Frustrating Breakdown after Toyota Service - Seeking Advice

Lglitzmaster on 06/10/2024 - 17:20
Last edited 06/10/2024 - 18:57 by 1 other user

Hi everyone, I'm writing here because I'm pretty frustrated with a recent experience and hoping to get some advice.

On Friday, I took my Toyota RAV4 in for its 160,000 km logbook service at the Toyota Service Centre. The service cost around $1,100 and included replacing the in-tank fuel filter. After the service, I drove the car home (about 15 km).

The next day (Saturday), I drove 70 km to a nearby country town. There was no off-road driving involved. When I tried to start the car to leave later that afternoon, it wouldn't start. I discovered a massive fuel leak coming from the fuel tank.

I called RAC roadside assistance, and their technician determined the leak was from the fuel pump and couldn't be fixed on-site. Unfortunately, the Toyota Service Center was closed, and since I only had standard roadside assistance coverage, I had to pay around $460 to tow the car back home.

Stranded for 3 hours, I finally got the car towed, but now my fuel tank is leaking badly (I filled it up yesterday and only used a quarter). I'm worried I'll lose most of the fuel before it can be towed to the service centre on Monday (my coverage only allows one tow per incident).

Before the service, my car was running perfectly. Now, I'm facing a lost Saturday evening, a $460 towing bill, potential fuel loss, and the cost of another tow to the service centre.

I'd like to know what my rights are before I approach the Toyota Service Centre.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Any advice on what kind of compensation I should request from Toyota would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Automotive Car SUV Toyota

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Comments

  • Jaduqimon on 06/10/2024 - 17:44
    +1

    i would document everything first, especially the RACV technician's diagnosis, get him to sign or provide an official report of some sort.

    also you said car wont start, but then in a later paragraph said you refilled it and used 1/4 fuel? was that all from leak or you driving it further?

    • boomramada on 06/10/2024 - 18:04
      +1

      i would document everything first

      I thought OP just detailed everythin?

      • 2esc on 07/10/2024 - 17:29
        +1

        Documentation such as,

        Receipts,

        "RACV technician's diagnosis, get him to sign or provide an official report of some sort"

        A timeline would be good.

    • glitzmaster on 06/10/2024 - 18:09

      Filled the tank on the day before the trip starts and only used a 1/4 of the tank.

    • HeWhoKnows on 07/10/2024 - 13:43

      Dream on mate, seriously!

      The RACV tech has been and gone.

      Thier job is to get you going or get you towed
      Their service does NOT include any sort of report.

      The only thing OP has is the invoice/receipt for the tow back home.

      • jackspratt on 07/10/2024 - 16:24

        The RACV tech has been and gone.

        Why do you assume the tech was from the RACV?

  • AndyC1 on 06/10/2024 - 18:13

    When you say "Toyota Service Center" I think you mean a dealer that services toyota that is marketed as "Toyota Service Center".

    If the dealer does not help ASAP then contact Toyota directly and ask them for help.

  • glitzmaster on 06/10/2024 - 18:24

    Thanks AndyC1, will do.

  • brendanm on 06/10/2024 - 18:27
    +2

    Shame Toyota, shame.

    Just get them to pay for all your expenses.

  • Drakesy on 06/10/2024 - 18:27

    What did Toyota say when you asked for compensation?

    Just document the costs and hand them the receipts.

    • glitzmaster on 06/10/2024 - 18:30

      Since this only happened yesterday, tomorrow I am going to talk to them.

  • Euphemistic on 06/10/2024 - 18:36
    +1

    Ive had faults a few times from dealers. Theyve been fixed by the dealer.

    1. Put the wrong oil filter on. Oil everywhere, smoking like a bushfire. Roadside towed it back, dealer cleaned everything and fixed it. Never went back.
    2. Failed to put an earth lead back on after repairing the heads. Intermittent misfire, threw all sorts of codes. Charged me to do some diagnostic work. It died when another mechanic tried to look at it. Towed it back to the sealer and they eventually fixed it.
    3. Cruise control cable fouled on the throttle cable after a service. Basically made it like foot to the floor. Was able to drive it home by switching off the engine a lot. Fixed it myself.

