So my 07 Tundra has a bumper plating problem. It's pretty common. I had to go by Dan Wolf Toyota in Naperville (I mention it so Google might direct searchers to this thread) to pick up some parts. While I was there I decided to make an appointment to get my rear bumper replaced again.
Bumper one was destroyed by my son who couldn't follow the direction to not try to back the trailer up. That one lasted about 3000 miles.
Bumper two rusted right at the wings like many do. It lasted about 9,000 miles or one winter.
Bumper two lasted about 8000 miles. Roughly 9 months. made it to about January of a pretty rough Chicago winter.
The service writer looked at it, then went around the front. I told him I don't have any problem with the front. He pointed out where they tend to rust and sure enough, I have a little rust just starting to form right where the fog light pieces fit in. then he looked at my service record.
"Are you still waiting on this part?"
"No. It was just replaced"
"It's already been done?"
"Yup. That's what I said when I came in." dumbass.
"Wait here"
He comes back with the service manager. She looks at the rear bumper, then goes around front.
"I can't do anything about the front" she says. "You have this damage here" She points to a inch long scratch about 6 inches away from the rust. Whatever. I'll deal with that issue when the rust on the front starts to bug me or when I turn in the truck on the lease.
She went to the back and looked at the rust. She calls over a tech and asks him if the bumper looks like it was damaged. I start a slow boil. He looks at it for a while and says it doesn't look damaged to him. She looks some more. Total she scrutinizes my bumper for a good ten minutes or more.
I tell her that bumper has never been hit by anything, that this is a known issue, and that I would bet they have a half dozen trucks scheduled for the exact same thing this week. She tells me she has to check it out because it had already been done once.
Bull. I had asked the service writer if Toyota was going to cover this known problem forever, because I was thinking about buying the truck after the lease was up. Clearly they have no intention at Dan Wolf of continuing to fix them for free.
Who instructed the service manager to give me a hard time? The management of the dealer? The regional rep? Toyota USA? Why else would she do more than just accept that it's another rusted chrome Tundra bumper and submit the warranty repair?
My suggestion to any one experiencing this problem, the broken tail gate latches or the radio issue that they call Toyota customer service first and have them call your local dealer. I would surely want some assurance that the bumper will be covered for at least some decent time after each replacement if I owned the truck.
Once again Toyota proves why it has one of the lowest dealership experience ratings of any body.
Bumper one was destroyed by my son who couldn't follow the direction to not try to back the trailer up. That one lasted about 3000 miles.
Bumper two rusted right at the wings like many do. It lasted about 9,000 miles or one winter.
Bumper two lasted about 8000 miles. Roughly 9 months. made it to about January of a pretty rough Chicago winter.
The service writer looked at it, then went around the front. I told him I don't have any problem with the front. He pointed out where they tend to rust and sure enough, I have a little rust just starting to form right where the fog light pieces fit in. then he looked at my service record.
"Are you still waiting on this part?"
"No. It was just replaced"
"It's already been done?"
"Yup. That's what I said when I came in." dumbass.
"Wait here"
He comes back with the service manager. She looks at the rear bumper, then goes around front.
"I can't do anything about the front" she says. "You have this damage here" She points to a inch long scratch about 6 inches away from the rust. Whatever. I'll deal with that issue when the rust on the front starts to bug me or when I turn in the truck on the lease.
She went to the back and looked at the rust. She calls over a tech and asks him if the bumper looks like it was damaged. I start a slow boil. He looks at it for a while and says it doesn't look damaged to him. She looks some more. Total she scrutinizes my bumper for a good ten minutes or more.
I tell her that bumper has never been hit by anything, that this is a known issue, and that I would bet they have a half dozen trucks scheduled for the exact same thing this week. She tells me she has to check it out because it had already been done once.
Bull. I had asked the service writer if Toyota was going to cover this known problem forever, because I was thinking about buying the truck after the lease was up. Clearly they have no intention at Dan Wolf of continuing to fix them for free.
Who instructed the service manager to give me a hard time? The management of the dealer? The regional rep? Toyota USA? Why else would she do more than just accept that it's another rusted chrome Tundra bumper and submit the warranty repair?
My suggestion to any one experiencing this problem, the broken tail gate latches or the radio issue that they call Toyota customer service first and have them call your local dealer. I would surely want some assurance that the bumper will be covered for at least some decent time after each replacement if I owned the truck.
Once again Toyota proves why it has one of the lowest dealership experience ratings of any body.
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....the warranty states that your trunk is protected from corrosion PERFORATION, a complete rust through, for 60mo unlimited miles, then goes on to say that they recommend how to protect your truck from corrosion in the Ownwers Manual under "Corrosion Prevention and Appearance Care"...
...under "what is not covered" two bullet points that the dealers LOVES to use to get out of replairs is, and I quote (lol)
