Should we have stayed or should we have gone ?

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Originally Posted By: Drew99GT

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.


Absolutely true.....

today after nearly 30+ years of driving and dealing with service shops..you ALWAYS should EXPECT dishonest and incompentent performance from them...if you find an honest shop with competent techs that are reasonably priced and are CONSISTANT in their work...you my friend have found the proverbial "needle in the haystack"...

If you have some years of experience behind you TRUST your gut and go with it....more than likely you are correct.

However since the OP has choosen to deal with this ummmm, business...you need to keep your cool, yet be firm and direct in your relationship with them....don't accuse, or pester...yet........

When you go to pick up the car DO NOT LEAVE THE LOT UNTIL YOU HAVE THROUGHLY inspected the vehicle from head to toe...also do a short test drive ON THE PREMISES...if you find ANYTHING you don't like DO NOT TAKE THE CAR OFF THE LOT....explain what the problem is and then tell them that you will be leaving it with them until the issues are corrected...then I would start looking into contacting the dealership OWNER and Toyota USA.
 
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The car being outside with the hood closed does not mean it hasn't been worked on. The tech could have done the tear down and pushed the car outside while working on other non warranty jobs that actually pay while waiting for parts for your car. They most likely didn't have your gasket in stock and had to order it. Also unless its required to change spark plugs on a head gasket job, you won't get new ones. For warranty jobs the absolute minimum parts necessary are billed out.

Getting the parts called back by the manufacturer for inspection is the manufacturers right since they are paying for the repair. Since they are paying for the repair it allows them to inspect for failure to make an updated part and to make sure the job was actually done. Toyota most likely has a limited time allowed for the dealer to send the part in for inspection just like Ford does.
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
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.

If you met me in person, I think you'll find that naive is not the word you would use to describe me.
wink.gif


With that said, I personally believe there is a difference between being cautious and assertive, and paranoid. To me, the OP has gone beyond the point of being assertive-- he has reached the point of being both rude and paranoid.

When it comes to professional services, I tend to shop around wisely and pick my battles wisely. I use dealers that I feel are worthy of giving my business to, which usually eliminates these issues to begin with. So far, my strategy has worked. But you're right-- I'm sure I will get hosed someday, and maybe my attitude will change. But I'll probably just blame it on myself for not being more diligent in choosing a good business to work with.
wink.gif
 
Another tip, do NOT pick the vehicle at the end of the day. Always go there first thing in the morning and check your vehicle thoroughly before paying off. Carry extra set of key with and inspect everything in the parking lot.
 
Originally Posted By: 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 .


I suggest buying a GPS tracker and secretly mounting it on your Yaris(jump the fence if you have to). Maybe fit a miniature camera as well; that way you'll be able to keep tabs on your car from your keyboard.
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
The car being outside with the hood closed does not mean it hasn't been worked on. The tech could have done the tear down and pushed the car outside while working on other non warranty jobs that actually pay while waiting for parts for your car. They most likely didn't have your gasket in stock and had to order it. Also unless its required to change spark plugs on a head gasket job, you won't get new ones. For warranty jobs the absolute minimum parts necessary are billed out.

Getting the parts called back by the manufacturer for inspection is the manufacturers right since they are paying for the repair. Since they are paying for the repair it allows them to inspect for failure to make an updated part and to make sure the job was actually done. Toyota most likely has a limited time allowed for the dealer to send the part in for inspection just like Ford does.
called parts depatment before taking it in and they had the gasket and parts for the fix . Quite aware it may be sitting outdoors with head removed and exposed to whatever . Hopefully it's covered . We have been pleasant to them and have the right to know how far along the the job is .
 
Originally Posted By: Vizzy
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT

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.


Absolutely true.....

today after nearly 30+ years of driving and dealing with service shops..you ALWAYS should EXPECT dishonest and incompentent performance from them...if you find an honest shop with competent techs that are reasonably priced and are CONSISTANT in their work...you my friend have found the proverbial "needle in the haystack"...

If you have some years of experience behind you TRUST your gut and go with it....more than likely you are correct.