    Make records. Contact the dealer. Get it fixed. Sucks that its a weekend, but youll need to wait til next business day to get it sorted.

    Id probably have had it towed to the dealer direct.

    • HeWhoKnows on 07/10/2024 - 13:53
      +1

      Unfortunately dealers dont have the best mechanics.
      Many are just apprentices being overlooked by a workshop foreman.

      Why would a good mechanic work for a dealership for lousy pay?

      But these days with "Conditional" long warranties and special computers required to diagnose and reset everything, its getting hard and harder to get your new car serviced elsewhere without the risk of voiding your warranty.

  • glitzmaster on 06/10/2024 - 18:45

    Thanks you for sharing your experience and advise. I had this thought of taking the car to Toyota service Center. But towing company warned me not to do because no one will be there to receive my car and they might take legal action for dumping my car in their yard with out approval in out of business hours.

  • cashless on 06/10/2024 - 20:46

    Now you know why they are called “stealerships”. Probably some lowly paid, half-trained, half-arsed mechanic told to put your fuel filter in, unsupervised, missed a crucial step.
    Take it back, document the steps that happened, get them to fix it. Next time go to your local independent mechanic (the one that your friends have recommended to you) and forget the stealership

    • glitzmaster on 06/10/2024 - 20:49

      Sure, a lesson learned. I value your input.

    • JIMB0 on 06/10/2024 - 21:17
      +1

      Most likely an unsupervised apprentice made a mess of it.

    • HeWhoKnows on 07/10/2024 - 13:57

      Most are apprentices learning the trade

      They have to learn somewhere.

      But they must be closely supervised by a workshop foreman.
      If they are not properly supervised and the work not checked properly, that is where the problems arise.

      So pls be respectful of these poor lads trying to learn their trade.
      They are the future mechanic to whom you will take your car to get serviced.

      • JIMB0 on 08/10/2024 - 08:04

        I do all my own servicing for this reason. They shouldn't be letting them loose on customers cars without checking everything they do.

  • JakeyJooJoo on 06/10/2024 - 23:25
    -1

    Others have given good advice already. The only thing I'd like to add is that you should have gotten the car towed directly to the dealership originally. I've been in similar situations a few times and get it towed to my mechanic, it's the way to go. Park it either in their yard or immediately out the front. Throw the key under the office door. Saves a lot of effort.

  • Randxyz123 on 07/10/2024 - 00:38
    +1

    Jeez why did it cost you $460 to tow they should’ve just upgraded you to a higher package. I’d be furious about that. RACV is $225 a year for their total care package that will get me home somewhere hundreds of KMs away.

    When you call tomorrow, explain that you had your car serviced on Friday and it broke down on Saturday and you would like to speak to the supervisor. I would be asking that
    - They come and get the car and tow it back to their dealership
    - They diagnose the car
    - This is done at no cost to you.

    I’d also be asking about compensation for the towing cost. TBH you might not get far with this as while we can assume it was a mess up of the service centre, it might be hard to prove.

    You need to remember to stay calm and be firm but polite. Screaming and yelling (not that you necessarily would) never helps. Ask for a email address so you can send exactly what happened in writing as well as what you discussed. Then they can respond in writing.

    Timeline out what happened gather receipts and if the RAC can provide you with their diagnostics then that would be helpful.

    • Chrissy213 on 07/10/2024 - 07:07
      +1

      I thought it was only 100km of towing now with the higher RACV package?

  • Waltervp on 07/10/2024 - 09:44
    +1

    I rarely have good experiences with dealers. In canberra they serviced a 2 yr ild Celica (20+ yrs ago) and a spark plug flew out damaging the bonnet. Toyota took no responsibility. Recently i tried ford dealers and picked car up from dealershipmand aircon wasnt working, i assumed theyd knocked a wire off or so… nope broke the entire unit and needed 2k+ replacement and they denied responsibility. Another time i got the car back from them and drove to a remote spot the next day and the windscreen wiper broke off… forget dealerships from now on.

