its a rotten deal that someone took off with the car while it was in for service.....but a couple of you say call the police.....well...the car is back so they wont do squat....secondly it is between you and the dealership, cause you gave them the keys......law says if the keys were give (no matter for what) then it isn't stolen......miss used perhaps...abused....maybe but not stolen......so file a greivence with toyota corp and the dealership but the police will not get involed.......

 

Report it to the police! Its theft and its wrong.

(well, if you can avoid getting a theft recovery title put on your truck)

As far as what JC1KZ (edit, had to get the name right) had to say;
The key's were not given directly to that technician by the owner of the vehicle, they were given to the dealership. It is true that the dealership may use the vehicle for reasonable purposes. However, when Joe Technician takes the vehicle for a stroll to the doctors office he is no longer functioning as part of the dealership, but a private citizen taking a vehicle for purposes which he does not have permission from the owner!! This is absolutely theft! There is no doubt about it!

Furthermore, you say that the Law Enforcement will not do anything about it. They do not have a choice. They are a public service and a crime has been committed. It is not there choice to write a report for the theft of a vehicle. For example, if a vehicle was stolen by Billy Bob and then returned later in the afternoon to the same location and with no noticeable damage, a theft has still occurred.

If they can not behave ethicly when they have your vehicle in possession they should be punished. They should do whatever it takes to right the wrong.

And, like I and others have said, report it to local law enforcement.

 

Whats the point? I'd be as mad as the next guy if it ever happened to me. But Now that he got what he wanted. Not to mention a GREAT deal on those parts and such. Why would he bother goign after them any further? It would only make him look greedy at this point.

 

UPDATE

They still have my Runner...They got it all put together, after milking me for new plug wires (needed them anyway, I think). Also one of the parts I brought them was wrong and I had no choice but have them use OEM at $85 for an idler pully and then 50 for a tensioner and they said $50 something for the timing belt. This is starting to add up and I'm starting to get pissed. They are also charging for and oil change, they said they had to change cause of the HG repair, but its not covered by the HG recall. $260 so far + $250 in parts I brought in.

So after thy did all this stuff, they cant get it tuned, tech said it keeps mis-firing or "missing". Have to call back tomorrow and see what the status is. I WILL be calling Toyota Corp and bitch about all this BS. I aint paying for the timing belt cause they said they would do it for me because of the tech taking it for his appt. and I WONT pay for changing 500 mile oil

 

not entirely true, my best friends had a jeep wrangler in for service...a disgruntel employee stole it at lunch and never came back..ever.....the dealership tried to sort it out but in the end my friend called the cops and the dealership ended up reimbursing my friend since they are responsible for their employees....they paid him what his jeep was worth plus sold him a brand new rubicon for about 17k (about 10k off the sticker)....they did that just to keep it out of the courts...

 

first off, props to "EDGE", you work it. why can't people just look in the mirror, see who &/or what they are, & be that?

anyway...sounds like they're sticking it to you while you were trying to stick it to them for busting them out over their unproffessionalism in being out tooling around in your ride for who really knows how long when all you wanted was a simple HG r&r(your luck would be that it was probally the owner's son & now he's pissed for your raising a stink about it)which, the last i checked, required only a "vacuum test", if that, but not a "test drive" to check it's integrity.

i'd demand a second opinion & show up w/an ASE wrench from another garage(someone you know or who you know knows & knows well)& have them give it the once over.

other than that, "Toyota" has something that they call "The Toyota Experience" or something, i think that the # is: 1-800-233-3718(i'm not 100% on this in that i've gotten it from a "post-it" i've had stuck to something around here. i'd give them a call & go ahead & call in the "big guns" & let that "stealership" hear from the "top brass" how dissatisfied you are after being a loyal 'toter for x-amount of years, blah, blah, blah & that you were lead to believe that you could expect more from their company.

hope this helps,

-f-
p.s. i'm starting to get the hang of this "smilies" thing.

 

No offense, but I'm calling B.S. on this story. You can't sell a vehicle, especially at auction, without the title or a signed power of attorney to apply for a duplicate.

As to the original point of this thread, you never had the dealership by the 'nads, although it was shady of the tech to take it for a spin, it's not illegal. Now because there was much ado made about nothing, they're going to get their money for the timing chain job back out of you. Complain to Toyota all you want. You are one of the millions of Toyota customers worldwide. You think they care if they burn one and possibly lose that customer for life?

In the words of a wise man, George Louis Castanza, "First they stick you with the undercoating, rust-proofing, dealer prep...Suddenly you're on your back like a turtle!"

 

Read the first part of what you quoted again for info about the title...

 

i used t otest drive customers cars.... once and awhile i would testdrive them to the macdonalds around the corner from where i worked... we did a tranny flush on it do befreo we gave it back to the customer i had to simulate stop and go driving conditions nad a drivethrough does this quite nicely..... then i brought i back, checked the fluid it was good, parked it... and went in our shop and ate my lunch.....

