Repair Expectations

[Tripledave]

Posting this to help get my thoughts straight after taking my 200 to a reputable shop for some much need repairs. My 2008 LC has roughly 245k on it and has been in need of valve cover gaskets/plug well seals/plugs as well as a coolant valley leak and Hewitt SAIS bypass install. Sometimes it's nice to pay other s to do the maintenance work/tough jobs. Truck was finished in about 2 days and runs great, all leaks look to be addressed. The issue is this....

I picked up my truck this morning as soon as the shop opened, They called late yesterday to say it was ready (I also have a fairly demanding job to deal with so I can pay for such repairs).

First thing I noticed was the "deletion" of the splash guards at the rear portion of my fenderwells. . I understand that they need to be removed to install the SAIS pipe blockoff plates. No problem. Walked back in and found them under the tech's workbench. Had I not noticed, as some may not, these would have been discarded.

I also understand that clips and fasteners break on older vehicles - fine - ADD THEM TO THE BILL and I'll gladly pay for them (should be part of the job).

Next was the engine cover......Superficial of course but it was fine when I brought it in. I get it, things get brittle, worn, wear out, whatever - be careful or ADD IT TO THE BILL. Front mounting tab completely broken, one of the mounting grommets missing. I'm kinda OK with this but not really.

I Found the stupid expensive clips/tabs for the splash guards at a local Toyota dealer and picked them up after work (out of my way by about an hour or so in rush hour traffic). Knowing I would spend my evening replacing these tabs and re-installing the splash guards, I thought......Hmmm, since I'm going to spend my evening in the garage working on my truck that I just paid to have fixed........

What else did they miss/F-up?

Well, after looking over the wiring/fasteners and such that would have been affected/removed during these repairs it was discovered that more of them than not were broken and just plugged back in or in the case of broken mounts just "hanging there". OK - Sh*t breaks, I get it. Fix it and ADD IT TO THE BILL - no problem. Let's put this thing back together like it came in.

Thoroughly pissed at this point, my inspection became more intense..... It was discovered that somehow the TJM front bullbar on my truck now has a gouge and several scratches in the powdercoating (I'll admit that the bullbar has been on the truck for years and was kinda faded but I've done my best to UV coat and take care of the finish). I can only assume this is from the topside creeper they had to used to make the repairs requested and rubbing/hitting the bullbar (I attribute this to lack of attention/concern while performing a tough repair).

As of right now I'm fairly torqued off and trying to decide how hard to lay into these guys.

IH8MUD, I'd like your thoughts.

 

[Tripledave]

 

[doru]

Scratch - happens, but leaving electrical connectors on the engine (vibrations) holding by the electrical terminals and rubber gasket instead of being secured is a not acceptable. Yes, it is time consuming and not cheap to replace the broken ones, but they were careless and those connectors do not just break so easily. They do not break easily on my 30 yrs old Toyota or 18 yrs Subaru. The rubber gasket may be stuck but you do not get them off in one piece by being a gorilla. They claim they are professionals not a shade tree mechanic and you paid professional rates.
Harness clips can be taken out w/o breaking if you know how, have the tools and patience. More often than not I see mechanics just pray them out damaging them in the process. It is not that they are brittle, it is that the mechanic does not care, and thus they should eat up the cost and fix it.

 

[TheIcemanCometh]

At this point you owe to yourself and the shop to talk with the service manager / owner. That is just plain sloppy work.

In replacing headlight lights on two Toyotas I have found more broken clip as well broken a few myself. I buy them by the dozen. They do get brittle living in hot dry climates.

 

[Heckraiser]

I wouldn't expect any compensation or anything, but I would definitely try to speak with the shop owner, if nothing else, so they can have a talk with the mechanic that was working on your truck. They will be defensive, so approach the conversation with a respectful/constructive tone or they'll just tell you to buzz off.

Not everyone is accepting of their shop bill growing from the quote based on things going wrong, so I don't agree with your assumption that they should just fix it and add it to the bill, unless you expressly told them to take that approach. I personally want the shop to call me for any oopsie/discovery/decision that might increase the cost. But yes, they should have at least communicated these problems to you rather than just handing your truck back half-assed cobbled together.

Another cautionary tale for not doing the work yourself, but I get that sometimes life/work makes that impossible. Been there

 

[MRego]

As of right now I'm fairly torqued off and trying to decide how hard to lay into these guys.

HARD and never get back. Piss-poor job! They probably get away with this stuff with 80% of customers who would never check these things. Once in a while they find one of us. I would not call them reputable by any means.

 

[04UZJ100]

Mechanics/dealers kill more 200s than flat out neglect and abuse.

 

[Tripledave]

I appreciate all the feedback guys and for letting me blow off some steam.

I wouldn't expect any compensation or anything, but I would definitely try to speak with the shop owner, if nothing else, so they can have a talk with the mechanic that was working on your truck. They will be defensive, so approach the conversation with a respectful/constructive tone or they'll just tell you to buzz off.

Not everyone is accepting of their shop bill growing from the quote based on things going wrong, so I don't agree with your assumption that they should just fix it and add it to the bill, unless you expressly told them to take that approach. I personally want the shop to call me for any oopsie/discovery/decision that might increase the cost. But yes, they should have at least communicated these problems to you rather than just handing your truck back half-assed cobbled together.

Another cautionary tale for not doing the work yourself, but I get that sometimes life/work makes that impossible. Been there

I agree that they should have communicated when things went wrong/broke and should have stated that in my post. I'm just not sure the person doing the work thought anything was wrong.

