In march of last year our toaster was hit by a jerk being pursued by the police. He hit the passenger front side and pushed us up onto a concrete center divider, and fled the scene. Needless to say he wasn't caught till weeks later. I called my insurance and reported the accident and we went from there. The dealership ( Elk Grove Scion) I had bought the car from didn't have a bodyshop so they refferred that kind of work to their sister shop (Florin Rd Toyota). So we had it towed their for the work. Looking at it it didn't seem like much damage, rh fender, rh headlight, bumper cover, grill, hood, wheel and tire. I wasnt in too much of a hurry, I wanted my car fixed right, hence the reason for taking it to the dealership.
That was a big mistake
After them having my xb for a total of 40 days, over a 3 month period, the car still isn't right. Each time we would take a look at it to bring it home, there were still things not right, runs in the paint, missing paint, buff marks,bad hood alignment, bent rim, cut tire, overall just CRAP work. When complaining to a manager, I was told "you know it's never going to be perfect" I never asked for perfect, I want the car to look as it did before the crash. To make a long story short, I have been looking at our xb for the past few months and everytime I hand wash it ,it burns me up,. I have talked with Scion customer service, as well as the CS people at my dealership, and I am done as far as dealing with Florin rd Toyota. I will never take a car to them, buy one from them.

^^^ After accident



^^^ After bodyshop
So here's my question what else is there to do ? Write a formal letter to Toyota? Scion? what? I have tried to do it, but thinking about the whole ordeal .like now ,just gets me soo mad I can't think


People complained to with less than desirable results:
Steve Donaldson Asst. Manager (Florin road Toyota)888 883-3552
Adam Asst. Manager, Advisor (Florin road Toyota)888 883-3552
Steve Adams Manager (Florin road Toyota)888 883-3552
Martin Brown Director of Custom Relations (Elk Grove Toyota) 916-405-8000
Duane Gaines Manager (Florin road Toyota)888 883-3552
Ezra Toyota Customer Representative
David Scion customer service 1-866-707-2466

 

Call the Bureau of Automotive Repair. Tell them that you are being treated badly by the dealership, and that they are not doing what they were supposed to do. The phone number is 1-800-952-5210.

If your insurance is paying for it, call them first and tell them the situation, and go from there. If they are unwilling to help you, contact the BAR.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

~Stephanie

 

Insurance company told me they were done once they paid for the work, they told me if I had take it to one of their " approved" bodyshops, they could warranty the work themselves, however when I called to report the accident, they asked me where I wanted to take the car, I didn't know so I asked them where I could take it , the rep told me she couldn't advise me on that,, WTF?
Sooooooo, needless to say this whole deal was a joke and being it happened months ago I dont think BAR would do much.

 

You can try. Also find out if the dealership was supposed to give you a warranty. If they were supposed to, and didn't, there you go. They are done. Call the BAR and see. You can always try. By calling, even if they can't do anything about your situation, you can at least help other people that go there to have their body work done. You never know, try and see.

~Stephanie

 

just mention the word lawyer and im sure you will get what you want.

 

True.

 

If there is a consumer reporter for one of your local t.v. stations mention his/her name and the phase "I am going to call..." I had a problem with a used car I bought from hertz, they could care less until I used that phrase, the took care of the situation the next day. Lawyers don't scare businesses, they get that threat everyday. Bad publicity scares them to death.

 

Or you can threaten to call the BAR. That's what my boyfriend did. And the manager came out and said.."oh, I will repaint it for you if you would like...ya, I see what you are talking about. Just let me do my best and make you a happy customer. I don't want you to be unsatisfied! I will do it all!"

And they repainted the hood and the rear bumper. So....threaten with either BAR or a consumer reporter. Both should work.

~Stephanie

 

The dealership that did the work had told me they would warranty all the work, but come on ,they had my car for a total of 40 days, there was no structural damage, with the exception of a broken camber bolt. I had six rental cars over that time. The problem is lack of communication, very poor quality and overall shoddy work. The car had to be taken back in May so they could apply that 5 year no wax crap, I seriously doubt it was ever applied seeing as the hood and fender dont bead water like the rest of the car. I don't want them to touch my car again seeing as they have more than proved they cant do the job.

I had a friend tell me that I may be expecting too much or that I'm just looking really hard for the flaws, but after seeing the end result he agreed with me even a salesman at Folsom Lake Toyota saw flaws without even inspecting my car, what does that say for their workmanship?

I'm taking in all of your posts and hopefully I'll get this problem remedied. Thanks all

 

go in to the dealer simply say "this is the last chance you have to get it 100% right" if it isnt tell them your going to take it to another body shop and send them the bill.

