Forgive my soapbox novel, but many had negative comments about the man making the video, there was a larger point or issue to his complaint.

Can he be labeled as brilliant for paying full MSRP on a dealer demo with 5k miles? Probably not.

Could we pin him as thorough for not doing his research on gas mileage, averages, etc? My vote is no.

Should we get him an ASE certification for his exceptional knowledge on engine breaking? Let's go with no.

However, the bigger issue he encountered was one with that of a customer experience. He felt like something was wrong and had an experience that he knew was not correct. He was still shunned away and told nothing was wrong by Toyota.

We could be missing big pieces of the story, but consider what he's had to go through - regardless of his oversights.

I am pleased to be among the many on this board who have not had issues with their Camry's, and in fact, are quite pleased with their purchases. Ultimately, however, I would be livid to be in the position he is in - fighting bureaucratic legal language, process, people and dealerships only interested in maximizing their immediate dollar gain while sacrificing customer satisfaction in the long run.

Instead of ostracizing and mocking him, could we be the community that amplifies the voice of the customer and implores dealerships and car companies to maintain accountability?

Let it be mercy and compassion we lack, not rationale.

 

Arthur, Excellent point, and well said. Thanks for starting my day from the "high ground".

 

I dunno...after watching this, I think this guy is a tool. He 1.) does not understand the vehicle he bought. 2.) He has a case of buyer's remorse. 3.) He took the dealer's word on the codes being nothing. And he put off testing for a month until Toyota said, okay, now we will do the "exhaustive" test. (whatever that is). 4.) Some internet research would have gotten him some answers more quickly.

If I buy a car for business, I make sure I know EVERYTHING and make sure it's reliable before I buy. Buying a first year release of any car is risky.

 

I have to disagree with you. Considering the problems with the story as presented in the video, I consider the author to be unreliable. I can't sympathize with him unless he can present some firm evidence that his account of the events is accurate.

 

I agree...was not shunned - he got the service he paid for. He was just pissed about the rental car, which he should not have been such a fool about. (READ THE DOCUMENT - DON'T ASSUME). And he certainly got a loaner during the actual repairs.

The author's intentions are very suspect - he bought a Camry for "business", but then got a Ridgeline after that? Those are two completely difference vehicle for different reasons. If he went to an Accord, Altima, Malibu, etc, I could see that, but a truck? C'mon - you're just pissed because you overpaid.

Spending twice as much on fuel per year...ouch.

 

I did a search for his user, MAFICSTUDIOS I found on his you tube video. He works for a television station and also makes video advertisements. I noticed he was a good spokesman doing his thing against his car.

The first thing I noticed is that he knows to move himself around. Also using various camera angles so the viewer won't get bored during his lengthy compliant. I would call that professionalism. I don't believe he is that uninformed about his TCH.

Could be he is trying to get noticed putting down a popular car from a very good company.

 

This story shows another 'dirty fact' of car ownership: most techs call it a day when they pull the DTC, and check the very basics. And although the newer cars are pretty good about 'telling you where it hurts', there are times a DTC will lead you down the wrong path. Without proper diagnostic skills, and without being trained in and compensated for diagnosing problems, many techs will default to 'no trouble found' rather than look beyond the most obvious. On several cars I've owned in the past, the result of the complaint raised the first time was 'no trouble found', even though the 'after' miles clearly demonstrate that the tech couldn't have tried to re-create the issue. For example, on a vehicle I had about 10 years ago, I had a complaint of vibration after 10 min of running, when driving between 40-45; the car was returned with .2 miles more than when dropped off in this example. Not enough to get out of the dealership parking lot, much less to drive enough to re-create the issue.

My point here is that some problems take diagnostic skills and ambition to look beyond the obvious. The typical lack of compensation for warranty diagnostic time to the tech makes the typical repair protocol to 'pull the codes, and start throwing parts at it'. And clearly, an intermittent failure, especially with a part that's normally reliable, will result in numerous come-backs until the part fails completely. Which leads to customer frustration.

 

I'm going to offend some people, but certain folks I've met from Eastern Canada whine, snivel and carry-on like nothing I've ever seen. It's really astonishing.

I've got 23,000 miles in 14 months.

Failures to date: 1 turn signal bulb.

Oh yeah! Hehehe..... This twit and his ~warning~ about the $2,100 Fuel Pump???

$193.89, on the shelf at rockauto.com, right now.

Sheesh. Get a life, eh?

 

VIRAL MARKETING...

I think you might be on to something there.

 

I watched the video when this was first posted. Wasn't the total cost for the replacement $2100? I thought someone said that the fuel pump was in the tank, which meant they would have to pull the fuel tank off which would cause the job to be labor intensive, I believe. This is going off of memory.

I agree with other people that he is just trying to get attention. How can he say that getting 36mpg during the summer isn't that good?

On his defense though I think the dealership should have been able to solve the problem on the first visit. I'm not a mechanic but if the vehicle comes to sa sudden slow down and won't accelerate don't you check the basics.....like is the engine getting fuel? It's kind of like when one of my users at work can't get on the internet...is there an IP address.....if not is the ethernet cable unplugged? This happened yesterday. You start with the basics and work up.

I've gone from troubleshooting people to troubleshooting computers and networks so maybe this line of thought is natural to me.