Toyota charging me $$$ for frame replacement.

Ok, Monday update.
I talked to the DOJ today and the person handling my complaint explained that what they can do is assist in facilitating informal dispute resolution and maintain public record of consumer complaints, but that they can't give legal advice to either the business or customer. So they can't respond to whether Toyota violated specific laws, I'd need a lawyer for that. He did say that he talked to the service manager and asked a bunch of questions regarding the parts list, 2 years it took to finish the job, and whether anything was in writing. He said that conversation and any notes pertaining to correspondence are public record, which I can request and use as documentation should I pursue legal action. So I filled out a public record request today for all documents and notes pertaining to my complaint file.

I spoke with one more lawyer today that was recommended by the Oregon State Bar Lawyer referral service, and he said he was going to have the other lawyer who works in his office call me back. In the meantime, I am researching breach of contract and trying to find anything online about cases or legal advice similar to mine. But been having a hard time with that.

I made a recorded phone call to the mechanic shop who did the work on my truck and specifically asked how decisions were made regarding disassembly such as how to deal with the exhaust system components, and who authorized the parts that were ordered. He told me that he sent a list of parts he wanted to the dealership service manager, and they simply ordered the parts and sent them over. That would have been a very opportune moment (having bypassed informing me they were trashing my exhaust system) to seek my authorization for how to proceed. The mechanic basically said his chain of command was with Mcminnville Toyota, and it was then Mcminnville Toyotas responsibility to seek further authorization from me... It was not the mechanic's responsibility to seek my authorization directly. I basically agree with him there. The dealership subbed the job, its their responsibility to make sure it's done right. Ther dealership service manager has always been my point of contact, he should have ensured proper communication. I'm going to follow up with an email to the mechanic and just restate what we discussed in the phone call and ask a few more questions. I told him already I was going to file a lawsuit against the dealership, so I want to try to get him to throw Toyota under the bus as much as possible in order to make sure none of the blame gets put on him.

 

It's not really throwing the Service Manager (SM) under the bus if he states the facts. Proof is that he submitted the list and Mcminnville just ordered parts and sent them. It was up to the SM to question any and all parts if there something beyond what Toyota Corp would cover. The SM took on the responsibility of the project and it is his responsibility to see that it was completed effectively, efficiently, and within guidelines. Clearly SM dropped the ball and passed off the project to an outside vendor (mechanic) without oversight. His problem, not necessarily yours (although yes you have to fight to prove it wasn't your fault).

Good luck man

 

Don’t tell them you’re retaining an attorney. Let the dealer continue unaware while you document everything and get your affairs in order. If/when you do retain representation, the attorney will speak for you. Until that time however, just keep that information to yourself.

 

Any update?

 

This thread has been mindblowing to me.

I just had my frame replaced in feb of this year on my 04. The service manager called me if they needed to replace ANY part or how they wanted me to proceed every step of the way during the process of warranty replacement. The dealer even let me purchase aftermarket parts that I wanted to put on, I.e Poly cab mounts and things of that sort. It is pretty amazing because my dealer is pretty small compared to some other toyota dealerships out there.

Point of my post, they were in constant communication and offered multiple options on how I wanted to proceed and the costs associated with them.

They let me bring in parts I wanted to replace based on things told to me on the forums of stuff that would be beneficial to replace.

I ended up paying them something like 15 dollars all said and done for something that was non warranty. They replaced a lot of things and from the time of ordering the frame and to picking up the truck I think it was a total of 3 months, with constant updates from my dealer.

They also said my exhaust was rusty and ASKED if I wanted to replace it with OEM, go aftermarket after the frame swap, or leave as is and attempt to put on the best they could. Which I opted for that.

 

Plain and simple they are trying to fuck him over and thought they would have no issue doing it. Hopefully the op fights this to the end

 

@Empty_Lord can touch on it, its advantageous for dealers to do this work, I think they end up huge on labor to bill to toyota if im not mistaken.

 

Toyota corporate should still step up and handle this if you get hold of the right people. I would try getting hold of someone at Toyota Legal dept.

 

What's the latest here?

 

Was just about to ask the same thing tonight!

 

Updates ?

 

How does this story end?

 

Maybe toyota had him offed?

 

YIKES!

 

An attorney may have advised not to post about it online, at least not until it is resolved.

 

We will never know

 

This is one of the spicier stories I’ve read about on here. Perhaps the spiciest?

Can’t wait to find out how it ends. Hopefully that dealer gets what they deserve.

 

He is gonna get fucked, sucks.

 

Who else rides clapped out to avoid this?

 

I'm not quite hip to the slang you youths use.... What does clapped out mean?