Toyota Customer Service Complaints – Make Your Voice Heard
Tim Esterdahl | May 11, 2012 | Comments 50
An unfortunate part of being a buyer of any company’s product is that sometimes you have to complain to get an issue resolved. While we expect our Toyota’s to work perfectly, this isn’t always the case. Here’s our recommended process for registering your customer service complaints with Toyota:
- Calm down – if you get emotional, you’re more likely to be viewed as a “crazy person” rather than a person with a legitimate problem.
- Make a plan – Decide what you want the dealer or Toyota to do to solve your problem.
- Call the local dealership and ask to speak to the General Manager FIRST – do NOT call Toyota’s national hotline right away. Instead, gradually escalate from the local dealership to the regional office to the national hotline.
- Certified mail is legal correspondence, so use it if all else fails*
Here’s a breakdown of all the steps, with explanations as to why we recommend this process.
Always remember: the more you yell at someone, the less likely your problem will be resolved.
Step 1) Remove Your Emotions
This first step to getting anywhere with a complaint is to first remove all the emotion out of it. If your complaint consists of yelling, obscenities, or personal insults, you’re not helping yourself. Customer service representatives work with hundreds of people and are all too conditioned to this behavior for it to have any effect. What’s more, the more outrageous your behavior, the easier it is to discount your complaint. If you want to be taken seriously, you have to speak and act in a calm, professional manner.
So, before you talk to someone at the Toyota dealership be sure you’re calm. Take a deep breath, remember what your goal is (getting your problem solved), and then work towards that goal in a rational and collected manner.
Step 2) Make a Game Plan
Before making a complaint, sit back and ask yourself “What do I want?” If your desire is just to share your frustrations, calling Toyota customer service or speaking with someone at your local dealership is all you need to do.
If your desire is instead to get something fixed or replaced, you need to think about what that means in specific terms, and then make sure you can express it clearly. Something like “I am really frustrated with the way item A looks/feels/functions and I would really like item A replaced.” That tells the person what the issue is and how you would you like it resolved.
Step 3) Start Local, then Regional, and then National if All Else Fails
Start Local
While it is tempting to pick up the phone and call the national Toyota help line right away when you have a complaint, it’s in your best interests to start at your local dealer. The reason? Toyota expects your local dealer to fix your problem for you. When you call the national hotline, all Toyota does is take a message and then forward that message back to your dealer!
If you think about this process it makes sense – your local dealer is looking to make long-term customers. They know that if they help you directly, you’re more likely to return to the dealership for sales and service in the future. Therefore, Toyota’s national hotline wants your dealer to solve your problem, and they even go so far as to hold your local dealer accountable for complaints you register on the hotline.
Put another way, if your dealer doesn’t solve your problem, Toyota will penalize them.
Therefore, calling the Toyota national customer service number right out of the gate can be counter productive. When you call and report your problem to Toyota, Toyota starts their official process. At this point, the dealer knows that Toyota is going to potentially review their behavior, and often times they respond by going 100% “by the book.” This limits what your dealer can do for you.
Instead, call the local dealership FIRST. Ask to speak to the General Manager (GM), explain your problem clearly and calmly, and then ask for your desired solution. If you keep Toyota’s national customer service team out of the process, you and the local dealership GM can work something out quickly and easily.
Besides, if you can’t work it out with the GM yourself, you can always call the national hotline later.
Escalate to Regional
If your local dealer isn’t able to help you to your satisfaction, it’s time to go regional (see below for phone numbers). Bringing in the regional office adds some more pressure to the problem while saving that last resort of calling the national number. Many times the regional office may have resources that local dealers don’t.
Go National Last
Lastly, if neither the local or regional office is able to help then it is time to call the national Toyota customer service number. By this time, hopefully, you have gone through the local and regional options and have a good understanding of your issue and Toyota’s issue with fixing it. All of this information will prove to be especially helpful as you layout the situation to the national customer service representative. Just understand at this point you’re hoping for a bit of a miracle, because the national hotline typically isn’t very helpful.
