Dealers and Warranty Claims

[Bozz]

I'm frustrated by the attitude of both my local dealers to warranty claims.

They just don't seem interested in investigating my issues with the car.

What's the point in a 10 year warranty if they just ignore or reject my claims?

They also have the audacity to charge to investigate. A great money spinner in my view. Why would I ask them to investigate if there wasn't a problem?

I booked my car for an intermediate service and gave them a day to do it plus investigate half a dozen small issues. Only one was investigated which ended in a replacement alarm module. The others were either ignored or dismissed as not  a valid claim.

Bl**dy annoying.

Bozz

 

 

[Paul 85]

I'm afraid that it's standard practice to charge an investigation fee but not to investigate issues you have asked them to look at is reprehensible. You might be better off going to a reputable non-Toyota garage for those issues. It should have no implications for the 10 year warranty providing you continue to have routine servicing done by Toyota.

[Parts-King]

It's a difficult balance, people often ask for jobs to be done that are not covered under warranty, the dealer won't get paid by manufacturer or customer. If you have a recovery rate of £60 per hour, it means every minute your technician is not doing anything (or being paid for doing something) it costs you £6 per minute, every minute, every hour of the day x number of technicians 

[AndyN01]

I agree that it's a difficult balance. Somewhat chicken and egg for the dealer. They've been asked to investigate but they have no idea if that investigation shall actually find anything which, in turn, may or may not be something that they can claim under a warranty.

Having said that, it's appalling that having been asked to investigate they've ignored the request. I'd be wondering (1) what value they put on customer service and satisfaction and (2) just how competent they are. Or is it simply "computer says erm...." and that's as far as we be can be bothered to go. Or maybe they haven't allocated enough time for the technician to "get stuck in" so they've just palmed you off.

Whatever the reason I'd be contacting Toyota UK to let them know and looking for somewhere else to look after the car as far as possible. A small independent garage with a good reputation would be my choice.

Good luck.

 

[ThomasL]

I don't see a problem charging for diagnosis as long as:

1. If Toyota agree to a warranty claim, the diagnosis fee is covered by Toyota

2. If Toyota don't agree it's a valid claim, the dealer doesn't charge for diagnosis if you pay them to do whatever work

Maybe they didn't bother investigating because they wanted to save you money, especially if they knew there was no way they could resolve your problem (e.g. dodgy software)

[SDR]

4 hours ago, Parts-King said:

 If you have a recovery rate of £60 per hour, it means every minute your technician is not doing anything (or being paid for doing something) it costs you £6 per minute, every minute, every hour of the day x number of technicians 

Errm, I think that £60 per hour is £1 per minute, isn't it?

Mind you, it might not be in motor trade maths...🙄

[Parts-King]

10 minutes ago, ThomasL said:

I don't see a problem charging for diagnosis as long as:

1. If Toyota agree to a warranty claim, the diagnosis fee is covered by Toyota

2. If Toyota don't agree it's a valid claim, the dealer doesn't charge for diagnosis if you pay them to do whatever work

Maybe they didn't bother investigating because they wanted to save you money, especially if they knew there was no way they could resolve your problem (e.g. dodgy software)

Fair and valid points, we would usually wave a fee if the diagnosis was fairly simple. You would be surprised how many people want to come in, have a diagnosis, but take it away and not have to pay for that diagnosis, not understanding (or rather not giving a hoot) about the costs of equipment costs/licence fees/techs time/wages etc etc 

"Will you just plug it in and tell me what's wrong with it" is a common occurrence, and no, we won't do that.  

[Parts-King]

1 minute ago, SDR said:

Errm, I think that £60 per hour is £1 per minute, isn't it?

Mind you, it might not be in motor trade maths...🙄

LOL, sorry, we work in blocks of 0.1, 0.2 or whatever, so 6 mins per block, £6 per block of lost time, my bad, apologies 

[Obsidian Estate]

I've had 1 warranty claim.  I moaned about the door rubbers because they had gone grey and washed out. The following day I got a call to book the car in and they were replaced without quibble.

