Toyota Customer "Care" Yay or Nay

I have been a member a couple of months; mostly observing and learning. A common thread (pardon the pun) is how great Toyota corporate's "care" is. When I mentioned purchasing a 7 year/100 mile extended warranty (dealer matched $1055), I was told, by more then one member in various threads; if you don't trust Toyota, why did you buy one? There have been other threads, both pro and con about how wonderful their care is. The cons are when customers don't prevail and the pros (I have read - can't read every posting ever made) are mostly hypothetical - or hard won. Today's posting in a thread about a member's battery failing, just over 100,000 miles, prompted me to chime in.

"Have you called Toyota? Seriously, this is so close to the warranty period I think they'll at least consider a replacement under warranty or something prorated...maybe they'll cover the battery if you cover installation, something like that. They have a history of working with people when you call and ask." My eyes so far north, they almost fell out. Caught them in time and thought, time to share my experience with corporate since buying my car last month.

I had an exterior issue that I was not aware of until I brought the car home 300+ miles away. When first discovered, was not clear if it was under warranty or occurred after dealer took delivery. So I had to show it to the closest local dealer whose service manager thought factory issue, and then took it to another dealer that had a Toyota certified body shop (was surprised how few there are - many major cities do not have one).

They said it was an after delivery issue so Toyota instantly washed their hands of the problem and told me to work with the dealer. Buyers do need to be aware at delivery to inspect, and detect damages, etc. However, my issue took a couple of weeks to reveal itself, in the form of paint bubbling. A panel on the car had been painted after delivery prior to pick up. It was not allowed sufficient time to be primed and painted, nor sealed (protection pkg chemical not supposed to be applied for at least 30 days from port and mine will not go back on the area for 75 days per Toyota certified body shop). I did ask if anything had been done to the exterior prior to delivery, and was told no. I was fortunate that the dealer stepped up and paid the T body shop to correct the problem ($900) . They could have told me to jump in a lake. I think if there had not been a T certified body shop in my area they might have (could not say it was rouge shop...) and that if the internet and/or this site did not exist, they almost certainly would have. This is despite the dealer having an excellent reputation and some great employees.

Corporate has never followed up to see if things were being resolved and/or were resolved - about a month since opened case. So my take away from the experience was once Toyota delivers a car to the dealer, unless it’s a quantifiable mechanical failure, or a part falls off, it's not their problem.

The issue was resolved last week, but the whole matter was really stressful, took the joy out of the new car experience, and I lost over 6 hours of self-employed billable time making all the calls, driving to 2 dealers to get opinions, and 3 trips to the shop which is 45 minutes round trip non rush hour. Since I bill $200 an hour, that’s $1,200. Thus, I will NEVER buy a car out of my local area again. I know there are lots of great outcomes, especially from Diane's dealer but... This experience has taught me that buyers are on our own as far as Toyota corporate is concerned, so I want the leverage of poor local word of mouth to ensure a responsive dealer.

I also will purchase local in case I want to take it back (first time I would have if I could have). Buying 300 miles/6 hours away eliminated that option for me. Some members have mentioned their dealers offered a satisfaction guaranty (at least for another car if not money back). Need to be close buy, especially when Toyota customer care has until the close of the next business day to do open a case and assign it to someone who gets back to you (and they took the full time).

While I was working out details of correcting my problem, I started working on learning how to import to OEM Toyota Canada accessories; body side molding and hood deflector. Seemed a good time to have them installed since it was going to the shop for a week. I called Toyota customer care to ask for the measurements of the 2010 pruis hood so I could make absolutely sure that the Canada OEM deflector would fit. The representative told me Toyota did not give out that "type" of information . Being someone who is not know for measuring accurately, I asked her to escalate the question and have someone get back to me. That was over three weeks ago. Based on my experiences with Toyota customer care, I hope I never have a factory warranty issue to deal with when it comes to interior or exterior integrity because they are more subjective then mechanics and parts (either broken or not).

I finally got the car back last week and really do love driving it. Bought it over 6 weeks ago, and most of the 700 miles is from the drive home from dealer and back and fourth to dealers and body shops. Think I will just look at it in the garage for while and enjoy the view, then drive it a while before installing the leather. After all the "drama" I need a rest.

 

Good points. Please note that my post did not say I expected my local dealer to fix my car; just said I took it there inspect it as they would have to open a case if issue was a warranty defect. That in turn would result in a Toyota regional employee looking at it. However, while that process was started, I took it to another dealer who has a T "certified" body shop which means the car must be repaired to "like new" standards (or sort of). They confirmed it was not a factory issue.

As for buyer beware, you are correct that buyers have a responsibility to inspect, and detect damages, etc. However, it took a couple of weeks for mine to reveal itself, in the form of paint bubbling. A panel on the car had been painted after delivery prior to pick up. It was not allowed sufficient time to be primed and painted, nor sealed (protection package chemical not supposed to be applied for at least 30 days from port and mine will not go back on the area for 75 days per Toyota certified body shop). I specifically asked if anything had been done to the exterior prior to delivery, and was told no. I was not sure how much to disclose on my post, so will go back and clarify.

Bottom line on the whole experience is that nowhere along the line did I feel the slightest empathy and taking a walk on the absurd side, could not even get measurements out of Toyota "care." Thus, the post was made to remind people (like me) who are willing to go all over for a color or package, that there is some risk.