So here's what I'm dealing with right now...

1) The dealer I bought my car from* did a pretty ____ poor job on my subwoofer installation I got the factory bazooka sub. (I need the trunk space, so I don't need anyone to hijack this post and turn it into a "You know what you should have got?" Thank you.)

2) I went to them today, woke up REALLY early on my ONE DAY OFF this week, went down to see what they could do since it bottoms out ALL THE TIME (I have NEVER cranked the stereo and/or sub SO hard that I could have broken something)
(In fact, I'm getting a bit ahead of the story, but I was able to replicate this condition later at Lake City Scion with the SSP Setting on "Hear", the car setting at "tC", the volume at "25" (factory head unit... goes to 63), Bas at "2", Tre at "1" and Fad and Bal were at "0" Needless to say I'm not "pushing it" when it does this. )

3) At the dealer I bought my car from*, the condition wouldn't replicate, even when I turned it on louder settings to try and "trigger" it. It seems to come and go although easily happens while I'm driving 75%+ of the time.

4) I also mentioned that the unit wasn't as flush as it needs to be in the wheel well in my trunk. My rear passenger side seat will not recline NEARLY as much as the rear driver side seat does. The service guy told me that it can't recline when you have the sub, that's "just the way it was" and when I told him Scion says it can be done he said "Yeah, I'd like to see that one in person..." People I've met with in the Seattle area from SL/SE AND 1-800-70-SCION (The Scion Customer Experience) all say I should be able to recline JUST AS FAR on both sides, SUB OR NOT.

5) When I got to Lake City Scion, the bottoming out was happening again and a couple employees there heard it although they aren't "Certified Technicians" so who knows if it'll accomplish anything, but they heard it and when I asked about the mounting of the sub and the reclining, they both immediately said "Whoa... this wasn't done right" (By the way, MY dealer said they'd even tighten it "at no charge" since I came out... ) The sub is still out from the wheel well area some, and tilts down (the front bottom...where the cover fits on... rests on the cargo deck. For it to look more flush in the well, I have to put a BOARD under it...



SO...
Here's where you all come in...

I need pics that I can show my dealer of a tC (05 or 06... I can't see it making a difference) where the bazooka sub is present and the seats are FULLY RECLINED IN THE BACK. I know it can be done, and even Scion Corporate says it can be done... I'm going to more than likely have the work done in Lake City since they at least ACKNOWLEDGED IT WAS DONE POORLY, but I can show my dealer "It can be done, so you better start doing it right, or more people are gonna be ____ed too." Any pics, as detailed as possible showing the relationship of the sub to the rear reclined seats, the inner passenger side wall, and the cargo mat below would be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED, and I'd definitely be in your debt.

Anyone able to link me to pics showing the same thing would also be helpful.

Thank you very much in advance.

*=(The reason I didn't mention the name of the dealer I went through for my purchase and this service experience is because I don't want it to seem that I'm flaming them in any way. I had a very wonderful buying experience with this dealer and would highly recommend them. The service department on the other hand, I'm starting to wonder about.)

And a seperate, but on-topic question...
When I upgraded to the 6 disc unit I got my single disc back to keep... however I didn't get my original pedals (switched to the OBX) or the original wheel (I got the sport wheel), or the original rearview mirror for that matter (I got the auto-dimming).
Should I have received these? Can I ask for them even though it's been a couple months (couple as in 2)? Is there a standard practice when it comes to "upgrades" done by the dealer?

Again, all help, information and PICS will be incredibly helpful!!!

Thanks!!

 

I can't help with the SUB problem, as I don't have one. However, I'm pretty sure the OBX pedals fit over the old ones, so there's nothing to give back to you. As for the other stuff... I personally would expect that stuff back, but it may be to late to get them at this point; however, it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

Call Scion HQ.

 

Ok... I feel your pain and as another NW Scion owner with the sub, I'v got a little bit to say about it. First off, some REALLY BAD pictures - I'm at work, my car is in a dark garage, and the only camera I have is on my phone:




The important things to notice are that the driver's side seat is in the normal vertical position - see how much further the passenger's side can recline? Also, if you look at the sub, the part of the box facing the passenger's seat back is flat - the rest of the box is rounded. This is so the seat can recline into that position. It doesn't go all the way down to touch it, but it goes back quite a ways. Also, I installed the sub myself and I can tell you, it's a hassle. There are two bolts that screw into the wall of the car and then the box gets screwed onto them. You have to tighten it FOREVER to pull it up against teh wall. It kinda seems like it shouldn't work that way but it does. I can see people not knowing that and not doing a good job. Sometimes it's nice to remember that the guys your average dealer has attaching accessories to Scions probably aren't master certified technicians with 20 years of experience. Anyways, I don't know who you bought it from, but Sam and Wes at Michael's in Bellevue have been good to me and I talked to some of the guys from Lake City last weekend. Keep us posted on how things turn out.

 

All those things you upgraded were part of the price when you bought the car. (The $16,565 these days I think it is...)