Step 4) Send A Letter via Certified Mail
If you ever decide to hire an attorney to represent you in your complaint, it’s likely that the first thing your attorney will do is send a certified letter to your local dealership asking them to resolve your issue. Since certified letters are considered legal correspondence in a court of law, they will immediately get your dealer’s undivided attention. Your dealer WILL respond to your certified letter, and they WILL view it as a prelude to legal action. It’s surprising just how much impact a certified letter can have actually, which is probably why so many attorneys start their process with one.
Therefore, before you give up on your problem, fire up the word processor and send out a certified letter to the dealership, the regional office, and Toyota’s national correspondence address.
*NOTE: If you’re contemplating hiring an attorney, don’t send out a certified letter. Things you say in the letter can undermine your case in the future. Think of the certified letter as a parting shot – a last ditch effort before you give up.
NATIONAL TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE HOTLINE: 800-331-4331
TOYOTA REGIONAL OFFICE PHONE NUMBERS:
- Boston Office (ME, NH, VT, MA, RI) 508-339-5701
- New York (NY, NJ, CT) 973-575-7600
- Central Atlantic (PA, VA, WV, MD, DE) 410-760-1500
- Southeast Region (NC, SC, AL, GA, FL) 954-429-2000
- Cincinnati Region (MI, OH, KY, TN) 513-745-7500
- Chicago Region (MN, WI, IL, IN) 630-907-0150
- Kansas City Region (ND, SD, NE, KS, IA, M0) 816-891-1000
- Gulf States Region (OK, TX, MS, LA, AR) 713-580-3300
- Portland Region (AK, WA, OR, ID, MT) 503-493-4900
- Denver Region (WY, CO, UT, NM, AZ, NV) 303-799-6776
- San Francisco Region (Northern CA) 925-830-8300
- LA Region (Southern CA) 949-727-2700
OR SEND THEM A LETTER:
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
19001 South Western Ave.
Dept. WC11
Torrance, CA 90501
Filed Under: TundraHeadquarters.com
when i got the truck back in 07. one tire had a slow leak. it was on the side where they couldn’t fix it. waited a few week for a new tire to get in. then i email them told them if the tire not in soon guess i have to report it to the lemon law. that got things moving.
Your an idiot, they helped u because they wanted to, a slow leak in a tire has nothing to do with the lemon law. Your lucky they just wanted to help you cause if you ignorantly mentioned the lemon law over something like that with me, i would have told you to pound sand and call the tire company cause you must just be stupid and i would have let u waste your time and energy dealing with them
Try the toyota dealer and service dept. in Ridgecrest,CA I paid cash for my highlander I wanted a toe bar put on it they said & put it in writing the would put tow packe at thier expence when I took it in they didn’t know who I was so I gave them the “WE OWE YOU” paper they wanted to know what I was towing where I was towing whatever to why was I towing $1600. they wanted to charge me. the knob came off stereo driver window stablizer is broke he tells me the extra warreny I paid for won’t cover it a& the window will be $500. there’s nothing wrong with the window its a small part that keeps window at a certain angle when its being rolled down. The stereo $1,000. for a part for the knob? NO a whole new stereo they did replace my broken water pump warranty covered I could have had a rental if he had told me it was covered like I asked him to 5 days later I put out $125. all he did was change my oil and I had too ask him 4 times I took it in before for regular maintanence they didn’t do anything would rotate tires or change filters check anything they called for me to pick it up when I get there they said they just found my note that was in the truck driver seat so they change oil but charge me for everything on my list. I live in the middle of no where town is 30 miles one way so taking my highlander in for service is not that easy and I’m trying to keep it in near perfect condition but with that ” service” it will be worthless I have bought 4 trucks from them took one back bought one for someone else he picked the worst truck on the lot. When the dealer says My bank said to let her have any truck on the lot I would be helping her find the suv that was right and new paying cash this time I really expected something some gas to drive home with I have had a problem with this highlander since the nigt I bought it transmission disengages while I’m driving I’ve told them this 3 times they tell me “he test drove it and it didn’t do that to him” my truck hadn’t been moved now it getting bad now what the next nearest toyota place is 3 hours away I have know one that can go with me to drop it off I wouldn’t have a way to pick it up I’ve been treated like I’m just a dumb blond who knows nothing about cars/trucks I’ve worked on cars most my life harleys too it pisses me off to be lied to the owner always sides with his boys I live in the desert things need maintenance air filters I can do that but that is thier job I don’t want the highlander it’s not off road sturdy enough for where I go it’s very low to the ground. So what do you suggestBrad?
