Prius T3 2008 Question

[wass]

I was speaking with a sales rep from a company who owned several car dealerships. He was telling me that it isnt unusual to find that different holding companies have different strategies regarding customer service. He recounted one certain company he had worked for whose sales strategy was pretty much " ignore the customer once we have their money and tell them anything you like in order to get their money" this was an authorised dealer.

There are a number of different groups who own area Toyota franchises which explains the variance in service.

Thankfully, I was dimly aware of this when I approached my local dealership and took their attitude and comments with a pinch of salt. I went to dealerships in neighboring counties and received much better service. Both Toyota and Lexus uk seem to welcome both positive and negative feed back about their appointed dealers. I have an email from them telling me that they have noted my comments and are taking the negative comments up with the local dealer and are also passing on my positive comments to their dealers in neighboring counties. When all is said and done, Toyota UK are interested in selling us their cars for the foreseeable future and are willing to listen to anything which may effect their sales figures. This often drives their ambition to provide best service.

[yvonnej]

Opifex: so they are selling the insurance in every branch.must be something in house for which the sales get a big commision. even when i said no the sales was still telling me to go and think about it over the next 3 days before pickup.

Wass: my mistake to expect Japanese level customer service in the UK. looks like the dealer belongs to the kind of company you are describing.

Caritona123:what is a locking wheelnut adaptor? is that the same as wheel nut wrench?

I think the stress is stopping labour. it's pathetic i am waking up at night thinking that I should have bought any other car from any other dealer or just stuck with the old car. it may be 20 years old but at least it hasn't completely disintegrated and never gave me stress as the Prius has.

Chris: I found the wheel nut wrench and jack handle but no jack. from the manual it looks like the jack is attached to the spare wheel and since i don't have the wheel.. or should it be separate? in the advert it also said it comes with "locking wheel nuts". is there supposed to be a set like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toyota-Prius-Locking-Wheel-Wheels/dp/B004NU45Y0

I only found one nut in the front storage. Trading standards told me to contact consumer direct, and consumer direct told me to write to the dealer.

Today I found the left passenger door in the back cannot be opened from inside when my mother couldn't get out. i think the "Toyota Approved Quality Check: Prior to sale, every Toyota Approved Used Car is submitted to a rigorous inspection by an approved technician working to a Toyota approved checklist." is a scam. I am sure when I bring it to the local Toyota they are going to tell me the door is not covered by the warranty... Just totally disgusted with the whole thing.

[Sagitar]

Today I found the left passenger door in the back cannot be opened from inside when my mother couldn't get out. i think the "Toyota Approved Quality Check: Prior to sale, every Toyota Approved Used Car is submitted to a rigorous inspection by an approved technician working to a Toyota approved checklist." is a scam. I am sure when I bring it to the local Toyota they are going to tell me the door is not covered by the warranty... Just totally disgusted with the whole thing.

Have you checked to ensure that the child-proof lock mechanism is not engaged? It is a simple switch on the rear edge of the door that is hidden when the door is closed.

[yvonnej]

Thanks Sagitar I will have a look

[yvonnej]

Sagitar you are right it was the child lock. That's a great relief was worried the bill is just going to mount up. makes me feel better thinking now it's still just the key and wheel and the jack to sort out. Many thanks for your help.

[Carltona123]

Hi Yvonne

You've probably already already worked this out, but just in case...

When you look at your wheels can you see that one of the bolts is different to the others? To stop people stealing your wheel it has a strange thread pattern. To undo it you need a special adaptor - impossible to get the wheel off without it. Mine was in a little black case in the glovebox.

M

[Chris Dance]

Yvonne I have been away all week end I was hoping to read on my return that Toyota UK had got the dealer who sold you the car to rectify all your problems and ban him from selling their products ever again..

The Special lock nut adaptor "socket" is as Carltona describes.

The jack and the spare wheel should have been in the car. The car sold to you without these items is not a complete car.

Once you get these problems sorted I am sure you will like the Prius. Especially the economy and ease of driving. I do hope you get a positive solution to it all soon.

[Hybrid Harbour]

While I am fully sympathetic to Yvonne I must point out that Trading Standards are there to protect both the buyer and the seller, saying the car is unfit for purpose and wanting to return it just because it lacks a spare wheel and spare key is daft.

The clue is in the word SPARE, meaning that they are not needed for the day to day operation of the vehicle.

However if the vehicle she bought was specifically advertised with a working spare key and spare wheel, then Trading Standards would have a case.

Having said all that I would expect a vehicle bought from a main dealer to come with a spare wheel if originally fitted, a spare key would be a bonus.

Instead of wasting time on here I would just contact the selling dealer direct and try to resolve the issue as thats the only way forward.

Toyota GB have no requirement to help with secondhand sales, the contract is with the selling dealer.

