Miller Toyota of Anaheim-INCOMPETENCE & DISHONESTY

Well, I wrote my first post yesterday about my failed catalytic converter on my 2008 Prius Touring with 68K miles. I am sorry for this but I have to rant and vent and hope that no one experiences the frustration I have with this dealership. They are willing to mislead and guide you into un-needed service.

Last year, I took my car into Miller Toyota for service at 48K miles. I was behind on one oil change and I decided to ask them to do the 50K service a bit early. The advisor asked me if I needed the coolant service. I asked him if he had a "menu" of items that were done during the service. He showed me a laminated card the dealership made with the fuel injection service, coolant service and one or two other things on it and said, "we recommend you change the coolant. It's got the same coolant it had from the factory..." TRUSTING him (1st mistake), I said OK and waited for my car to be done.

I signed the invoice (2nd mistake) without reviewing it carefully, and went on my way. I realized a few weeks later that the factory interval for the coolant is 100K miles, and I needn't have spent the $180 on the premature coolant service. Okay, so they fooled me and got my money. The next few oil changes and the 60K filters I did myself with genuine Toyota parts.

Now, I'm at 68K and the check engine light comes on. I took it to another dealership (Power Toyota Buena Park) and find that the catalytic converter is toast. The guy at BP Toyota looks up my car and sees that what was done to my car at Miller was the fuel injection service, not the coolant change as I had authorized. After reading a number of posts here about cat failure, it seems like a cause may be this fuel injection service where they hook the fuel rail up and pump chemicals into the engine while running this car at full throttle. Those chemicals eventually foul the catalytic converter and you have a situation like mine.

So I called Miller Toyota to ask them what the invoice from last year said and it read just like the guy at BP Toyota said-fuel injection service was performed-not the coolant service as I had asked for.

I got into a discussion with the service advisor at Miller and among the vast amount of bullshit he spewed, here are some gems: (to paraphrase)

I asked him why the dealership recommends different service intervals than the factory, as they do for coolant changes and fuel injection service. His answer is essentially we're going the extra mile for you and we know better. (sure you do)

He recommended more than once, doing the fuel injection service every 20K miles. (I kid you not)

"when performing the fuel injection service, carbon in the system turns to liquid." What, you're a chemist?

I stated that they intentionally mislead or leave things out when dealing with a customer, saying "well, it's basically buyer beware with you guys, because you'll take my money if you can get away with it."
His response was (paraphrasing), "if someone has their checkbook out then I'm not going to stop them from writing a check (for additional service)".

Never once did he apologize or admit any sort of maltreatment, though he acknowledged how I was upset.

What they did likely caused premature failure of my catalytic converter on my 2008 PZEV vehicle. Thankfully, this is covered by the California emissions warranty, and would be by my extended warranty, but what if it failed at 82K miles and I didn't have the ext. warranty? A couple grand is what would have happened.

I have the service manager's number, but he was out today so I'll call him tomorrow and let him know how I was treated by his crappy dealership (not that he'll care).

I really think this will be my first and last Toyota. I have an Audi, and a 40 year old BMW and I work in the auto industry on the design side. I enjoy having my Audi serviced at the dealer-they have never taken me for a ride.

Never have I been treated like such a 'dumb consumer' than I have by Toyota, especially Miller Toyota Anaheim. If this is the caliber of service they allow their dealers to give, then I'm done. The chasm between the actual product and dealer service couldn't be wider.

Lesson 1: Buyer beware. Read the invoice carefully. Be vigilant
Lesson 2: Avoid Miller Toyota at all costs.

Thanks for the forum and allowing me to share/vent.

 

Andy, you're right, it is a brilliant and well made vehicle. I have never been dissatisfied with the cars performance-I love the car.

The issue is the gap between product and service. There are likely many, many good Toyota service departments, but I have not found one that works for me. I guess I could try Longo, but I'd rather not drive so far.

Toyota should be careful because there are more and more good alternatives to the Prius now and on the way. They have the useful hybrid formula down perfect, but I could buy a TDI Jetta wagon too-great torque and MPG, fun to drive. I could buy a Honda Civic Hybrid-great efficiency but less utility. Some cars are not worth the frustration of dealing with a horrible dealer and I've had much better luck with other brands.

 

Re: Cat Conv

Hi Dianne, thanks for responding to my post. We have a cat that looks just like yours only a little older

At 118K, it sounds like you're not doing too bad, especially since the HID's and ECU got replaced gratis. I expect something to go on every car around 100K, but as you said, 68K is a little early. I do not want to shell out $1800 this early in the game, for a dependable Toyota, despite my mileage.

I'll have to research the ECU repair and hope that mine goes before the ext. warranty is up at 100K. And the lights...

We plan to keep the car as long as possible and part of that will be finding a good place to fix major stuff when the inevitable happens. If we lived nearer to Manhattan Beach I'd stop by your dealership, but for now the search continues.