Gen 4 Drivers seat base replacement

March 22, 2018

My car was booked in at my local Toyota centre today to have the remainder of the full service items completed (as an intermediate service was carried out in error last week) and a replacement drivers seat base fitted as the seat height adjuster wasn't holding.

Took the car in at 8.00am. Just called them to see if the car was ready to pick up. Was told "We might be able to finish the additional service items today, but the seat base is much more complicated than we anticipated".

So, if they were able to let me drive it home, that says to me that they haven't even started to fit the seat base... (where would the driver sit). I said if I leave the car with you overnight, will you be able to finish it by tomorrow! Hopefully yes....

I'm sorry, I've lost all confidence in this SLM Toyota centre in St. Leonards. First they do the incorrect service, then the day it is booked for the seat base to be fitted it looks like they haven't attempted to start the work. If they said that somebody forgot to order the part, I might have understood. But to lie and say it is a much more complex job than they anticipated....

I shall be taking my car to another Toyota dealer in future, even if it is 20 miles away. Absolute shambles.

So, does anyone know how complicated it is to replace a drivers seat base? I assume their is some wiring for the heated seat (but no other electrics I am aware of), surely the remainder would be a number of bolts to the underneath of the seat to the new base and some bolts to fix it to the floor. Is this really a 2 day job, if so, please explain what I am missing.

Sorry, as you can probably tell, this has made me a tad angry.

March 22, 2018

1 hour ago, thecaretaker said:

...does anyone know how complicated it is to replace a drivers seat base?...

not entirely, but I imagine the side airbag and seat belt pretensioner system adds some complications to it.

March 22, 2018

Not trying to defend the dealership but it could well be something out of their direct control that has led them to this situation. Could be the "keyman" for the job has gone sick (or whatever) at short notice and they maybe prefer to wait till his skills come back. Just guessing. I understand you not a happy bunny at this moment but it could be it all works out favourably - or maybe not! I know its difficult not to make judgement but sometimes its best to get all sides of the facts.

March 22, 2018

2 hours ago, Catlover said:

Not trying to defend the dealership but it could well be something out of their direct control that has led them to this situation. Could be the "keyman" for the job has gone sick (or whatever) at short notice and they maybe prefer to wait till his skills come back. Just guessing. I understand you not a happy bunny at this moment but it could be it all works out favourably - or maybe not! I know its difficult not to make judgement but sometimes its best to get all sides of the facts.

If that was the case, if they explained their situation I would understand. I'm not an unreasonable person. Things do go wrong sometimes. But their communications skills are not what I expect from a Toyota main dealer.

March 23, 2018

Well, I got my car back this afternoon. I have to put my hands up, removing, repairing and re-installing a car seat is a far more complicated job than I ever imagined.

I spent sometime today looking it up. Due to the safety aspects of a car seat the mechanisms are not designed as a separate module but have to be integral to the design of the seat itself. It is rather misleading to call it a replacement seat base.

It is not something workshops have to do that often, which probably goes to show how reliable the working parts normally are.

Having a chat when I picked the car up they admitted to having a few raised voices at times.

Also, I would think the training workshop mechanics undertake focuses more on engines, brakes etc. They might cover door trim removal to fix window winders and locks, but I doubt they get much training on the removal repairing and re-installing a car seats.

I imagine it must be difficult to remove a seat without risking damaging the paintwork and without damaging the leather seat material when carrying out the repair.

This older Prius video was an eye opener: