NewHilux.net

took my truck to toyota today for 20000 km service and asked them to look at a few things under warranty. one of the things was a rattle under the dash, it is coming from around the trip computer or near the air vents at the front near the window. another thing was the rear seat. it makes a knocking noise whenever someone is sittinfg in there. so i got to pick it up , oh yes sir we have done this and that and checked this and inspected that and we looked at the rear seat and tightened all ther bolts, so no probs there now. the rattle in the dash is coming from the diff breather that is mounted in the engine bay so we tightened that up for you so all is fine.
i told the bloke straight away no that is not where the noise is coming from and he was certain that it was because the mechanic told him it was. so drove not even to the end of the drive way and the dash is still rattling so i go straight back and told him. he says to me no it cant be, i said lets go for a drive. manager gets in the car gets about 10metres down the road and he can hear it already. so now it has to go back next week to be looked at again.
had the shits and drove faster than normal over a speed hump and could hear the rear seat knocking so they didnt fix that either.
they tell me when i am paying that we gave the car a complimentry wash for you.
it didnt need it as i washed it yesterday and now there is still water all over the roof and the hard cover (to lazy to chamois it off). told the manager and he just shrugged his shoulders.
all this for the bargin price of $253 for a 20000 service.
i will be going else where in the future...
sorry about the rant but they give me the shits with their dealership jargon and making out they are looking after your car as if it is extra special when they have probly got an apprentice doing all the servicing...
Glenn

Dont trust dealerships for service. Wouldnt know a 4wd even if it fell on their head. I take my truck to a 4wd specialist who know 4wd's as they drive them themselves. Very happy with their service and damn cheaper too.

mate half the the tome it feels like they don't even look for any problems you bring to their attention under warranty, i reckon they've got a book with about ten excuses in it and thats what they spin to us, and nothing pisses me of more than when they tell you to come back so they can have another look at a problem you've allready told them about coz i like a lot of other blokes need my ute for work so when they've got it im not at work aned not getting paid, there should be a law that says any warrant work to a ute or truck than they have to supply you with anoyher ute or truck.

i dont like being told thats normal, thats within spec, its nothing to worry about. i was expecting them to say it is normal to have a few rattles when you are off road... if they said that i would have lost it i reckon.
now i wont have a car all day next friday again and i bet they dont fix it again
Glenn

Glenn,

It's the same all over the world whether it's in OZ or Malaysia.

Bunch of pricks!!!!

Good luck and hope they do a better job next Friday.

Cheers

Brendon

update...
took the car to toyota again today,told them to fix rattle in dash, fix rear seat knocking noise, and tighten bolts on hard cover( i dont have the special screwdriver to do it).
went to pick it up and he tells me there is no rear seat knock. so we go for a drive with him in the back and it happens before we get out of the car park so it goes back on the hoist and i spend half hour waiting then they tell me a new seat frame has to be ordered so it will have to go back again.
it really annoys me that they say they fix stuff when they clearly havent.
so hopefully it will be fixed as soon as the part arrives...fingers crossed
Glenn

I had the rear seat noise when I first got the ute. Only did it when a heavy bloke sat there, finally nailed it down to the back of the seat being pushed back under weight and rubbing on the rear of the cab. Glued some padding.

Glenn,
What you are going thru is BS. People are concerned with warranty of this TTE chip that I am getting and the warranty is only as good as the prick that you deal with, as Consumer Affairs/ Fair Trading are only interested if the seller is not fixing the issue. All they have to do by law is attemt to fix to the best of their ability and you have no rights. Pitty half these clowns have very limited ability.

I went through all this stuff with Nnnnnnnnissan and ended up in small claims court. I won, but they made it hard. These days I do not mess around. I give them one opportunity and then lodge a claim in the courts and you get what they have sold you quite promptly. And that is all I ever want is what was sold to me in representation.

Happy to go overseas with my buissness as some of the buissneses here provide poor service/warranty.

