Ripped off by Toyota, need some help please!!

[Andrew]

Just got the car back from Toyota and looked it over.

 

Now about two weeks before I accidentally over filed the oil. Now having got the car back I checked the oil and it is still over filled and doesn't exactly look fresh/clean.

Now either they have done it and over filled it, which is bad right? Or they haven't touched it.

The filter doesn't look that clean either, it was only replaced 6months ago so can't really tell to be honest. It is dirty though.

 

Also do they need to take the car for a spin? 3 miles had been added.

 

I'll be going back tomorrow to have words, but does it look like they've ripped me off?

 

Another thing is I paid via credit card, can I cancel the transaction?

[Andrew Dunk Shaw]

What did you take it to Toyota for

( a service or something else ) ?

How much overfilled is the oil ?

 

Regards

Andrew(dunk)Shaw

Black uk mkiv tt

[Supra Pilot]

If you think you are right that they ripped you off, 'go and get the bastards'!

 

Nissan did the same thing 1year ago on the mothers inlaws car. Massive list of stuff that was done, replaced etc, huge bill for it all. I normally service the car for here but this time it needed to adjust valves etc and I didn't have the time. So she took it to them, got a huge bill and showed me......

I checked the car as I am familiar with it, the bastards did sod all, they charged for plugs, plug leads, oil, ball joint, u name it, NOTHING was done or changed........

they though, ahhh 'elderly single woman' she's never gonna check these things after, lets sting her...

 

I took it back and called the service manager out to the car with bill in hand and asked him to point out the new parts that were said changed on the bill to the car ........ he was quite defensive at first giving me shit.......

I walked off and drove away.

Came back the next day with a letter I typed up with photos of parts and the bill etc, got the owner of the dealership and told him everything what happened and if this is not sorted right now, these letters are going to 'watchdog', the local paper, and most importantly Nissan UK headoffice!

 

Full refund, full valet, and the service done properly this time, and I stayed and watched it all..............

 

And this was not just one case, this goes on everyway, everyday!

 

If you believe you can prove it m8, stand up for it!

[Andrew]

I was an "A" service Andrew......sorry didn't mention that

As for overfill it's above the "F"

 

Another odd thing is it says here on my Service Sheet that it passed the CO emissions test, I'm full decat and failed my MOT 6months ago.......odd that must have fixed itself

 

Supra Pilot, I admire the way you went about getting the barstards. Thing is how am I going to prove this?

I bet my life that if they test the oil in my car it will be "Valvoline" not the "Castrol SLX" they claim here on the sheet.

 

I'll ring the AA and see where I stand on this.

[RICHARDA]

Andrew,

 

Sorry to hear your servicing woes, where I live I have a choice of two main dealers and one is signifcantly better than the other.

 

However I always tend to ask that they keep all the parts that they replace so that I can inspect them myself!

[adi]

Just keep at it.. they *know* they havent done the work.. all you have to do is convince them that *you* know they havent done the work.

[AJI]

Not long after I got my Supra I took it for a check up to my nearest Toyota dealer. It needed front discs and thats all.

 

My youngest brother is a parts sales advisor for another dealer in town and knows some of the mechanics that worked on my car. Unknowingly to them they proceeded to bragg about when they took a certain Toyota Supra for a test drive after fitting new discs.

 

All was OK upto this point as they are entitled to test drive after replacing discs. What they are not entitled to do is to see how much wheel spin they can get in 2nd and 3rd gear!!

 

Apparently two of the mechanics were bragging about how they had a small competition with each other as to who could do the longest wheel spin on the test drive!!!

 

I just can't believe some places! You just can't guarentee what they say they are going to do and what they actually do to your car when its in their garage.

 

I have asked my brother to point out which mechanics were bragging and when I see then out in town I think I'll be having 'A QUIET WORD' !!

[AJI]

Oops, sorry.... forgot to mention what the point of my previous post was to the relevance of this thread.

 

You need good solid proof before you go and have it out with a garage or else they will simply tell you to leave their premmesis.

 

From what I've said in above post, I couldn't realy go and say to the garage owner what I've heard from word of mouth as it is not solid proof.

