So I brought my car in for service regarding a squeaking noise coming from the CD Cover and the cracking noise coming from the moonroof area. I read the invoice sheet and it says 671in/681out. I turn the car on to read 715 on the odometer. I go back in to tell them that this is unacceptable and someone must have taken it out for a ride after it was checked in. They say that they made a simple clerical and judgment error by putting a generic 10 miles for road testing and that they really meant to put 715. WHO THE HELL NEEDS TO DRIVE A CAR 44 MILES JUST TO NOTICE A SQUEAKING AND/OR CRACKING NOISE??? Tell me if my complaint is unreasonable because I am taking this all the way to Toyota Corp. until I get compensated. It's absolutely ridiculous. I even got the tC back with SCRATCHES all over the center console.

By the way, this is the Crestmont Toyota dealership in Pompton Plains, NJ on Route 23. Don't ever buy or get service from them unless you want to get screwed over.

What course of action should I take?

That is crap. I would talk to someone.

I spoke to Scion Customer Experience and they put in a case for me. I also spoke to the Customer Relations Manager at the dealer and he said he would find out what happened. Why in the world would you put 671 miles in and 681 miles out if that wasn't what the odometer read? Someone obviously drove it 10 miles and checked it back in but then someone probably took it out for a little drive at lunch time. What the ____?

Are there any Toyota/Scion car salesmen in this forum who can say anything about this?

Did they have any other tC's on the lot? If not, I'm betting some salesman used your car to give a customer a test drive or two, or three!

That is crap, I'd complain all the way to the top!

Did they have any other tC's on the lot? If not, I'm betting some salesman used your car to give a customer a test drive or two, or three!

That is crap, I'd complain all the way to the top!

They did not have any other tC's on the lot. I wouldn't put it past them to do something as stupid as taking it out for a test drive. I also wouldn't put it past the mechanics and/or valets to take it out for a little joyride. It is a new car, barely anyone has it out there, and it's just so tempting to do something like that. They probably figured I wouldn't notice and/or care seeing as though I'm a young guy.

I am first coursing my complaint through the Customer Relations Manager at the Crestmont Toyota dealership and I hope he compensates me properly. I spoke to my dad and he said he doesn't even want to talk to them and it's either a) the dealer gives me a new tC (because god knows where and how the car was driven for those 34 undocumented miles) or b) we will end up returning the car and getting a full refund and taking our business elsewhere. I feel that the dealer should ultimately pay severely for what they did. We've owned 8 cars as a family, ranging from BMW, Honda, Ford, and Pontiac and we have never experienced mileage discrepancies after the cars have been in for service. Not to mention the several scratches all over the center console that they have said they would fix on a voluntary basis. The last thing I want to do is bring the car back in for more service and have them drive it places again.

First, you need to get the scene from Ferris Beuller with the two parking valet guys out of your head. :wink:

What could they possibly have done to the car in 34 miles that isn't showing now but will break in a few 1000 more? It's unproffesional, but hardly the stuff to make a federal case over or waste too much time on it. The scratches I would definitely make them fix. Give them some grief about the miles, make 'em throw you a freebie or something, but don't expect a huge settlement.

It's very POSSIBLE that the tech didn't fill in the miles and the service advisor just guesstimated the numbers. These techs also know what a lot of these things will pay. If they know that Scion will allow an hour of time looking for squeaks, etc. on a new model Scion that is the amount of time they will use up. Does the rattling happpen more at freeway speeds? On a highway, fifteen minutes each way listening for the squeak, that'd rack up the miles easily. I used to be a service advisor. I've been told to "drive this until you hear it squeak or until you reach Fortuna" That's a town about 20 minutes away. I've even driven a lady's car home and to work for 3 days trying to re-create a hard-starting problem. It could be legit, just a paperwork snafu.

Good Luck.

First, you need to get the scene from Ferris Beuller with the two parking valet guys out of your head. :wink:

What could they possibly have done to the car in 34 miles that isn't showing now but will break in a few 1000 more? It's unproffesional, but hardly the stuff to make a federal case over or waste too much time on it. The scratches I would definitely make them fix. Give them some grief about the miles, make 'em throw you a freebie or something, but don't expect a huge settlement.

It's very POSSIBLE that the tech didn't fill in the miles and the service advisor just guesstimated the numbers. These techs also know what a lot of these things will pay. If they know that Scion will allow an hour of time looking for squeaks, etc. on a new model Scion that is the amount of time they will use up. Does the rattling happpen more at freeway speeds? On a highway, fifteen minutes each way listening for the squeak, that'd rack up the miles easily. I used to be a service advisor. I've been told to "drive this until you hear it squeak or until you reach Fortuna" That's a town about 20 minutes away. I've even driven a lady's car home and to work for 3 days trying to re-create a hard-starting problem. It could be legit, just a paperwork snafu.

