Customer Care

[marty32]

Hello to all you fellow CTS drivers

never thought id see this day but ive had a very disappointing experience in terms of customer care and i have to admit i thought the attitude of customer relations left a lot of desire.

i find myself in a position that my beloved tsport has rather a thirst for the old engine oil, having researched this topic there are numerous people have had new engine blocks under warranty. The response from toyota is that because my engine isnt within a certain range they wont do bot all about it.

the worst thing is that i am still under warranty and they want me to pay for the labour to strip the engine down.....pants or what?

as a friendly warning to all toyotas view is that to use a litre of oil in 600 miles is normal as per page 236 of the owners manual....i would understand if u were using the lift all the time but when u drive like miss daisy or a grandad at 50mph in rush hour traffic every day you can hartdly be doing that

never thought id say this but im considering a switch to vw or honda

[chrisio]

I had an issue with Toyota UK customer services some time back.

Some snotty bint on the end of the line talked down to me as if I was an inconvenience to her 'busy' life.

Talk to trading standards if you think Toyota are not exercising due care

[T128]

yes the so called toyota customer care is crap.

marty32 you know when you are low on oil did the light come on the dash or did you check the dipstick ?

[Armz]

Hello to all you fellow CTS drivers

never thought id see this day but ive had a very disappointing experience in terms of customer care and i have to admit i thought the attitude of customer relations left a lot of desire.

i find myself in a position that my beloved tsport has rather a thirst for the old engine oil, having researched this topic there are numerous people have had new engine blocks under warranty. The response from toyota is that because my engine isnt within a certain range they wont do bot all about it.

the worst thing is that i am still under warranty and they want me to pay for the labour to strip the engine down.....pants or what?

as a friendly warning to all toyotas view is that to use a litre of oil in 600 miles is normal as per page 236 of the owners manual....i would understand if u were using the lift all the time but when u drive like miss daisy or a grandad at 50mph in rush hour traffic every day you can hartdly be doing that

never thought id say this but im considering a switch to vw or honda

I've checked my oil maybe 2-3 times in the time i've owned it, and its always been perfect. Every engine is different though, but i would say there is something defintely wrong with yours. Mine hasn't used a drop of oil in over 14 months of normal and lift driving. Seems to me another case of the corp's just can't be bothered to do their jobs. Easier to just go with the flow and leave all problems unfixed, and paying customers as they are. they have your money already, they're happy as it is.

Armz.

[Parts-King]

If the car is under warranty why are you contacting customer relations? Is it an extended warranty? If it was under normal 3yr 60K warranty you would expect the dealer to strip it and find out what is wrong, or am I missing something?

Kingo

[marty32]

thanks for the replies so far guys, i bought the car at 2 1/2 years old im literally a month or so outside the 3 yr manufacturer warranty but they gave me a top up of extended warranty which is underwritten by toyota and has there logo stamped allover it. the car has 36000 miles on it which is the hardest part to take.

i have spoke to the delaer who seem to have there hands tied it is them who said to call customer relations. they said that a litre per 1000 miles is normal and that as long as i keep the oil topped up it wont fail. my argument to this is what happens if the oil consumption goes over the normal level when im out of warranty they aint gonna pay to fix it are they when ive alerted them to the issue at an early stage.

i have taken bit finance on thru the dealer and they are looking at my rights through there legal liason dept. in looking at this i feel that the paragraph in the service book is a dodgy disclaimer in my opinion and there is a possibility of a case for misrepresentation here.

to be fair ive been luck with this cos the oil was down to just above the minimum the light flickered when i parked on a road with a camber so my gut feeling said check it straight away and sure enough the oil was low but was still between the two marks on the dipstick.

i have done a bit of research on this on the net and found that a guy in portugal with a tpsort had the same problem but his engine went dry and blew! dont know if any of you know this but a tsport engine is 5500 to replace. i only know thru a guy my mate works with had a celica tsport and this got stuck in the floods and was wrote off cos of the cost to replace the engine.