[wass]

I would like to know which Toyota dealer you dealt with Yvonne since I would be keen to avoid them.

[yvonnej]

Hybrid Harbour: Toyota GB said we should get two working keys for a Toyota Approved Used Car and so did the local Toyota dealer. If everyone else buying an approved car is getting two then I don't think I should be asked to pay for one myself. I don't think the second is just a spare since the user manual specifically says one should always carry a spare master key in case the key is accidentally locked inside. The key is not cheap to get, (have got another quote for a replacement key at £168, much less scary than £300.) plus it is not so straightforward to get a replacement (3 days to order, and need the car back to the dealer to be reprogrammed. ) If i have only one key and it is lost, according to the manual I cannot then get a replacement key at all: "The whole hybrid vehicle immobilizer system must be replaced."

You are right and I did contact the dealer. Have written to the sales person, the sales manager and dealer principal but no reply so far so have passed it on to Toyota GB who said they will look into it and get back to me.

Chris and Caritona123: I have the wheel nut adaptor rolling around in the middle storage but not the black box with the four digit code where the adaptor and the spare nuts were supposed to be in. However I only have the locking wheel nuts on the two wheels on the right, while on the left two wheels the locking wheel nuts had been removed and replaced with ordinary nuts but of the wrong size. While the local Toyota dealer said not having the black box with the code is not the end of the world as he can take a picture of the locking wheel nut and get the manufacturer to make another adaptor if this one is ever lost, when he saw that only two wheels have the locking wheel nuts he suggested that I just get a whole new set of locking wheel nuts (£73 including labour) for the four wheels since the two wheels on the left with the wrong sized nuts wouldn't be safe. one good thing is that the tyres seem very new.

Sorry for moaning here perhaps I had expected too much from a used car and should never have bought it long distance in the first place. Thanks everyone for your help it is much appreciated. Husband hates driving and hates cars so very helpful to have some information here.

Toyota Tamworth do claim 94% Customer Satisfaction though so maybe the other cars are ok. Unfortunately I was among the 6%. When I asked about the 30 day return guarantee initially instead of saying yeah sure they just said it never happened before. They do seem to be donig great business because ever since i paid over the deposit on the phone it was very very difficult to get to speak to anybody about the purchase; every sales was always busy with a customer. It would seem that there were people flooding in the dealership on a Monday morning to buy cars so we are not in a recession after all.

[Chris Dance]

Yvonne you are right to state your problems; you are not moaning. It helps others to avoid that dealer.

I still think a car sold without the correct specification is wrong. I always thought it was not lawful to drive a car without a suitable spare wheel, jack etc. If this is the case then you were sold a car which is not of merchantable quality.

Toyota UK must have some responsibility in this issue. I realise the dealer is the one to correct things but you do not seem to be getting much help from them. Hope you get some real help very soon.

[Hybrid Harbour]

There is no legal requirement to carry a spare wheel, hence its not part of the MOT test.

Many cars don't have one, you either get run-flat tyres or a get you home repair can.

[Ancient Nerd]

6% of customers unhappy does not sound like a recommendation.

If it is less than 30 days since you bought the car, I suggest you send a recorded delivery letter to Toyota Tamworth (if they are the original sellers) asking for your money back. Separately, tell them that you are happy to keep the car if they provide a full set of keys, a full set of locking nuts, and a spare wheel.

Unless the price you paid was very low, they should have obtained these before they sold you the car. And it will cost them a lot more to take the car back than to fix these things.

[yvonnej]

Heard back from dealer service department who had received emails from Toyota GB. He apologised for the level of customer service and told me I can get work done locally and send invoice and get reimbursed so problem solved. Thanks everyone.

[Hybrid Harbour]

Glad to hear that you have a satisfactory outcome, now you just need to decide if you can afford to shed out £500 odd on the promise of a refund later, or just take a trip to the supplying dealer and get it done free of charge.

Nice to here confirmation that Toyota UK do care about its customers.

[Lorna2]

Glad to hear you got it all sorted Yvonne. :) You'll get to enjoy your new car now. Pity you got such hassle though.

[Chris Dance]

Yvonne: I mentioned your case at our local dealership this morning after having my Prius serviced. They told me it is very much down to who owns the Toyota Franchise.

I am pleased to hear that at last you may have a satisfactory outcome. I am pleased Toyota UK helped you. It is a shame you have to pay up front first. I keep my fingers crossed that the dealer you bought your car from does FULLY reimburse you.

When it is all sorted. Happy Motoring.

[Carltona123]

Good for you Yvonne! My (widowed) mother in law uses that dealership and I will tell her to keep her wits about her in future dealings with them. But then I told her not to part with the broomstick and would she listen?

Hope that things run more smoothly for you from here on in - this time next year and with the price of petrol the way it is I'm sure you'll wonder how you ever did without your Prius.

Very good luck with the baby

M