However since the OP has choosen to deal with this ummmm, business...you need to keep your cool, yet be firm and direct in your relationship with them....don't accuse, or pester...yet........

When you go to pick up the car DO NOT LEAVE THE LOT UNTIL YOU HAVE THROUGHLY inspected the vehicle from head to toe...also do a short test drive ON THE PREMISES...if you find ANYTHING you don't like DO NOT TAKE THE CAR OFF THE LOT....explain what the problem is and then tell them that you will be leaving it with them until the issues are corrected...then I would start looking into contacting the dealership OWNER and Toyota USA.

I absolutely agree with your words of wisdom!
In my opinion (not that it's worth much) the service advisor set the tone with his "sarcastic remark." There is never any excuse to be rude or sarcastic to a customer. I have dealt with the public for many years - decades even and I know that some people can be real jerks (not saying the o/p is or was a jerk).
But you never know who else is listening - such as other customers.

I understand the dealership is not getting paid full price for this job, but they ARE still getting paid. Personally I would have drove off and went to another dealership no matter who far away it was. Went it starts off this bad it most likely will NOT get any better!
To the o/p good luck. If it was me and I really wanted to know, I go into the dealership and politely ask to be taken to my car because I needed to get 'something' out of it. While there take a quick look under the hood to see what's been done!
 
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Originally Posted By: Vikas
Another tip, do NOT pick the vehicle at the end of the day. Always go there first thing in the morning and check your vehicle thoroughly before paying off. Carry extra set of key with and inspect everything in the parking lot.
don't forget over 70 miles away and can't get the time off . It'll have to be in the evening .
 
I suggest buying a GPS tracker and secretly mounting it on your Yaris(jump the fence if you have to). Maybe fit a miniature camera as well; that way you'll be able to keep tabs on your car from your keyboard.

Not that paranoid
grin2.gif
.
 
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If you met me in person, I think you'll find that naive is not the word you would use to describe me .

I can think of a few other words
wink.gif
.
 
I have an Isuzu rodeo I've taken in for servicing of getting a new steering box, timing belt, waterpump, radiator, and 2 hoses under the intake needed replaced.

I did have my concerns, as I've owned this truck since new, and I am very picky about who it goes too; however, I've learned to be patient and not hassle them as you'll find, most times, they're more then willing to work with you if you give them the time, as they generally have hundreds of cars come in for servicing.

All in all, to do the above work, which averages 5hrs labor time for the waterpump/timing belt and all the pulleys; not to mention serious time involved on the steering box, alignment, etc it took them 3-4 days, don't remember for sure.

I only talked to them twice; once when I dropped it off, twice when they called and mentioned the steering box was shot.

This was a shop I'd only visited once before, with my company truck, this was now my PERSONAL truck, yes I was very nervous....but I've had to learn from mechanics passed, give them their space.

The service advisor however needed to shape up.

I would've never taken my car there anyways though, from the sounds of their attitudes.

And...why on earth would an '08 car need a new headgasket?
 
When you go there to pick up your vehicle, you will hand your credit card and then you will receive the key. You walk to your vehicle which will be full of grease marks. You start the vehicle and it makes all kind of noises as it is running.

You run back to the cashier and she will tell you that all of the service department has left for the day. You will rip her new one but that is really not going to help you at all.

News at Eleven :-)

- Vikas
 
I had that happen, I had a big wad of grease on my driver side door. I was a bit [censored] but its only grease. If it was a dent or bird dookie then it would be another story.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
You really need to chill out. Seriously.

If I was a service manager, I certainly would not trust most things from the internet that are not supported by another internal dealer source. There's just too much misinformation on the internet.

I don't see anything wrong with what the service manager did. To be honest, judging from your previous posts on this subject, it sounds like you have been quite a pest (in a needless way) and not being entirely cooperative with the situation. And for the spark plugs, it only makes sense to replace them if they have been contaminated. If they are not, there's no reason for Toyota to pay to replace them.

So go leave the dealer alone until your car is fixed, and stop being paranoid.



Whoa ??
 
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