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Flat Tire after 4 days with '05 ... My Horror Story:

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by nstevens, Dec 14, 2004.

  1. nstevens

    nstevens Junior Member

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    Ok, so maybe its not a horror story, but still very frustrating.

    We picked up our new black 05 pkg 4 Prius last Monday. Before I get into my story, I just want to make it clear that we absolutely love the car.

    This is taken from the email which I have sent to the Toyota Customer Satisfaction department. I apologize for its length …

    On Friday, Dec. 10th, 4 days after taking possession of our 05 Prius, my wife noticed that the rear passenger tire was flat. The car was in her workplace parking lot. I was 30 miles away on the other side of town at my work.

    TIMELINE
    12:30 PM: I told her to call roadside assistance to put on the spare
    12:31 PM: My wife calls Roadside Assistance
    12:31 PM: I call the dealership: Denny Hecker Toyota in Inver Grove Heights, MN. The sales manager tells me to take it to the nearest Toyota Dealer to repair the tire. I ask him if the tire is covered under warranty, and he says ‘NO’. BUT, if the tire needs to be replaced, he’ll split the cost with me 50/50 for the new tire. I am not happy at all about this arrangement but had little choice in the matter at the time. I felt that since we had only taken possession of the car 4 days earlier, it would be in my best interest to have the damage and the car inspected at the dealer where I purchased the vehicle.
    2:15 PM: Roadside assistance finally arrives to switch out the damaged tire and replace it with the spare. The jack creates a small divot in the bottom side of the car in front of the wheel.
    2:45 PM: My wife arrives at Rudy Luther Toyota in Golden Valley, MN. The service manager tells her that there is a spark plug in the tire and it could have very likely happened before we took possession of the car on Monday. He says that the tire is not repairable. He then tells my wife to take the car (which has the spare tire on it) back to Denny Hecker Toyota (about 20 miles on the Freeway) for them to deal with it. He also tells my wife that the tire should NOT be patched due to the extensive damage.
    2:46 PM: I call Denny Hecker Toyota to tell them the situation. They tell me to go ahead and bring the car in.
    4:00 PM: My wife arrives at Denny Hecker Toyota. For some reason, the VW service manager is handling her car (maybe the Toyota service had gone home for the weekend?). He tells her that they don’t have the tire and can’t get it until Monday. He will patch the tire so we can have the car all weekend and then fix it on Monday. My wife then tells him that the Rudy Luther Toyota service manager told her that the tire could NOT be patched. At that point, the service manager chuckled and said, ‘well, that’s not true, we can patch it.'
    4:45 PM: My wife calls and updates me. I ask to speak to the service manager. I flat out ask him ‘Is it 100% safe to patch this tire for the weekend?’ He replies, ‘Absolutely sir, I wouldn’t patch it if I didn’t think it was 100% safe’. Now, I don’t know anything about cars, so at that point, I have to take a service manager’s word for it.
    5:00 PM: My wife leaves the dealership and heads to the store.
    6:00 PM: My wife leaves the store and notices that the tire is flat AGAIN.
    6:01 PM: My wife calls Roadside assistance, AGAIN..
    6:30 PM: I arrive to put the spare back on the car. We go home. Who knows if roadside assistance every showed.
    6:45 PM: I call Denny Hecker Toyota. Ask to speak to the sales manager, or any manager. Wait on hold for 15 minutes, then get a voicemail. I never get a call back.
    7:15 PM: We take the CAMRY and drive to a movie, ‘Ocean’s Twelve’. Good movie, best part of the day by far.
    10:00 PM: I start looking through the glove compartment for any info on the Roadside Hazard which I thought came with the car. I find the brochure. . It clearly states that road hazard tire damage is covered and you need a pre-authorization. I call the 800 number only to find out that I did not have the coverage. The supervisor at the 800 number told me that this is OPTIONAL for an extra fee when you purchase the vehicle. It Certainly doesn’t look optional in the brochure, and I was never offered the option at the dealer.

    SATURDAY:
    8:00 AM: I call my local Discount Tire. They tell me they have the tire in stock and are open.
    8:30 AM: I go to Discount Tire, pay $70 for the new tire and they replace the tire in about 15 minutes (three guys working on my car, excellent service).
    10:00 AM: I call back Denny Hecker Toyota and ask to speak to the Sales Manager. He never called me back from the previous day (not a big deal, he probably went home for the night and just got in the next day). The receptionist puts me on hold then asks me if I can leave a call back number. I choose to remain on hold.
    10:30 AM: I speak to the Sales Manager. I tell him my story. He doesn’t seem to care at all about the fact that the VW service manager put my wife on the road with an unsafe tire. He then tells me that I should quit complaining and that he agreed yesterday to pay for the tire. He most certainly had not said that, he only agreed to split the cost with me.

    Overall 3 things I am very disappointed in:
    1. Toyota Roadside Assistance.
    2. Denny Hecker Toyota Sales and Service departments
    3. Toyota puts an informational brochure in every new Prius which falsely leads owners to believe they have road hazard protection.


    The dealer was closed on Sunday and I had a full schedule on Monday which prevented me from driving to get my reimbursement check for the tire. I will update my post later today when (or if) I get my check.
     
