SSC 60C Steering Recall Not Done Right
#1
08-17-2006, 11:37 AM
SSC 60C Steering Recall Not Done Right
Well I figured it was time to take my Prius in. Went to my local dealer in the near southwest suburbs of Chicago (who use to brag of having received the Presidents award for over 17 years) on August 9th to schedule an appointment and so they could see if my VIN needed the two part or one part work. The service writer just said they have all the parts in and just bring it in on August 14th. I asked to make sure they were aware of the steering wheel alignment procedure in the TSB and of problems others were having. Assured no problem, the techs have done plenty.
August 14th 7:00AM the service writers are not ready for the people who have shown up. I'm about to drop my key in the drop-off box and just then someone comes to collect the drops. I give him mine and he says "oh, 60C huh, no problem". Service calls my home, not work as I specified, around 10:30 AM and says the Prius is ready. Get to the dealer at around 5:40PM, pick-up the fob from the cashier (you don't talk to the service people after your done here unless you make the special effort to do so). I have to be at the bank by 6:00PM so off I drive. And then...this doesn't seem right...what the...THE STEERING WHEEL IS NOT CENTERED!!! Finish at the bank and then back to the dealer.
The overhead to the service write-up area was open so I drove in. Only car in the area is mine. I go into the nice little climate controled area where the same service writer from August 9th is sitting.
Excuse me but you need to finish the recall on my Prius.
What's wrong.
The steering wheel is not centered.
Oh. Which way is it not centered.
It leans to the left, it actually is aligned with the sloping top of the upper dash panel.
Do you want to leave it overnight.
Well since you have no tech's here and I want it fixed I guess I will.
[Fumbles around computer, can't find my records] What's your phone number?
[Gives phone number] Oh there's a torpedo level on my front seat in case the tech needs help.
And I left. No "sorry about that", no offer of a loaner car (I have the extended warranty, if it's overnight I should get a car), no offer to give me a lift home (5 minutes), no offer to give me a lift to the bus stop (5/8 mile away), not even an offer to let me call the wife and tell her I would be late for dinner. The service writer never got up to confirm the problem, just sat there rather stoic and ho-hum-you know like "your disturbing me, take your own time to to get our mistake fixed, I can't be bothered". Scratch this dealer from future service, got to search somewhere else now, maybe I should go back to my selling dealer in Escanaba, MI-at least they treated me to a pasty when I bought my car.
Oh and in the morning I did call Toyota Customer Care and opened a case number with a very nice gentleman named Don who happens to own a Prius and understands this should never of happened.
Well, I received a call from the service manager/dealership customer service rep on August 15th at 1:00PM. He said he was sorry if there was any misunderstanding. WTF, what about being sorry about the botched recall work, the attitude of the service writer, not offering me transportation home of some type since the car had to be in the shop an extra day. He then went on to ask if I would like the car dropped off at my house. Sure I told him (golly 10 minutes roundtrip dealer to my house and back, what a sacrifice for them). My wife called about 20 minutes later and said the car was dropped off and they came to the door and gave her the paperwork for the fix to the recall snafu. She then asked me if I had my fob. No I didn't. Well they did not give it to her. So I told her to go to the car and check the fob slot. Sure enough the fob was in the slot with the doors unlocked.
When I got home first thing I did was take a test drive. I noticed the outside was different, did they wash it? Why yes, and they used dirty water by the looks of the water spots all over the windows. Wait, all the bugs from my trip to the Illinois Renewable Energy Fair were still there, they must have just quick wiped it down, not even a wash. Oh no, what the hell is on my tires, some kind of bright ArmourAll type stuff (I use 303 Protectant). I started it up and the radio immediately started playing some kind of salsa music on AM that I turned off, thank goodness I removed my SkyFi2 before I took it in for service. And why are the inside of the windows dirty with drips and streaks! But the steering wheel appears to be level, they must have used the torpedo level I left on the front seat.