Lisa – Sorry but your comment is really hard to read. Can you boil it down to the main problems for me? Maybe bust out the spell checker too.
Brad, you’re the idiot here for your attitude. negative, negative.
the bottom line is that is got resolved!
when truck is new and i been waiting to long i get mad. then threat them with lemon law jack a&&
[...] regarding issues – (advice) Found this and thought some of this could be useful to others. Toyota Customer Service Complaints The phone numbers here are invaluable…as well as giving a pretty good idea of what states fall [...]
I always give the dealers at least 2 attempts to fix by repairing or replacing. Usually dealers try to fix vs. replace at least 2 times before they will replace anything. If after 2 attempts, I escalate to service mgr. of dealer and see what he says. If he brushes me off, then I go national next and then things finally get rolling usually. I’m not there to make friends, but to have a vehicle worthy of driving.
I had a problem with Cobb County Toyota in Kennesaw GA which they would not address at all. I purchased 4 new Michelin tires for my Tundra at this dealership and had them installed by them. When the tire pressure indicator lit up after tire installation, I took the Tundra back to dealership. I was told that the sensor in one of the brand new tires which they installed was faulty. They would not accept responsibility for the sensor despite them having replaced the tires themselves. After checking all 4 tires, they sent me on my way w/o a resolution to the problem. The next morning, my driver side front tire was completely flat. The Tundra had been parked in the garage all night, but the tire was flat. Toyota came to my home and put air in the tire. I took the Tundra back to Cobb County Toyota at their request, and they proceeded to tell me there was nothing wrong with the tire; however, they could not explain why it was flat. Again, they refused to even discuss replacing the sensor indicator. When I called 1-800-gotoyota, as instructed by the service advisor, I was told that all Toyota dealerships are independent and answer to nobody at Toyota. We customers are all at the mercy of the dealership we are working with. This is a pitiful situation for Toyota customers to be in.
Sounds fishy that the tire was flat without a hole in it – either they didnt’ seat the valve stem properly, or you’ve got a saboteur on your hands. Tires don’t just lose air on their own…any chance someone in the neighborhood was trying to send you a message?
As for the faulty sensor, it should be replaced if it happened immediately after the repair took place (i.e. within a day or two). If it happened weeks or months later, that’s a different story. Sensors can go out for no reason, and the dealership can’t accept responsibility if/when a part fails on it’s own.
The hood protector that came with my Tundra has damaged my hood. The damage is from the S-shaped metal fasteners rubbing through the protective plastic adhesives and paint, down to the primer. Today, I have an appointment with the regional service manager. Let’s see if this amounts to anything.
Follow up: I meet with the Toyota service reps and Toyota is going to foot the bill for refinishing my hood! Being courteous and following the above steps and advice has paid off. I have to say this is the best service I have ever received for a vehicle (GMC, Volvo, Subaru, and Chevrolet). I’d also like to point out the dealer deserves credit too. They followed up with all communication and handled everything professionally and were/are a pleasure to deal with.
LJC,
That’s Great!
-Tim
good for you, as u stated it pays to be corteous, im happy for you and your loyaty to not only the brand but also the individual franchise. Keep rollin man!
PS: The dealer is Charlies Toyota in Augusta Maine. My next vehicle will be another Toyota, likely a Venza, and I’ll purchase if from Charlies. Oh, they are 65 miles away–it’s worth the drive!
Overall, I too have received better service with Toyota over my former GM dealerships. Haven’t found decent service yet for my Hyundai anywhere close by unfortunately.
