 3 years

 

Some technical writing advice: Start with a summary statement first so that the reader immediately knows what it is about: "After holding my truck for over a year in warranty repairs, Mcminnville Toyota is attempting to bill me $xxxx.xx dollars for parts installed unknowingly and unauthorized by me." Follow that up with your detailed timeline.

 

They want you to pay for the extra parts . So the question here is , who is responsible for those parts being junk ? You cant say a frame rusted out the exhaust . I'd like to see a list .
This whole thing is crazy 12K frame , 5K extra parts plus labor and the 12K rental . Who ever was in charge of this job is not to swift .

 

This. The vehicle rental is not an issue, covered. The labor on frame swap and repair, covered. The GD parts that shop had dealer order to finish the job easier/quicker/cleaner, etc that dealer prolly thought Toyota Corp was gonna pay for without question. These parts and corresponding bill of the parts are what they claim to want compensation for.
I like the idea of every communication being recorded or videoed. It is perfectly legal to record your conversations.
Might wanna drop by and say Toyota Corp told you to request the work order with parts list and warranty info..... Something like that. You gotta get the paperwork to see if you signed or not. If you didn't sign, fight it all the way. Even if you did sign, get legal advice man. Sign up for one of those month to month fee like 20 bucks, no contract so cancel after, unlimited attorney/legal over the phone consultation. There are a few of them. Just want to know your options and truly what's best for you in this situation

 

That all depends on what state the op lives in.

 

True. Eleven states require the consent of all parties involved to be able to record conversation. The other 39 allow recording with one party consent(usually the party doing the recording).

Eleven (11) states require the consent of everybody involved in a conversation or phone call before the conversation can be recorded. Those
states are: California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington.
These laws are sometimes referred to as “two-party” consent laws but, technically, require that all parties to a conversation must give consent
before the conversation can be recorded.

 

Good point Cruiserguy., thanks for clarifying that.
I just dont want to see anyone getting into a legal jam over an old truck.

Rio,
Have you come up with a game plan yet?.
People on here have given you some solid advice.
To add to the confusion, the dealer may soon start charging you storage fees if you dont pick up the truck.
One thing I recently learned while dealing with a Ford over a Lemon Law buy back of my 2019 Ford F250 is that the manufacturer has little control over the dealership, which is privately owned. I hate to be the bad guy, but Toyota may tell you that they supplied the frame, Install kit, and the labor. Toyota may tell you the $5k bill is up to you & the dealer to resolve.
As others have pointed out, it may be time to get a local news stations consumer reporter on your team.
In my case, Ford rented me a 2019 F250 /crew cab/ powerstroke diesel /XLT 4x4. I had the truck 126 days and Ford paid the $9,200 bill.
It's strange that Toyota has let your case drag on for 2 years while they pay for the rental.

 

I think this is key. There was rust on the muffler for sure, but the truck wasn't undrivable because of it... it just obviously made the mechanics job easier/quicker/cleaner to put all new parts back on the truck instead of reconnecting the old parts. Im sure the truck is better off with a shiny new exhaust system but I never asked for that and was never told they were doing it.

 

Exactly right. You're seeing the picture. I worked in a dealer service dept like 20 years ago. What we're saying now is the most likely scenario, but could be something else going in. Just not likely though.
Tough spot you're in man. Sucks. You didn't ask for this and it wouldn't have happened with a service dept that was well versed in these frame swaps. But that isn't your fault, in the legal sense of the word. Bottom line.

 

I have been quiet since I saw this but I feel the need to say something now.

OP, DO NOT take the vehicle from the lot without paying. You will be tried for grand theft auto and quite possibly larceny.

you need all the paperwork first, if it is true that you never signed ANY wo (find that hard to believe as Toyota and others won’t even look at warranty WITHOUT this... part of what must be submitted at time of inquiry to Toyota)
Then you have a case, AFTER you pay for it.

the service department can and probably will file a lien sale soon... like right after Toyota pays up.

the regs are in a book and online. B.A.R. Is what you are looking for. If I am not mistaken it is a FED agency now... might not be, either way, it can hang the dealer or you equally.

you are gonna need to get your paperwork in person, the phone calls will be ducked till the end of time now.

good luck, and be smart.

 

I got a call from the Mcminnville service manager today. Toyota corporate and probably his Customer Relations Manager left a message with him yesterday about my complaint.

I didnt answer his call because I wanted to call back with a call recording app. But he left a message saying that they were still waiting on an alternator that they were replacing in my truck but that he was gonna cover it along with a new battery (when I dropped it off a year a half ago I had zero mechanical issues with the truck- the battery was nearly new and alternator was fine) He said the alternator was supposed to be there on the 1st and he would try to have the truck ready by early next week. Its been slated to be done "next week" for 6 months straight since it was still at the other shop.

He also said that the amount isnt going to be $5000, its looking more like $3500. I had a feeling before that there was no way it could be that much and maybe he was throwing that number out as a scare tactic so when he threw out a lower number at the end I would be like "wow awesome, at least its not $5000". And he can say "I did all I could to get the cost as low as possible."

Anyways I wrote him an email and said thanks for calling with info and asked if he could send me over an itemized list of the $3500 in parts and also paperwork Ive signed. I also told him he was hard to catch in the office and I wasnt going to be available by phone during the day so email communication would be better from here on out.

 

It sucks man. But know that you've got a bunch of taco guys across the nation rooting for you and pulling for you, not cause you're first gen, but because it would be the right thing for them to do keep us in the loop man and don't hesitate to ask, as you've done. All the different perspectives are great to hear

 

Yes I agree with this. I usually seek much more diplomatic solution (for better or worse even when diplomacy seems to be failing).

 

Make sure to point out any discrepancy in that itemized list.
I’d maybe even record the whole conversation and ask why they replaced the extra parts.

you’re not gonna walk out of there paying $0. But a new alt and battery shouldn’t be put in if your old one was fine. Ask for the test results on your alt when your brought it in as well as from now.

if they can’t provide both they don’t have documentation that it needed to be replaced and it’s off to small claims

 

I’m just a fly on the wall spectator so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I’ve dealt with shady dealers before, and the only authorities they answer to are money, public pressure, and lawyers. If you ask me, I would get as much documentation as possible, emails, parts list, dealer agreements, etc, and then find yourself a lemon law/dealership fraud attorney.

Don’t let cost or location get in the way; as long as they’re located anywhere in the state they can represent you since most of the process is handled via paperwork/mail, and in a situation like this if your case is fairly good, they’ll probably work on a contingency basis. That means you won’t have to pay anything up front, and will include attorney fees in your settlement against the dealer along with repair fees given the time and effort you’ve wasted dealing with this. Honestly, for such a small amount, it’s doubtful it would even go before a judge and would probably wind up being settled between parties. Would take a few more months of back and forth, but it’s better than the alternative.

Ultimately it’s going to depend upon what you signed and agreed to, state laws, consumer protections, etc. but you’re gonna have to let an attorney decide that. Just do your research and shop around, and be as thorough as possible with your record keeping. Unless it’s an obvious slam dunk, most attorneys are going to be skeptical at first, so make sure you have all your i’s dotted and t’s crossed beforehand.

Anyway, this is my humble 2 bits, but I wish you luck whatever you do. Shady dealerships are awful, and there’s nothing worse than getting taken advantage of and feeling helpless to do anything, but just stay strong, try what I said, and if worse comes to worse at least nothing but a little more time was lost for the effort.

 

Great to hear your insight and experience man. Thanks for typing all that up and sharing it