Rating Toyota's Recall Effort

Okay, serious question, how many other manufacturers (or their dealers) have personally phoned you in the past for recalls? All recall notices I've ever received for my previous cars have been by mail only.

 

I love our 2010 Prius and, although I have not been impressed by how Toyota has handled the recall issue. First: The Toyota website, 800 telephone number, and dealers each had different information aboutwhat I should do for the brake ECU update. The website shid phone your dealer, the dealer (initially) did know what I was talking about,and the 800 number said wait for a letter. Eventually my dealer got word of the recall and began doing the brake reflash, although I have still not received a letter.

Second: My dealer provided the worstservice that Ihave ever received at a car dealer. When they reflashed the brake system, I asked them to also reset the reverse warning and seatbelt beeps to minimums. When I got my car back, the paperwork said they had completed the brake reflash, and changed the two warning settings, although neither was changed. When I reported this to the service agent,he pointed to the receipt that I had received and told me that it confirmed that they had been changed. When I persisted, he talked with the technician and returned to tell me that he had checked it twice and they had been changed. I had to go to the customer service agent to get the service manager to look at my car and confirm that the warning beeps were still in the default settings. In addition to this, Iencountered two separate delays,while they told me that my car was being washed. Nevertheless, when they brought my out for pickup it had not been washed. Three out four issues that they claimed had been done, were not completed as they had described. The fourth was the brake reflash and I have no way to verify whether it was done correctly or at all. This entire fiasco took nearly five hours, after I had brought my car in on an appointment. Although I loveour Prius, my experience is that Toyota has handled this recall poorly on multiple levels.

 

While admitting that experience is going to vary from dealer to dealer, I disagree that Toyota is handling this recall poorly -- other than that they could put a much more positive spin on their communications.

1. I understand that Toyota, not local dealers, is underwriting discounts for service subsequent to recall;

2. According to the Leith Toyota web site, a local NC dealer, the risk of uncontrolled acceleration with hybrids has been much exaggerated -- if it's ever been possible. I quote:
"Toyota's software mod to incorporate the hybrid break safety feature that shuts off fuel in the event of simultaneous accelerator and break action goes beyond the recall issue and is a brilliant decision by Toyota. That will go along way to restore customer confidence."

In confirmation of this last point, the recall notice for the accelerator on the same web site also confirms that recall does not apply to any hybrid models.

 

Two years ago my Saab dealer emailed me with a recall notice.

All the recall notices i've ever had - with all of the different cars I've owned - have never been serious/safety recalls. Mostly, the way I've found out about a recall has been when the car goes in for some other service, and the service manager usually says, "oh, by the way, there's a service recall out to fix XYZ."

Had a Honda Odysee recall for the transmission, and that's how I was informed..."oh, by the way...". Pretty laid back.

 

That's how this safety recall should be treated, as it's hardly serious. Get it fixed at your next scheduled maintenance appointment and move on. Even the recalled Toyotas with the acceleration problem didn't pose much of a safety risk (if at all) when new, as the risk goes up when the parts get worn down. No reason for that one lady in the article who was so worried that she had her new Toyota towed to the dealer, nor for the Secretary of Transportation's irresponsible comment that owners "should stop driving their recalled vehicles and take them to the dealer."

If you're still needlessly angry over how Toyota is handling the situation, you can always get rid of your "cheaply made" Gen III like you said you would. But I guarantee you no other manufacturer is going to phone you personally and hold your hand during the safety recall process.

 

You still seem to miss the point. The point is...many, many Prius/Toyota owners DO think it's a big deal. DO think it's serious. I don't. You don't...but there are 10's of thousands of naive, or uninformed Prius owners who do. It's kind of like teaching in the public schools - you have bright kids and you have dumb kids...teachers are instructed to teach to the bottom half. Toyota needs to do a better job for this group of consumers.

That may be?? But that's NOT what I am arguing. What I am arguing is that Toyota has, no, had the opportunity to re-write the books on how to handle nervous customers. To set themselves apart from every other manufacturer. They didn't, and probably won't. So, IMO, Toyota's bottom $$ line will SUFFER because of it. You're re-sale value...my re-sale value will continue to drop. I'm not foolish enough to try an unload my G3 in the current BUYERS market. If oil prices begin to rise again, I suspect demand for the prius will stabalize, or possibly rise...that's when i would unload.

By the way, the email recall i got on my saab was for a possible leak in the plastic coolant over-flow/fill tank, which, if it leaks, could cause the car to overheat. Important recall, but to my knowledge, no accidents have ever resulted from over-heating. Not all recalls are created equal.

 

Not 1 word from Toyota or the dealer about the brakes but I did get 2 letters from Safety Connect nagging me to register. Guess which one has a higher profit potential.