Good Luck.

Probably a clerical F-Up. They also could have been trying to replicate the issue. Can't fix it if they can't find it.

Good luck, though.

It's very POSSIBLE that the tech didn't fill in the miles and the service advisor just guesstimated the numbers. These techs also know what a lot of these things will pay. If they know that Scion will allow an hour of time looking for squeaks, etc. on a new model Scion that is the amount of time they will use up. Does the rattling happpen more at freeway speeds? On a highway, fifteen minutes each way listening for the squeak, that'd rack up the miles easily. I used to be a service advisor. I've been told to "drive this until you hear it squeak or until you reach Fortuna" That's a town about 20 minutes away. I've even driven a lady's car home and to work for 3 days trying to re-create a hard-starting problem. It could be legit, just a paperwork snafu.

Good Luck.

44 miles though is still to much to find a rattle.

what a goddamn spaz, I guess i understand being mildly upset about 34 extra miles, but a new car? you're nuts....

^ haha yeah, new car or full refund, not happening. This makes me recall all of the posts where someone was ____ed that their brand new xB had 30 miles on it when they bought it. That is less of an offense than unexplainable miles on a car that is in for service.

I mean really, what could they have done by just putting a few miles on. Although, one has to wonder, if a dealer had a grudge and was to wire your car with explosives, they'd probably have to drive to an outside contractor...

^ haha yeah, new car or full refund, not happening. This makes me recall all of the posts where someone was ____ed that their brand new xB had 30 miles on it when they bought it. That is less of an offense than unexplainable miles on a car that is in for service.

I mean really, what could they have done by just putting a few miles on. Although, one has to wonder, if a dealer had a grudge and was to wire your car with explosives, they'd probably have to drive to an outside contractor...

Definitely wasn't going to get a new car, but a full refund is a possibility. Within a certain timeframe, you are allowed to return your car under certain circumstances. Obviously you don't think it's that big of a deal because it isn't your car we're talking about. A multitude of things could've been done to my car within those undocumented miles. The car wasn't even broken in yet. Pushing it hard the slightest bit could've done damage to the vehicle. Just imagine beating the ____ out of a car and that's basically the worst that could've happened to my car. You wouldn't want someone maltreating your new vehicle, would you?

No I'd freak out too and try to get whatever I could just because I like being an a$$.

But we are trying to make you see what is most likely going to happen, so you arn't even more ____ed off when far-reaching, world-ending, free-car-giveaway action is NOT taken.

I was merely trying to suggest that I miiiiiight trust a service person to know how to drive, and know how to shift, my car. Meanwhile, the guy who picks up his car "brand new" with 40 miles on it is buying it after 3 people learned how to drive stick for the first time using it. Which would you prefer?

I've discussed it with my dealer and they are compensating me by replacing the entire center console fascia after they scratched it up during service. I also have the 100,000mi. extended warranty so if anything breaks, they're just going to have to fix it for free. This is good for them because Toyota pays them.

What could anyone possibly do to hurt your car in 34mi. ? The standard powertrain warranty is for 5 years and 50k mi. and that should cover any "profound mechanical detriment" your car may have encountered. Personally I would find something more constructive to worry about. Lighten up, you'll live longer! :lol:

What could anyone possibly do to hurt your car in 34mi. ? The standard powertrain warranty is for 5 years and 50k mi. and that should cover any "profound mechanical detriment" your car may have encountered. Personally I would find something more constructive to worry about. Lighten up, you'll live longer! :lol:

Well that depends upon how many WOT burnouts the joyrider did, wouldn't it? :)

My worry would be that the joyrider did something that would reduce a toyota's normal 200K mile longevity to 100K miles or less. Sure, you might get past the 50K warranty, but that's not all that most drivers want or expect.

I think that it's more an ethical question on the dealer's part than a concern about the specific car. If someone doesn't call the dealer on minor missteps, then what will stop them from more significant abuses?

What could anyone possibly do to hurt your car in 34mi. ? The standard powertrain warranty is for 5 years and 50k mi. and that should cover any "profound mechanical detriment" your car may have encountered. Personally I would find something more constructive to worry about. Lighten up, you'll live longer! :lol:

I'm not quite sure if you've ever driven a manual transmission car before but you can do some pretty nasty stuff if your sole intention is to "have fun." If you've ever been in a car with someone who jack rabbits at every stop light, then you know exactly what I am concerned about. I'm worried about the long term longevity of my car and not anything short term. Wear and tear on the clutch is something the warranty does not cover and if they launched at every stop light when taking it out for a joy ride, it is something I will eventually need to replace with my own money.