I drive 169km each way to a dealer that has some morals for a "Used Car Saleman", they may be limited morals but at least he has some, not like half the p%#&%#s around.

Cheers,
Camwill69

I have asked my dealer about a few rattles (including the rear seat) only to be told that the 'rattle warranty' only lasts for 12 months.

Is this the case or is he full of it? Haven't heard you guys mention a rattle warranty???

Complete BS!

seconded!

Thought so. I'll be having a chat with the lying bastard on Monday!

Walk in there and calmly ask for the service manager.
Then ask him for his boss.
If he says 'no' tell him that you are upset that you were told that the rattles aren't covered under warranty. If he doesn't seem to care, look around to see how many public/customers are in the service department. If there are a few raise your voice and tell him you will be contacting fair trading in regards to their not honouring their warranty obligations. Do this even if there aren't any other people around, it just works better when people are around.
Tell him that you will be putting his name down personally as the one refusing to honour the warranty and that you are also going to send a formal letter of complaint to Toyota's head office.

If none of that works, carry out your threats and take the vehicle to another dealer. After you have told that service manager that when it goes to court you will also be suing for time and travel.

Brett

I got the same BS from the dealership that I went to, (drivers door rattling). Eventually put a new latch on but the worst part is that they stole money out if my ash tray as well.
Now go to another dealership and never leave money laying around.

I work at a prestige dealership, so obviously don't have high expectations from Toyota dealerships.

With that said, here's a list of things I've experienced from a local Toyota dealership in my last few services:

- Lube sticker dirty, smudged and unreadable. Old lube sticker residue still on windscreen next to new sticker. Fingerprints all over windscreen and bootprints all over vinyl floors.

- Charged for an oil change that they never did. Oil level was low and was filthy so I did it myself the next weekend in my workshop.

- Clutch recall finally done after complaining about it over the duration of 6 months and 3 service intervals.

- Dent in passenger door next to handle (in my experience - common and understandable occurences when using 2-post hoists). When asked to see the job card for proof that this dent was there prior to them receiving and working on my vehicle, my request was declined.

- No loan cars, shuttle buses or lifts available.

From now on I think I'd rather service my own Hilux, even though it is still under warranty until 2011.

that sounds preaty ruff i dont think iv ever had any thing that bad

had my last service done and motorama 4x4xmore and i couldnt fault them my sister has her car done at BMW and i thort that motoramas service was alot better than BMW

Find another dealership mate, they are not all bad.
I actually bought a second Toyota for my wife due to the good service I got from my local dealer in TVL. However I know it all comes down to the personalities of the local people that work there.

Write toyota a letter and tell them you will never buy another Toyota due to the poor after sales service of that dealership.

In the back of your warranty and service book there are change of owner/address tear off pages that have the address for Toyota Australia on them.
Adress it to there, c/- customer relations department.

i thought about writing an email to toyota and the local dealership i have been using but couldnt be bothered. it will fall on deaf ears anyway.
i have had an ongoing saga with my hilux. been back 4 times now for a rattle in the dash and still not fixed. keep getting told the same bullshit line everytime. " yeah our mechanic had a look and there was a screw missing, put in a new one, will be sweet now"
they did fix the rear seat after 2 goes at it which i didnt think would happen.
i wont be going there anymore, i know not getting my service 2 or 3 times a year isnt going to send them bankrupt but i have satisfaction that they wont be getting another cent out of me again.
i will be going to a 4wd service centre from now on and if there is a recall or warranty issue that needs toyotas attention i will go to another dealership
Glenn

Well said glen! And i totally agree.

It's disappointing that the make of car being a toyota is such a popular vehicle, but when it comes to servicing or warranty issues that some dealerships don't want to know you.

You purchase the vehicle from them, but if you have a issue and its to difficult for them to fix the problem they just don't care. All they are doing is making a worse name for themselves.

So i agree glen, go elsewhere where their is better service as you said!

Oh please tell how they fixed the rear seat. Mine has a knock and it drives me crazy