I've landed in the middle of a situation that I need to deal with and I'm looking for advice in the best way to approach the issue as I've never had to do this before.

Here's the story:

I recently moved back from overseas and was taking care of my. One house for awhile while she was traveling, during that time I have been using my moms car (Toyota Prius). I drove H car to NM from AZ and almost as soon as I got to NM the master warning light came on, I took the car to a big name Toyota dealership in Albuquerque and paid ~ 1800 dollars for some stuff to get fixed...that sucks but fine, my mom said she'd pay me back since it wasn't my fault and would have happened regardless.

4 days later I was near thermopolis Wyoming on my way to yellowstone national park with my wife when the master warning light came back on again, I didn't have an option so I continued in to Cody Wyoming and camped out as planned, the next morning I took it to a Toyota dealership a town over and they took a look at the car.

What they found was that a hose clamp wasn't tightened, several screws were missing and some lines had not been properly bled and there was a few other things like that, they got me fixed up but it cost more money to basically finish the job the other place started.



Am I wrong to contact the first dealership place and ask to be reimbursed for work I paid for but didn't get done? How can I prove it other than the receipt from the 2nd place? Is this an issue for th BBB?

What would you do in this situation and how would you go about it???

Thanks!!!

I would recommend speaking to the service manager at Toyota #1. Give them a copy of repair bill #2. If it is a good shop, they may apologize and give you some credit, or possibly a check.

The first shop screwed up, but you got off lucky. Engine did not overheat, blow up, or the car go off the road. I know one shop that three times in six months they put on an incorrect oil filter. Each time the filter blew off the engine after a few hours of use. Two diesel engines were ruined, the third might have survived.

If a polite request for a refund is denied, you could sue them in small claims court. It would be a slam dunk in court. Most likely the dealer would not want to have their named smeared in court because of a bad mechanic and poor ethics.

You are not wrong to ask for a partial refund. If invoice #2 indicates that they were repairing the same part of the car, and the invoice lists what you mentioned above, you have your bases covered. If the dealer is listed with the BBB, they would want to protect their rating.

No, you are not wrong. I would talk with the service manager at #1 as mentioned. Have your ducks lined up though as they will probably not be to eager to rectify. But be persistent. The "Toyota" company should make it right.

Sounds like the first dealership had to change/refill the antifreeze? If so, there's a special way to do it. Otherwise, the owner will be taking the car back to the shop to have it corrected.

Google 'changing antifreeze in a Prius'

Thanks for the advice, Monday morning I'll get on the horn with the service manager and see what they say.

The people at the 2nd place were just shaking their heads sort of in shock looking at the service invoice from the 1st place and seeing how mit hadn't been done right.

I would ask the second place to write up what they found.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Sounds like the first dealership had to change/refill the antifreeze? If so, there's a special way to do it. Otherwise, the owner will be taking the car back to the shop to have it corrected.

Google 'changing antifreeze in a Prius'

The Prius has two cooling systems, one for the engine and one for the hybrid system. The hybrid system has a special procedure to bleed it.

Did the first dealer work on the hybrid drive?

Most certainly call dealership #1.
You actually should have had dealership #2 call dealership #1 when they were working on it and they likely would have paid dealership 2 for the repairs.

When I bought my used Toyota the dealer I bought from (150 miles away) was supposed to fix with new parts. They did a shit job on a couple of things without replacing parts just some glue and Band aid fixes that went bad in a couple of days.
Local Toyota dealer called them and said what was going on. Got all new parts and paid nothing.
Also original Toyota Dealership got quite the nasty gram from me and corporate was let known about the blatant attempt to cut corners when my bill of sale clearly indicated new parts were to be installed.
I got multiple follow up calls so I am presuming dealer #1 got a pee pee slap of some sort. I have found Toyota to take problems that arise at their dealership quite serious.

I do as much of my own work as possible. If I don't it will go to the dealer (if something specialized which your Prius likely was) or to a NAPA certified mechanic as generally both have an extensive nationwide network that will deal with the issue if the repair were to go bad while traveling.

