Warranty Question

[elvis stubbs]

Hi all

I have a 1.8 Avensis Estate (53 plate) which was purchased from a Toyota dealer in Tamworth back in August last year. A few months back I was told that there was a recall on my particular model to fix a problem which can cause excessive oil burning - something to do with having a new 'bottom end' fitted. I was informed that this would all be covered in the warranty. Today, I received a call to say that a part had finally arrived and that Toyota just needed to see the service history before carrying out the work. However, there now seems to be a problem. I have had the car serviced once since I bought it (30k miles). The problem appears to be the previous owner didn't service the car until 24k miles and now it seems they may not pay for the work because of this. I did question the salesman at the time when I bought the car regarding the late servicing of the vehicle but was told not to worry as I would automatically receive 12 months warranty from the dealer.

Can any helpful person shed some light on this please?

thanks

[TheNissanMan]

Don;t quote me but I thought a product recall was diffferent as it is a fault of the vehicle designand not something that has gone wrong through normal practices...

I would argue that as it is an official Toyota Recall that requires the part to be changed they should be footing the bill anyways....

[runboy]

Agree! Warranty claim that came about because you used the wrong type of oil, maybe they could whinge, but a recall because of a problem THEY caused-no way-they have to fix.

Can you just see it......recall due to a steering fault (ooooh, lets see....wrong bolt used that could come loose)....dealer says he won't fix recall because of service history.....you have accident. But then they would probably blame you for it anyway!

[Big Bad Bob]

Agree! Warranty claim that came about because you used the wrong type of oil, maybe they could whinge, but a recall because of a problem THEY caused-no way-they have to fix.

Can you just see it......recall due to a steering fault (ooooh, lets see....wrong bolt used that could come loose)....dealer says he won't fix recall because of service history.....you have accident. But then they would probably blame you for it anyway!

The problem you have is not a recall all it is a known fault with a field fix the cars were not recalled for this problem so Toyota are not paying out if the car has missed services !

The dealer should not have told you it was a recall they are tring to drum up work (as motor trade is slow at mo ) .

The way I would go at it is to first make sure the sold it you with a full history ie some paper work with it wrritten on then the dealer is at fault they are then responsable not toyota warrenty .

If no paper work with it on then just shout loudly at toyota customer help line and more so at the dealer that sold you the car .

Hope this helps

[silverarrow]

all cars sold via a main agent have a 12 month warranty full stop

speak to trading standards and also did the garage tell you it had the toyota warranty ???

toyota have done warranty work on cars which are over the correct miles this sets a starting point check if the car had any other warranty work ie they knew the service was done late and still did warranty work

with high miles it s difficult to get booked in on time with mercedes its about a 7 week wait if you want a service car

[elvis stubbs]

thanks for the help chaps

I've since spoken to the dealer who has assured me that there should not be a problem and that they are just following 'procedure'. As far as I'm concerned I bought the car with a 12 month warranty from the dealer and the fact that the previous owner missed a service shouldn't be an issue (they would have been aware of that when the car was sold). I have also had work done under warranty since I have had the car.

I'll let you know how I get on.

[silverarrow]

if you have a problem speak to local trading standards 12 months warranty is 12 months warranty letter to toyota japan they take customer service and honesty with high respect and they know what has occured to other jap car companies that have not been honest

thanks for the help chaps

I've since spoken to the dealer who has assured me that there should not be a problem and that they are just following 'procedure'. As far as I'm concerned I bought the car with a 12 month warranty from the dealer and the fact that the previous owner missed a service shouldn't be an issue (they would have been aware of that when the car was sold). I have also had work done under warranty since I have had the car.

I'll let you know how I get on.

[elvis stubbs]

hi all

still waiting for a reply from dealer...

on a side issue - I bought the car end of July last year so the current 12 month dealer warranty expires then. The car was originally purchased 5/9/03 so that would make the 3 yr warranty due to expire a month later. Seen as there seems to be an issue over the 10k service being missed by the previous owner what rights would I have to ensure that the extra month is honoured? The dealer did not make me aware at the time of purchase of the incomplete service history.

thanks in advance

[Big Bad Bob]

hi all

still waiting for a reply from dealer...

on a side issue - I bought the car end of July last year so the current 12 month dealer warranty expires then. The car was originally purchased 5/9/03 so that would make the 3 yr warranty due to expire a month later. Seen as there seems to be an issue over the 10k service being missed by the previous owner what rights would I have to ensure that the extra month is honoured? The dealer did not make me aware at the time of purchase of the incomplete service history.

thanks in advance

I would speak to the dealer about the extra month they have been known to not take out the warrenty when it is still under 3year so I would get the number of the warrenty company and check that your car is reg with them .