    #1 nstevens, Dec 14, 2004
  2. bwalkhouse

    bwalkhouse New Member

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    I happened to get an unrepairable flat on my 2004 Prius. When I called the dealer they told me I was covered for a replacement, but only because I had purchased "Extra Care Protection".

    So no problems from my experience.

    But I wondered about it afterwards and it occurred to me that Goodyear might have had some kind of road hazard warranty on the tire. Does anyone know if that is true?
     
    #2 bwalkhouse, Dec 14, 2004
  3. DaveG

    DaveG Member

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    I'd just cut the loses after you get the reinbursement cheque and find a new dealership...

    Not worth the hassle.

    Dave
     
    #3 DaveG, Dec 15, 2004
  4. FloridaShark

    FloridaShark Member

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    If you haven't filled out the customer survey from Toyota yet ,and you will be getting one soon,tell them what you expericed with the service department. If there was any part of the deal for your car you didn't like let them know about that also.
     
    #4 FloridaShark, Dec 15, 2004
  5. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    First off, I agree, the roadside assistance pamplet is misleading. Says nothing about it being an option. I did pay extra for mine, but based on another thread, I thought I wasted my money. Seems like I didn't.

    Second, the dealer should fully replace the tire at no charge, since you picked up the car with a defect waiting to happen, which you would have no way of knowing, even if you inspected the car as you would a used car. Come on, a sparkplug? How does one get a sparkplug in a tire? This is not roadside hazard damage, this is neglegence.

    Now if it had been a month later, and the tire went flat, and no evidence (such as a sparkplug) that the problem was inherent, then I could see the dealer not wanting to pay, or to compromise.
     
    #5 DanMan32, Dec 15, 2004
  6. fred

    fred New Member

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    when i hear stories like this i get mad as hell.i work at one of the very famous "orange boxes" here in nashville where i sell appliances. my boss has one stement when we run into a problem TAKE CAREOF THE CUSTOMER!. sometimes we have to eat several hundred dollars to take care of a customer that the manufacturer wont. the result: happier customers. this problem could have been handled immediately if the manager had stepped up to the plate. but he didnt. the result is an extremely disgruntled customer(as well he should be!), loss of business,a black mark on the reputation of the dealer and the factory etc,etc, etc...
    and you know, the funny thing is, they are going to have to take care of the situation anyway. at our store we try(we are not perfect) to deal with the problem immediately!! get it over with ! TAKE CARE OF THE CUSTOMER! its absollutely stupid from a business point of view not to just bite the bullet replace the tire take care of the dent.
    i even try to tell the customer upfront that everyonce in a while that they might encounter a problem.if it happens call me! they will get taken care of.
    you can tell how steamed i am at the absolute unprofessional way you were handled
     
    #6 fred, Dec 15, 2004
  7. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    Having purchased my first Prius at that same location, but under different ownership (it was "Wilkins" back then), I got vibes about things having changed for the worse. Apparently, those doubts are now confirmed.

    Never go there again. One of the best Toyota dealers in the entire region is just 20 minutes down the road, Burnsville. Go there instead.

    You clearly got lied to and ignored. That's bad. Anything more than just a simple puncture is not safe to patch, period. Regular tires will fail under stress in extreme situations (summer heat, potholes, etc). One with a patch is asking for trouble.

    Sorry you had to go through all that.

    Now I have even more of a reason to start up the Twin Cities gatherings again. It's stories that hit home like this that with share and warning about.
     
    #7 john1701a, Dec 15, 2004
  8. onerpm

    onerpm New Member

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    I will second John on Burnsville Toyota's service department. Best I've encountered.

    Rob
     
    #8 onerpm, Dec 15, 2004
  9. silly

    silly Junior Member

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    Somewhere I read that the Goodyear Infinity tires sold in the US are not of the same quality or load rating as the OEM tires. I noticed that my Goodyear Infinity tires are made in Japan. Does anyone know what the differences are? Is it okay that nstevens has one US made Infinity on his car?
     
    #9 silly, Dec 15, 2004
  10. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Though my overall experience with my dealer was very pleasing, I was unhappy with the attachment of my front license plate (there's a thread about it in here somewhere). When I got the survey, I saw that there are very small boxes for notes. When I tried to fill out the online survey, I was limited to something like 200 characters. And spaces count!

    If you really want to let someone know, call the Toyota Customer Service department and tell them. Make sure you are very polite to the person you are talking to but let them know you have gripes against the dealership.
     
    #10 TonyPSchaefer, Dec 15, 2004
  11. nstevens

    nstevens Junior Member

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    Thanks everybody, I will definitely bring my Prius to Burnsville Toyota for maintenance now. I only wish I had known that before I purchased the car at Denny Hecker.

    So, should I be concerned about this new US Goodyear tire vs. the other 3 being OEM?

    I still haven't had a chance to go over to Denny Hecker to grab my reimbursment check. I'm heading over there tonight. Hopefully, I won't have another bad story to add to this thread!

    Fred hit it right on the head. If the manager had treated it correctly from the start, it wouldn't have been a big deal. Instead, it ended up becoming a very stressful situation with an unhappy customer. In the end, they still are paying for the tire, but I still won't ever go back there.

    I'm definitely going to follow up my email to Toyota Customer Support with a phone call.

    Thanks,
    Nick
     
    #11 nstevens, Dec 15, 2004
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