I do understand by not escalating with the service people. A time comes when an Area Representative accuses you for pulling down a headliner and he states it 3x. I don’t care what is suppose to be the proper way of handling a situation but after the third time of being accused the line was drawn. I really didn’t care who heard me or what beautiful words I stated to this area rep. When he refused to listen to what I had to say then accused me the 3rd time he wasn’t going to get anymore politeness from me. When he finally did what I asked him after he pushed up my headliner and open and closed the door 3x the headliner fell again. I don’t care how good GM had in a warranty. They just proved how much they don’t care/listen to a customer’s complaint. What the wrea rep did is just what the tech’s did, was pushed my headliner back up in position and never did replace the headliner. How much does a customer have to play this game? 11x so called replacing my headliner is a bit on the ludicrous side. This was done by 3 different dealerships. This shows a trend in how they so call try to fix things. What wasn’t mention to these dealerships is that I was a tech that worked in the trim dept at GM dealerships. Went through GM school in the later 70′s for this. Shoddy workmanship being done by 3 dealerships leave someone to wonder what else these dealerships do. As for the so called GM customer care why do they need to know how many GM vehicles I own? They couldn’t fix the one in front of them. What I can say I didn’t get this type of grief from the Toyota dealership. Even though I would have preferred a little assistance when my tranny failed at 96k miles this wasn’t the feeling the service people had with me. They can only do so much that Toyota allows. Needless to say I will never again buy GM even if I won one I would sell it right away. I can’t say I would rather walk than ride in another GM product because I was forced the last two weeks to drive an 2012 Impala since my 07 Tundra was in the body shop thanks to a very young girl following too close ram me by not paying attention. Cost over $3k. At least my scratches on the tailgate are all fix and looks new.
I too have had really bad experiences with customer service. I bought a new IQ and was sent a card which showed membership of club Toyota for three years. This is really breakdown insurance but as i wasnt expecting this i rang to check it was right. I was assured it was and so was relying on having breakdown cover. I also got 3 years servicing as part of the purchase price. At the end of the first year i got a letter asking me if i wanted to pay to continue in club Toyota. Well as you know i had another 2 years to go so took no notice. But not being able to locate the vouchers for servicing i rang to see if i could be sent some replacement vouchers. While i was on the phone i asked why i had been sent a letter asking me to continue with club toyota when i remained a member for another 2 years. I was told very bluntly I was not a member. I said i had a card clearly showing i was and that i had even checked this was correct when i recieved it. The customer service person implied i was trying to defraud the company, that i knew i was not entitled to it and that when they realised their mistake they had cancelled it. I said what would have happened if i had broken down and he said they would have refused to offer assistance as I did not deserve any.
He was incredibly rude but did say he would send replacements for the servicing vouchers but never did. I made a complaint but got a reply that said yes they had told me i was entitled to the vouchers in the first part ot the letter but then accused me of making that up in the second half of the letter!
Anyway i eventually found the servicing vouchers and had the first service. They said clearly on the front the service had to be done at one year or after 10,000 miles between services. As i had only done around 7000 miles at the end of the second year i didnt rush to get the next service done. At around 13 months after the last service i rang to arrange the service but was told the voucher was not valid. Apparently in very small print on the back of the voucher there was a rider that said it had to be at 1 year or 10,000 miles whichever was the sooner. Well as i had paid for the service as part of the price of the car i was not happy. The service station suggested i call customer services which i did. They said tough, if i had carefully read the small print i would have seen this rider and frankly they just didnt care. They added that if i did not pay to have a Toyota service (at £250 when i had already paid for the voucher), the warranty would not be valid.
Frankly the customer service is rude unhelpful and very unpleasant.
I will take great pleasure in never buying a Toyota ever again.
[...] Re: Tundra Brakes & Wheel Caps This might be worth reasing: Toyota Customer Service Complaints [...]
when i purchased a Toyota Yaris, it was a hot day, we have looked at the car but didn’t notice there are bad hail damage on both side until I looked at it again the next morning after brought it home and it like 3hr away from the dealer. there one thing that the sale rep. didn’t even mention anything about the hail damage. i called the sale manager the next day, they said they cant do anything about it.. what I suppose to do? I like the car a lot, just want them to fix it, I don’t like the fact that they were dishonest ( saying how good the the car is, there no problem at all… )
chi – That sounds majorly screwed up – the dealership should disclose the damage to you prior to completing your purchase. Since they didn’t, I would report them to your state’s dealer licensing board and/or consumer affairs office.
