94 Toyota Corolla - question

That's the dealership, but the service manager has changed in the last year, I believe. Was Paul the northern European (Scandinavian or something) guy? If so, then he's definitely not there anymore. The new service manager is named Mike. The owner is the same.

Anyway - another update. They've agreed to cut the labour cost in half, but everything else is full price, including the nearly $200 towing bill. If they're cutting the labour in half, are they trying to work things out with us even though they are not to be held responsible for what happened to appease us or do you think that's an admission of guilt, for lack of a better word? I've been going to them for over 8 years and I've always trusted their judgement - mostly because my car hasn't needed much work at all until now with the belt issues.

N.

Reply to
spamalicious
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ps. They said the car will be ready by tomorrow, but I think I'm going to wait until Monday to call the regional Toyota corp. office just to be on the safe side.

Thanks again!

N.

Reply to
spamalicious

Paul was not a Scandinavian-looking guy. The owner that I dealt with's last name is Fenton.

If it is the same owner, then I believe they are cutting the labor to keep you as a customer and not as an admission of guilt. The guys I called on were very honest and competent and I never had any problems with them, and if it still the same guys, I know they wouldn't try to squirm out of something they were responsible for, even though the circumstances looked suspicious.

Reply to
Ray O

I forgot to mention that this transaction is between you and the dealership so the regional office is not likely to get involved other than maybe as a mediator . It doesn't really involve Toyota because you are not asking for something to be covered under warranty.

Good luck!

Reply to
Ray O

Darn - so then I don't have a leg to stand on? They did everything by the book? We have to cough up the $500 for everything? That really bites. :(

Thanks everyone for your help - you're a helpful bunch of guys!

N.

Reply to
spamalicious

Politely make your case with the service manager and explain why you think they should see if they can help you out a little more. They are pretty reasonable folks. Shouting and screaming and threats probably won't get you anywhere.

Reply to
Ray O

That's for sure. I've asked my husband to make the case that the tensioner shouldn't have seized so soon after being inspected if it had been inspected thoroughly. I hope that's a reasonable argument. The total will only come to just under $400 because of the towing - they had thought it was $100 more than it really was.

Thank you once more.

N.

Reply to
spamalicious

ps. My husband went to pick up the car today - apparently he was mistaken once again - it really was the idler pulley for the timing belt that seized. They said that it was checked 2 weeks ago when the belts were first replaced and it was okay then, however no note of this was made on the work order/invoice when we checked it after claiming our car. I've seen them write down before what they've done, but this time there was nothing, only a summary of the charges.

The pulley was inspected, but 1.5 weeks later it craps out? She said that if the car had for ex. only 60K on it and this issue happened, then they would have been able to cover more of a cost on the labour. However because of the age of the car and "everything's rusty under there" (as she said) then they aren't willing to accept more fault or guarantee how much longer the parts there now are going to last.

However, this then begs the question - because the car is old, was the idler pulley/tensioner only checked very cursorily or why was it not even replaced altogether given its age? If they had given us the option to replace it initially and we refused, then I can understand them not wanting to foot the cost of the parts and repairs. However, we were never given the option. My 2 daughters and I waited in the waiting room for 3+ hours the first time and not one service person came in to update me on how things were going.

The service person said to call and talk to Mike, the service manager on Monday, which I will do. Hopefully I'll be able to maintain my composure when talking to him, lol.

Hopefully that will be the end, one way or another, of this saga of mine. :)

N.

Reply to
spamalicious

Good luck, let us know how you make out!

Reply to
Ray O

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