WTF? What can i do about this dealership?

[z6joker9]

Ok, heres the deal. my car has been at toyota for close to 2 months now, light misshift and the valves all have to be replaced(coming out of my pocket too). well, it was SUPPOSED to be done June 10. It's the 28th now. They keep giving us excuses to why it's not done, even though they have all the parts and whatnot, check back tommarrow and so on.

ON TOP OF THAT, yesterday was suppose to be THE DAY i get it back("it's going into the shop with two guys working on it and it's not coming out til it's done" they said). well i had to get new tires for my parents 00 gt auto beater(my former celi) because they were going on a 5 hour drive trip for two days on business, so i took the auto celi up there and hung out for 3 hours waiting for them to put tires on the auto and finish with my 5spd.

They eventually got done with the silver auto's tires, but said i'd have to pick up my car friday(today) morning cause they still lacked alittle. well, i checked back this morning, and they said this afternoon. I checked back JUST NOW(3:30) and they said MONDAY.

Not only that, i called my parents(who are on the trip) to let them know they still haven't gotten done with my car, and they just had to stop at a gas station cause one of their BRAND NEW TIRES THAT TOYOTA PUT ON YESTERDAY CAME OFF THE RIM while they were driving, with my two little brothers in the backseat!

THIS IS BS!!! Not only do they take their sweet time with my car, but they screw up PUTTING ON TIRES so that it endangers my family's lives? i'm about to start punching things. if i had A CAR i'd go help my parents out and throw a fit with my toyota dealer.....

<b>WHAT would you guys do?</b>

[kocheroni]

take pics of the tire, and the receipt and sue. Honestly. Take all your evidence and say that they purposely messed up your parents tires because they were angry at you for coming in so often. I hate toyota, they are treating me like trash for vehicle malfunction and won't just admit it cause I have intake on. they took a pic of my engine bay and automaticallyd eclined my warranty cause I have intake. I didn't misshift or anything. They suck so bad.

[Calsoldier]

I don't know if this would work, but you should contact Toyota, not the dealer, but Toyota U.S.A or something, and report the dealer and the issues you've been having with them. If not, get a lawyer.

[Griffin]

Originally posted by Calsoldier
I don't know if this would work, but you should contact Toyota, not the dealer, but Toyota U.S.A or something, and report the dealer and the issues you've been having with them. If not, get a lawyer.

What he said. Its amazing what you can get done if you go over... er... around the dealers helmet.

Griffin

[Brett]

Defiently contact Toyota Corp. Dealers can be a pain in the ass, but ultimatly Toyota USA has control. So defiently call them, complain, and ask what they suggest you do. if you dont like what they suggest or they refuse to help you out. Contact a lawyer. And thank god your parents were ok. Good luck

[HilfigerCelica]

Get a lawyer and sue them for the tire. That dealership of yours really sucks. I don't think you should be doing business with them anymore.

[z6joker9]

OK, first off, my mother didn't exactly know what she was talking out.... the dealer didn't tighten the lugnuts, and the rim and tire "nearly" came off of the car, not the tire from the rim. someone flagged them down going down the highway because they could tell it was wobbling badly(my parents thought the noise was from the tires being new).

the dealer apoligized alot, but said the lugs weren't on tight because they had to take them to a tire shop to get them balanced because the dealer didn't have the stuff to balance 17s. This is know was true because i was there and saw them take it to the tire shop. However the dealer apoligized some more because they didn't check to make sure the lugs were tight and swore they'd throw a fit with the shop.

now to my car, when i called at 3:30, the guy i talked to said the head was on but the cams weren't yet, and the guy that's doing it wouldn't be working til monday so it wouldn't be done saturday.
when my dad called for an explaination, they claimed that they were missing a tool that was required to get the head on. they had it to get it off(1 1/2 months ago) but they must of lost it. they had to order one which would be in by 730 monday morning, that's why it was not gonna be done.

Is there a special tool that would be required to get the head back on? i'm running them through my head and i can't think of one.

Also, FYI, i've talked to toyota of america on two different occasions, once about this not being covered under warrenty, and once because i took my car to a different dealer before this one because they wouldnt cover it and were real shaddy. Neither time did the call help anything, just wasted 30min to 2 hours of my time.

in light of these explainations(not the first ones we've gotten because of my car taking so long, they waited on parts, the machine shop, the guy was sick, everything) what would you guys say to do?

[oldster]

Seems like there was a special tool for the valve shims..........

[Brett]

I would say them not having the tool is just a run around. If its a big dealership, they have prolly put a few Celica engines back together and have many resources at their dispose. Best bet is to make friends with mechanics and get your info from them, cause the service reps are usually good for nothing.

[z6joker9]

it's not a big dealership, i bought the 00 silver gt auto in april of 2000 and it was the first celica they had sold. it's mississippi so nothings that big around here. the mechanics are the service reps btw, with the exception of a secretary. The secretary and the service manager(whose also the head mechanic) are both very nice and everything, but nice is no excuse for taking this long.....

[celicauk]

The only special tool you need to take the head off and put it on again is a 12 point spline drive 12mm long reach. I took the head off my car in about 4 hours and got it back on again in about 3. The valves took two days to come from toyota and about an hour to replace, in short about a days actual work and a couple waiting for parts.

These guys are obviously incompetent, I would also venture they are guilty of gross negligence, the job done on the tyres was done by them, if they use a third party they shouldcheck the car before it leaves the workshop and long before you get your hands on it, I would definitely sue them for negligence, that could easily have been fatal.

As for the work on your car, I work in my tiny little single garage, I am a computer programmer and nothing like a proffesional mechanic, so I odn't get why they have a problem, I even managed to get the "special" tool no problem.

Effing bandits, I'll bet they even want to charge you full whack too.

[racinboygt]

That sucks that you have to go through all that **** man. Too bad you're not up around my area or I'd help you out. I used to work at a Toyota dealer and I have a lot of connections with service issues and I'm friends with some mechanics so I usually get all my service work done for free and they will find some way around the rules to get stuff covered by warranty.