[...] Re: Has anyone received this response from Toyota? Sounds like you need to contact Toyota. I suggest that you read this: Toyota Customer Service Complaints [...]
my car problem with engine check and vsc system.they fixed it ok.total my bill $753.52 for labor.until toyota specialist and technical did that,they make damage my instrument and rip dash board and missing one screw in base coffee hold and one plastics screw was broken,i asked service manager to repair them,he said could not fix them.he only repair panel face,he said that i did before,i said i did nothing with that,i got mad with him,because his people pull instrument panel off,they did make right there damage,i have two people witness.before i brought to toyota deadler,ihad brought to tt auto repair looks that,the gay said he could not do it,only toyota could do it and one gay sale men saw it,he did adjustment the light for me in march when he sold this car to me.please help way to resolve it.all the time i was own camry,corola,avalon,4runner and now sienna,but this manager turn around with me,you now can not beleave it.i did pay too high labor,but they did my car like that,so what do you thing?how do you feeling,i do know when i feed back with performance toyota deadler,at lavista ne.i had email too bbb camplaints
I took my car to Toyota east coast service center in Carlstadt New Jersey for an oil change. Mileage on car 39450. Had changed all 4 tires 4 months ago and did wheel balancing and alignment at pep boys. here the issue, when I went to Toyota east coast service center in New Jersey they told me that my wheel balance was off and would do it for $89.99 which I agreed too since it was almost 4 months ago, my total bill should have been $39 +89.99 + tax, but in the bill they even added $119 for wheel alignment which they did tell me about? They rip you off. Stay away from this car salesman called John at this center. And the worst part is they do not even offer any warranty on the work not even for a single day. Had they disclosed this to me I could have go this work done at some other place for much less price.
The miles per gallon on the panel of the Prius is any where about 2 to 4 MPG higher that it is when figure
Manually. Do you want me to take this to small claims
court?
The MPG on the Panel of my 2010 Prius is approximate
2 to 4 MPG higher than it is when figured by the miles driven divided by the gallons put in it.
I checked with another driver that has a 2010 Prius and they say the same thing.
Has anyone received any assistance through the Toyota Customer Assistance Center?
I have a 2009 corolla and a problem with the service manager at Puente Hills Toyota. Long story short, the customer service is less than satisfactory. I paid $100 to have a 4 wheel alignment (even though my vehicle is front wheel drive) because it was “suggested” by the advisor. Then 2 days later, my vehicle pulls to the right so i take it back and the service manager has the nerve to ask me to return at a later time for a test drive because he is busy! look Kevin Cho, service manager, if you want to have customers return to your shop for regular maintenance, you better step your customer service game up! i strongly discourage customers from taking their vehicle to Puente Hills Toyota!! Oh and if you think you are going to get assistance from the Call center, think again! been 1 week and still waiting for a call back from Product Supervisor Nicole Redd or PH Toyota Customer Relations Manager Carol Rhoden!! Sorry to put your names out here like this, but if you want to keep customers (an i have purchased 5 toyotas within the last 5 years) you need to make sure we are your priority!
I also own a Mazda (i like Japan built vehicles) and their customer assistance is outstanding! Maybe ill just get another Mazda!!
I am a proud owner 1994 Toyota Camry who has a question for you.
The remote to make the front driver window go up can only be worked with massive pressure on the button.
It is horrible, moreso because that window is used so often at driveup sites for parking lot ticket/payment access, ATMs, food carryouts, and more. I had it replaced and it is at it again. When I asked about this second failure I was told that that is what happens with these cars. Why? Right now I am using a dinner fork to force the control back to make the window go up. That’is slow and painful because it takes a while and so much force has to be used.
There is no problem making that window go down.
I am very interested in what you have to say. Was that ever a recall item? Do you have any assistance for people with this problem? I am 65 years old, single, retired and any help to resolve this would be appreciated since I have to keep this car a while longer.
