It feels to me like incompetence or a rip-off.

[ToyVerso]

Verso Verso Tr Valvematic Cvt 2010 petrol.

Bought new from Toyota dealer + FSH with same dealer.  Very happy with car - no problems in 14 years - c. 56k miles.  But the last service ...

(a) Gold service + reported faults: Front suspension, Front Headlights (cloudy), oil leak from timing chain tensioner & water pump ... best part of £2k.

No visual leaks from where car parked on drive.  But I trusted them so if it needed to be done then it needed to be done.

(b) Drove car home  and next time started got Engine warning light (Malfunction light)  followed by the Slip indicator light.

(c) Back to dealer; they had it a day or so.  Fixed the problem.  Drove it home & got same thing.

(d) Back to dealer & they had it over a week (but no idea how long they looked at it for).  In the end "Timing Chain" needs replacement ... and another £1k.

My issues are:

- wouldn't the timing chain problem show up when they connected the car to engine management system (assuming that's what they do for errors/faults etc)

- wouldn't an engineer worth his/her salt have a checklist of potential issues for given problem descriptions ... would the timing chain be on that list?

- is the timing chain so hidden away that any failure comes as a real surprise to everyone?

Other (very) annoying issues:

- they seemed to have done something to the heating controls ... now "Dual" heating control equals Off & Off equals On; (I haven't the energy to take it back for them to fix (or damage something else))!

- the lower strips under the front bumper came loose when driving on the motorway ... loud slapping noise!  Jury-rigged with sticky tape for trip.  Then into cheapest body shop for cheap fix.  I was told "all of the screws are missing" ... would the dealer have taken this part off when replacing the headlights?  I thought it might have been done by someone's big left foot when leaning into the engine bay.  But body shop man adamant that screws purposefully removed.

Am I right to hold a mental grudge - I won't be going back to the dealer anyway but what do you think?

Thanks.

 

 

[Perfection]

For that sort of year (2010) like my Verso. I had to remove the bumper to replace the fog lights' bulb. Those screws will not come off easily (all rusted and welded) and if you try it hard it will snapped. This was what happened to mine. All the screws were snapped off. In the end I had to slowly drilled out the broken screw thread and use a large screw to reattach the bumper.

Your dealer is poor performer, they should had informed you that the screw are broken when they removed and can't be bothered to replace them.

[ThomasL]

Please do name & shame your dealer, the only thing companies understand these days is bad publicity.

[Bper]

The trouble is all dealers and mechanics are not the same. It's really frustrating to be told the car has so many issues and then being whacked with a £1k bill for the timing chain.

The dealer right or wrong will use the age of the car to mitigate the issues raised. As already been said try another dealer.🙂

[Perfection]

In 2021, one of my Auris Hybrid rear break was not working when operated by the handbrake when parked at a gradient, so during its' MoT I asked the MoT tester to check it out. This was my independent garage that does MoT every year. The car was then booked in for service at the dealer and had asked to look into the handbrake issue for not breaking one of the rear wheel and shown them the MoT advisory note. 

When I collected the car, I was charged for the usual full service and then an extra £70 for adjustment of the hand brake. 

In 2022, I went to the same MoT tester, this time he said I had not fix the defect in the MoT advisory note he issues to me last year. I told him the dealer did an adjustment and charged me already and expected to have fixed the issue.

I then got the car to another garage because the MoT tester does not carry out repairs. The other garage which I use to carry out regular work for me, like changing oil, replace brakes etc. We both looked at the Auris rear brake and coudl see that when the hand brake cable was actuating the brake, the piston ha no movement. It is obvious that the rear brake assembly is defective.  It was obvious that the dealer did not even look into that, so the handbrake adjustment was an add on payment for the final bill. The handbrake position was exactly at the same position. I initially thought the dealer had adjusted the cable. I called the dealer and they didn't even say sorry for the falsified work. 

This is why I don't trust the dealer where I am located, you have to use another garage to cross check each others work.  

 

Edited February 7 by Perfection
clarified details

[Mojo1010]

Some dealership repairs are just poor quality. Have never used dealers for any work apart from servicing to keep warranty, after that I'm using a distance relative who works for lexus. No shafting of big bills and unrepaired work. For some aren't so lucky to have a reliable indy mechanic. 

[jcps001]

That is a generall ill on many shops around the World.

A dealer isn't Toyota. It's a shop that is hired by Toyota to offer services to Toyota owners. There are good dealers and bad dealers. You just have to know where are the good ones and avoid the bad ones.

I can tell you that years ago I went to a Toyota dealer and for the yearly maintenance, and asked to clean the cooling circuit and replace the coolant.

I was charged a clean of the coolant system and new coolant.

One and a half years later, I found out on another shop that it wasn't made after all. And I paid for it.

Just because there's the brand logo on it, it doesn't mean the shop is trustworthy...

[Cyker]

It is a bit sad the variance in customer service across the dealer network these days; Was it better in the past or is it the rose-tinted spectacles? I feel like they were praised across the board back when I started driving!

 

[AndyN01]

Sorry to say this is a bit of a pet hate of mine.

I'm really "not amused" by the lying, cheating and falsifying practises that seem to be so much in fashion these days. Any old tat will do. Where's the pride in quality workmanship gone?

I try and use small, local and "busy" businesses which, in general, seem to be a better bet but have even fallen foul quite badly with one of those.

There seems to be some sort of epidemic of "putting one over" on everything and everyone. And I'm afraid that starts from the very top with the folks that run the country which IMHO sets the standard - so who's surprised when if becomes the norm?

To the good folks out there - please keep going. You know who you are 🙂.

Andy.

[Roy124]

17 hours ago, Perfection said:

It was obvious that the dealer did not even look into that, so the handbrake adjustment was an add on payment for the final bill. The handbrake position was exactly at the same position.

I hate to say but it is down to poor supervision,  time,  and communication. 

The job is booked in for Service Time and a Handbrake Time - that fixes your cost and their schedule. 

At the end of your time slot there was pressure on the mechanic,  more work, rest break, end of shift etc.

No supervision to see that jobs were actually completed. 

Accounts then pass the bill on.

If parts not supplied were billed that is fraud too.

In my case brake work was done but no fluid in the brake reservoir and the service not even done.  I didn't have the time,  or Internet, to report them.