The BBB is pretty toothless and worthless. If dealership number one is not helpful, leave factual reviews on Yelp, Google, Facebook, etc, letting people know how they treated you and what a sorry job they did. Call and write to Toyota corporate and let them know, too.

Many years ago I had a problem with a Mercedes dealer refusing to do a warranty repair. After I wrote short letter to corporate (Mercedes Benz of North America) the dealer responded quickly and did everything I asked for, no charge.

BBB , what a joke .

quote:

Originally posted by Shifferbrains:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Sounds like the first dealership had to change/refill the antifreeze? If so, there's a special way to do it. Otherwise, the owner will be taking the car back to the shop to have it corrected.

Google 'changing antifreeze in a Prius'

The Prius has two cooling systems, one for the engine and one for the hybrid system. The hybrid system has a special procedure to bleed it.

Did the first dealer work on the hybrid drive?

I don't have the invoice sheet in front of me at the moment but basically there were some leaks that led to a valve failure or something like that and the radiator was also replaced. It's a 2005 so we decided it was ok to pay the money and have the car for a few more years.

When the warning light came on the second time, there was also a warning light for the hybrid drive system and the 2nd place found some codes and basically bled some lines properly and tightend up the stuff the first place had not finished.

Just what repair cost $1800?

I think you a have an advantage that both times you took it to Toyota dealerships. If you don't have any luck with dealership 1, you may have more luck with going to Toyota's regional offices.

^^^ Right answer.
Regional office after the dealer #1 doesn't make it right.
Forget about BBB.

No to drift the thread, but I agree that BBB is a relic of days gone by. Most businesses today are more worried about social media reviews (Yelp, etc.) than BBB.

quote:

Originally posted by newmexican:

quote:

Originally posted by Shifferbrains:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Sounds like the first dealership had to change/refill the antifreeze? If so, there's a special way to do it. Otherwise, the owner will be taking the car back to the shop to have it corrected.

Google 'changing antifreeze in a Prius'

The Prius has two cooling systems, one for the engine and one for the hybrid system. The hybrid system has a special procedure to bleed it.

Did the first dealer work on the hybrid drive?

I don't have the invoice sheet in front of me at the moment but basically there were some leaks that led to a valve failure or something like that and the radiator was also replaced. It's a 2005 so we decided it was ok to pay the money and have the car for a few more years.

When the warning light came on the second time, there was also a warning light for the hybrid drive system and the 2nd place found some codes and basically bled some lines properly and tightend up the stuff the first place had not finished.

The valve failure was probably the coolant pump for the hybrid drive, common failure. Replacement requires the special bleeding procedure for that coolant circuit, takes some time but is not difficult. Appears that the first dealer cut corners to get it out fast.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
^^^ Right answer.
Regional office after the dealer #1 doesn't make it right.
Forget about BBB.

I agree with 220-9er and SpinZone. Auto Mfg companies have regional offices that are set up, in part, to resolve issues between the customer and local dealer. Since the second Toyota dealer documented what was done incorrectly at the first dealer, I am pretty sure you will be made whole, even if the first dealer tries to shirk their responsibility.



.

Personally, I'm done haggling with thieves and morons from dealerships. If you paid for the initial repair with a credit card (I always use my AMEX card for these types of charges), I'd call the credit card company and put the charge in contention. They'll charge back the dealership for the amount, and then you can go resolve the issue however you like. Trust me, the dealership will be far more interested in resolving this issue with you if you take this approach. Screw begging them to do what's right or spending days of your time chasing this issue up the corporate tree.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Personally, I'm done haggling with thieves and morons from dealerships. If you paid for the initial repair with a credit card (I always use my AMEX card for these types of charges), I'd call the credit card company and put the charge in contention. They'll charge back the dealership for the amount, and then you can go resolve the issue however you like. Trust me, the dealership will be far more interested in resolving this issue with you if you take this approach. Screw begging them to do what's right or spending days of your time chasing this issue up the corporate tree.

This is an attractive idea, but I wonder what will happen if the dealership files a Mechanic's Lien for non-payment? Maybe a lawyer type from New Mexico can comment.