Toyota Service

[Sakeopete]

I am on my third Toyota and have never had a lick of problems till now. The air condition in my Fortuner stopped working, I suspected it was a leak as I only had 3000 kms on it. I took it to a showroom in Bnagkok where they recharged it but couldn't find a leak and said to bring it back if it happens again. After a month it happened again this time I took it to the showroom nearest my home which is 50 kms. After telling them that we had it charged a month earlier they agreed there must be a leak deeper inside the system, it would take 3 days to fix. NP we have 2 other vehicles so wouldn't be put out without wheels.

So they found the leak and fixed it so we can come get the Fortuner. I'm not bothered as even the best made vehicles occasionally need tweaks after coming out of the factory. So my wife signs the work order and gets ready to leave while I get the Fortuner. I try to put the auto shifter into gear and cannot <deleted>, the only way to get it in gear is to use the shift lock button. So I tell my wife and she gets the service guy out to look. He pushes the button to put it in gear. MY wife says to him that's not how its suppose to work, so he says ok ok we will fix it. Another 50 km drive home and another day of waiting. He calls us and says it has been fixed and he personally checked everything himself we can come get it. So back to the dealer we go I get in this time checking everything including the lights. Well you guessed it more things not working, the controls on the steering wheel didn't work. fortunately they fixed it in a few hours so we didn't drive back.

What bothers me about this incident is that they would return a vehicle when the shifter doesn't work. Its not like missing the steering wheel controls as they would not have even tried them. What did they think that I would be happy to have to use the shift lock all the time on my new Fortuner. Anyways it makes me shake my head because Toyota's service has been quite excellent until now.

[BSJ]

I take it this is a relatively new rig. And the service centre 50km away is this a full dealership? Yer, you said showroom but that doesn't mean the real deal! In smaller towns it maybe an agency. If it's a full dealership the big boss needs to know.

That really is poor service and I would be writing a letter to the Head of Toyota in Thailand and a request for several thousand baht as compensation for the inconvenience. Send it registered with signature required and a return confirmation so it doesn't end up lost.

If that doesn't work do the same to the company President at Head Office in Japan.

Anyone lower than that and you only going to get the run-around!

The only way to make things better is to tell the bosses what is wrong....their staff usually won't tell em!

[mgjackson69]

I do not quite understand the part about the shifter.

I worked properly when you took the truck in, and did not work properly when you picked up the truck?

Then some other things broke?

What were they doing to break all of these things?

[lazeeboy]

I do not quite understand the part about the shifter.

I worked properly when you took the truck in, and did not work properly when you picked up the truck?

Then some other things broke?

What were they doing to break all of these things?

he didnt break it ,the garage broke it.........

[mgjackson69]

I do not quite understand the part about the shifter.

I worked properly when you took the truck in, and did not work properly when you picked up the truck?

Then some other things broke?

What were they doing to break all of these things?

he didnt break it ,the garage broke it.........

I did not think the customer broke anything, I am just wondering what was happening for all of this to stop working while in the shop...

[Sakeopete]

I do not quite understand the part about the shifter.

I worked properly when you took the truck in, and did not work properly when you picked up the truck?

Then some other things broke?

What were they doing to break all of these things?

To get to the leak they had to take apart the dashboard in the process they didn't re-connect all the wiring. I'm guessing the shifter is connected electrically with the brake pedal so you need to depress it before shifting into gear. Same with the wiring for the steering column that operates the stereo and on board computer. basically they did a piss poor job of putting it back together.

[Sakeopete]

I take it this is a relatively new rig. And the service centre 50km away is this a full dealership? Yer, you said showroom but that doesn't mean the real deal! In smaller towns it maybe an agency. If it's a full dealership the big boss needs to know.

That really is poor service and I would be writing a letter to the Head of Toyota in Thailand and a request for several thousand baht as compensation for the inconvenience. Send it registered with signature required and a return confirmation so it doesn't end up lost.

If that doesn't work do the same to the company President at Head Office in Japan.

Anyone lower than that and you only going to get the run-around!

The only way to make things better is to tell the bosses what is wrong....their staff usually won't tell em!

The showroom is full size with large service department same as the ones in Bangkok. Actually we had a call from Toyota today to ask how many kilometers we have driven and if there have been any problems. Needless to say my wife was on the phone with them for about thirty minutes telling them what happened. She also mentioned that we have bought 3 new Toyota's in 3 years and if they ever pull shit like that again there will not be a number 4 Toyota purchased by us. TBH I like the look of the Mitsubishi trucks but my wife hates it so I think I will buy one of them next

[BSJ]

Hi Sakeopete, that is deplorable for a full dealership! I say you should still ask for compensation for your lost time and the inconvenience.

[mgjackson69]

I do not quite understand the part about the shifter.

I worked properly when you took the truck in, and did not work properly when you picked up the truck?

Then some other things broke?

What were they doing to break all of these things?

To get to the leak they had to take apart the dashboard in the process they didn't re-connect all the wiring. I'm guessing the shifter is connected electrically with the brake pedal so you need to depress it before shifting into gear. Same with the wiring for the steering column that operates the stereo and on board computer. basically they did a piss poor job of putting it back together.

Ok, the original post did not mention the extent of the work done inside the vehicle.

Seems like they left some wiring disconnected...or did some poor splices after they cut the wiring, rather than using the connectors

[Sakeopete]

Hi Sakeopete, that is deplorable for a full dealership! I say you should still ask for compensation for your lost time and the inconvenience.

This is Thailand where I have yet to interact with a customer service representative that gives a dam_n, I certainly couldn't be bothered to take it up with Japan. Everything works fine now and my air con is ice cold.

