I recently had a mysterious noise problem in my 2005 Prius. [see my post 07/31] The situation was solved by my dealer and the faulty part replaced. This was a user pay repair as the part was over two years out of warranty protection though installed on a low mileage car. I wrote to Toyota Canada to inform them that there might be a potential problem with the part [Coolant transfer valve] and did not suggest any sort of compensation. The company replied swiftly and asked if I would accept a cash rebate covering over 50% of the total cost! Toyota was under no obligation to make this offer but it was a wise business decision as it resulted in this letter and the assurance that my next car will be a TOYOTA!!
I wish more companies would recognize that a reply and a smallish rebate could establish a lifelong customer.
When my 05 Avalon was about a year old, it needed the steering shaft replaced because of a TSB. The car was not dangerous to drive so I continued to use it while they waited for the necessary part to arrive. It took quite a while so without my asking Toyota gave me $300.00 to spend however I wanted at any Toyota dealer, and 18 months to use it. All I had to do was save my receipts and send them in. I managed to use $295.00 of their money on the Avalon and Prius.
Nissan did the same for me, twice. Never had Ford, GM or Chevy offer anything but a free shuttle ride and everything was a fight and my fault. Nice job Houston.
I often try to make sure the business owner or manager is made aware that my current visit is the direct result of a previous good will gesture.
The local Honda dealer replaced an auto door lock solenoid on my wife's 2007 Accord even though it was out of warranty at 38,000 miles. I appreciate that and it will be a positive factor when it is time to replace this car. On top of that, they have one of the most customer friendly service departments I have ever dealt with. I never had anything close to this gesture from GM or Ford. Like others, it was always a fight just to get them to honor a valid warranty issue. They always seemed to try to wiggle out of the warranty work even though they are reimbursed for warranty work, albeit at a lower profit margin.
I wrote to GM corporate about the transmission pressure solenoid in my Saturn L300, a well known high failure item on the 4T45E transmissions for at least the last 20 years, and the BCM, which have experienced high failure rates in Saturn L series cars since the first L rolled out of the factory in '99 and GM said "Gee, this is the first we've heard of any problems".........
I'm still "smart"ing over the big fat nothing I got over my 1970's Vega ... which fell apart just a short time after the warrany expired ... as did 100% of all Vegas. You live & learn. .
I've had about as much luck with Toyota and Lexus as the previous two posters had with GM - ie nothing!