ive spoke to 2 people at customer relations a snotty woman and a bloke that had a chip on his shoulder.

ive also written to a national newspaper they have a consumer champion who i think will love something like this and a chance to have a go at a garage chain. failing this im going to visit the dealer and shout loud till i get what i want

will keep you updated watch this space

[ae102]

i was told the same by the dealer parts king works at so i contacted toyota and they said i should have to pay nothing. when i contacted the dealer again they told me i will only have to pay if they did a strip down and couldnt locate the problem. i had no problems when it come to changing my clutch - well i say no problems they damaged the car and wouldnt put the problem right! when it came to stripping the gearbox they where very unkeen to undertake the work saying ther is no issue with t sport gearbox only the clutches even though a modified clutch didnt solve the gearbox issue. if you have no joy from one dealer take it to another. as for vw and honda dealers being better - not what ive heard! car dealers have a bad rep for a good reason although toyota dont seem quite as bad as others although there is still a big margin for improvement and a big difference from dealer to dealer.

[chrisio]

My car is due for its 30k service soon and I will be asking them to look at my gearbox.

I sometimes cannot select gears due to sloppy shifter, the release bearing is making a 'sizzling' type of sound and it occasionally crunches into second.

Hopefuly they will sort it under warranty so watch this space.....

[Armz]

thanks for the replies so far guys, i bought the car at 2 1/2 years old im literally a month or so outside the 3 yr manufacturer warranty but they gave me a top up of extended warranty which is underwritten by toyota and has there logo stamped allover it. the car has 36000 miles on it which is the hardest part to take.

i have spoke to the delaer who seem to have there hands tied it is them who said to call customer relations. they said that a litre per 1000 miles is normal and that as long as i keep the oil topped up it wont fail. my argument to this is what happens if the oil consumption goes over the normal level when im out of warranty they aint gonna pay to fix it are they when ive alerted them to the issue at an early stage.

i have taken bit finance on thru the dealer and they are looking at my rights through there legal liason dept. in looking at this i feel that the paragraph in the service book is a dodgy disclaimer in my opinion and there is a possibility of a case for misrepresentation here.

to be fair ive been luck with this cos the oil was down to just above the minimum the light flickered when i parked on a road with a camber so my gut feeling said check it straight away and sure enough the oil was low but was still between the two marks on the dipstick.

i have done a bit of research on this on the net and found that a guy in portugal with a tpsort had the same problem but his engine went dry and blew! dont know if any of you know this but a tsport engine is 5500 to replace. i only know thru a guy my mate works with had a celica tsport and this got stuck in the floods and was wrote off cos of the cost to replace the engine.

ive spoke to 2 people at customer relations a snotty woman and a bloke that had a chip on his shoulder.

ive also written to a national newspaper they have a consumer champion who i think will love something like this and a chance to have a go at a garage chain. failing this im going to visit the dealer and shout loud till i get what i want

will keep you updated watch this space

Just a tip, make sure you go down when they are completely full with customers. If there is somebody there who is about to order a vehicle even better.

Make yourself heard throughout the entire building/forecourt/street. Make sure you talk loudly enough so that other potential customers get a good hear of what is going on. Make it public what you have to deal with and how you are being treated. At that point Toyota will do anything to keep you happy as they could be losing a lot of potential buyers. Be firm, but polite. If you come across as a serious customer, nothing Toyota says will hold any water infront of the other customers. It will also further go to show what kind of aftersales care they operate.

It's always better to voice your concerns when there are others around then you have more leverage. If the dealership is empty they will not give a damn. Business probably isn't good there so they make their money through deferring any and all warranty work. With exception if you need something done that costs them 50 pence. This is my experience with over 70% of the retailers i have dealt with to date. The other 30% have been perfect in every way.

Good luck and keep us posted on what the outcome is.

Armz.