[torrenova]

I take it this is a relatively new rig. And the service centre 50km away is this a full dealership? Yer, you said showroom but that doesn't mean the real deal! In smaller towns it maybe an agency. If it's a full dealership the big boss needs to know.

That really is poor service and I would be writing a letter to the Head of Toyota in Thailand and a request for several thousand baht as compensation for the inconvenience. Send it registered with signature required and a return confirmation so it doesn't end up lost.

If that doesn't work do the same to the company President at Head Office in Japan.

Anyone lower than that and you only going to get the run-around!

The only way to make things better is to tell the bosses what is wrong....their staff usually won't tell em!

Agreed. They don't give a toss and you're right, they won't tell the boss.

Hi Sakeopete, that is deplorable for a full dealership! I say you should still ask for compensation for your lost time and the inconvenience.

This is Thailand where I have yet to interact with a customer service representative that gives a dam_n, I certainly couldn't be bothered to take it up with Japan. Everything works fine now and my air con is ice cold.

I understand but if you were pissed off enough to come here and post about it you could have fired an email or letter off to them and cc'd Tokyo. Not knocking you but just putting up with piss poor service just means that the next guy gets shat on as well.

[Sakeopete]

I take it this is a relatively new rig. And the service centre 50km away is this a full dealership? Yer, you said showroom but that doesn't mean the real deal! In smaller towns it maybe an agency. If it's a full dealership the big boss needs to know.

That really is poor service and I would be writing a letter to the Head of Toyota in Thailand and a request for several thousand baht as compensation for the inconvenience. Send it registered with signature required and a return confirmation so it doesn't end up lost.

If that doesn't work do the same to the company President at Head Office in Japan.

Anyone lower than that and you only going to get the run-around!

The only way to make things better is to tell the bosses what is wrong....their staff usually won't tell em!

Agreed. They don't give a toss and you're right, they won't tell the boss.

Hi Sakeopete, that is deplorable for a full dealership! I say you should still ask for compensation for your lost time and the inconvenience.

This is Thailand where I have yet to interact with a customer service representative that gives a dam_n, I certainly couldn't be bothered to take it up with Japan. Everything works fine now and my air con is ice cold.

I understand but if you were pissed off enough to come here and post about it you could have fired an email or letter off to them and cc'd Tokyo. Not knocking you but just putting up with piss poor service just means that the next guy gets shat on as well.

Your right but it is the only place I have to go to get my 2 Toyota's serviced and if raising a stink about it to the head offices causes the service manager or mechanics to lose face or worse where am I going to take my vehicles the next time? My post has accomplished what I wanted it too, it gave me an avenue to let off steam to my fellow expats in Thailand and serves as a warning to check absolutely every function of your vehicle before leaving the dealership even if its not related to the repairs you took it in for.

[mgjackson69]

I am thinking about this some more...and realize that we should not be the least bit surprised by these events.

The Thai approach to most problems seems to be "workaround-driven", rather than to find the cause and fix something. Many times even if the cause is known, still things do not get fixed.

Hence, instead of wondering why the transmission could not be shifted from "Park", just use the shift lock release and go on.

We went up to Mom's house a while back for a visit. I went in to shower and noticed that the water basin was a bit low, so I turned on the tap to let if fill....hmmm, no water.

I went to check another tap, no water.

I went out to the water meter, the shutoff valve there was closed. Hmmmm.....

I turned it on, went back inside, now water is coming into the shower "reservoir". Ok, problem solved....with the nagging thought of, "Why was the water shut off at the meter?"

Later, the basin is about full, so I want to shut off the tap...hmmm, broken, it will not shut off. I ask my wife to ask Mom how long it has been broken. "Oh, about half-year".

So instead of fixing the problem, they had been going out to the water meter and turning the water on/off there.

I am not saying that the OP's experience was no big thing, and that he should just accept it...but it is understandable how it happened.

Yes, I did fix the water tap. Also removed the water meter and cleaned the debris out of it so that there was more than a trickle of water.

[BSJ]

As a sidebar I want to pursue an answer to a question re: face. Sakeopete wrote

Your right but it is the only place I have to go to get my 2 Toyota's serviced and if raising a stink about it to the head offices causes the service manager or mechanics to lose face or worse

Because Sakeopete's partner has given them a rollicking on the phone and they know they have done wrong, haven't they lost face anyway? Shouldn't they feel shame for their inactions?

Or is it OK to rip-off the customer or do unsatisfactory work and not be bought to account?

[kartman]

Toyota is not about to pull out of the racing world anytime soon. In August 2006, Toyota sponsored the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races at Laguna Seca, where they debuted their new formula car that broke record after record. In the paddocks were the truely rare 1967 2000GT racing models, all being a nice reminder of the power that Toyota has always held, and a promise that the power will still be kept well into the future.

--------------------

oliviaharis

Used Cars

Where did this come from ? must be a mate of William Richards Car Auction

I await the next coded message

[Sakeopete]

As a sidebar I want to pursue an answer to a question re: face. Sakeopete wrote

Your right but it is the only place I have to go to get my 2 Toyota's serviced and if raising a stink about it to the head offices causes the service manager or mechanics to lose face or worse

Because Sakeopete's partner has given them a rollicking on the phone and they know they have done wrong, haven't they lost face anyway? Shouldn't they feel shame for their inactions?

Or is it OK to rip-off the customer or do unsatisfactory work and not be bought to account?

I doubt the "Is everything fine with your car" robot in a skirt is going to actually write anything but check marks on the customer satisfaction form saying all is good. I will bet it would take a bit more effort to report an unsatisfied customer and since TIT she will not want to think too mut.