As your car is under 3 years old I would not worry about the missed service toyota tend not to want to see the service book under 3 years old (but make sure work is done or booked to be done before the 3 years is up )

[GIDDLEPIN]

all cars sold via a main agent have a 12 month warranty full stop

speak to trading standards and also did the garage tell you it had the toyota warranty ???

toyota have done warranty work on cars which are over the correct miles this sets a starting point check if the car had any other warranty work ie they knew the service was done late and still did warranty work

with high miles it s difficult to get booked in on time with mercedes its about a 7 week wait if you want a service car

Would double check the twelve month issue, I work for a NIssan Main Dealer and out cars only come with a 3 month warranty if outside manufacturers warranty as standard although this can be extended, at a cost of course.

[silverarrow]

fact all approved toyotas have a 12 month warr

the garage will back down do not want the rac looking at how they have passed a car that is not up to scratch ie warranty not valid

I KNOW TOYOTA SELL EX HIRE WITH LATE SERVICING

BUT WANT TO KEEP THE USED PRICES UP SO THEY SELL THEM AS APPROVED BUT THE RAC "CHECK" THE CARS OUT

SPEAK TO RAC RE THIS PROBLEM MIS REPRESENTATION

[elvis stubbs]

hi all

booked my car in for next Monday to have my 'bottom end' sorted and Toyota have assured me it is covered on the warranty. However, they have said that they may need to have the vehicle for up to two weeks! Apparently they need to strip down the engine and verify the problem - only then can the relevant part be 'authorised' and sent.

I think this has something to do with the fact that the dealer originally said that the warranty company would only cover the work if it was the recall issue I had been told about. He'd told me that they would have to strip the engine down and take photos which would then be sent on to the warranty company. If it wasn't the problem they'd predicted then there may be an issue with payment!

Obviously I told the dealer that this was totally unacceptable as any work, regardless of the problem would surely be covered on the dealers 12 month warranty. This was agreed after the salesman 'had a word with someone' and the car was booked in. It seems that the dealer will have to argue the toss with the warranty company as to who is liable if it turns out to be a different problem than they first thought.

At least I will have a courtesy car for a couple of weeks...

[elvis stubbs]

further to the above...

I spoke to the dealer again today and it still seems that there is a grey area regarding the warranty. As it stands my car is going in to have the engine stripped down so they can examine the piston rings which they believe to be the cause of the excessive oil usage. Apparently they were told by Toyota to look out for such symptoms as it is a known problem. The dealer has told me that he is 99% that this is the case and said that the warranty will cover this. If, however, it is a different problem that could be in anyway due to the previous owners neglect to service until 24k then he refused to say whether it would be covered. I was amazed at this. As far as I'm concerned the dealers warranty covers the car for 12 months regardless of any previous history.

Is anyone aware of a head office contact I could try in order to clarify this?

thanks in advance

[Big Bad Bob]

Try the customer service line I have the number at work I will look it out asap.

[silverarrow]

letter to toyota japan come on mr t

you want us to pay more at main agents but look at what happens when we need help

come on mr t come on mr t

fix the car how many customers will read this and buy a honda ??????

[Starensis]

A word of warning. Be very careful with the short engine replacement!

If they strip it down & find all measurements are within spec, they will charge you £500+ for the work.

If they have been monitoring the oil usage, then you should clarify that they are stripping it using their data & not yours!!

Something in writing is the only way to cover yourself.

[elvis stubbs]

thanks for the warning although it was actually the dealer who picked up that it was burning oil and told me what would need to be done. I had initially taken it down because I had a fault light come up on the dash. Half of me thinks they were just drumming up work for themselves because Toyota had told them to look out for these symptons.

Anyhow, the cars been in for 3 days now and no news...hopefully that means good news?...

[Black Knight]

You've a good arguement for a warranty claim whatever since you'll be covered for any problems based on the 12 month dealer warranty (looking at your reg you're outside the 3 years manufacturers warranty though yes?)

The reason the dealer will be umm-ing and ahhh-ing over it is they'll be debating who pays for it. If it was still inside manufacturers warranty it would mean the manufacturer paying and the dealer would get all their money back. If it isn't covered by manufacturers warranty though it'll be the dealers 12 month warranty meaning the dealer has to pay for the work to be done. They'll be doing pretty much anything they can to weasel out of that.

Stick to your guns.

[elvis stubbs]

good news so far...

the dealer has had the authorisation to go ahead and fit a replacement short engine...

ok, erm...what does that mean?!

[Black Knight]

Bottom end of the engine (no cylinder head)

[silverarrow]

told you you would win in the end

well done

BUT would you buy another toyota

[elvis stubbs]

not out of the woods yet...

had a call yesterday to say that the part was still on order and would be another 2 weeks! - meanwhile my car is in bits on the ramp...

I was told the part was ready before the warranty problem came up - now it seems they've had to order it again? At least they have upgraded the courtesy car (Yaris) to a T3 5dr (air con. - yey!).

Buy another Toyota? I think I'll see how this pans out first. In fairness to them I have found them very helpful and had been impressed with the service so far. I guess it's not in the dealers best interest to have a ramp out of action for a month while they're wrangling with the warranty company and suppliers.

keep you posted...