need help with service center trying to rip me off!

[zdr81]

I have a 2005 camry which is not even a year and a half old, with about 15K miles. I'm the sole driver and it has never been in an accident, has been in great maintenance, etc. All was well til last week when I noticed it was veering more and more to the right and had to keep the steering wheel turned to the left about 20 degrees to keep the car straight. ok, no problem, i'd take it to a mechanic for alignment. THe mechanic tells me it is a bent drivers side strut but he sees no evidence of damage to the car that would indicate it has been in an accident or hit something like a pothole (have this in writing from them just in case).

So I take the car to the dealership as the parts are too new and can only be done by a dealership. He calls me this AM and confirms the bent strut and basically tells me it cannot be done under warranty because "it cannot be a manufacturer defect" and he tells me he sees streaks under the car and thinks it hit something. Now I am the only driver, there is no one else who drives my car, and I know I have not hit any curbs/potholes or anything that could cause such damage.

What do I do next? They want to charge me $922 for a strut replacement. Thanks for helping me out here.

[pillpusher84]

Originally Posted by zdr81

I have a 2005 camry which is not even a year and a half old, with about 15K miles. I'm the sole driver and it has never been in an accident, has been in great maintenance, etc. All was well til last week when I noticed it was veering more and more to the right and had to keep the steering wheel turned to the left about 20 degrees to keep the car straight. ok, no problem, i'd take it to a mechanic for alignment. THe mechanic tells me it is a bent drivers side strut but he sees no evidence of damage to the car that would indicate it has been in an accident or hit something like a pothole (have this in writing from them just in case).

So I take the car to the dealership as the parts are too new and can only be done by a dealership. He calls me this AM and confirms the bent strut and basically tells me it cannot be done under warranty because "it cannot be a manufacturer defect" and he tells me he sees streaks under the car and thinks it hit something. Now I am the only driver, there is no one else who drives my car, and I know I have not hit any curbs/potholes or anything that could cause such damage.

What do I do next? They want to charge me $922 for a strut replacement. Thanks for helping me out here.

Go to another dealer & if they feed you that same bullshit - call toyota corporate & tell them the situation - say something stupid like "I'm never buying a toyota again & i'm gonna switch to ford" - although its pure BS, it usually gets them to do you you want, & they'll contact the dealer & have them do it under warranty for you.

let us know how you make out!

[El Tano]

Don't tell them you are switching to Ford they are gonna thing you are stupid, hahahahahaa just kidding, like pillpusher said, take it to another dealer o call corporation...but don't tell them you are buying a Ford, hahahaha (say something like Volkswagen)

Good luck

[zdr81]

anyone know where I can get the full details on the toyota warranty. I mean all the details

my dealer is refusing to fix it under warranty and want $1000 for a bent strut.

[pillpusher84]

Originally Posted by zdr81

anyone know where I can get the full details on the toyota warranty. I mean all the details

my dealer is refusing to fix it under warranty and want $1000 for a bent strut.

Toyota New Car Warranties: http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/warranty/warranty.html


Have you called Toyota Corporate like we suggested? If so, what was the outcome?

[zdr81]

already called them two days ago, opened a case. they said they'll look into it and notified the corporate liaison at the dealership who pretty much said the same thing, that the car looks like it hit something or something hit it, even though their "evidence" which consisted of a minor scratch on the plastic rim and some scratches under the front bumper which I know are due to parking bumps, is not conclusive of such. they refuse to fix it under warranty saying that the warranty ONLY covers manufacturer defects and they do not believe this is one.

[wilfredcruz]

Originally Posted by zdr81

I have a 2005 camry which is not even a year and a half old, with about 15K miles. I'm the sole driver and it has never been in an accident, has been in great maintenance, etc. All was well til last week when I noticed it was veering more and more to the right and had to keep the steering wheel turned to the left about 20 degrees to keep the car straight. ok, no problem, i'd take it to a mechanic for alignment. THe mechanic tells me it is a bent drivers side strut but he sees no evidence of damage to the car that would indicate it has been in an accident or hit something like a pothole (have this in writing from them just in case).

