Should we have stayed or should we have gone ?

[saberz]

My Toyota dealer was the same way when I had my 08 tC. They are very rude and seem like they really don't care how they talk to you. I told them that my center console lid wouldn't close right and since it would make a popping sound hitting bumps, I just ran a aux cable out of it with nothing connected. I gave them the car and they fix the issue. But when I get the car back, the Service manager said something like "Next time you leave a cable sticking out of the center console like that we won't warranty it because thats what caused the problem." I told him that I only did that because I was sick of it rattling/popping up and down on the road. So instead of plastic on plastic lid closing sounds it was practically muted.

Brought my car in for an oil change @2500 miles to dump the factory fill and he gave me grief about it. "It's not due until 5k, why are you bringing it in early" and "You are wasting one of your free oil changes on this service". My Chevy dealer on the other hand during my Impala days was excellent. They would go out of their way to make sure everything was checked, no hassles, no questions.

 

[bigmike]

Rude people need to be called on it. When someone acts impolite to you, make sure you politely and respectfully ask them to end their attitude. Do not go back to the subject at hand until they do so.

A simple "Sir, I would appreciate if you speak to me, as a customer, with a respectful attitude."

Surprisingly, this works most of the time. If it doesn't, then you have tried, gave the individual a second chance, and now have a good judgment of their character. Explain that to their supervisor so that the next customer doesn't have to.

Keep in mind, I'd rather deal with a rude person that gets the job done than someone polite that doesn't really care.

 

[odie]

How long does it take to replace a head gasket for a YARIS ( hours ) ? We hadn't heard from the service manager since dropping the car off last night , so I called after 5 P.M. and left a message asking how it was going . An hour later he called back and said it partially tore down and wouldn't be able to pick it up until TUESDAY evening because it's a complex job and want to get it right . They started it sometime today and will be working on it tomorrow , and TUESAY ( closed MONDAY ) . So that's nearly 3 days . The mechanic who looked at it and is working on it now said it was the gasket and had replaced a head gasket for a YARIS before . Starting to have our doubts . The parts were already there so that's not a reason for any delay . Wonder if we should pop in unexpectedly to see what's going on . I bet that would only pee the service manager and mechanic off more . We have bought 4 cars ( forgot 1 ) there over the past 6 years and have only used its service center 6 times at the most . 3 of them were / are for the head gasket . Will keep an update .

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

I would have been gone in heartbeat even if the next dealer was 100 miles away...Since you are going to get a loaner what difference does it make...I would gotten a rental if it came to that...Then I would have traded it in as soon it was fixed.

Hopefully things will work out you.

 

[nfs480]

Since it's warranty work they probably have the tech working on it between other jobs to minimize the loss.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: odie
How long does it take to replace a head gasket for a YARIS ( hours ) ? We hadn't heard from the service manager since dropping the car off last night , so I called after 5 P.M. and left a message asking how it was going . An hour later he called back and said it partially tore down and wouldn't be able to pick it up until TUESDAY evening because it's a complex job and want to get it right . They started it sometime today and will be working on it tomorrow , and TUESAY ( closed MONDAY ) . So that's nearly 3 days . The mechanic who looked at it and is working on it now said it was the gasket and had replaced a head gasket for a YARIS before . Starting to have our doubts . The parts were already there so that's not a reason for any delay . Wonder if we should pop in unexpectedly to see what's going on . I bet that would only pee the service manager and mechanic off more . We have bought 4 cars ( forgot 1 ) there over the past 6 years and have only used its service center 6 times at the most . 3 of them were / are for the head gasket . Will keep an update .

Be patient.

Being paranoid and annoying is not going to get you anywhere. Did they give you a promised time when you dropped off the car? If so, they did their job. Plus, they have you in a loaner so you really do not have any premise for a complaint.

 

[JustinH]

Originally Posted By: nfs480
Since it's warranty work they probably have the tech working on it between other jobs to minimize the loss.


That doesn't make sense to me. The dealer gets paid from Toyota for the warranty work just like any other job. They aren't doing the labor for free or anything.

 

[odie]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: odie
How long does it take to replace a head gasket for a YARIS ( hours ) ? We hadn't heard from the service manager since dropping the car off last night , so I called after 5 P.M. and left a message asking how it was going . An hour later he called back and said it partially tore down and wouldn't be able to pick it up until TUESDAY evening because it's a complex job and want to get it right . They started it sometime today and will be working on it tomorrow , and TUESAY ( closed MONDAY ) . So that's nearly 3 days . The mechanic who looked at it and is working on it now said it was the gasket and had replaced a head gasket for a YARIS before . Starting to have our doubts . The parts were already there so that's not a reason for any delay . Wonder if we should pop in unexpectedly to see what's going on . I bet that would only pee the service manager and mechanic off more . We have bought 4 cars ( forgot 1 ) there over the past 6 years and have only used its service center 6 times at the most . 3 of them were / are for the head gasket . Will keep an update .

Be patient.

Being paranoid and annoying is not going to get you anywhere. Did they give you a promised time when you dropped off the car? If so, they did their job. Plus, they have you in a loaner so you really do not have any premise for a complaint.
uh huh

 

[nfs480]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
Originally Posted By: nfs480
Since it's warranty work they probably have the tech working on it between other jobs to minimize the loss.


That doesn't make sense to me. The dealer gets paid from Toyota for the warranty work just like any other job. They aren't doing the labor for free or anything.


