Toyota Service Dept

[DitDah]

Well...what can I say. Like the dealership...Great parts dept...Love the truck...Hate the service dept. Read no further if you don't want to hear me whine and rant.

1. I got the NorthWest package when I bought this truck...entailed undercoating, simonizing the paint...and treating the leather interior. When I got it back...I noticed a lot of bugs stuck to the paint up front...so I asked them if they simonized the bugs and if they were part of the package. End of story...I had them redo everything. They came to my house, picked it up...left me a loaner...took care of it and returned it a few hours later.
2. Got the backup camera from Toyota...had them install it. I got home and noticed one of the 6 or 8 screws that hold up the center console in my floor mat. Called toyota and asked if the tech had any notes about missing screws or anything. They talked to him and he said no. I said...well, you're missing a screw then...take it all apart, find it and replace it. Upon getting my truck back...driving away...I noticed the felt in the ceiling had a lot of greasy finger prints. I called toyota and asked them how to clean it up...told em I didn't want to come back and was tired of seeing their waiting room. They talked me into coming back. Upon getting the truck back...the service dept seemed annoyed I was complaining and revisiting...so they kinda sarcastically asked if it was OK this time? I looked inside...and the felt was indeed clean. BUT...looked like someone rubbed black kiwi shoe polish over the back end of the center console. I simply looked at the sarcastic guy...pointed to the console and said...You tell me! Nice service. Also noted that they scratched my dash...small scratch low on the dash on the passenger side. The only scratch on my truck at that time.
3. Toyota tonneau...had them install it after buying it. i wanted to do it myself...but it was too big to haul home to do it myself. So, I bit the bullet. When done...I was trying it out and it wouldn't latch on the left side. They called the tech out...he adjusted it...I tried it...wouldn't latch. We repeated this a few times until I just got tired and left. NOT before noticing that they put some swirl scratches on my tailgate and a scratch on the side near where the bed meets the cab. Then I get home...I notice they "modified" some parts...drilling them out to give them more adjustibility. I then readjusted things...basically just centered things up. Well...works like a charm now. /sigh. I told them what happened...had them annotate the part modifications on a reciept...and had them order all new hardware. Which are sitting in envelopes in my garage.
4. Went to get my oil changed today. Should take like what...45 min tops right? 3 hours later...I get my truck back. Seems that pro comp skid plate which I had installed YESTERDAY was kicking the techs ***. He cross threaded 2 bolts in the rear of the plate...and couldn't extract them! So...he did whatever...got the bolts out...retapped...then put in new bolts. they gave me a coupon for my next full service to be free...as was this one.

Yeah...I'm pretty fed up with these guys. Kills me when I look at their wall and see year after year of them winning best in the NW or best dealership service dept...or whatever. I did make a comment that they should make sure whoever polls for those awards never talk to me or they wouldn't win this year. I just got a sympathetic smile back. I can't believe with Toyota's huge repuations...that the service dept is so inept. Maybe the toyota of today is just riding on the coat-tails of their past reputation. Anyway...think I'll try another dealer next time. If they screw it up...guess I'll figure something else out. OH...got a full tank of gas for all the screwups they've done so far...so thats a total of 4 I think. Too bad I keep my tank full most of the time.

[fabrikateddreamz]

damn, sorry to hear that, my customers never complain about our service i just hear about the other toyota dealership in town from them all day. i won't name names since i don't think any one on here even lives near me.

[mxsjw]

Toyota of Puyallup?
Wow, they've been top notch for me over the years.
Granted, I do most everything myself, but the things I've had them do were done right the 1st time and that's on this truck and my previous Toyotas.
I say this with the exception of my alignment after my lift, they could not get it right, but made it good by paying for another shop to do it to my liking.
My family has been using them for 35 years.

Sorry bout' the bad luck.

[creggur]

I've seen this so many times in our own service department. It seems like Murphy's Law with some cars and customers. No matter how hard you try to get things done correctly there is always a screw-up.

I'm not making excuses, but there is a running joke about situations like this in the business. We deal exclusively with European luxury cars and clients, and they are as persnickety as they come.. Sometimes it just seems like the harder you try the worse things get.

Again, not making excuses for the service department, it's just that I've been embroiled in so many of these situations over the years - seems like the harder you try the worse it gets.

All you can do is apologize, offer something as an incentive to get them to come back, and try your best to get things right on their car..

Sorry you've experienced this, but it does happen sometimes...

[acc1079]

I hear ya on that one. Seems like everyone (not just car service departments) has let quality of work, and customer service slip. I see it everywhere I go. They act like they are doing me a personal favor, ALLOWING me to spend money there. I have no patience for it.

On another note, AT LEAST you got SOMETHING out of them, and they were willing to fix the problems. Alot of places I know, would have denied they were the one that did it, and just brushed you off like you werent even a customer.

[greg hazlett]

Another reason why I try to do all my own work...my limited experience with the service departments at Toyota and Infiniti is that they are doing me a favor by working on my vehicles....and then they wonder why they get ripped when they ask me to fill out a survey.

[TNriverjet]

I'm going to have to echo the complaints here...