Bettye – I feel your pain, but once a car is 19 years old, the book is closed on assistance.
My advice? Before you buy another switch, find out what it takes to convert to an old-fashioned roll down window. It’s surprisingly inexpensive.
I am so disappointed in my 2004 Toyota Highlander. It has 109,000 miles on it so I know there is no warranty help.Just need to get it off my chest. At 105,000 mile I had the timing belt changed per recommendation of mfg.My husband requested the old parts back, and they looked brand new, a thousand dollars later. Next, the struts on the front needed to be replaced,$600. for that.A new noise in the front drivers side wheel.Mechanic thinks it a broken rubber mount of some sort.Quoted price to repair, appx. $200.Next,the windows on the passenger side (both the front and back) will not roll up (sometimes).We were driving on the freeway and the back window decided to go down by itself.We got off the freeway,and little by little, with using my hands to pull the window up we got it to close.Since it is winter and we’ve (recently) spend so much money on the Highlander,we will wait until after the new year to have it all fixed. Driving the Highlander sounds like a bucket of bolts. We bought the Highlander new.We have had it serviced,oil changed all along. People are amazed that the car is as old as it is because I take such good care of it.If they only knew.We bought Toyota because of it’s reputation. We are disappointed that it hits the 100,000 mark and literally is falling apart.
Thanks for letting me vent!
Linda,
That stinks. Hopefully, once you get through these issues, the new year will be much better.
-Tim
I feel so Horrible for my sister. She’s turning 52 this year and is in the process of adopting my nephews 2 very young children, one of which has many issues and is in and out of doctors offices and therapy groups. Her son was driving her toyota camry to do errands and the car caught on fire. The car was bought used and she had it for a few years. It only had 60,000 miles on it. The fire was caused by one engine rod being thrown, which leaked oil and caused a fire. The mechanics said that only one rod went, that there was plenty of lubrication, and no one can figure out why this happened. Toyota refuses to fix the car, and the insurance company will not fix the car. My sister goes back and forth to doctors and day cares and to get all sorts of special needs shopping done, medications, etc., etc. etc. The Service Station where she brought it said that it’s nothing that she did to cause this, but that it’s the Big Corporations turning there back on the ever so weak and fragile. AGAIN!!!!
Sandman,
That stinks.
-Tim
Yaris Hybrid
Big viper blades/brackets are not very practical in northern regions, if frosen to the windshield, they tend to break when owner tries to free them in order to clear frost and ice.
Otherwise, the Hybrid is outstanding.
best regards,
Oddur and Sigga
I bought my Camery in March of 2011; Car had a wheel allignment issue since the day one; it would pull towards one direction & at a certain speed the steering wheel would shake. My first visit back to the dealership was with the same complain & after that quite a few more. I am a working class person & cannot take time off frequently to go back over & over again. Everytime I went for the service, I notified of the issue to the dealership & they would accept the fact that there is a issue. They asked me to replace tires at about 18K – 20K miles & I paid & did it as well but the issue was not resolved. Eventually I contacted Toyota corporate & they would not do anything either, other than sending me back to the same dealer who has not been able to do any good for almost 2 years.
Sorry to say you that i have took a fortuner car its light is not working proper plz contact me on 8002002916 or9431346978
[...] dude. This link might help you deal with Toyota if you want to push it > Toyota Customer Service Complaints ? Make Your Voice Heard | Tundra Headquarters Blog Also, see what that new guy on the board "Know-It-All" says, sounds like he might be [...]