 

What the tech did was wrong if 1. there was no diagnostic purpose to the test drive 2. his service advisor did not know where the truck was. Aside from that,

When you hand over the keys to your service advisor your vehicle will be driven at the advisors or service managers discretion. At my dealership we are told to take vehicles home after a used motor is installed or similar major sevice is done to insure the vehicle will operate ok throughout the entire starting/driving cycle. I had to take an Aveo home the other day to try to catch a very intermittent misfire that happened as it warmed up(I was not happy about this, the Aveo is a tin can). Occasionally when I am leaving for lunch I am told to take a car or truck and listen for a noise or see if the SES light comes on.
If you call the cops about this, which it sounds like you won't, you can add yourself to the list of retards who tie up the police with frivolous BS and ensure that you have to find a new place to get your truck serviced.

 

DMG.. your right, i dont see a need to call the law.

anyone have any ideas why they cant get it back in "tune", could it of been cause by the HG defect?(warped block of something) My knowledge of mechanical work is limited, so any input would be helpful.

This is my first Toyota, have had it for 30+/- days and I bought it for quality. I knew it would need some work with 183,567 miles on it, but just wasn't ready to put all this money out right now. I thought going in to this that this would be a free trip to the dealer.

 

the one thing we have learned from all this is, to emphatically state the your vehicle is NOT to be used for any purposes other than taking it from the lot to the shop and back to the lot. the only reason it should be on the road is if the service was something major, ie the h/g, and that would be only for a short test drive to ensure things are working as they should. i cannot think of any reason the for the stealer to need to use a customers vehicle, considering they have a customer shuttle, parts truck, service loaners and sales demos that are available. the stealer ownership needs to be made aware of this policy, if they arent already, as the legal and finacial ramifications that could result from an accident. with some of the outcomes from lawsuits, i wouldnt want to be liable as a stealer.

lee

 

why can't they get it in tune, well if the truck is in stock form then the tech messed up the spark plug wires, has the rotor positioned wrong, or messed up the timing, all minor things that could drive a person nuts.

now for your HG and the unwanted oil change, don't pay for the new belt if they told you it was on them cause of the mistake, dealers like to say will take care of that and then slip it in the bill and hope you don't pay for it

put your foot down and tell them this is what you did and this is what you said, stick to it and it will work out, don't let them take advantage of you and don't let them push you over, if I have learned anything they don't want pissed off customers especially when others customers are around, I've met more then afew people who said their peace in the dealership, when your angry they listen.

 

I'm still calling B.S. because without the owner signing the back of the title, to transfer ownership, it's just a piece of paper. No auction would allow the vehicle to go through without a "signed" title, lien release or power of attorney.

You ever notice how the most amazing stories people post about always happened to "a friend?" The story is B.S. as he tells it and I dare him to provide one piece of evidence to confirm it.

 

I had a miss after my HG recall. The tech said it was probably the aftermarket plugs and wires...that POS. Anyways once we finally checked the timing we discovered it was WAY off. The problem ennded up being the TPS. How that got messed up, I don't know. Tell them to check the timing and see what that returns.

EDIT: The oil change should be covered in the recall.

 

I have seen this happen for two reasons, the cam timing off one tooth and once someone forgot to put the 2 vacuum lines back on the ps pump. HTH

 

again, "axon", when something gets messed up that has no direct relation to the reason why the vehicle was there at the shop to start with, then it has to be (9.5 out of 10 times)due to the stealership looking to rip you or stick you, & that's "...how that got messed up..." "AgRunner06", period.

it is unfortunate for both you & the stealership, "axon"...you because this would have been a good, inexpensive opportunity for you to establish a relationship w/a local garage for possible future repairs on your (fairly) new ride by taking it in for the "HG recall" item...the stealership because, if you've any sense at all, you'll never go back there & will bad mouth them to others by way of warning them to look out for those

although you seem to be the most unfortunate one @ this point. :cry:

you could always ask "EDGE" to drive over &/or fly them in to go over there & take care of it for you a little "crazy" anger would probally go far for you now & did ya call that # ??

-f-

 

Truck is back...runs pretty good

They told me it was a vacum line that was causing the broblem. They just charged me for an oil filter not an "oil change", $14.00. $279 total+ the $250 in parts I brought in, ouch.

When I got in the truck I check the trip meter and they had reset it, but when I checked the ODO there was 101 miles extra on it and there was more gas then when I left it . I tried call in the number but they asked for a "Dealers #" so I called Corp...the correct number is 1-800-331-4331 ext 3 and they are only open M-F so i will call tomorrow.

This dealership has lost me as a costumer for ever. I poped the hood and the fan shroud was busted and then epoxied, all (2) the clamps on the air intake were not tightened. They didnt even clean up the grease they left on the hood. With this level of workmanship I expect the HG to fail within 6 months.

THis is a BIG multi-location dealership and I would of expected more from them. I wont post their name in the open forum but, they are located in Rockville, MD. If you are from around here you now know who they are, use them with caution.

 

Axon,
Really sorry to hear how this turned out. That level of workmanship sounds horrendous.

355?

Andreas

 

We've got a thread somewhere that you can post about bad dealerships. I would definitely talk to the manager and see what the deal is. BTW an oil filter is $5.