When I finally got them to order the rear springs for my TSB on my previous truck (Taco) they installed, but forgot to tighten the shock bolts. Then told me I was just hearing things and got the, "you're driving a truck now..." run around.

I'm not taking my Tundra to them. Already bought some oil filters and am preparing for my first oil change as a DIY!

I try to DIY most of my stuff anyway... Its just hard to not take in a new truck for the first few services until you at least pass 36K.

[DitDah]

Yep...I hear ya...all of you. I figured as much as well. My truck has been top knotch (knock on wood)...it's all the "extras" I've been doing...either getting them installed or what not. My wife tells me that it's a message..."stop messing with the truck" lol.

[cookiedough1]

I've had similar experiences with dealers. Get this - I had my rusted chrome bumper replaced under warranty just recently and they decided to bill under warranty a new black plastic 3-piece step pad above the rear bumper even though the old one was fine. The step pad looked fine until the very next day I stepped on it to get in the bed of the truck and it shifted and was so loose I could pull it up 3 inches all over except the 2 outer edge pieces. I went back in the next day and showed them for fear it would fly off down the road and injure someone behind me while driving. They ordered me a new step pad and told me the plastic clips must have come loose and were bent down. I told them how can it in 35 miles of driving? They just didn't admit they didn't push in the plastic clips properly or the clips were bad in the first place and didn't tell me about it and thought I would never notice instead of ordering me another one. So, I had to go back in 3 times for something to get fixed right the first time and waste 2 other days and 140 more miles on my truck. 2K of my 22K have been, over the past 2 years of owning my tundra, going back to dealers for repairs under warranty. I also don't like it when they have to, for example, take the dash apart and either leave their fingerprint and grease smudges all over the front inside windshield or scuff up lightly the very easy to rub the wrong way the plastic dash area which seems to show scuffs/rub marks very easily. Worse yet, I use to own an 01' dodge grand caravan and had to do a technical service bulletin/recall notice I got in the mail from Dodge on taking apart my steering wheel and re-lubing the stuff inside. I got a call the next day from my wife at work stating the car is being towed into a nearby Dodge dealer (not the one who fixed the recall) since she told me the steering wheel fell off entirely luckily ONLY in the parking lot backing up out of her stall. I got out of the dealer later that day and demanded why the wheel fell off in the first place. They reluctantly told me the service bulletin was not done properly and the nut holding on the steering wheel was not tightened to specs. Boy, the 1st dealer who screwed up got an earful from me the next day and all they could say was very sorry. I told them if the wheel fell of while driving and hurt someone, they would be sued and out of business. They didn't know what to say since they knew I was very ticked and correct.

[waiting tundra]

It's gona be hard to sue a dodge or gm dealer before long, can ya imagine trying to get work done at one of these dealers? I hear all your pain & that's why I do as much preventative maintanence as possible. Hate to bring a vehicle to a dealer cause everytime it seems to create aother problem. Some of the techs just arn't at sharp as they should be, and the few that are good are generaly jammed to the wall with work which can lead to more problems.

[XCHEVY]

I have had excellent service from Patterson Toyota after buying my 2007 Tundra....These people, from sales to service, are great to work with..If there is a TSB I am notified via phone call or told about it when I go for an oil change...

I have one worry...Usually when you have personnel like this other dealerships are constantly trying to hire them...I hope this doesn't happen at Patterson...Chad Haynes, service tech, takes care of my truck personally...How often do you see this?

Don Beverly, salesman, always checks to make sure things are ok when I'm at the dealership...He said he would call when the 2010 models arrive.

[waiting tundra]

That's me have good luck w/service for awhile then bam they stick it to ya. Always try to handle all my own problems & not give them a chance to screw up. If your determined youd be surprised how little you need dealer service, couse sometimes ya have no choice then ya cross your fingers & hope cause I've found it to be a real crap shoot.

[cookiedough1]

mostly agree with the crap shoot theory. One day the dealer does good work, the other day they fix one thing and create another problem. I talked to one of the mechanics once and he seemed not to care, while another mechanic knew exactly what I was talking about and was very careful not to screw things up worse. The one mechanic who didn't seem to care got an earful from the service mgr. once I explained to him that the mechanic who I test drove my tundra with did not seem to think there was any problem. I demanded to not waste yet another trip in and asked the service mgr. to ride with me. Wow, what a difference - he ordered me a new part to fix the defective one immediately that day. However, I had to go back in to get it fixed once part arrived.

[DitDah]

I guess the best thing is to just do everything you can by yourself...or self service as much as possible. I've always done that to the best of my ability...but there are just times when you have to bring it in and hope for the best. Admittedly, there are plenty of things I just can't do either because I don't have the know how, the tools or the situation just isn't practical...but I do what I can when I can. Unfortunately, in my case...Toyota has "screwed up" each and every time I've brought my truck to them for something. I will admit...they react to my criticism and get it done ...eventually . I just demand things be done right the first time. I'm not a fan of revisiting work I've paid for to be done by authorized technicians. I'm also not a fan of having those authorized techs damage existing work (cross threaded bolts, scratched dash, scratched paint etc). Anyway...I'm done venting now.