So in essence you've purchased every part of the car, and then gone and purchased add ons. While you may not have an immediate use for the original ones that you upgraded they're all still yours, and as thus should be in your custody.

The pedals on the otherhand are just enhancements that fit over your other pedals. So they can't really give anything back because they didn't take anything off. The stock rear-view mirror I imagine won't make you any money, but could be useful if.... I dunno can't think of a good example. I don't know how hard you should really push for your stock mirror back.

But I'd fight my ___ off for the stock steering unit. In a year or two when people start fixing up crashed tC's like they do to integra's and civic's your stock steering wheel with the airbag should fetch at least a couple hundred dollars.

Just my $.02

Oh and since you're in the Northwest stay the heck away from Michael's in Bellevue, sons of _____es tried to commit fraud on me. Reported them to better business bureau, consumer protection branch of the Attorney general's office, and the FTC.

 

Hey qbiceman - Michael's is my dealer - PM me and let me know what happened and who you dealt with. I'd like to just know what kind of experience you had. I ended up there because of some small bad feelings about other dealers. Sam and Wes treated me well.

As for keeping your add-on gear when you upgrade, it's been discussed before. Usually you don't get it back. If you put in the 6 disc stereo, you wouldn't get the stock one back. If you do want things back, you'd stand a better chance of getting them if you bought the car without them and added them on later. Even better, just buy the parts you want from mcgeorge or trdsparks and install them yourself.

 

Maybe someone that's called them before can add some info to this remark...

Short of "Okay, we'll take your information down" can I expect anything much to be accomplished in doing this?

 

Gary, thanks for the pics, btw. I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to do that. Now the little smart ___ response of "Huh...yeah... would like to SEE THAT ONE..." can be accomplished... Not to talk down about you, but if a guy who I'm assuming has NEVER installed a scion tc subwoofer can do it THE RIGHT WAY, why the f*ck can't the dealership??

I got the stock head unit back when I got the 6 disc, they boxed it up and everything.

The pedals, thanks to a couple of you who replied. I wasn't aware they were "slipcovers" so to speak

The wheel... SO it is a new wheel with a brand new airbag, etc? I assumed it was just a new outer piece. I will DEFINITELY be _____ing about that one... If *I* were to get in an accident (finds wood to knock on), I want to save the time of GETTING a new airbag, and just have the original/old one installed...

The mirror, eh... it's not so much resale value, just the fact that:
A) It's MINE
B) I paid for the original one AND the new one (I didn't get a discount rate because I did it right away)
C) It's the principle of the matter. (You know those people that spend $50 to file a lawsuit to get their $5 back? That kind of thing.)

Anywho, this is an ongoing thing that I WILL get to the bottom of. Gary, your pics are a HUGE help and I really appreciate them
Thanks also to the other bits of info from other people.

To add a bit of a POSITIVE note to this thread, I got my oil changed at the Kirkland dealership (Was out that way later the day all this crap happened) and they did a fine job (Not like you can screw up an oil change, lol.) Plus, it was Kirkland so there was some SERIOUS eye candy at the dealership AND in the waiting room. :D

Anyone else with helpful remarks re: this, keep em coming. This could take a while since part of my complaint is "competence" and the rest is "principle"

:repares for the "long haul"::

 

The OEM rubber pedal covers are removed to fit the OBX pedals. The OEM and the OBX mount in the exact same fashion. Dunno why you'd want the OEM rubber back, though. Not really good for anything.

 

The sub is cake to install. Took me under 2 hours, and it is installed securely and correct. If you continue having issues with your sub, let me know.

 

The colored accessory steering wheel doesn't include an airbag. The stock airbag is removed then re-installed on the new wheel.

 

did you upgrade the stereo at the time of purchase? or did you add it on later? I work at a dealer and usually they don't give you the parts back unless you ask for them, the reason for that is because the customer usually does'nt want the parts back. I work at a dealer in the parts department and have first hand experience with this.

 

Generally with upgrades at teh dealer, you get the parts back if you ask at the time of upgrade. That is the way it was when I worked at a dealership. Now with the CD-changer, it works differently.....well atleast the way I had it explained to me. If you upgrade to the Scion 6-disc then you get a lower price that if you just purchased outright since you get a "core" charge from them keeping the original. This is atleast the way it worked at my dealership.....names not mentioned though.......

About the sub-woofer....we already discussed it in person so you know what I think about the situation.

 

And like I replied in the PNW forum...

The sub was replaced under warranty, and was tightened a bit more into the corner of the hatch. They didn't tighten it as much as it COULD BE, because they wer eafraid it might make the skin on the car suck in and look abnormal from the outside because of the way the bolts go through it. Nevertheless, with light effort I can get the passenger ide to recline. Something I couldn't even START to get it to do at my dealer.

For the record, although I KNOW I'm gonna be preachin to the choir, Anamarie and Jillian at Lake City Scion are the shizznit!
They had an extra tc sub in stock and got it done right then and there while I waited. It was even done about 2 hours faster than she anticipated!

WTG Lake City Scion. You just won a customer for a good long chunk of time!