  • pandadude on 07/10/2024 - 09:51

    At that price of service l suspect the vehicle is out of warranty.

    Your best option is to contact the service centre to clarify what options they may have. Each Toyota Dealership also has a dealer principal or a shared dealer principal with another close dealership. You should also contact them too. This specifically isn't a Toyota Australia issue as the service centre most likely messed up. I mean if the part can be found to be the issue then Toyota might get involved. If its been installed incorrectly then its not Toyota problem but the service centre.

    As other people have mentioned you should have got it towed to the dealership.

    Note there a 50 50 the dealership will throw you under the bus for the repair. So ensure you raise the matter if they do. If all things fail and you spoke to everyone this is were l would be ensuring everyone knows you will no longer use this dealership again and appropriate feedback of the business (not individual people) will be posted online.

    • kiitos on 07/10/2024 - 13:24
      +1

      I agree (based on personal experience) that the dealer will probably try to get out of it. Will be hard for them to argue about a leak in the fuel tank after they worked on the fuel tank.

      • pandadude on 09/10/2024 - 11:33

        It depends on what caused the fault. Rather than speculate it is worth waiting for an update from the op. Also it is important for the dealership to properly explain what may have caused the problem if there not covering it.

        Dealership have a bad reputation but sometimes its not the dealership fault.

        Just to give an example. If the fuel tank has external damage the dealership wouldn't be responsible for the repair if they just replaced the fuel filter.

  • JIMB0 on 07/10/2024 - 10:37
    +1

    If they fob you off do a credit card charge back to recover your money.

  • jonkvh on 07/10/2024 - 14:50

    Hope the dealer offers you a fuel card/voucher.

  • glitzmaster on 07/10/2024 - 21:02
    +1

    Update: Contacted the Toyota Service Center first thing in the morning and they put this car under their Roadside assistance program and car has been towed to their workshop this afternoon.
    These process took the whole day today.They didn't offer any compensation, they wanted to investigate the issue first.
    Many thanks for everyone's input which helped me to deal the situation in the right way.

    • jonkvh on 08/10/2024 - 14:35
      +1

      I'm sure they'll work something out for you. Otherwise, nag the sales staff, they'll make sure the Dealer Principle finds out.

    • pandadude on 09/10/2024 - 20:20

      Any updates?

      I think it is important for them to explain what they believe happened.

      In fairness dealership have a bad reputation but its not always the dealership fault.

      It could be there fault, contributing factors or not their fault.

      It's a hard one if its contributing factors.

  • glitzmaster on 09/10/2024 - 23:57
    +1

    Update2: They fixed the car and told me that they missed to install a clip which holds the fuel line in place. No apologies or sorry from them. The guy who dealt me over the phone told me that they will offer a free service on next time. I asked him to reply in email so that I can refer to that in next service. Haven't received in writing yet. I will keep chasing for that. Thanks for the follow up

    • jackspratt on 10/10/2024 - 02:32

      Given the quality of the service when you were paying for it, would you trust them to do a free one?

      • glitzmaster on 10/10/2024 - 23:11

        I wouldn't anymore, I will go back only for the free next service which is a basic one.

    • pandadude on 10/10/2024 - 11:28

      Push back on the tow fee and fuel. I would suggest asking for a gift card instead.

      A free service is a waste of time. Everyone at the dealership is commission based. A free service means both the service rep and mechanic won't get a commission on the service. If there not getting a commission we're the care factor.

  • glitzmaster on 10/10/2024 - 23:17

    I tried my best to get the toe fee. No luck. They filled the fuel tank and written record of next free service in the tax invoice. Shouldn't happen. But it happened to me and like to move on with their offers.
    Thanks every one for their advise and happy to be part of Ozbargain community.

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