 

[Tripledave]

Update, sort of....

Spoke with the service manager this morning who saw the pictures of damage, agreed that he would deem such work unacceptable if it were his own vehicle, and said all the things. I told them to contact me with their solution once they have come up with something.

Also, thanks for the feedback here on MUD. This has always been a forum full of great information and great people.

Sometimes it is very helpful to type out what you want to say before delivering it to someone who you believe has made a mistake/caused damage to something you take pride in.

 

[GrouchyTech]

Yes, it is time consuming and not cheap to replace the broken ones, but they were careless and those connectors do not just break so easily. They do not break easily on my 30 yrs old Toyota or 18 yrs Subaru.

They certainly do just break so easily.

 

[Dixon Santana]

Unfortunately, after seeing the damage and seeing the dealership. This is not a huge shock to me. Have personally dealt with that establishment in the past and it has never been a good experience.

Hope they provide you with a reasonable solution to the poor quality work they performed.

 

[Tripledave]

Unfortunately, after seeing the damage and seeing the dealership. This is not a huge shock to me. Have personally dealt with that establishment in the past and it has never been a good experience.

Hope they provide you with a reasonable solution to the poor quality work they performed.

Purposely not wanting to name names here and to be clear, the dealership shown on the receipt above did NOT perform any work on my truck. They were simply the parts dept who had the clips in stock to replace what had been damaged during repair work elsewhere.

 

[Dixon Santana]

Purposely not wanting to name names here and to be clear, the dealership shown on the receipt above did NOT perform any work on my truck. They were simply the parts dept who had the clips in stock to replace what had been damaged during repair work elsewhere.

I see. Thought this was going to be another bad experience from the dealer shown on the invoice.

Regardless, hope your 200 is sorted out properly in the end. I too have had the thought of having work done at a shop in the past due to time constraints, but I can't bring myself to trust shops.

 

[LX47076]

Glad you expressed your displeasure otherwise they would feel it's normal to miss a few details.

Do you mind sharing the cost of that service? Curious, what their "solution" may be so please keep us posted.

 

[studawg]

Posting this to help get my thoughts straight after taking my 200 to a reputable shop for some much need repairs. My 2008 LC has roughly 245k on it and has been in need of valve cover gaskets/plug well seals/plugs as well as a coolant valley leak and Hewitt SAIS bypass install. Sometimes it's nice to pay other s to do the maintenance work/tough jobs. Truck was finished in about 2 days and runs great, all leaks look to be addressed. The issue is this....

I picked up my truck this morning as soon as the shop opened, They called late yesterday to say it was ready (I also have a fairly demanding job to deal with so I can pay for such repairs).

First thing I noticed was the "deletion" of the splash guards at the rear portion of my fenderwells. . I understand that they need to be removed to install the SAIS pipe blockoff plates. No problem. Walked back in and found them under the tech's workbench. Had I not noticed, as some may not, these would have been discarded.

I also understand that clips and fasteners break on older vehicles - fine - ADD THEM TO THE BILL and I'll gladly pay for them (should be part of the job).

Next was the engine cover......Superficial of course but it was fine when I brought it in. I get it, things get brittle, worn, wear out, whatever - be careful or ADD IT TO THE BILL. Front mounting tab completely broken, one of the mounting grommets missing. I'm kinda OK with this but not really.

I Found the stupid expensive clips/tabs for the splash guards at a local Toyota dealer and picked them up after work (out of my way by about an hour or so in rush hour traffic). Knowing I would spend my evening replacing these tabs and re-installing the splash guards, I thought......Hmmm, since I'm going to spend my evening in the garage working on my truck that I just paid to have fixed........

What else did they miss/F-up?

Well, after looking over the wiring/fasteners and such that would have been affected/removed during these repairs it was discovered that more of them than not were broken and just plugged back in or in the case of broken mounts just "hanging there". OK - Sh*t breaks, I get it. Fix it and ADD IT TO THE BILL - no problem. Let's put this thing back together like it came in.

Thoroughly pissed at this point, my inspection became more intense..... It was discovered that somehow the TJM front bullbar on my truck now has a gouge and several scratches in the powdercoating (I'll admit that the bullbar has been on the truck for years and was kinda faded but I've done my best to UV coat and take care of the finish). I can only assume this is from the topside creeper they had to used to make the repairs requested and rubbing/hitting the bullbar (I attribute this to lack of attention/concern while performing a tough repair).

As of right now I'm fairly torqued off and trying to decide how hard to lay into these guys.

IH8MUD, I'd like your thoughts.

Dare I ask, did you check your cabin air filter after you got it back?

 

[Tripledave]

If they F'ed that up doing the work I took it in for, I'll send you a link to the news report of their shop burning down......

I did actually check it since I'm so sketched out right now. All good.

 

[Tripledave]

Glad you expressed your displeasure otherwise they would feel it's normal to miss a few details.

Do you mind sharing the cost of that service? Curious, what their "solution" may be so please keep us posted.

$185/hr should cover all the details.

The service ran me a bit north of $3k, and to be fair this was an involved repair (should not have damaged sh*t in the process and failed to let me know but....it is what it is at this point).

Shop owner responded to my concerns and admitted that mistakes were made. They have identified issues in their tech reporting process and said they will address them moving forward FWIW.

Our solution to the damages incurred is in process. I hope to be contacted this week, once all parts are in hand, with a date to fix the issues. Truck is currently operable and being driven daily.

At this point I have no reason to believe that the issues will not be handled.

I will update once we settle up.