Since warranty work pays a reduced flat rate fee to the tech the tech may try to work it around other jobs to maximize his daily booked hours. For instance the job may have originally payed 7.0 hours of labor but now under warranty only pays 5.5, so the tech will work on it when he's either waiting for work and not getting paid anyway or if there aren't a lot of easy jobs with high flat rates for him to grab.

 

[Virtuoso]

It's a headgasket job. Let the tech do his thing.. there is a lot of tear down in these modern machines....

The advisor though, can go suck a garden hose. I don't blame you for being a little irritated with him.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: odie
How long does it take to replace a head gasket for a YARIS ( hours ) ? We hadn't heard from the service manager since dropping the car off last night , so I called after 5 P.M. and left a message asking how it was going . An hour later he called back and said it partially tore down and wouldn't be able to pick it up until TUESDAY evening because it's a complex job and want to get it right .


Your patience is lacking and your contempt is starting to show. If the book says X hours it's not X hours for you between handing your keys off and getting the car back; there's some queueing going on. A dealer service department is not a pit crew working exclusively for you, waiting with bated breath for you to pull in so they can get busy.

If however you want to verify that it really is "partially torn down" you can sneak over to the lot in the middle of the night... to make sure your car isn't parked outside, so far untouched.

 

[Mr Nice]

Is this a known problem for all Yaris or just very few cars develop the head gasket leak ?

Can you post the web link to the website that shows the pictures of the oil leak.

 

[Vizzy]

This is clearly a rude and obnoxious attitude on the part of the employee.....

I would not have stayed there...I would have gone elsewhere..that being said I would write a snail mail certified return receipt requested to Totoya Motor USA (the president) and recount your experience,...this is NOT what Toyota wants considering all the other issues they have right now.....you might be surprised with the response you receive.

The bottom line is that Toyota can't do anything about incompetence, rude attitudes,or the like unless customers let them know at the very top.

 

[odie]

Spoke to the service manager Saturday evening and he said won't be ready until possibly late Tuesday night. He also stated that they are sending in the head gasket to Toyota for inspection. I most likely will be sending a letter to Toyota depending how things go when we get the car back.

 

[Tahoe4Life]

Odie what is the name of this dealership you are dealing with?

 

[odie]

Sorry , no name until we get this taken care of . We did go there earlier while they are closed and found the car parked outdoors within the fenced in lot ( No Trespassing ) . Got a picture of it from the back . Couldn't get 1 of the front . But you can tell the hood is closed . Spoke to service manager at about 7 P.M. SATURDAY and said they needed more time until late TUESDAY evening ( close at 8 P.M. ) to get it completed . We find it a bit odd . Hopefully they haven't put the car out with the head removed . Maybe never actually started the job , after saying they did sometime during FRIDAY . Maybe they did some damage to the front end that can't be seen and need to bring it into the body shop or ordered parts for replacement that may have been damaged . Thus need more time to repair their error(s) before we pick it up . There are many scenarios to be thought of . Wonder how we could catch them in a lie of the car being in the shop the whole weekend ? Call us paranoid or worse , but something is amiss .

 

[nfs480]

Most likely they haven't started on it. You're being far far far too paranoid.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: odie
70+ miles . Wonder what the charge would be for the rental . Could leave a message not to repair it . Thing is we've bought 3 new TOYOTAs there and doesn't mean squat .


Take your business elsewhere and tell them why. Tell them in person, and write a letter. I'd also write a letter to Toyota customer service.

I've come to the point where I don't let business [censored] around with me anymore. I don't do it with my customers; why should they?

Toyota has horrid customer service I've found. They still think their poo smells like roses but it doesn't. It smells like sludge.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: odie
How long does it take to replace a head gasket for a YARIS ( hours ) ? We hadn't heard from the service manager since dropping the car off last night , so I called after 5 P.M. and left a message asking how it was going . An hour later he called back and said it partially tore down and wouldn't be able to pick it up until TUESDAY evening because it's a complex job and want to get it right . They started it sometime today and will be working on it tomorrow , and TUESAY ( closed MONDAY ) . So that's nearly 3 days . The mechanic who looked at it and is working on it now said it was the gasket and had replaced a head gasket for a YARIS before . Starting to have our doubts . The parts were already there so that's not a reason for any delay . Wonder if we should pop in unexpectedly to see what's going on . I bet that would only pee the service manager and mechanic off more . We have bought 4 cars ( forgot 1 ) there over the past 6 years and have only used its service center 6 times at the most . 3 of them were / are for the head gasket . Will keep an update .

Be patient.

Being paranoid and annoying is not going to get you anywhere. Did they give you a promised time when you dropped off the car? If so, they did their job. Plus, they have you in a loaner so you really do not have any premise for a complaint.


Mike, I just have to say - your comments portray someone who is young and naive about the ways of the world. WHEN (not if) you get jacked around a few times by business, I'm sure your attitude will change.

 

[nfs480]

Treating them like [censored] doesn't exactly help the situation either, unless you have a "good" reason to suspect you're getting screwed then for now just relax and see how things unfold.

EDIT: I've also seen a lot of situations where idiots seem to think they've been ripped off when they actually haven't. For instance, on our invoices at the bottom it breaks it down into parts and labor. An oil change is $36.99 and we had a guy who thought he got ripped off because he believed that the labor charge on the bottom was in addition to the $36.99 rather than part of it. Apparently he doesn't do math.