[marty32]

ive already given the general manager some serious earache both in writing over the phone. in fairness he called me within 90 mins of reading my 3 page snotty letter.

next plan is to go down there and see him in person with the old im not leaving till you sort this approach.

[Armz]

ive already given the general manager some serious earache both in writing over the phone. in fairness he called me within 90 mins of reading my 3 page snotty letter.

next plan is to go down there and see him in person with the old im not leaving till you sort this approach.

In person is the only way. You'll be swept under the carpet and be given endless excuses unless you get proactive and go to them. They love phone calls, emails and letters. They just skim through then file/shred the documents, and usually you have no idea if they are listeing to your concerns on the phone or just holding the reciever to a plant in the corner. Usually sidestepping your concerns and the issue at hand.

Their potential customers on the day are what will make or break what you will get done.

In this day and age i find more and more retailers acting like this. We the consumers actually have more rights then the retailers, but they are so well hidden and unknown that most people just give up and pay out to rectify others mistakes.

Sorry but if you have warranty on the car then ANYTHING that goes wrong they have to leaglly fix/put right. Don't accept anything less.

Know your rights and what you are entitled to, make it known to them you know your rights, let them understand that you are reasonable but have not been dealt reasonabily/professionally. So inlight of that you have only one option if they do not 'play ball'. To let all their customers there know how you got 'fleeced'.

Cheers

Armz.

[marty32]

funny we should be talking wrranty i just got my paperwork out for when i go down there and it says that the pistons etc are covered so more i think about it they are extracting the urine here.

got another tool to use agains then tho im due a service in 1500 miles and they getting told in no uncertain terms that no money comes there way till i get sorted

in fact on the principle of it ill be using another dealer to service my car

[tccom]

funny we should be talking wrranty i just got my paperwork out for when i go down there and it says that the pistons etc are covered so more i think about it they are extracting the urine here.

got another tool to use agains then tho im due a service in 1500 miles and they getting told in no uncertain terms that no money comes there way till i get sorted

in fact on the principle of it ill be using another dealer to service my car

hi,it does not matter what car manufacturer you deal with they are all the same.i had a 9 month old astra sri which had numerous parts fitted and then 3 new engines to cure a rattle,in the end vauxhall washed there hands of it,and it was still under warranty so i jibed it and got a compressor. :P

[Parts-King]

You would all expect me to give a dealers point of view and here goes!

New car warranty and used car/extended warranty are NOT the same and you do not have the same rights. I don't know Martys personal and vehicle details, so I am going to generalise.

New car warranty provides full cover for MANUFACTURING DEFECTS, things do go wrong, and the manufacturer pays the dealer to put them right. Extended or used car warranties are insurance policies. You buy or are given a warranty, and it is insurance backed, the insurer insures you car against mechanical failure. There will be a list of parts covered, pistons may well be included, but there must be a proven mechanical failure of a piston for you to claim on the policy, a worn piston causing high oil consumption may not be covered as it is technically wear and tear, not mechanical failure.

Don't shoot the messanger Marty, I do have sympathy, but go to your dealer and be firm, forget the "I'm not leaving here till I get what I want" attitude as it will be more difficult to get resolved. sit them down, discuss how long you have had the car, discuss the facts and try to work with them, if you go in all guns blazing you will only have somebody dig their heels in, and if you have "Wear and tear" somebody may well delight in telling you so. Be cool and involve the general manager if possible, you will get further by adopting this stance

Kingo

[Armz]

You would all expect me to give a dealers point of view and here goes!

New car warranty and used car/extended warranty are NOT the same and you do not have the same rights. I don't know Martys personal and vehicle details, so I am going to generalise.

New car warranty provides full cover for MANUFACTURING DEFECTS, things do go wrong, and the manufacturer pays the dealer to put them right. Extended or used car warranties are insurance policies. You buy or are given a warranty, and it is insurance backed, the insurer insures you car against mechanical failure. There will be a list of parts covered, pistons may well be included, but there must be a proven mechanical failure of a piston for you to claim on the policy, a worn piston causing high oil consumption may not be covered as it is technically wear and tear, not mechanical failure.

