notoyota

Hello all, am thinking of purhasing a Toyota Fortuner and have heard from locals that this car will have brake problems at about 1000 km. Has anyone else heard this and any owners of the Fortuner have any issues/pluses they can tell me?

Basically looking for a second car, maybe an SUV-type/non mini van looking vehicle.

Thanks All.

well... read this...

well, read this...

On 22/05/2007 I went to replace disk brakes and brake pasts of my Toyota Fortuner. The day after my car was delivered, while I was driving down from Kata hill, I found myself driving the car completely without brakes.

The morning after the accident, I contacted a Lawyer in Phuket in order to sue Toyota but he refused to take my case explaining that I could not have advanced any damage request to Toyota because that day, I didn’t lose my life and I didn’t get hurt. He also made a comment saying that life is not so worthy in Thailand…

The same day I contacted also Toyota so to know their opinion about this accident and they just offered to come to pick the car up, bring it to the service department in Phuket and fix the problem.

Since it wasn’t my intention to drive this car any longer and I wanted Toyota to retire the car I threatened to divulge this story to the media and finally I got some attention from the head office in Bangkok.

On 08/06/2007 a team of six technicians and managers came from Bangkok and inspected the car. The same day Toyota admitted its fault and responsibility, supplied me a spare car (unfortunately not a Fortuner but a second-hand truck) and sent me a letter of apologies confirming the intention to buy the car back at the same price I paid (970,000 baht). The letter was sent by Toyota Pearl Co.,Ltd and signed by the General Manager, Mr. Wibonchai Na-Ranong.

A few days later I received copy of the purchase agreement proposed and I was really surprised when I read the last clause of the agreement: “The Customer acknowledge and understand that the purchase of the said car in the Memorandum of Understanding, the Company considered as the special deal only for Customer Satisfaction, the Customer shall not never expose, reveal or transfer any statement or any section of this MOU at all conditions”.

Since this clause sounds like the intention to keep such an accident in the dark I didn’t accept the agreement and I replied that was without any doubt responsibility of Toyota to explain if the braking system defect is due to the service department fault or if it is a defect in term of the car. In both cases, Toyota Fortuners buyers should be informed if there is a risk that such mistake could be possibly repeated in the future compromising Toyota clients’ safety.

If there is a defect in terms of the car, typically around the brakes, that something should be subject to recall, it should be public, and it should be the owners of these cars should be notified and really told to come in and replace the car, not trying to hide the problem.

I added that I was the first person interested in knowing the truth about this ‘accident’ and I reserved the faculty and the right to divulge, expose, reveal what happened avoiding other drivers to experience such an unpleasant situation.

After a few days of silence a phone call from ‘Toyota Public Relations Office’ followed my letter and I was invited me to accept the agreement as they were very concerned about their reputation. So, I forwarded my last offer to refund the car, refund the money I paid for the car I rented (from 22/05 to 08/06), pay for moral damages and most importantly invite all Fortuners Owners who fixed the brakes in the last six months for a ‘free of charge’ brakes control.

Most funny, in the meantime, the local police stopped my colleague who was driving the spare car supplied by Toyota and retired his driving license since this car wasn’t insured. His driving license is still in Kathu Police station and he also paid a fine of 500 Baht.

On 25/06/2007, ‘Toyota Public Relations Office’ called again and refused all my requests asking to come to retire the spare car they supplied.

At present, my Fortuner is still parked in front of my office without brakes…what you suggest to do now? Is there a Consumers Association in Thailand that can help me with this?

On 22/05/2007 I went to replace disk brakes and brake pasts of my Toyota Fortuner. The day after my car was delivered, while I was driving down from Kata hill, I found myself driving the car completely without brakes.

The morning after the accident, I contacted a Lawyer in Phuket in order to sue Toyota but he refused to take my case explaining that I could not have advanced any damage request to Toyota because that day, I didn’t lose my life and I didn’t get hurt. He also made a comment saying that life is not so worthy in Thailand…

The same day I contacted also Toyota so to know their opinion about this accident and they just offered to come to pick the car up, bring it to the service department in Phuket and fix the problem.

Since it wasn’t my intention to drive this car any longer and I wanted Toyota to retire the car I threatened to divulge this story to the media and finally I got some attention from the head office in Bangkok.

On 08/06/2007 a team of six technicians and managers came from Bangkok and inspected the car. The same day Toyota admitted its fault and responsibility, supplied me a spare car (unfortunately not a Fortuner but a second-hand truck) and sent me a letter of apologies confirming the intention to buy the car back at the same price I paid (970,000 baht). The letter was sent by Toyota Pearl Co.,Ltd and signed by the General Manager, Mr. Wibonchai Na-Ranong.

A few days later I received copy of the purchase agreement proposed and I was really surprised when I read the last clause of the agreement: “The Customer acknowledge and understand that the purchase of the said car in the Memorandum of Understanding, the Company considered as the special deal only for Customer Satisfaction, the Customer shall not never expose, reveal or transfer any statement or any section of this MOU at all conditions”.

Since this clause sounds like the intention to keep such an accident in the dark I didn’t accept the agreement and I replied that was without any doubt responsibility of Toyota to explain if the braking system defect is due to the service department fault or if it is a defect in term of the car. In both cases, Toyota Fortuners buyers should be informed if there is a risk that such mistake could be possibly repeated in the future compromising Toyota clients’ safety.

If there is a defect in terms of the car, typically around the brakes, that something should be subject to recall, it should be public, and it should be the owners of these cars should be notified and really told to come in and replace the car, not trying to hide the problem.

I added that I was the first person interested in knowing the truth about this ‘accident’ and I reserved the faculty and the right to divulge, expose, reveal what happened avoiding other drivers to experience such an unpleasant situation.

After a few days of silence a phone call from ‘Toyota Public Relations Office’ followed my letter and I was invited me to accept the agreement as they were very concerned about their reputation. So, I forwarded my last offer to refund the car, refund the money I paid for the car I rented (from 22/05 to 08/06), pay for moral damages and most importantly invite all Fortuners Owners who fixed the brakes in the last six months for a ‘free of charge’ brakes control.

Most funny, in the meantime, the local police stopped my colleague who was driving the spare car supplied by Toyota and retired his driving license since this car wasn’t insured. His driving license is still in Kathu Police station and he also paid a fine of 500 Baht.

On 25/06/2007, ‘Toyota Public Relations Office’ called again and refused all my requests asking to come to retire the spare car they supplied.

At present, my Fortuner is still parked in front of my office without brakes…what you suggest to do now? Is there a Consumers Association in Thailand that can help me with this?