my compliant is against ” sunny motors pvt ltd. lucknow” reg no. my etios car is up 86 k 3656, job card no. gsj13-02000, i had submitted my car on 23-02-2013, but till today no one is even talking with us, and they are not responsing good and not telling us truth..i m very much annoyed by their behaviour and neither they r willing to say or talk about it…plz help me as soon as possible
I have a 2004 toyota tacoma, and have loved toyota products for 30 years.the problem I have a my mpg ,it is about 9 mpg.have gotten a tune up etc,etc.it is a 6 cylinder,also with brakes.. please advise proud toyota owner thank you paul rice
I purchased the best truck I could ever wish for, 2001 Toyota Tacoma; it’s an xtra cab with TRD with the SR5. Today at 113500 miles it still looks and runs showroom new. But it has the rust on the frame and bad too. Toyota refuses to help in any way. In 2012 the frame was perfect, now it is almost eaten through. I love this truck but it is unsafe to drive and I am very displeased with how they are handling the situation. At 113500 miles I opt to go with Toyota compared to Chevrolet because Toyota had a wonderful reputation on reliable vehicles and I was sold on that. When the recall was sent out, I was living in Virginia and battling cancer so I missed the recall. I believe Toyota should warrant their product or close down their plants if they won’t honor the issues at hand. I want a new frame or at least another truck with my engine and transmission, my baby is gorgeous. I am now on a fixed income with blood clots in my lungs due to the cancer I need my truck.
Toyota what will you do to help?
Shauna,
That stinks. Best of luck to you in getting your issue resolved.
-Tim
Dublin Toyota Dealer Fraud…. Dublin California
Hi,
I went to Toyota dealer in California to trade in my certified pre-owned 2010 Toyota corolla which had $6000 worth of damage on it. I went to them specifically as I had purchased that car from them and I was happy with the service that they provided. They offered me $3000 for it and sell me a new 2013 Toyota corolla. I agreed to it as KBB value showed that a good trade was $10000 on my damaged car.
I went ahead and signed for the new car and released my old car to them. Financial team also sold me extra warranty around $4000. On the second day I noticed on the bill that trade in value was actually ‘$0’ as they had miss calculated the payoff amount I had on the old car as $8525 when actually it was $5525. I went to them to ask about it and they explained to me that they “adjusted” the cost to body shop bill for $6000. As per their calculation – trade-in value $3000, Body shop bill – $6000, so the actual pay off on my car was 5525(earlier car loan)+3000(auto body shop bill) = 8525. I felt a bit cheated as I was under the impression that I would receive $3000 on top of the damaged car. As per my calculation – the actual payoff amount on the car = $5525 – $3000(trade-in) = $2525. I reluctantly agreed to their calculation as I did not have time or patience to deal with them.
However, the next day they changed their story and called me back saying that the auto body shop was asking for a price of $9000 for repair and they now considered the car totaled. Since they did not deal with totaled cars, the contract was void and I had to sign a new contract only for the new car and take back my old car. I was completely shocked as this was the auto body shop they dealt with internally I had taken my damaged car to their service center and they were the once who sent it to that body shop. They had even called the owner of this auto body shop the day I signed the contract to confirm the charges. Had he not informed them that the charges would be $9000 then? I felt that I was in a bad deal and wanted to cancel the whole deal and get my car back.
The Toyota manager then started to harass me with legal consequences, they said I could not cancel the whole deal as I had driven the new car for 2-3 days and it was now used car. The contract was now void as I had traded in a totaled car which was a wrong thing to do and will be punished by “California law” ! I had only one option left and that was to sign a different contract for the new car and accept my old car which was still at the body shop. I felt cornered and since I had no idea what to do in this case, I signed to contract as he insisted to do it on spot, he could not wait for me to think about it and get back to them. Their lawyers would file a case and there would be legal consequences even for 1 day. Completely overwhelmed, I signed it. The next day I incurred the charges for keeping the damaged car at the body shop for 1 week, towing charges and got my damaged car back. The whole deal was an ordeal for me and my wife. We trusted them exclusively. My pre-owned Toyota corolla 2010 was purchased from them and when the damage happened, I went to them and they took it to the body shop which they dealt with internally. It is starting to feel like the whole deal was preplanned by them. I had clearly mentioned that I would go for a new car only if they gave me a good trade in price. Now, not only do I possess the car that was damaged with $9000 worth of repairs as per the body shop estimation, I also have a new Toyota corolla 2013 for the full price which I did not intend to own or purchase.