Don't shoot the messanger Marty, I do have sympathy, but go to your dealer and be firm, forget the "I'm not leaving here till I get what I want" attitude as it will be more difficult to get resolved. sit them down, discuss how long you have had the car, discuss the facts and try to work with them, if you go in all guns blazing you will only have somebody dig their heels in, and if you have "Wear and tear" somebody may well delight in telling you so. Be cool and involve the general manager if possible, you will get further by adopting this stance

Kingo

Some valuable information there.

Although i do disagree with the sit down part. Sitting down only goes to show them that you are prepared to make a deal based on what THEY want to do. Not what SHOULD be done by the dealer. Granted every dealer is different, the general rule is to know what you want done within reason. The reasonable part is most important. Don't demand more than you are legally entitled, but be firm. As often these are not brought to the customers attention so we end up the one footing the bills. Retailers have got far too used to timid customers whom do not know their full rights, even when the contract clearly states what they are entitled to.

Having been in a longstanding issue with a retailer for the past two weeks regarding a 32inch LCD and designer smoked black glass cabinet i bought for my sister birthday. I was more than patient, got lied to many times, missed deliveries, incomplete items, wrong colour cabinet, wrong style/model of cabinet. My sisters birthday came and went, the LCD and cabinet still was not what i ordered. I must have called them atleast twice a day since October 18th. Sister birthday was on Oct26th which came and went. After speaking everyday to managers, customer services, again i was fed more lies. In the end, i put the LCD and all the incomplete wrong items outside into the street earlier today and spoke to my credit card company. Now i have my money and have finally managed to get to a resoluion. Ofcourse minus the present which was for my sister, and possible a lot of missing hair off my head from the stress.

The point is, if you act in a timid manner you will NEVER get anything done, unless you get to deal with a honest person who does ALL he can to put things right. But even that is a miracle nowadays. If you want something done be forceful and polite. NOT violent, arrogant, unreasonable. Cannot stress that enough.

Everyone will have had different experiences, but from mine i can safely say, accountability and reasonsiblity is no longer part of our culture, unfortunately.

My method of dealing with difficult companies has never once failed. So i must be doing something right. :)

Cheers.

Armz.

[marty32]

the current situation is i am at general manager level within the dealership, have alrteady tried to go back and be reasonable and spoke to a salesman who i could only describe as something beginning with the letter w ending with an r yes u got it.... a ******!

i have stressed to the gm how i have only had the car a very short time, have also advised i feel toyota are missing the point and are not listening to the customer pointof view. having spoken to him for some 40 minutes on the phone he openly admitted he felt thers a problem but he is lost as to what he can do as toyota is written above the door

he has since failed to reply to a letter i sent so i feel the next step is to go and visit him in person! i plan to use a firm but fair approach and give them chance to put forward suggestions but he will be under no illusions that ill not be fobbed off.

i am very aware that i need to keep calm but if i feel im being fobbed off then ill address that. 2 of my pals who drive toyotas bought from the same garage are going to accompany me for some support.

i must admit i am beginning to get sick of all the running round. had a good offer for the car today which im considering taking to get rid of the hassle. considering uptil recently id had 3 years of toyota driving hassle free im seriously considering gettin rid and never getting another toyota out of principle

[Armz]

the current situation is i am at general manager level within the dealership, have alrteady tried to go back and be reasonable and spoke to a salesman who i could only describe as something beginning with the letter w ending with an r yes u got it.... a ******!

i have stressed to the gm how i have only had the car a very short time, have also advised i feel toyota are missing the point and are not listening to the customer pointof view. having spoken to him for some 40 minutes on the phone he openly admitted he felt thers a problem but he is lost as to what he can do as toyota is written above the door

he has since failed to reply to a letter i sent so i feel the next step is to go and visit him in person! i plan to use a firm but fair approach and give them chance to put forward suggestions but he will be under no illusions that ill not be fobbed off.

i am very aware that i need to keep calm but if i feel im being fobbed off then ill address that. 2 of my pals who drive toyotas bought from the same garage are going to accompany me for some support.

i must admit i am beginning to get sick of all the running round. had a good offer for the car today which im considering taking to get rid of the hassle. considering uptil recently id had 3 years of toyota driving hassle free im seriously considering gettin rid and never getting another toyota out of principle

Don't accept anything other than a full solution, and in reasonable time-scale aswell.