Probably best thing to do is to make up a diary of things you do to your car and put and entry in it like 'Filled up oil level on >date before service

 

The diary itself isn't real proof but it shows the garage owner that your serious about the issue and your prepared to do something about it. Also fill out the diary with other entries to make it more believable etc. (Just and idea I've heard from what other people I've talked to).

[Andrew]

This is the thing getting proof

 

Another thing I noticed was some dust/dirt on the lower glove box, I cleaned it off then noticed the passengers seat has been moved forward, looked in the back and found a pair of dusty foot marks on the mat. Now me and the missus are the only ones that get in the car, I have never had people in the back.

This leads me to believe 3 of the bastards have gone out for the test drive together, probably to have goes each.

The more I think about it the more it winds me up.

 

From what I have now experienced and what you guys are saying, I think it's best I learn how to service the car.

[MONKEYmark]

hi i feel the same i dont trust toyota to do the work when they leave a young lad to do the services day in day out.

i would sooner take it to a specialist like cw/justin/leon who know the cars inside out.

 

its bad when you cant trust a main dealer to do what you pay for.i dont have no service histroy and to be honest i dont care,just keep hold of all the bills you have had work done and all things you have bought.

 

nice story about getting your own back on your mother in laws car.no wonder they have a bad reputation.spoils it for the good ones out there.

 

i am starting to do jobs on my car,if it takes 2 or 3 times as long its a good feeling knowing you have done it and learned a bit about car.

 

feel for you hope you get it sorted.ask for all old parts.or mark them so you know they have been changed

[Neil Sandham]

Phone Toyota GB (they have a customer complaint dept) . - They take this kind of thing VERY seriousley - Must be the japanses ethos or work culture or something.

 

I had a problem a few years ago with a well known dealership in the Northwest. Within 24 hours later I had the general manager of the dealership on the phone appologising and offering to put things right.

 

cheers

Neil.

[Digsy]

If your Toyota garage is anything like mine there will be a space on the pre-service paperwork for vehicle mileage. I always make a very obvious show of filling this in: "I checked my mileage so it would be accurate on your paperwork" writes down milage. "Now, can you tell me if anyone will need to drive the car as part of the service, and if so, how far will they go?"

 

They usually the message, but if they say any more than 1 or 2 miles then ask to go with the mechanic or refuse.

[Andrew Dunk Shaw]

This problem isn't just limited to Toyota,

it happens just about everywhere im afraid.

The biggest problem is you need to be able to prove that the work hasn't been carried out or parts not been changed.

I would definately phone Toyota GB customer service and politely put your case to them.

My x girlfriend had a peugot 306 done 40,000 miles bought from a dealer, there x demo car, took it in for a service and got a list of faults.

The car was just out of warrenty as well.

New radiator needed

Head Gasket needed

Water Pump

Battery

I went and picked the car up for her on a trailer as they were quoteing her over £2000 to put it right.

The only thing that needed replacing was the battery as it had lost a cell £45 later the cars sorted and she's a happy bunny.

I phoned the dealership up and spoke to the service manager and his best excuse was perhaps one of there trainees had diagnosed it and got it wrong, i just laughed and said they were taking the piss. To which he had no reply !!!!!

Luckily she's not stupid enough to fall for it and asked me to check it out.

But how many times do they get away with it ??

Regards

Andrew(dunk)Shaw

Black uk mkiv tt

[Ian C]

I take a good book and get mine service while I wait. No-one takes the piss then

 

-Ian

[Supra Pilot]

Andrew thats the best advice here m8, give a call to Toyota GB a call... that is the biggest fear for the dealerships as they each get an annual review from the headoffice and if they have 'X' amount of compliants or discrepancies they can lose the franchise or get penalities...

Thtas what I scored with, they didn't care if I was going to the local press much as they may reply and claim it was a one off etc. But the headoffice(especially the Japanesse) take these things seriously!

 

Sorry but it is a sore point with me, as I know it happens all over, big company, small company they all try to take advantage of people. They know the average 'joe' won't ever look or investigate the work done after!

 

I know 'I was in the industry'!!!!!!!

 

 

Dom

[springbok]

Andy,

 

I noticed you live somewhere near me. I just wondered which Toyota Garage you took it to.

 

 

There is McCarthys in Bromley. Fox's 5 minutes away.

 

Or maybe you gave it to Abbey at Redhill.