To wrap up, dealer botch's recall, dealer can't apologize for dealership mistakes, dealer performs an unasked for detailing in a half-a***d way, I have to reclean my car sometime before this weekends Milwaukee Hybrid Group meeting. Hey Toyota, you might want to think about this, I've showed and spoken to literally hundreds of people over the past weekend about my Prius. I've spoken to people I saw last year who bought the Prius because of talking to me. How would Toyota Corporate feel knowing that Prius owners are talking to prospective buyers and telling them about this fantastic car but that they need to avoid most Toyota North America dealers since the reports from owners are the simple things, like this recall with 33 pages of instructions, can't be fixed without making a call to Toyota Customer Care and having corporate intercede for us.
Wayne
August 14th 7:00AM the service writers are not ready for the people who have shown up. I'm about to drop my key in the drop-off box and just then someone comes to collect the drops. I give him mine and he says "oh, 60C huh, no problem". Service calls my home, not work as I specified, around 10:30 AM and says the Prius is ready. Get to the dealer at around 5:40PM, pick-up the fob from the cashier (you don't talk to the service people after your done here unless you make the special effort to do so). I have to be at the bank by 6:00PM so off I drive. And then...this doesn't seem right...what the...THE STEERING WHEEL IS NOT CENTERED!!! Finish at the bank and then back to the dealer.
The overhead to the service write-up area was open so I drove in. Only car in the area is mine. I go into the nice little climate controled area where the same service writer from August 9th is sitting.
Excuse me but you need to finish the recall on my Prius.
What's wrong.
The steering wheel is not centered.
Oh. Which way is it not centered.
It leans to the left, it actually is aligned with the sloping top of the upper dash panel.
Do you want to leave it overnight.
Well since you have no tech's here and I want it fixed I guess I will.
[Fumbles around computer, can't find my records] What's your phone number?
[Gives phone number] Oh there's a torpedo level on my front seat in case the tech needs help.
And I left. No "sorry about that", no offer of a loaner car (I have the extended warranty, if it's overnight I should get a car), no offer to give me a lift home (5 minutes), no offer to give me a lift to the bus stop (5/8 mile away), not even an offer to let me call the wife and tell her I would be late for dinner. The service writer never got up to confirm the problem, just sat there rather stoic and ho-hum-you know like "your disturbing me, take your own time to to get our mistake fixed, I can't be bothered". Scratch this dealer from future service, got to search somewhere else now, maybe I should go back to my selling dealer in Escanaba, MI-at least they treated me to a pasty when I bought my car.
Oh and in the morning I did call Toyota Customer Care and opened a case number with a very nice gentleman named Don who happens to own a Prius and understands this should never of happened.
Well, I received a call from the service manager/dealership customer service rep on August 15th at 1:00PM. He said he was sorry if there was any misunderstanding. WTF, what about being sorry about the botched recall work, the attitude of the service writer, not offering me transportation home of some type since the car had to be in the shop an extra day. He then went on to ask if I would like the car dropped off at my house. Sure I told him (golly 10 minutes roundtrip dealer to my house and back, what a sacrifice for them). My wife called about 20 minutes later and said the car was dropped off and they came to the door and gave her the paperwork for the fix to the recall snafu. She then asked me if I had my fob. No I didn't. Well they did not give it to her. So I told her to go to the car and check the fob slot. Sure enough the fob was in the slot with the doors unlocked.
When I got home first thing I did was take a test drive. I noticed the outside was different, did they wash it? Why yes, and they used dirty water by the looks of the water spots all over the windows. Wait, all the bugs from my trip to the Illinois Renewable Energy Fair were still there, they must have just quick wiped it down, not even a wash. Oh no, what the hell is on my tires, some kind of bright ArmourAll type stuff (I use 303 Protectant). I started it up and the radio immediately started playing some kind of salsa music on AM that I turned off, thank goodness I removed my SkyFi2 before I took it in for service. And why are the inside of the windows dirty with drips and streaks! But the steering wheel appears to be level, they must have used the torpedo level I left on the front seat.