I have driven a few manual transmission cars over the years, what with owning one and working on them for a living and all, and my point was that in 34 miles, how many WOT launches could one really do? How many would someone do? How many will YOU do? Clutches generally last over 100,000 miles these days (even with plenty of WOT launches) I can understand being cheesed off if they were joyriding your car( There might be a perfectly logical explanation for the milage)and all, but expecting a new car or a full refund of your purchase price would only happen in bizzaro world. Enjoy your new car and don't worry so much, these are well-built cars and don't break too often even if someone drove it like they stole it for 34 miles. It'll be OK :lol: :lol:

Let's hope so...

I have driven a few manual transmission cars over the years, what with owning one and working on them for a living and all, and my point was that in 34 miles, how many WOT launches could one really do? How many would someone do? How many will YOU do? Clutches generally last over 100,000 miles these days (even with plenty of WOT launches) I can understand being cheesed off if they were joyriding your car( There might be a perfectly logical explanation for the milage)and all, but expecting a new car or a full refund of your purchase price would only happen in bizzaro world. Enjoy your new car and don't worry so much, these are well-built cars and don't break too often even if someone drove it like they stole it for 34 miles. It'll be OK :lol: :lol:

I remember hitting 105mph in a Toyota Tercel wagon on 5 miles of country road, and then seeing the RR tracks ahead sign, hitting the brakes hard enough that the whole car shuddered during decel, and damaging the calipers enough that they needed replacing, although you couldn't tell during "normal" driving conditions, just hard braking. Even them hitting hard bumps can through the alignment off a little, as mentioned the point is an ethical one and should be addressed in that manner. Sort of like Jacko holding his baby out the window, nobody was hurt but it shouldn't happen.

or settle for some freebies... a new set of floor mats, or maybe sme other options you want them to throw in for free...

Dealers take care of customers cars as if there were a camera following and recording everything.

This is because they forced to operate as if every customer that comes back will have the assumption that their car was brought out to orange county raceway with a nitrous kit installed in it as the dealer did nothing but pump 50 pounds of N2O through that customers engine that day during their too-numerous-to-count quarter mile runs. So guess what? Nothing happened on that test drive.

Mike

Dealers take care of customers cars as if there were a camera following and recording everything.

This is because they forced to operate as if every customer that comes back will have the assumption that their car was brought out to orange county raceway with a nitrous kit installed in it as the dealer did nothing but pump 50 pounds of N2O through that customers engine that day during their too-numerous-to-count quarter mile runs. So guess what? Nothing happened on that test drive.

Mike

Well guess what buddy? There is no camera in my car that recorded everything they did while it was in their custody. That's the whole problem. When the invoice says something, and my odometer reads another, I have cause for concern. There's no way in hell you can be 100% sure that some idiot in the service department didn't decide to go take it out for a joyride. It would be easy to assume that they didn't do anything if there wasn't such a huge discrepancy between what the invoice said and what my odometer read.

What I wrote wasn't that a cameras was there. What I wrote was that they behave as if a camera was following after the car recording everything. Believe it or not, you aren't customer in any business that's made similar, paranoid assumptions about how their property was treated, buddy.

So what you're saying is that the mileage in question was recorded by you and this whole discussion is because what was written on the service sheet isn't what you recorded, correct? As it is obviouslty impossible that the tech recorded the number at the start incorrectly, isn't it. Or wrote down the mileage from a different toyota in for service.

Mike

Dealers take care of customers cars as if there were a camera following and recording everything.

You really know how _every_ dealer treats their customer's cars? Omnipotence is sooo cool!

Believe it or not, you aren't customer in any business that's made similar, paranoid assumptions about how their property was treated, buddy.

Umm, would you care to try this sentence again? It doesn't parse except perhaps in some strange "All your base are belong to us" sort of way.

So what you're saying is that the mileage in question was recorded by you and this whole discussion is because what was written on the service sheet isn't what you recorded, correct? As it is obviouslty impossible that the tech recorded the number at the start incorrectly, isn't it. Or wrote down the mileage from a different toyota in for service.

Doesn't an error of this sort run counter to your "dealers act as if they are under constant surveillance" argument? If they're so careful, then how could they make such an error in recording the mileage?