 

Perhaps you could take it to one of the others, without being totally straight, and ask them for their opinion as to if the car has been serviced on the basis that you were not very happy with the last lot and they are likely to get all your future work.

 

Then you might be able to play one against the other and write to Toyota GB who are now based over towards Epsom in Surrey.

 

Toyota GB used to be in Redhill.

 

I would suggest you don't mention the car was serviced by another local Toyota garage.

 

But if they differ you could take this to Toyota GB I am sure they would have something to say....

 

 

 

 

 

:flame Dev

[Piran]

I've been back to garages before (making sure I saw a different person) and asked them to guess the age of the component - before telling them that their garage had supposedly fitted it only a few weeks previously !

worked a treat !

[Andrew]

As mentioned here I'm going to get hold of Toyota GB and see where I go from there.

 

Thanks for your input everyone.

[Terminator]

I think JB may prefer it if you edit your post to avoid potentiall problems. Good luck with what ever action you take.

 

I stopped using main dealers for service years ago. I had my car serviced by a dealer, not Toyota, and things were not done but could not prove it. So did the service my self. I took advice from a local mechanic who had been a service manager for a big car company. He helped me mark some parts, seal a few caps and put marks on the oil drain plug and washer when the car was due its next service. He witnessed every thing, I wrote down the things we had done and a paragraph about my dissatisfaction with the previous service and stuck it in a sealed envelop in the glove box.

 

I took the car in for its next service and went back to pick it up at the end of the day. I asked to see the service manager and said I wanted to look under the bonnet before I paid the bill. He agreed, I looked under the bonnet and saw the oil filter still looked dirty. I asked him to check the dipstick, the oil was still very dark. I then told him to look in the glove box and ask him to take out the letter. I told him if he wanted me to pay my bill he would have to take me to court. I took the letter and keys from him and drove off. Never heard from them and never went back. When I checked at home they had changed the plugs and the washer bottle was full. The oil cap had not been moved, nor the drain plug, the auto box dipstick, brake fluid cap and power steering fluid cap were also still sealed, all should have been checked as part of the service. I guess with the evidence I had I would have had a good case with trading standards, but I could not be bothered with the hassle.

 

My advice for what it is worth would be to stay away from main dealers and find a good well recommend independent, with plenty of experience with you model of car, who depends on his reputation and quality of service to earn a living.

 

I know there will be members who will have a good relationship and receive faultless service from a good main dealer, if you have on of those and are prepared to pay their prices then stick with it. My concern with the MKIV is it is a rare car and very few dealers have staff whom have any experience of working on them, I for one am not prepared for them to learn on mine.

[Andrew]

Edited out their name.

 

I spoke to the AA and basically I haven't got a leg to stand on, unless of course you do what you said Terminator and mark things up.

I went to the garage in question and had a word with the service manager, I had to wait 10mins until he took me into the work area and assured me 100% that it had been done. And showed me the car had not been over filled...and lo and behold the dipstick was now reading dead on "F" or just a wee bit over. Amazing what you can do in 10mins

The 3mile run was according to them standard, also the passanger seat had to be moved forward to check the seatbelt.

He then went on the remark on how nice the car was and how lovely it sounds. Obviously you've heard it when you were ringing it's neck mate.

I clocked a few mechs in the garage and a few of the younger ones were looked a bit sheepish, probably wondering why I had brought it back.

 

Anyway I'm gonna write this off as a bad experience and start servicing it myself. I'll just get the Cam belt changed by an ex Toyota mech I know.

[Terminator]

What colour is your oil? If you suspect it has not been changed, then I would change it and the filter ASAP, it will cost you about £30 but at least you will know your turbos and bearings are bathed in nice clean oil and the filter is doing the job intended.

 

I have to roll the back wheels out a meter to get a true level for checking fluids in the garage at home. The guy who built this place did a fantastic job on the concrete finish of the garage floor, smooth as a babies arse and flat as a pancake, but not quite level.

[springbok]

Thats how garages get the above name..??

 

I know you must be feeling pretty pissed with these guys,

But just so I don't go down to them for anyhting in future, can you email direct the garage name... so I know who to avoid..

 

thanks,,,,,

 

 

[Andrew]

Springbok sent you a PM with the name.

 

The oil looks fairly clean bit darker than normal, but then again my oil is always clean. I'll do as you suggest Terminator and change the oil for peace of mind.