To wrap up, dealer botch's recall, dealer can't apologize for dealership mistakes, dealer performs an unasked for detailing in a half-a***d way, I have to reclean my car sometime before this weekends Milwaukee Hybrid Group meeting. Hey Toyota, you might want to think about this, I've showed and spoken to literally hundreds of people over the past weekend about my Prius. I've spoken to people I saw last year who bought the Prius because of talking to me. How would Toyota Corporate feel knowing that Prius owners are talking to prospective buyers and telling them about this fantastic car but that they need to avoid most Toyota North America dealers since the reports from owners are the simple things, like this recall with 33 pages of instructions, can't be fixed without making a call to Toyota Customer Care and having corporate intercede for us.
Wayne
#2
08-17-2006, 04:14 PM
Re: SSC 60C Steering Recall Not Done Right
Wow, ummm sorry for your inconvenience but I am having a real hard time seeing what the big deal is here. They screwed it up, apologized, fixed it, and dropped it off at your house on their dime. The music, streaks, all that are par for the course in my experience.
I cannot believe you would let this one experience taint how you would talk about the Prius in general or justify a 7 paragraph rant that could have been summarized as "Dealers can suck, nothing new to see here."
I cannot believe you would let this one experience taint how you would talk about the Prius in general or justify a 7 paragraph rant that could have been summarized as "Dealers can suck, nothing new to see here."
Last edited by Mr Bean; 08-17-2006 at 04:18 PM.
#4
08-18-2006, 07:09 AM
Re: SSC 60C Steering Recall Not Done Right
Originally Posted by Mr Bean
Wow, ummm sorry for your inconvenience but I am having a real hard time seeing what the big deal is here. They screwed it up, apologized, fixed it, and dropped it off at your house on their dime. The music, streaks, all that are par for the course in my experience.
I cannot believe you would let this one experience taint how you would talk about the Prius in general or justify a 7 paragraph rant that could have been summarized as "Dealers can suck, nothing new to see here."
I cannot believe you would let this one experience taint how you would talk about the Prius in general or justify a 7 paragraph rant that could have been summarized as "Dealers can suck, nothing new to see here."
A 1 week old friend with a Camry Hybrid had the local dealer put XM in it. They got the car back with grease all over the leather seats. They did apoogize, clean the car and not charge for the XM radio.
At this same dealer:
- I have had the oil overfilled twice (they now get 3.5 quarts from ME)<
- A second trip back for the NAV DVD replacement recall when they didn't have the DVD even after I made SURE the scheduler knew my VIN and she even said she knew they were linked. But did they actually order one? NO!<
- And the phone call I got saying my parts were in. Parts? What parts? Why the wiper refills they apparently didn't have at the last service but didn't bother to tell me about. So, ANOTHER trip to get the blades. They apologized and didn't charge for the blades or the oil change.<
#5
08-21-2006, 09:17 AM
Re: SSC 60C Steering Recall Not Done Right
Here's my suggestion: (Granted, it may not be the best suggestion and it may not be feasible in some geographic areas, but....). Go to a dealership that sells a LOT of Prii. You will get better service because they have more experience with the product. You don't always need to go to your purchase dealership for service.
#6
08-22-2006, 09:16 AM
Re: SSC 60C Steering Recall Not Done Right
Sadly, this IS the dealer that sells a lot of Prii!
#7
08-22-2006, 09:43 AM
Re: SSC 60C Steering Recall Not Done Right
As bruceha_2000 says it doesn't matter. I had a warranty alignment done at the "best" service department in the Chicago area (according to the Toyotas Chicago zone office), the Prius Tech did not know that camber could be changed until I showed him and the service writer the repair manual pages. The problem that is going to occur will be that Toyota has a lot more hybrid cars out into the hands of the general public, no longer the hybrid early adopter/enthusiast. As the problems appear and the dealers provide shoddy work the media will get ahold of it and the hybrid bashing will come from a different perspective, the hybrids can't be serviced. It's one thing to counteract the media on hybrid pricing, cost effectiveness, etc. but when the owners have something physical that they can show a problem, it's real hard to counteract that publicity. After all when you say Toyota people think their local dealer, and if he can't....
Wayne
Wayne
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