Should I be annoyed at the dealer?

[rhbirkhahn]

Originally Posted by philmcneal

as a DIYer how could you not see it yourself that your front tires had abnormal wear? I find it hard an alignment can solve a noise issue hmmm

LOL. i've been kicking myself just as much for missing that. In my defense, with a jack and two stands, 2 of my wheels are always on the ground, and it wasn't obvious until you walked under the car and looked at it from underneath when it was on the lift. I only looked at the shoulders of the tires on the ground. And putting on 4 new tires solved the noise problem, the alignment was necessary because I had changed the camber when I took off the steering knuckle...it had nothing to do with the noise per se.

[Joe 26]

Take a few minutes and listen to what the dealer's representative has to say. Just keep in the back of your mind that it will cost them at least a few hundred dollars to send the personnel and/or a lawyer to answer your case in small claims, win or lose. I am not familiar with the laws in your state, but in most states it would be very difficult for them to obtain reimbursement for their legal fees, so it is likely they want to avoid going to court.

In my opinion, the dealership should never have charged you for a diagnosis without being willing to stand behind it, otherwise what are you paying for?

[Bob64]

Heres the rub:

What caused the uneven wear?

[rhbirkhahn]

Yes, I had thought of that, and it is basically the dealer's argument. But if every external test suggests that the bearing was functioning normally...and all four tires had uneven wear (the front were just worse). The alignment could have easily been the cause (and the fact that I don't rotate my tires nearly often enough.)

Probably my mistake was that I didn't dispute that the bearing was bad in my letter to the dealer or the credit card company for that reason. My argument though is that it doesn't matter whether the bearing was bad or not. I brought the car in for a noise complaint. Every manual that the Toyota puts out, even their training videos, say start with a visual inspection first. And that the most common place for wear is in the tires. That uneven treadwear should lead you to check the alignment, tire balance, and bearings. They ignored the symptom and just told me a bearing was bad without looking at the car...almost certainly without looking at the bearing. They would have found the tires were bad, after charging me for bearing replacement and then axle replacement. Which I probably would have done if they hadn't tried to jack up the price of both the rate and the amount of time.

[bac]

Originally Posted by rhbirkhahn

So I went back to the service manager at the dealer, and she said that the technician diagnosed "the most pressing problem" first and would have found the tire problem later and that they normally only inspect tires for tread depth...therefore refused to refund the diagnostic fee.

Sorry for the long winded post, but if you're still reading by now my question is this. Should I be miffed that the dealer engaged in deceptive and misleading business practices? First, they charged me a diagnostic fee and didn't even provide a simple visual inspection. Second, the premium rates they charge are well known, but they wanted more than double the time it took an amateur with a jack and a wrench to do the repair.

You paid for an incorrect diagnosis - regardless as to what they state. I'd want my money back.

... Brad