For the third time, my check light came on again. This time I did not
go to the dealer but went to a shop that has done work on my husbands
cars and my old one. The mechanic found that the problem was with the
VVT System, a problem Toyota issued a bulletin on back in May 2003.
Both times the dealer said they had no idea why that light was coming
on, they found no problem.

So.....tomorrow I got back in again. I would like to know how to get in
touch with the Toyota District Manager if I get blown off here again.
I am reluctant to ask the dealership .... so does anyone know? I am in
FL. Thanks.

No, I am in Clearwater. There is another dealer down in Pinellas Park
who has a very good reputation but it's a long way from here. I am
disappointed in these people. I've always heard that Toyota demanded
such high standards from each dealership. Now it turns out that they
knew all along what was wrong and just didn't want to spend the money
to fix it. The mechanic says if I have to pay for it, it would be
around $2000. That's why I need the name and address of the District
Manager, so I can go there is the dealership here refuses to take care
of it. Toyota extended the warranty on this problem - to 60 months or
60,000 miles. I've had the car since Jan. 2002 and have a little over
10,000 miles.

<Dorot29701 (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote

The Toyota District Manager is responsible for sales. The District Service
Manager is responsible for service and warranty.

My recommendation is to speak with dealership personnel in the order listed
to express your concerns - service advisor that you worked with, service
manager, general manager, and then dealer principal. If you are reluctant
to speak with the dealership, you can contact the customer relations number
in your warranty booklet, but the Customer Relations Analyst will direct you
to speak with the people in the same order that I suggested. If you have
already spoken with dealer personnel when you contact the Toyota 800 number,
then the CR analyst can ask for a District Service Manager to investigate.

--
Ray O
(former Customer Relations Analyst, District Service Manager, District
Manager, etc)
correct the return address punctuation to reply

<Dorot29701 (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote


By the way, dealerships do not pay for warranty repairs, the manufacturer
does. There is no reason for a dealership to refuse to do a covered
warranty repair because the factory pay the same that you pay for the
repair.

Personally, my guess is that the first tech to work on your car honestly
could not find a problem and when it came back, it was given to the same
tech to look again. He looked in the same places he looked before and still
couldn't find the problem. IMO, comebacks on "no problem found" repairs
should be dispatched to a different tech whenever possible to minimize the
problems that you encountered.

Good luck!
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

Ray -

How do I go about finding the name of the District Service Manager? Is
there a directory somewhere or do I just ask the people in the service
department? I went online last night and checked with Consumer
Protection for my county, and this company had 31 complaints on file
for the past five years and only settled 16 of them. The others were
closed without being settled. The other dealership, a much larger one,
had a total of 12 and they had all been settled. I have to admit, I
don't have a lot of hope that they will fix my car now. So I am
looking ahead to find out what, if anything, I can do next. Thanks for
your help.

<Dorot29701 (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote

As I mentioned before, there are steps you need to take before a District
Service Manager (DSM) will get involved. Many DSMs will not speak with a
customer unless the customer has taken the steps I outlined because 90% of
the time, the dealerships can and does handle the customer's concerns to the
customer's satisfaction.

After you have taken the steps at the dealership that I mentioned, then your
best bet is to contact Toyota Motor Sales USA's customer relations number -
1-800-331-4331. The Customer Relations (CR) Analyst will open a case file
for the dealership and CC the DSM and Southeast Toyota distributors'
Customer Relations department. The dealership is supposed to then contact
you to resolve the issue and the DSM is supposed to monitor how the case is
handled. The dealership is supposed to report back to the TMS CR Analyst
how the case was resolved. If you are still unsatisfied after those steps
have happened, then you can re-contact the TMS CR Analyst and ask to meet
the DSM.

I do not know the dealership you are dealing with, but in my experience,
most of the complaints that reach the BBB or Consumer Protection agencies
from dealerships tend to be about sales practices, and most service
departments do try to do a good job. FYI, the warranty on your vehicle will
be honored at any Toyota dealership in the U.S. so it is not necessary to go
back to a dealership you are dissatisfied with. If all you want is to have
your car fixed properly, I'm sure the dealership should be able to handle it
to your satisfaction. If you want the dealership punished somehow for this
incident, that is not going to happen. Dealership customer satisfaction
scores are closely monitored by the distributor's management and dealerships
that continually have low scores will have to improve or lose the franchise.
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

The dealership called late ll/08 and told me that they had been in
touch with Toyota. Toyota techs told them to change a certain part.
The part had to be ordered and it will be about a week before they get
it. This will be covered under the extended warranty because it is
part of the VVT system. They say the car is safe to drive in the
meantime. So, I hope this solves the problem.

<Dorot29701 (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote

I find it disgusting that Toyota so often takes so long to supply various
parts.

"Sharx35" <sharx35 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

hours of order placement, one of the highest fill rates in the industry.
Unfortunately, it's that 3 to 5% that take longer that sticks in people's
minds.
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

"Ray O" <rokigawa (AT) tristarassociatesDOT (DOT) com> wrote

Indeed and Toy is still probably better than any of the other manufacturers
in their distribution. But, there COULD be some improvement. A week is
inexcusable.