Builds Mr Wilson’s 89 4Runner (1 Viewer)

[joseywales]

Earlier we discussed the inadequacy of repair shops. Let’s revisit...

In October I had the local Toyota dealer replace the front windshield on my 100 series. I figured “take it to the dealer, as they are the <supposed> pinnacle of service available for Toyota (unless you live near Cruiser Outfitters, Slee or similar). Fast forward to 3 weeks ago and we notice the passenger side floor is a lake. You could literally have 3/4“ of water if you pushed down a bit on the carpet. Oh, look, it’s running down the side panel under the dash. Hmmm, ECM etc are in that area. The dealer gets right on it and keeps the LC for 5 days to find the leak and repair it, but in the end have to replace the windshield again in order to do a proper fix. But wait, let’s bend the windshield mouldings so bad they no longer fit. Oops. Our bad. Here, we bought you $706 plus tax worth of mouldings to fix our mistake. Nice right? Nope. Took it in there today to have them install the new mouldings, and 1/2 hour later get the call “ummmmm, soooooo, we sort of broke the windshield taking the old mouldings out”.

I told the service writer I was going to hang up, and call the service manager back in a half hour once I had calmed down enough to not reach through the phone and strangle him! I assured the service manager that I had reached the end of my patience with them and that if my truck was not finished 100% to both their, and my satisfaction by the end of the day (with 6 oil filters and jugs of oil in it) I was very likely going to snap.

I left him with my final thought of “I would be REALLY embarrassed right now if I were you”. I can’t wait to see if this 3rd windshield in as many months leaks!

 

[old87yota]

Well then... that is not good news.....

I hope the dealer will make it right.

I guess we will see......

 

[yotadude520]

Sweet mother...what is up with you and people half assing work on your rigs?!

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Must be a Canadian thing... The Socialism is getting to all of your brains!

 

[jgranthevagrant]

Must be a Canadian thing... The Socialism is getting to all of your brains!

Our Toyota dealers up here are about the furthest thing from socialist. Not sure which one JoseyWales is going to, but mine is owned by the richest oldest tycoon in the province. Never been in there for a windshield though.

 

[joseywales]

Our Toyota dealers up here are about the furthest thing from socialist. Not sure which one JoseyWales is going to, but mine is owned by the richest oldest tycoon in the province. Never been in there for a windshield though.

I was on our 36’ Trojan fishing up Princess Louisa Inlet years ago when said Toyota dealer owning tycoons yacht came into view. We were checking it out through the binoculars and saw this gent (r.i.p.) get out of a helo that landed on it:

Definitely NOT socialist!

 

[joseywales]

But back to the story... The s***show contiues. I seriously could not make this up. The service manager called me back at 3:30 and said the glass had not yet arrived. I said “I’m not optimistic about agood outcome here, please tell the installer the situation, and that I will be going over the job VERY thoroughly. The lat thing we want is for him to rush, and F something up”. Manager agrees, and even calls me back again 20 mins after to assure me he has passed on my concerns to the installer...

I get picked up by the dealer shuttle guy and dropped off at their glass shop which is across the street from dealership. Before I even get out of the car, I can see black urethane primer on my silver paint. That crap is hard to get off. Great. I go inside and get my key, and then go to look at it closer. The a-hole not only got urethane on the paint, he took two huge chips out of the paint where it meets the top of the glass! The chips go in under the glass. I pretty much snap. I go inside and get the shop supervisor to come look, and explain how I feel (using some not so family friendly words!). I then decide I’m going to go to the service department and throttle the manager. I pull up under the big lights in their covered entry ad then notice the golf ball sized dent in my fender!!!! Manager is gone (chicken****!) but service writer confirms that the dent and chips were NOT there when I dropped it off this morning. (They take photos of all service vehicles when they come in thankfully). At this point I’m so mad I’m actually shaking. I let the writer know in no uncertain terms how I’m feeling. I can hardly wait to hear what they are going to say for themselves in the morning.

The best part of this is that the only reason I had theglass pulled in October was so I could properly fix chips and rust around the windshield! Now they will have pull it out AGAIN to fix it properly, and they will have to fix my fender too!

I appreciate you tolerating the long story. Writing it down, the 3 beers and other forms of legal intoxicants are about all that is keeping me sane right now!