As an owner, I am very careful to record the mileage in the vehicle's logbook when I take my car in for service. The service writer sees me do this. This might reduce the temptation to do any impromptu "test driving" while the car is in their care.

George

You don't seem to understand what happened. Well here it is:

I brought the car in for service, took down the odometer reading. I came back 3 hours later and the work was done. They gave me an invoice with the odometer readings (in & out). The 'in' reading matched what I had but when I stepped into the car and compared their 'out' reading to the actual odometer reading on the car, there was a discrepancy. I hope you understand now.

'Out' reading on invoice different than ACTUAL odometer reading on car.

Dealers take care of customers cars as if there were a camera following and recording everything.

This is because they forced to operate as if every customer that comes back will have the assumption that their car was brought out to orange county raceway with a nitrous kit installed in it as the dealer did nothing but pump 50 pounds of N2O through that customers engine that day during their too-numerous-to-count quarter mile runs. So guess what? Nothing happened on that test drive.

Mike

Apparently you didn't follow the thread from about a year or so ago where the MECHANIC at a FORD DEALERSHIP was braggin on an online mustang forum about how he took this brand new Cobra out and just hammered the sh*t out of it and everyone had a good laugh etc etc etc etc. Well... it seems he gave just a little to much info about who/what/where etc and the VEHICLE OWNER just happened to see the post - and it was a woman!! "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"!

As you can guess - sh*t hit the fan and she completely destroyed everyone that stood in her path, and yes, it is a true story - try google'ing it, it's there somewhere. it was in a Mustang forum (as I said).

The story made national news becuase it got so out of hand. I' m sure someone else here remembers this story as well. It was a really big deal.

So YES, SOME dealerships DO completely rag out cars when they get their hands on them, most just never get caught.

Of course they won't get caught because there's no one watching them. When I flipped a ____ about the mileage discrepancy, they completely denied everything and said that driving a car 44 miles while it's in service is 'normal.'

Rounder, I can understand how ya feel. I know this because of how my brother treated the TC when we test drove it. LOL. I wish he hadn't done the burn out because I might buy the car, but my bro is a dick. I can certainly say that you have a deffinate right to be upset with the dealership, but in those situations (like others said) you will just get some perks. You will never get a full refund. Hell, I wouldn't mind a free set of floor mats. $150 is steap.

I've long resigned to the fact that all I will get are freebies. I'm fine with that but I'm not fine with the fact that the dealer continues to deny any wrongdoing.

i'm curious as to if you would still be this concerned had the mileage out read 714 the first time. you still wouldn't know who had done what in it for those miles. if the mileage out had read the same as the odometer you still wouldn't know what happened for those miles. so worrying about that seems to be kind of silly, especially given the nature of why your car was brought in. my TRAC unit xB was overheating after highway speeds of 60+ then slowing down to stop and go. we had to get out on the highway and get the car going for 15 minutes then bring it back. each time we thought we fixed the problem we brought it back out and had the same problem. it was trial and error until it was fixed. who knows how many miles went on it to fix it.

a creaking sunroof is a similar problem. drive it around until you hear the noise then try and fix it. then drive it around even more to make sure you actually fixed it. if you didn't try again. after you try and again drive more to make sure it's fixed. would you rather the dealer only put 10 miles on it, assume they fixed it and give it back only for you to find it's still messed up. it sounds like an honest clerical error, which i'm sure they will be strict on reinforcing from now on. selling new cars we have to record the mileage for the final paperwork. i could be pretty sure of the mileage because i thought i saw it earlier and record the wrong mileage. you come out and think someone added 10 miles to your car while you were in finance. wrong. just a goof the first time. i'd be more worried about the damage to your dashboard, but you say they are taking responsibility for that.

At least they are compensating you! So far as test driving goes! Ya im a mechanic and trying to find anoying squeeks and rattles are a pain in the a@@ I have taken vehicles on 30 min test drives with another mechanic in the back of the vehicle where the owner said the squeek was and still had a hard time locating the problume! Than after you fix or work on the problume you have to drive it and see if you fixed the problume, it is concivable that the miles are legit! Deffinitly demand that the scratched bezzle is replaced and if the are going to give you the better warentee for free dont sweat it man!!!

I feel you dude. When I bought my xB it had 52 miles after the test drive. After F and I it had 64. 11 miles to clean it up! ____ that. I flipped and didnt' take it.

Just kidding, I drove home in it and couldn't be happier. You need to chill out. Sure you will get some free stuff (foglights IMO), but I couldn't imagine a dealer not laughing you out of the building if you asked for a refund.