Hello gang. Need advice. My 80 year old mother got ripped off by the dealer she bought from. Toyota in Blauvelt, Rockland County, N.Y. Her 6 yr. old Corolla air conditioner was blowing warm air. She took it in to them to get it fixxed. She emerged $756 later with cold air, new front brakes, cleaned rear brakes, and the transmission serviced. The car only has 17,000 miles on it. Three hundred miles earlier she had the car inspected, by them. There were no problems!
This is the second time they have ripped her off! We told her not to go there anymore, but she still did. They see an 80 year old woman come in and they see $$$$! What recourse do I have? I live in another state 2 hours away. Does writing a letter to Toyota do any good? Pissed off in Pa.. Tom
If she approved them doing the work, you have no recourse. If she didn't approve them doing the work, you don't have to pay for it. If she already paid for it, your SOL. A letter to Toyota will do nothing more than waste your time. It's really as simple as that.
Sounds normal. Dealerships arent the cheapest place to service your cars. Even though they inspected the car, they might of not known of problems. Plus transmission servicing is part of maintenance, not an inspection issue.
Report it to THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU @ http://www.bbb.org/ or call the local branch where your grandma lives. Then call the Service manager of that Toyota dealership and tell him you are taking appropriate actions about the issue.
I work for a dealership here in Ca and it happens alot esp on the service dept. Alot of discrepancy takes place.
Too bad you are not closer and knew the condtion of the vehicle. I have heard of brakes getting serviced at sub 20K miles but that is only with the worst condtions (Brake tapper, someone who rides the brakes, those who slam on the brakes 20 ft before a light regulary) Tranny service I think is something that is on the regular schedule for every 12000 miles. Talk to her and find out exactly what was said to her and what she asked for. Then go on the rampage if it sounds like they ripped her off.
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Have her send you a copy of the service invoice. Check to see whether any parts were replaced and the labor charged for each operation. Unless they charged her for parts covered under either extended or secret warranty you probably won't get much satisfaction. You might want to contact dealer and request they contact you with an estimate first if she should bring car in for any future work. Have them put your phone number in the computer file with her records. It lets them know you will be looking over their shoulder.
A/C service, repair, and parts can be expensive, maybe they had to replace some very expensive A/C parts... a couple hundreds on brakes would be a bet too..
A/C service, repair, and parts can be expensive, maybe they had to replace some very expensive A/C parts... a couple hundreds on brakes would be a bet too..
The A/C was 2 cans od freon at $43/can., plus labor. No parts. Front brakes $350 to resurface the rotors and replace the pads.
Sounds normal. Dealerships arent the cheapest place to service your cars. Even though they inspected the car, they might of not known of problems. Plus transmission servicing is part of maintenance, not an inspection issue.
Your right, transmission service isn't part of the inspection service. But, it isn't part of the A/C repair either. This is the typical, see an 80 yr. old woman come in. And your eyes light up with dollars signs, and big commissions!
Too bad you are not closer and knew the condtion of the vehicle. I have heard of brakes getting serviced at sub 20K miles but that is only with the worst condtions (Brake tapper, someone who rides the brakes, those who slam on the brakes 20 ft before a light regulary) Tranny service I think is something that is on the regular schedule for every 12000 miles. Talk to her and find out exactly what was said to her and what she asked for. Then go on the rampage if it sounds like they ripped her off.
I drove the car before the inspection. It ran and handled just fine. The tranny fluid was still red, looked clean. Brakes felt good, no pull to either side.
Get a copy of the service intervals for Corollas according to Toyota, go to the dealership and ask them to print it out for you, usually they'll recommend whatever is on the schedule to be done at the specific mileage.
Next time she needs service, go in with her or have a relative go in with her; that's the only way to avoid her getting ripped off anywhere she goes.
The A/C was 2 cans od freon at $43/can., plus labor. No parts. Front brakes $350 to resurface the rotors and replace the pads.
R134a Refrigerant is $8.00 a can at auto parts store. and it probably did not leak out without a problem. I get new rotors for about $20.00 each and new pads for about $35.00 for premium.
the labor charges are outrageous. They can charge well over $100.00 labor to service a/c. And they have huge mark-ups for the parts.
But, at least you get quality work, sometimes, no always. Unless somone wil do the work for her, she will have to pay somone to do the work. Either that or help shop around for the best deal for her.
yea, she probably got charged a shitload because she got "Original Toyota Parts" which don't work any better than going to pep boys and getting them to do it. and the labor charge at dealers is insane probably because they are "Toyota Certified" which doesn't really mean anything.
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They see an 80 year old woman come in and they see $$$$!
What recourse do I have? I live in another state 2 hours away. Does writing a letter to Toyota do any good? Pissed off in Pa.. Tom
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