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Horrendous experience at Toyota dealership service center

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Cwal, May 17, 2019.

  1. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    Porridge? Did you eat at the 3 bears house? :ROFLMAO:
     
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  2. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    It's a North Country thing -- and by that I do not mean Northern Calif. -- unless maybe you are in Fort Bidwell, or something.

    As for trying to encourage new car purchases, I am not so sure that is true.

    I think they actually make much more off service than car sales....at least that is what my aunt, who used to do bookkeeping for a dealership told me.

    So, I would think they would try to encourage hanging onto old rigs, expecting more repairs in the future. :confused:
     
  3. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Admittedly there are a few ways it can go. They might think the owner isn't likely to be able to pay out of pocket for a repair while a new vehicle can be financed. A service writer can make a repair look unappealing when they think the owner might wind up dissatisfied with the end result for one reason or another. And sometimes a dealership is under more pressure to hit a vehicle sales quota than a service ticket quota.
     
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  4. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    But he also straight up lied to her when he came up with a phony estimate from the other dealer. Plus him texting back after 2 days is creepy. If it i has been me I would have texted back how good his text is gonna look on the Yelp review I’m posting about his dealership. But I’m a guy.

    I probably would have some other choice words for him but I have a gift for that stuff. I have had phone sales guys angrily call me back. ;)
     
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  5. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    There's a reason I didn't comment on those aspects of the situation; I truly have nothing useful to offer beyond sympathy for the predicament.
     
  6. Jon Watkins

    Jon Watkins Active Member

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    I live in Bluffton and went to Chatham Parkway when I was buying my 2017. They were rediculous to deal with! Ended up buying it at Stokes in Bluffton and got 4.4k off the sticker.

    What dealership did you end up buying the battery at?
     
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  7. Cwal

    Cwal New Member

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    I got it at Savannah Toyota, but ended up having a horrendous experience with them as well. I think I mentioned above that they tried to tell me I needed a new cabin air filter that I had replaced myself the morning that the battery went out. I didn’t tell him this initially and asked to confirm that this was their diagnosis and that it did not come from the other shop, he said it was from them and that it was really dirty. I said that was quite strange since it had just been replaced, he asked how long ago and when I answered he said “I don’t know, I saw it myself and it was dirty.”. I should’ve towed my car from them immediately after that lie, but I thought I would be safe with the battery, AC belt and water pump. It is far from a new car and they are reasonable repairs based on its age.

    Imagine my surprise that the AC was blowing hot air when I went to pick it up. I was told that it was merely a coincidence, that though the diagnostic report from them and the other Toyota dealership both showed that the AC system had no leaks, suddenly one appeared between when they repaired my car and when I picked it up.

    I was told by this person that they found a leak, would fill up the Freon but it likely wouldn’t last two weeks. He said he wasn’t sure on the total, they did the repair on a Camry recently that was around $2,000 and he would email me an estimate. I had just spent $3,000 for a new hybrid battery, water pump, and AC belt. This was a stretch for me that I would not have made had I known the car required another $2,000 of work. I told him that it was totally unacceptable and asked to speak to a manager and started recording the conversations on my phone in order to protect myself. The story was completely different of course. He said that they actually didn’t find a leak but did find dye in the system that showed someone was searching for a leak at some point. They charged the system and the AC worked for two days. Today it is back to blowing hot air. Next week summer temperatures will start reaching the 100’s. I don’t have the resources to fix it.

    So did they lie about the initial diagnosis and ignore a leak/tamper with the report so that they could get $3,000 from me that I wouldn’t have otherwise spent? But two different reports from two different dealerships said there were no leaks... Did they damage my vehicle while doing repairs and try to pass off the symptoms as an absurd coincidence to avoid taking responsibility? Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not an aggressive person, I am not confrontational and under any normal or reasonable circumstances I would not spend my energy complaining in this way, but these experiences are sad and disturbing and genuinely detrimental to Toyota as they certainly seem to be systemic within their dealerships. I am at a loss for what to do here.

    So far Toyota has only put me back in touch with the customer service at the original dealership where all of this nonsense began, it doesn’t seem like they have any intention of going forward with it.


    Savannah Toyota, but I had a terrible experience with them as
     
  8. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    You don’t have to go to the dealer to get your AC fixed. Just make sure they have experience working with hybrids. Do you know where the leak is?
     
  9. Cwal

    Cwal New Member

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    I do realize this. But there wasn’t a leak before they touched it.

     
  10. Cwal

    Cwal New Member

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    Jon, I am happy to know there’s at least one good dealership in our area!

    I’m happ
     
  11. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    You'd want someone experience with Prius AC, not just hybrids.
     
  12. Cwal

    Cwal New Member

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    There is a noise coming from the AC that wasn’t there before- it sounds like a box fan would if there were debris trapped in it. Anyone know what this might be?
     
  13. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    If you go to the climate screen on the MFD you can check some things. Is the AC in auto? What’s the fan speed? Flow thru or recirculating?