A lady needs help

[Paullette Sparks]

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I own a 2016 Rav4 with 50 km's. I purchased the extended warranty, although I don't know why.

 

Two years ago the Battery went dead and I took it to my dealer for repairs. The said I needed a new alternator as well. I thought that would be still under warranty. They said it was not and to read the fine print. So I paid the bill and drove it home. When I stopped at a light, I turned on my heater fan and the RPM dropped by 200 revs. The vehicle shook like crazy so I took it back. They told me to take it home, put the car on a level spot, turn the ignition to on twice and then start the car. Put is in drive and hold the brake for several minutes. Apparently that resets the computer so made sense, problem was that did not fix it. Took it back to the dealer and was told, that is normal, nothing they can do. Put it on a scanner of some sort, got charged for one hours labour and was told, nothing wrong.  I find this hard to believe and I always trusted them.

 

Last year, my air conditioning did not work so took that to the dealer cause my extended warranty is still good.  They said that a steel line of some sort had a hole in it and that some one must have done that, do no warranty. Another big bill and I still do not believe that  happened as my car is always locked.

 

Now several weeks ago, the transmission went and again they will not cover it and told me it will cost me seven thousand dollars. I am just so upset with all this and now what to do. I had my son contact toyota and a customer service said they would investigate but then has some one who said they were a type of adjudicator for just such problems.  It was a woman and she told me that the transmission had no fluid in it and that was my fault. But this type of vehicle does not have any way of checking the fluid, there are no leaks where I park it and the dealership does all my maintenance.  I constantly ask every time I come in if they would check all the fluid levels and they tell me it is fine. 

 

What do I do with a car that is sitting here in my parking space that will not run and yet I still have a balance of my warranty left on it?  My friends all tell me I am being scammed. this car is like my baby, it is well looked after and never abused. I even tried calling their owner in japan, he does not take personal calls apparently.

 

paullette

 

 

[Bper]

Hi Paullette, From your post you say you have used this dealer for servicing etc since you purchased the car. Have you had any other issues with them prior to the Battery problem. 

You need to to read the details of the warranty to understand what is covered and what is not. If you are unable to understand the terminology then ask a relative or neighbor who has experience with cars to explain them to you. Toyota recommend changing the transmission fluid at 60,000miles or 72 months and as your car is 7years old it should have been checked on a service schedule if so this should be on the invoice you received if not ask why it has not been checked as it is their responsibility to do so.

However without any leaks being identified on your vehicle with this low milage how can the transmission fluid be empty.

I would suggest you contact Toyota head office and ask them to explain how this can happen without any leaks. Depending on their reply along with the terms and conditions of your warranty I would seek legal advice to address these issues you are having and in doing so hopefully this may force them to help resolve this for you with Toyota head office.

Unfortunately your car is not drivable and I would ask Toyota to provide you with a courtesy car whilst this is being investigated. 

You can of course arrange for the vehicle to be picked up and taken to another Toyota dealer to get a second opinion but check the warranty details and service schedule for your vehicle to see if it did have a transmission fluid check carried out . Hope this advice helps

 

 

 

[Roy124]

1 hour ago, Paullette Sparks said:

... a woman and she told me that the transmission had no fluid in it and that was my fault. But this type of vehicle does not have any way of checking the fluid, there are no leaks where I park it .....

I think you are being  scammed,  however no fluid on your drive is not evidence on no leak.  If the fluid had leaked out elsewhere then there would be none on your drive.  Just saying. 

Look for evidence around the housing.   If it's clean and dry then perhaps the transmission oil change mentioned by Bob was drained but not refilled.

In Scotland I had a 'full service' and some work on the brakes.  Fortunately I discovered there was no brakes fluid in the brakes.   On further checking the engine oil has not been changed. 

I think you need to find another garage, ask them about your computer reset instruction.  As you are on the US (I think) try and contact The Car Care Nut  you might get some good advice there.