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My friendly Toyota dealer and my new tire

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by southjerseycraig, Apr 29, 2014.

  1. southjerseycraig

    southjerseycraig Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2009
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    Location:
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    About 1000 miles ago, my friendly Toyota dealer installed a new tire because the old one had a defect in the sidewall. Today, while I was driving along, the low tire pressure light came on. The new tire had a low pressure reading; not terrible, but it seemed odd that it was low and none of the rest of the tires were.

    So a repair shop I've done business with took a look at the tire. The mechanic was suspicious of the bond between the new tire and the wheel. So he took the tire off the wheel. He discovered that the plastic bar code sticker was still on the tire, and told me that the sticker should have been taken off prior to installation because it interfered with the tire-wheel bond.

    Now that the tire and wheel were separated, the mechanic suggested making sure that the wheel had been balanced, as promised by my friendly Toyota dealer. It was out of whack on both sides.

    This is the second time I've had a bad experience with my friendly, etc. I suspect I will not be going back.
     
    #1 southjerseycraig, Apr 29, 2014
  2. KennyGS

    KennyGS Senior Member

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    Location:
    Keystone State
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    Not all dealers are bad, and there possibly might be another one that is OK. In the meantime, the mechanic at your repair shop sounds like he knows what's what.

    I have a mechanic that works on all 4 of my automobiles. He treats me fairly, and makes sure my cars in great shape, and gets all of my business. I hope my Prius never has to set tire inside of a dealer.
     
    #2 KennyGS, Apr 29, 2014
  3. dorunron

    dorunron Senior Member

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    Location:
    Houston, TX
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
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    Three
    You might consider going on a "good faith" basis and report back to the stealer who did the bad work and let them know what the second party found. If they care about quality they will at least look into what "happened" and try to correct the situation and or retrain the personnel involved. If they roll their eyes at you, then don't do business with them again. OTOH, if they seem to be interested in what you are sharing, you might consider doing more business with them. Not all dealers are the same. Some are great, and very reasonable for rates. Other's are only interested in profit, and do not promote quality of service and caring for their customers. I can truly say that if you have your choice in dealers, visit all of them and learn as much as you can. Chances are you might find a dealer in your area that does great work for a reasonable price. Not always, but the possibility usually exists if you live in or are close by a densely populated area.

    Best of luck to you,
    Ron (dorunron)
     
    #3 dorunron, Apr 29, 2014
  4. southjerseycraig

    southjerseycraig Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2009
    438
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    Location:
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Those are good thoughts. But I really feel I should take my business to the mechanic who found and fixed the problem, and to heck with the dealer. I say this even though the mechanic is sometimes more expensive than the dealer; on the other hand, that's partly because the mechanic actually takes some time to make sure that all systems are go, and the dealer's shop seems to spend only a few minutes on the matter.
     
    #4 southjerseycraig, Apr 30, 2014
  5. southjerseycraig

    southjerseycraig Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2009
    438
    107
    0
    Location:
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    BTW, I went on the dealer's chatboard Thursday morning, and got an assurance someone would call me. It's now the end of Friday, and it hasn't happened. I don't see why I'm protecting the guilty, so let me say the shop is Holman Toyota in Mount Laurel, New Jersey -- the former Cherry Hill Toyota.
     
    #5 southjerseycraig, May 2, 2014
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