So I take the car to the dealership as the parts are too new and can only be done by a dealership. He calls me this AM and confirms the bent strut and basically tells me it cannot be done under warranty because "it cannot be a manufacturer defect" and he tells me he sees streaks under the car and thinks it hit something. Now I am the only driver, there is no one else who drives my car, and I know I have not hit any curbs/potholes or anything that could cause such damage.

What do I do next? They want to charge me $922 for a strut replacement. Thanks for helping me out here.

Where are you? are you in NJ??
If you have a garage I'll do it for 100 for labor.
They should cover it. You need to describe to them that the problem was progessive.

[pillpusher84]

Originally Posted by zdr81

already called them two days ago, opened a case. they said they'll look into it and notified the corporate liaison at the dealership who pretty much said the same thing, that the car looks like it hit something or something hit it, even though their "evidence" which consisted of a minor scratch on the plastic rim and some scratches under the front bumper which I know are due to parking bumps, is not conclusive of such. they refuse to fix it under warranty saying that the warranty ONLY covers manufacturer defects and they do not believe this is one.

Forget them then! - Go to another dealer & start all over with another dealer!

Also - threaten Toyota Corporate with a lawsuit - tell them you have had your vehicle inspected by a private mechanic (non-toyota dealer) and that they have given you proof (ie. your letter you say you have) that this is not Negligence or abuse, but in fact a warranty issue!

[zdr81]

Originally Posted by wilfredcruz

Where are you? are you in NJ??
If you have a garage I'll do it for 100 for labor.
They should cover it. You need to describe to them that the problem was progessive.

i'm not in nj, sorry. supposedly repair has to be done at toyota because parts are not otherwise available according to two mechanics.

problem was not quite progressive as it happened within 30 min about 10 days ago,

at this point i'll take the car to another toyota dealer... sigh.
thanks to all of you for your help.

[Camdaddy]

Bending a Strut is highly unlikely unless you are going really really fast hoping a curb, if there was any damage on the rim itself more than likely the rim is out of round. That would cause a pull. Try rotating the tires, but only if the rim in the front in bent. Struts don't bend easily. I work as a mechanic and a insurance adjuster. I seen some pretty bad accident and horrible drivers. No way it could be a bent strut, go to a chain auto repair shop like sears or pepboys and ask them to do a alighment evaluation, see how far off are the angles. Anything more than half a degrees would cause a pull. More than likely if the rim is bad it would even sound up on the alignment machine. you can only is if a rim is bent on a balancer, so ask them to spin the rim with the stratches and see if its bent. If the specs on the aligner shows out of alignment check the supension, not the struts, look at tie rods.....

[RICO8458]

serve them with a supeona and a show cause order in small claims court or civil court. a summoms. you can do it yourself. works wonders and gets result real fast. lol

[kenny1773]

Take the car to your insurance company and have them determine and give you a statement in writing if they think the car has either been hit or has hit something. In the case of the car hitting something it would be an insurnace claim and these people are experts at determining what is damage by hitting somthing

The dealer is most likey full of shit and trying to make money off you.

Are you sure that you never left your car with anyone? Like valet parking or an oil change place or something where you had to leave the keys and come back? It only takes a few seconds to screw a car up. It is why I never leave my keys with anyone.

[zdr81]

kenny1773 - no I am the sole driver of the car. no one else has driven it except me.

I took it to a second toyota service shop and he also said bent strut, likely due to external impact but agreed there was no evidence that the car hit anything, but will still not cover it under warranty. he gave me a total of $520 or so and said there's a possibility that other parts may be damaged and need to be replaced but they can do that only after the bent strut is replaced and the car realigned. so basically, they do not want to give me a flat price. this whole warranty stuff is a bunch of crock.