As i said the timid approach does not work, you will get walked all over.

Good luck.

Armz.

[marty32]

i did a bit of leaning on the finance people today gave them bit of earache spent bout an hour or so on the phone finally getting somewere i have my own case handler now that assures me some butt kicking will be done and i will get a satisfactory resolution.

its amazing how helpful they beccome when u say i aint paying you if you dont sort this for me and i was so polite on the phone as well

[Armz]

i did a bit of leaning on the finance people today gave them bit of earache spent bout an hour or so on the phone finally getting somewere i have my own case handler now that assures me some butt kicking will be done and i will get a satisfactory resolution.

its amazing how helpful they beccome when u say i aint paying you if you dont sort this for me and i was so polite on the phone as well

Great glad to hear you are getting somewhere now. The firm approach always works. ;)

Armz.

[marty32]

checked the oil today doesn seem tto have used as much past 1000 miles! bit strange i thought but never the less i want it checked out

went to another dealer to enquire about service, bumped into the sales exec that sold me my celica at a previous garage, said to go back when im due in 1000 miles and he will personally see that im looked after. mentioned about trying to wangle the loan of the auris t180 while mine is serviced

nice to see there are some professional people that still exist

[Armz]

checked the oil today doesn seem tto have used as much past 1000 miles! bit strange i thought but never the less i want it checked out

went to another dealer to enquire about service, bumped into the sales exec that sold me my celica at a previous garage, said to go back when im due in 1000 miles and he will personally see that im looked after. mentioned about trying to wangle the loan of the auris t180 while mine is serviced

nice to see there are some professional people that still exist

They certainly do exist. the hard part is to find them. :)

Armz.

[Uptownbob]

Some bad news I'm afraid in addition to Yaris (wifes car) I own a 2006 (56) Honda 2.2 CDTi (Diesel) it has covered a tad over 9000 miles so far, OK fair enough I don't hang around when I drive it but so far I have put in a 4 litre can of oil since new last year at £42 per can I thought this was excessive however according to Honda's workshop techs and manual this engine can be expected to burn a litre of oil about every 600 miles "sound faniliar?" I have been advised that after about 12/15000 miles some engines (but not all) do tend to settle down?

[marty32]

the thing that sticks in my throat is they dont tell you this and its not openly obvious in the manual its on page 250 sumat. i feel this is a very dodgy disclainmer if you ask me. got offered an astra vxr on an 06 plate cheap this morning im a bit tempted part from fact it has a vauxhall Badge on it

[borodaz]

the thing that sticks in my throat is they dont tell you this and its not openly obvious in the manual its on page 250 sumat. i feel this is a very dodgy disclainmer if you ask me. got offered an astra vxr on an 06 plate cheap this morning im a bit tempted part from fact it has a vauxhall badge on it

vauxhall Badge or not that car is a flying machine and looks amazing i would have one anyday :)

[tccom]

the thing that sticks in my throat is they dont tell you this and its not openly obvious in the manual its on page 250 sumat. i feel this is a very dodgy disclainmer if you ask me. got offered an astra vxr on an 06 plate cheap this morning im a bit tempted part from fact it has a vauxhall badge on it

vauxhall Badge or not that car is a flying machine and looks amazing i would have one anyday :)

hi,do not go near the vauxhall astra there not worth the agro after the hassle i had over 16 months i would not touch a vauxhall again.