The irony of it all is, we’d have gone with the new car on that day even if we were told the truth that our car would be totaled. We trusted Jojo, whom we’d dealt with before, and knew that he’d understand and offer us something we’d like. The manager “George” or whatever his name is, didnt have to do the “Bait and Switch” with us, especially with that drama of asking us take all our stuff out of the new car and hand over the keys because we didnt sign the new contract then and there at 9 pm in the night. On top of it, he told me that B&S would charge us nothing as they hadn’t performed any repairs.. They charged us $400 for keeping the car with them for 7 days! The feeling of being cheated on and lied to.. I guess one has to experiance it to know it.
Is there any way to claim for compensation or file a case against them for pulling such a trick on me? I would appreciate any counsel that you can provide.
Swati,
Sounds like a tough deal. We can’t though provide any legal advice since we aren’t lawyers and don’t want to lead you astray.
Best of luck!
-Tim
I bought a toyota avalon limited edition 2 and a half years ago,which I’ve been mostly happy with. However after about 4months the ipod input quit working. having checked te ipod to make sue it worked ok, which it did at the first oil change I told them that it wasn’t working. But of course it hapened to work at that particular time. this happen again two or three times, They tol me I would have to bring it in when it wasn’t workig correctly. Well today I tried to bring it in because it had not been working for the last two weeks. Well they told me I had to makean appointment or possibly wait all to see if they could get to it.I felt like they really didnt care. By the way I also have the 5 year 70,000 mile extra warranty.
I will probably never buy another toyota again. and I’ll probably put thi on facebook and twitter
Thank you Pat
Pat,
So… you are pissed that your iPod isn’t working and you needed to make an appointment to get it fixed for FREE? Due to this being patient and getting it fixed for free, you plan on never buying another Toyota?? Really?
-Tim
Hi there. i have purchased a 3.0 KZTE d/b bakkie on a private sell. Service history up to date with Toyota. on my 150 000km service, Barworld toyota Witbank serviced my bakkie- at the price of R 5 800-00 everything seemed well, after about 2 days and 1000 km- because i cover a lot od km in my daily work- i found that my bakkie is another suddenly leaking oil. With myself- and not a qualified mechanic, i found that after my 150 000 km service- the oil filter was screwed on schew. i took my vehicle back to Barlow Toyota- Witbank and quickly they repaired the scew oil filter. after a few more km done- i realised that there was a noise in my bakkies engin- i arranged another appointment, and they had my bakkie for the whole of the day. After asessing the “so called noise” that i have experienced, the feedback was that there was no problem at all- all critical componants was accessed- nothing wrong. i received my bakkie with the confidance of the ” AGENT” GIVES ME THE HEADS UP and my bakkie is fine. To find that only 2 weeks thereafter- the noise got louder, i booked a check-up once again, to find that the Technisian can not find anything wrong with my bakkie- on numorous occations i have explained that when the motor is under toque- i can hear a noise. Fot the second booking of the check-up for noise in the engine- i received the answer that they can not find anything wrong. I suggested taht my bakkie can stay overnight to have moer time to asess. The reply i got was for me to be present the next morning and have a drive with the Technitian and explain the noise i hear. Next morning i was there- before they can even start my bakkie. I called the technition closer to start my bakkie and with the cold start to let him hear- he then agnowledged the noise- me not being a mechanic and with no mechanical background….- Suddenly the ” No Problem”, became a estimated R 6 500 – R 7 000 problem. I gave the go ahead, and thereafter a conversation with the Main guy (Johan), discission was made that we can maybe exclude Labour costs. I agnouwledge> then that same aftenoon to receive another call to say that the damage on my bakkie is more severe- still waiting for the estamite and the go- ahead. My Question to the Top Management of Toyota- What can i do now!!!!! Kindly mail me- I am ready to go to court- due to the assumption of a bill of R 20 0000- R 30 000….
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Brijesh,
Sorry to hear about your problem. Unfortunately, we are not part of Toyota and have no way to help you. We wish you the best of luck with your problems.
-Tim
Thanks< any suggestions on how i can make my problem clear to TOYOTA management??????
Wally,
In all likelihood, you have made your problem clear. I don’t see a lot else you can do.
-Tim