Why I'm on my very last Toyotas .. .. ..

Several months ago, my son't 2005 SCION tC developed a ticking noise in the engine. He took it to two dealers, one in Cleveland, TN - the other (Capital Toyota) in Chattanooga. They both told him it was valve train noise and not at all serious.

Recently, the noise got much worse, and I told him to take it back, as I was pretty sure it was a rod knocking. A private mechannic looked at it and confirmed that if he remove the plug wire on #2 cylinder, the noise went away.

He took it to Capital Toyota in Chattanooga where they re-diagnosed it as a rod knock and told him it would be approx. $400 + parts for repairs.

He called SCION and plead his case to them that this had been brought to their attention earlier while still under warranty, and now was out of warranty and probably going to get pretty expensive. They agreed, and offered him up to $750 toward the repairs if done by a Toyota/SCION dealership.

He took it to Capital and signed a contract authorizing repairs .. the JOB was described as : "KNOCK FROM ENGINE .. SCION TO HELP WITH REPAIR .. TAKE APART SEE WHATS NEEDED"

A week and a half later, the dealer called and said that #2, #3, #4 rod bearings were all "beat-up" and also that cam bearings were worn, and cylinder walls were scored,, etc, etc, etc. All told, they wanted almost $7,000 to completely rebuild his engine.

We told them that was not an option at this time, and that we would pick up the car and consider our options to locate a used engine and have that installed. Only then did the service rep. tell us they had REMOVED the engine from the car, and had TOTALLY DISASSEMBLED it. He said to be sure we brought a trailer, and lots of boxes for all the parts, and BY TE WAY .. .. OUR BILL WAS ALMOST $800 !! !! !!

When I got there to pick it up, we got into quite a shouting match when I questioned where they got the authority to do all of this,and the jerk service manager called the local Police, trying to have me arrested for calling him bad names. Cop came and said if I wanted the car, I'd have to pay the ransom and work it out in civil court if that's what I wanted to do.

Got the General Manager involved and he dropped the ransom to $704 but wouldn't budge. I repeatedly asked WHY they did the complete teardown, and why the process was charged at 8.00 hrs. He couldn't answer the first question, and stated (wrongly) that the 8.0 hrs was the "flat-rate" allowance. I asked to see the job ticket that the mechanic would have punched on/off and he refused, saying it doesn't exist.

According to Mitchell and Automotive Expert, the rate for ALL main & rod bearings should have been approx' $400 + parts.

Had an independant former Toypta mechanic look at the block & parts .. .. he said the scoring is so slight that a light honing would have taken it out, and said there was absolutely no reason for this engine to have been removed nor disassembled based on the original complaint.

I will be pleading my case soon to Toyota National Service Hotline, and also to the Tennessee State Licensing Board .. but whatever the outcome of this mess, I can assure you that after our current flock of Toyotas is gone, there will never be one in my garage ever again. The car might be great, but if this is the only dealer available .. I'M THROUGH !! !! !!

thanx for letting me vent .. .. ..

Reply to
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I strongly advise you to contact Toyota corp. yourself. I had the same sort of experience with my 2000 Echo, with two places in the Orlando area. They didn't even fix the problem (the other driver's insurance paid for it). We then took it to Rick Hendrick Toyota here in North Carolina, and they were the complete *opposite* of those lamers in Orlando. I don't think it's ever fair to blame the entire corporation for neglect from franchise owners. Toyota (or any company) can't fix things, if you don't let them know it's "broken."

Natalie

Reply to
Wickeddoll®

Notice.. I did say that this will be the end of my Toyota purchases BECAUSE of the dealer/service .. NOT because of a bad product. I really have been satisfied with the cars I have (3 Toyotas), but this is a small town, and if that's the only service I can get, I'd rather WALK !!

Reply to
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Yeah, but is that fair to Toyota? You have nothing to lose, if you let them know what lousy service you got. Toyota is quite responsive to feedback, at least in my experience.

Natalie

Reply to
Wickeddoll®

I have to agree with you. Talking *calmly* with Toyota is the best next step, too.

$7k for a rebuild of a 2AZ-FE I4 engine engine seems a bit steep, too. It's the same engine as in some Camries.

The orginal work order said, "KNOCK FROM ENGINE .. SCION TO HELP WITH REPAIR .. TAKE APART SEE WHATS NEEDED." It didn't say what to take apart and what not to take apart.

There didn't seem to be a reason to take the cylinder head apart, either.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

I've noticed a lot of Scion sitting in other brand dealers used car lots lately, and while other brand small car sales are going up, Scion sales are down. Apparently you are not the only Scion owner that is dissatisfied

Reply to
Mike hunt

Well, your situation appears isolated. Most people are not having the problems you are.

The police were right. You have to pay and then take it to civil court. My guess is if you chose not to take it to civil court then you balked your chance to get the money back.

Reply to
Don't Taze Me, Bro!

Yeah... sounds like a few poorly managed stores. I can only say my Toyota Auto Shop has been great anytime I needed it.

Reply to
Don't Taze Me, Bro!

You have to watch what dealers you go to. Not all are on the level, a lot are ex-GM dealers and still using the GM playbook. Arlington Heights Toyota here is one that does that, too. They wanted 2200 in parts not counting labor to fix all the problems on our Previa, and we found out the next day, all the electrical problems were due to the battery failing. Replacing the battery (about $100) fixed all the other problems for some reason. . . . . Depending on where I live, I usually have a non-dealer mechanic look after things. Got 230,000 miles out of my last Corolla. Of course, I use high-mileage oil.

I wish that God would take some of these service guys and make them live a month as a bleached blonde with car trouble, and have to walk everywhere in

4 inch stiletto heels, and a big chest just to throw them off balance.

Charles the Curmudgeon

Reply to
<n5hsr

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