 

I tried that after talking to their customer service rep, but in CA as I found ,I would have to pay the bill and probably take them to court to get reimbursed.

What's soo hard about doing your job and doing right?

 

What's your insurance company by the way? I have StateFarm and when I had an accident in the past, StateFarm gave me a list of preferred body shops to choose from. It's kinda weird that the rep didn't gave you list of their preferred body shops.

 

Do not threaten. Act!
1. Contact Toyota. They would love to hear about it, I am sure. Inform them that you are extremely dissatisfied and are considering contacting an attorney regarding the matter.
2. Contact an attorney. Many communities have a legal matters help line of some sort that may be able to direct you towards a good attorney that is willing to handle the matter. Often, a legally-written letter bearing an attorney's letterhead is all a company needs to get their @$$es in gear. It shows that you mean business and they could possibly face other judgements against them that would cost them more than if they were to fix the car correctly. They may not fear you, but they will fear the possible loss of $$$!
3. Contact the local TV and radio stations regarding the matter. Inform everyone of your matter on-the-air at the local radio and TV stations. Get on a popular local radio talk show, mornings are best! It is also possible that one of your local TV station's News team has some sort of "helping the community" bit that may be willing to help get your situation resolved. The stations love that stuff because it makes them look good by assisting their community.
4. Blogger.com!!! Start your own internet blog regarding the stealership, your treatment, and personal experiences, and then make sure EVERYONE you know is aware of the blog site. Get them to write their own comments. Blogs grow very rapidly if they get a little attention. You wouldn't be the first person whose situation was resolved due to poor publicity caused by a blog.
5. Spread the word! This goes along with all of the above. Help prevent this stealership from treating any other customers this way. Get contact info for the sales manager and service manager at the dealership, including an email address and direct phone number. Have anybody and everybody contact the stealership regarding the mess. If enough people contact the stealership regarding your situation and their willingness as loyal Scion and Toyota customers to boycott the stealership's sales and service, you will get your situation resolved. SL would be an excellent place to post this contact info, especially email addresses. Many would be willing to help you out by writing these managers and informing them of our displeasure regarding the stealership's treatment of you, including myself. Let them see that your public reach is far enough to do their business some monetary damage!
6. Don't EVER give up! Remember this. The customer is always right. Remind them of this, because they have obviously forgotten it!

Good Luck. Remember to post that contact info and the address for your blog. If you need any help getting this rolling, PM me. I'll help any way I can.

 

Geico,, and that's another story

 

if being nice didnt work walk in kicking and screaming into the show room.

 

LoL ,, beleive me ,there was a time when there would've been blood, snot and broken bones when I was treated like this.
Getting old sucks

 

I don't think I could've put it better. There's a difference between an empty threat and taking action, as a matter of fact, I would not deal with the dealership at all from here on out, it's obvious they don't want to listen to you, so why should you put up with their bull. News stations love this, and usually they will do something. Plus remember if one station doesn't pick it up, well, there's always 3 or 4 news stations in a metro-area. They also love putting "a story you'll only see on (insert channel)". If you're going to the route of the attorney, it costs more, but if there is any legal way behind it, that's how you'll get it.

 

Ditto. UV7 wrote almost exactly what I was going to post before I saw his post.
And as an aside, when you write Toyota corporate, send the letter by "certified" mail, with a "receipt request". There will be no question someone got it...

 

This is what I'd do...
Clear photos of everything that's wrong. You can see problems in the ones you posted, but they aren't so good.
Mark all the things that need fixing with painters tape so they don't "miss" them. Also give them a written list of the problems.
Make the shop give you a rental car each time you bring it in. More hassle and cost.
Complain to the Better Business Bureau. You can enter it on their website.
Written complaint to Toyota.

If you complain enough, they'll probably fix it right. You need to give specific dates, problems, actions, people for it to be taken seriously. And say how you want your problem resolved. However, you said this happened March 2006... It usually works better if you do all this immediately.

I had bad body work on one of my cars a few years ago. I took it back to the shop 3 times for them to fix and entered a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB actually did follow up and I eventually got my car fixed satisfactorily on their 4th try. I also complained to the insurance company (it was their recommended shop). It wasn't the greatest work, but it was as good as I think they were capable of doing. Definitely no paint runs or stuff like that though!

 

Thanks,
thankfully I was smart enough to document everything, what I have posted here was just pieces and parts as I didn't want to type for half an hour.
Thanks again for you helpful advise