 

[gnob]

That is ****ing turrible.

 

[pappy]

You need to stop talking to them and escalate this to corporate. I seem to recall they have staff that deal with your kind of experience.

 

[joseywales]

You need to stop talking to them and escalate this to corporate. I seem to recall they have staff that deal with your kind of experience.

I’m going to give them one opportunity to offer a suitable outcome, which at this point would be pretty much re-spraying the entire vehicle almost, as the roof will need to be done, and the fender, and I’ve yet to ever see a metallic color like mine blended correctly. The windshield will need to come out (again!!!) to properly coat the roof chips to prevent future rust, which is exactly how all this BS started.

Should they not offer IN WRITING to do this, I will definitely be on the phone with corporate by noon today. I need to call them anyway as I still can’t get ANY info on my 4Runner. Their system will accept the vin, but gives ZERO info. The dealer (who I’m suspecting is completely staffed by ****wits), suggested I contact corporate to get the service/warranty history on the ‘Runner.

 

[pappy]

I need to call them anyway as I still can’t get ANY info on my 4Runner. Their system will accept the vin, but gives ZERO info. The dealer (who I’m suspecting is completely staffed by ****wits), suggested I contact corporate to get the service/warranty history on the ‘Runner.

Keep in mind it might have never seen the dealer by the PO. I acquired a 3RZ engine from a 1998 4Runner. When I ran it though Toyota it came up nothing. When I ran it through Carfax Garage, it had quite a few records, none of them dealer.

 

[yotadude520]

Why is everyone up there so incompetent when it comes to the SIMPLEST things?! Good for you for telling them how you really feel!

 

[joseywales]

Keep in mind it might have never seen the dealer by the PO. I acquired a 3RZ engine from a 1998 4Runner. When I ran it though Toyota it came up nothing. When I ran it through Carfax Garage, it had quite a few records, none of them dealer.

I have paper service records from multiple dealers in the area. The records exist, they just aren’t coming up. All I really want to know is if the head gasket recall has been done. And if not, will they still do it?

Why is everyone up there so incompetent when it comes to the SIMPLEST things?! Good for you for telling them how you really feel!

I am at a loss. I’ve always maintained my own vehicles, sometimes with the help of a Toyota mechanic friend (I have two, but one moved back east, and the other is in charge of a 90+ vehicle fleet and has two troublesome young boys, so has zero time for side jobs). This is another case of why those of us that are able to, should do all our own services. Unfortunately, I don’t do windshields, although maybe I should start...


@jgrantthevagrant : dealer is Open Road - Peace Arch. Open Road group bought them on Jan 15. Aside from the obvious issue, they have been good to deal with. Parts guy is great.

 

[yotadude520]

I have paper service records from multiple dealers in the area. The records exist, they just aren’t coming up. All I really want to know is if the head gasket recall has been done. And if not, will they still do it?



I am at a loss. I’ve always maintained my own vehicles, sometimes with the help of a Toyota mechanic friend (I have two, but one moved back east, and the other is in charge of a 90+ vehicle fleet and has two troublesome young boys, so has zero time for side jobs). This is another case of why those of us that are able to, should do all our own services. Unfortunately, I don’t do windshields, although maybe I should start...


@jgrantthevagrant : dealer is Open Road - Peace Arch. Open Road group bought them on Jan 15. Aside from the obvious issue, they have been good to deal with. Parts guy is great.

I always do my own work..except for windshields too. But here in AZ windshields get replaced for free and there are a million windshield repair places. I'm very rigorous on who touches my cars, ever since my last incident. Got burned once and I'm never going back.

I do some pretty extensive research on anyone who might work on my car and read almost every review. I like it when there are over 100+ reviews that are all or mainly positive, and I look to see if the owner responded to any of the negative ones. I also take note of how clean their facilities are when I go to drop the car off and prefer to use local mom and pop shops that have been around a while vs chains/franchises who hire Joe blow. If I have the time to sit and watch I usually will just to make sure everything is looking good. Haven't been burned since!

Just a thought in the future if you ever need work done by someone else.

 

[yotadude520]

I have paper service records from multiple dealers in the area. The records exist, they just aren’t coming up. All I really want to know is if the head gasket recall has been done. And if not, will they still do it?

