Monday, October 20, 2014

How much must we put up with when buying a new vehicle? Holly bought a 2014 Toyota Highlander, and is fed up


March 13, 2014 I bought my brand new 2014 Toyota Highlander Liminted from Walser Toyota in Bloomington MN.

 It had a few small bugs that I didn't pay much attention to, like the power seats would change positions while the car was parked.

 By April 20th the car wouldn't start.

I called Toyota Roadside Assistance, and they came out and jump started it. The check engine light was on, and I brought it to the dealership. They said it had no codes saying what was wrong, and put in a new battery. It had more minor problems, such as the middle part of the dash going blank as I drove, but when I shut off the car it would come back on. The seats also continued to move all the way forward when the car is parked and off.

August 25th, it wouldn't start again.

 I called Toyota Roadside assistance for another jump start, and it was driven into the dealership where they kept it for several days. Again, unable to find or duplicate the problem.

Since then, the car is getting progressively worse.

The navigation screen will go black while I'm using it. It usually stays off for 2-3 minutes and when it comes back on the data of the destination has been erased. I have to use my iPhone for navigation now, as the car won't always hold the information for the entirety of the trip.

The USB in the dash, goes on and off, which is only a minor inconvenience.

 Last week, the dash lights went off while I was driving.

Now the car is no longer an inconvenience, but a danger.

I can't have a brand new car that has all the interior lights go out while driving. I can't see the speed, or any information. Thank goodness the headlights didn't go out, but at this rate, it's a matter of time.

 There is some sort of major electrical problem that they can't diagnose because there is no code being reported by the car. I brought it in to Walser Toyota again on October 16th after the dash went dark when driving at night. They ran all the usual tests, and found nothing wrong. Aaron, one of their service technicians called me at 2:18pm and said they found nothing wrong but would tell Toyota that the USB port was faulty and replace it for me.

 I told him I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT WANT THAT. I don't want them to make up things that are wrong and skew the facts. I'm happy for them to replace it to see if it helps, but I don't feel comfortable with him lying about a faulty part. I want all the facts to be reported accurately.

 I posted this on Walser Toyota's Facebook page. I called Toyota's corporate number and got an arbitration number. Later, the evening of October 16th, Greg Davis, the service manager, whom I'd been dealing with, called me at 8:28pm and began screaming at me, quite literally, for posting to Facebook my issues.

 He said I should have addressed it with him, and that since I accused his employee of lying, (he DID offer to lie) he said he now thinks I'm lying. He asked if anyone had ever seen my car do any of this. I told him, it's documented at Toyota Roadside assistance. I asked him what the purpose would be for me to lie? I just want my issue resolved, and if it can't be, I want a new car, since that's what I paid for. About 8 minutes into the conversation, I realized I needed to document this, and I got my spare iPhone, put Greg on speaker phone, and I began to record our conversation. I have 39 minutes, 25 seconds of a 48 minute conversation with Greg recorded. He yelled at me, was abusive, and used profanity with me. I have it all recorded. I was shaking and couldn't sleep that night from all this.

 I love my Highlander, unfortunately, I am at a point were I no longer feel safe driving it. I bought a brand new Toyota 7 months ago, based on the reputation of reliability. I've had constant problems since.

 I would like my car replaced with a new Highlander Limited, because the one I bought in good faith is not safe, and can't be fixed. I'm at a loss as to what I can do. It's in arbitration, and all I can do is hope I either can get a new car or get a full refund and purchase something else.

Holly

Wasler Toyota, West Bloomington Minnesota

"where good people sell good cars." 

"If there's one thing Bloomington residents know, it's shopping. With the Mall of America in your hometown, how could you not have incredibly high standards for customer service? "

"No job is too big or too small for our expert technicians! They can keep your car running for years to come with top-of-the-line maintenance and first-class, efficient repairs."

"Walser Toyota is committed to providing Toyota fans in Minnesota with unmatched customer service -- not just from the moment you walk in the door, but for years after the initial purchase."

 http://www.walsertoyota.com/index.htm   https://www.facebook.com/WalserToyota

3 comments:

  1. I really have sympathy for this person, what a distressing thing to happen to anyone. It seems the more complicated the electronics get in modern cars the more this sort of thing happens. It is not as thought a Toyota Highlanders is a cheap car to buy.

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    1. I agree.... my first trouble shooting step would be to replace the computer

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  2. Jesse, tell Holly if Minnesota has a lemon law, use it and quickly. I lemon-lawed an 11 month 2005 Lexus ES330 here in FL. Lexus/Toyota put me through hell doing it, but all they did was make me madder. She needs to start the process now and see that the service manager is punished.

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