[FreddoChoc]

I brought a 2023 Corolla TS into a North Wales dealer with two garages. Jackanory (story) time follows:

They fixed one warranty claim and referred the other to Toyota UK for an answer. I then contacted Toyota UK for an answer to my outstanding issue and told me the dealer will contact you to book the car in, who then booked the car in again and then referred the issue back to Toyota UK unfixed (I thought Toyota UK had an answer the second time). I then contacted the dealer for an update after a month and they said they are still awaiting an answer and will let me know when they get one, I emailed Toyota UK a few times and they did not answer. I'm still awaiting an answer 4 months later.

I found the answer on these forums and told the garage when the car went in for a service.

My next car will still be a Toyota.

[Cyker]

I think that is the main issue - The gamut between all the dealers is just too wide between the best and worst.

There are examples of good dealers - The Lindop group that PartsKing works for consistently ranked in the top spot when this forum had a dealer rankings page - but it does feel like the closer you get to London the worse they get  

[Obsidian Estate]

15 hours ago, Cyker said:

I think that is the main issue - The gamut between all the dealers is just too wide between the best and worst.

There are examples of good dealers - The Lindop group that PartsKing works for consistently ranked in the top spot when this forum had a dealer rankings page - but it does feel like the closer you get to London the worse they get  

I used to run Peugeots (before I got fed up of **** dropping off them), and they had some terrible dealers.

[forkingabout]

1 hour ago, Obsidian Estate said:

I used to run Peugeots (before I got fed up of **** dropping off them), and they had some terrible dealers.

I'm banned from my nearest Peugeot dealer due to there inability to fix a previous vehicle of mine under manufacturers warranty that got them in trouble with Peugeot UK 🤣

I was also on first name terms with the service department staff at the replacement Peugeot dealer I used after the nearest one banned me.

[Parts-King]

17 hours ago, Cyker said:

I think that is the main issue - The gamut between all the dealers is just too wide between the best and worst.

There are examples of good dealers - The Lindop group that PartsKing works for consistently ranked in the top spot when this forum had a dealer rankings page - but it does feel like the closer you get to London the worse they get  

It also seems the bigger the group the less personal service you receive, could be any franchise. We have a much smaller turnover of staff than large groups, you get to know your customers personally. I shall miss a lot of good people when I retire at the end of August

[forkingabout]

3 minutes ago, Parts-King said:

I shall miss a lot of good people when I retire at the end of August

Do you get to keep your Toyota employee discount scheme access after retirement? 

[Parts-King]

1 minute ago, forkingabout said:

Do you get to keep your Toyota employee discount scheme access after retirement? 

No, however they will look after me at a dealer level if I need to buy anything, I doubt TGB will even know I'm retiring 

[Obsidian Estate]

3 hours ago, forkingabout said:

I'm banned from my nearest Peugeot dealer due to there inability to fix a previous vehicle of mine under manufacturers warranty that got them in trouble with Peugeot UK 🤣

I was also on first name terms with the service department staff at the replacement Peugeot dealer I used after the nearest one banned me.

I bought second hand laptop and diagbox and diagnosed most things myself. Got my local mechanic to replace the parts.

[forkingabout]

6 minutes ago, Obsidian Estate said:

I bought second hand laptop and diagbox and diagnosed most things myself. Got my local mechanic to replace the parts.

I had Planet then Diagbox & it came in useful many times during my Peugeot ownership, got rid once I became a Toyota owner. 

[Cyker]

6 hours ago, Parts-King said:

It also seems the bigger the group the less personal service you receive, could be any franchise. We have a much smaller turnover of staff than large groups, you get to know your customers personally. I shall miss a lot of good people when I retire at the end of August

Definitely; I hardly know anyone in my local dealers, esp. in the parts and servicing departments, as they have such a high rates of turnover  

Even my neighbour left recently as he got sick of the lack of support and how he was being treated by the leadership.