Also, the head gasket repair is actually part of a Warranty Extension that involved early 1988 -1989 Pick up trucks and 4Runners. For the 1990 - 1995 model years Toyota issued a Special Service Campaign that do not have an end date like a normal recall would have.

Here's the VIN range for the SSC.

And here's a copy of the warranty extension for your truck.

I've also attached a copy of the SSC PDF that was issued to Toyota employees when it happened. You should be able to call ANY dealer and see if it's been done. I was going to buy a 4Runner with a blown headgasket and wondered the same thing. They said if it hadn't been done, they would've gladly done it as part of the SSC. Granted I'm not sure this applies to the 1988-1989 model years. You'd have to make a case and ask for it, but they may deny it sine it was only a Warranty Policy shift and not a SSC for 1988-1989.

 

[yotadude520]

And actually, after reading the notice that Toyota issued it looks like the Special Policy Adjustment expired for the 1988-1989 4Runners - so it probably won't be done by them for free only for that green stuff sitting in your wallet.

 

[joseywales]

Thanks for the docs YD. I figured it was a 1 in 100 shot, but worth looking into if it doesn’t burn too much daylight.

I have a mom n pop shop that I go to if it’s something I can’t do. The dealer only came into the picture this time as they are set up as a glass vendor with my insurance company. The other options are all franchises here, and also subject to the Joe blow syndrome. I went dealer as LC windshields have a reputation for being harder to install properly (according to multiple glass shops I’ve dealt with over the years of 80 and 100 ownership), and I figured oem parts and labor must be the best, right?

Where is the damn gun to head emoji?

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Our Toyota dealers up here are about the furthest thing from socialist. Not sure which one JoseyWales is going to, but mine is owned by the richest oldest tycoon in the province. Never been in there for a windshield though.

I was on our 36’ Trojan fishing up Princess Louisa Inlet years ago when said Toyota dealer owning tycoons yacht came into view. We were checking it out through the binoculars and saw this gent (r.i.p.) get out of a helo that landed on it:

View attachment 1898466

Definitely NOT socialist!

I was talking more about the employee's, not the owner... But either way, I was completely joking.

I got to say this sucks all the way around, Josey. I am so sorry all this is happening! Maybe it's time to talk to one of these guys: Coastal Cruisers Member Businesses

 

[joseywales]

I was talking more about the employee's, not the owner... But either way, I was completely joking.

I got to say this sucks all the way around, Josey. I am so sorry all this is happening! Maybe it's time to talk to one of these guys: Coastal Cruisers Member Businesses

We knew you were joking. We can take it!

I’ve had dealings with one of the “member businesses” and I’ll just say I was not impressed. Service was adequate, but I felt like I was leaving my truck with a bunch of hillbillies! I have another shop local that is staffed by older (50+) mechanics who can do black magic like tuning a carb! They also don’t do glass...

I spoke to the glass shop foreman and he is checking their cameras to see if the dent and scratches were there when it came across the street. He also mentioned that the svc mgr called yesterday and told him about all the drama and that I would be checking their work very closely. They put it in a separate bay with only the guy doing my job in it, and he was very apologetic. Still haven’t heard squat from the dealer main. He’s known about the damage for 5 hours now, and not even a “we are so sorry, please give us a day or so to come up with an acceptable solution” phone call.

I spoke to Toyota Corporate (originally about the 4Runner vin, which they also had zero info on!), and well I was on the line I filled them in on the situation. I said I would wait to hear the dealers offer of resolution before getting them involved. I do have a case number though.

 

[joseywales]

Dealer finally called. Not at all apologetic, said they would bring their pointless guy in to try and “roll out” the dent. I’ve heard of great things from these guys so I’ll give that a go. As for the bigger issure of chips, it’s the old “deny deny deny” routine. I told him to cut the crap. There’s no way a rock chip did the long flat one. It has 8 little stutters sideways in it. He tried to blame it on rocks, and I said here’s a pic I took after washing it the day before I dropped it off to you... NO CHIPS!!

I said I would give him a day or two to figure out what they wanted to do, told him what I would accept, and said if you don’t agree, this is going to get escalated to Toyota Corporate. I already have a case number with them on it.