So I brought my car in for service regarding a squeaking noise coming from the CD Cover and the cracking noise coming from the moonroof area. I read the invoice sheet and it says 671in/681out. I turn the car on to read 715 on the odometer. I go back in to tell them that this is unacceptable and someone must have taken it out for a ride after it was checked in. They say that they made a simple clerical and judgment error by putting a generic 10 miles for road testing and that they really meant to put 715. WHO THE HELL NEEDS TO DRIVE A CAR 44 MILES JUST TO NOTICE A SQUEAKING AND/OR CRACKING NOISE??? Tell me if my complaint is unreasonable because I am taking this all the way to Toyota Corp. until I get compensated. It's absolutely ridiculous. I even got the tC back with SCRATCHES all over the center console.

By the way, this is the Crestmont Toyota dealership in Pompton Plains, NJ on Route 23. Don't ever buy or get service from them unless you want to get screwed over.

What course of action should I take?

 

That is crap. I would talk to someone.

 

I spoke to Scion Customer Experience and they put in a case for me. I also spoke to the Customer Relations Manager at the dealer and he said he would find out what happened. Why in the world would you put 671 miles in and 681 miles out if that wasn't what the odometer read? Someone obviously drove it 10 miles and checked it back in but then someone probably took it out for a little drive at lunch time. What the ____?

 

Are there any Toyota/Scion car salesmen in this forum who can say anything about this?

 

Did they have any other tC's on the lot? If not, I'm betting some salesman used your car to give a customer a test drive or two, or three!

That is crap, I'd complain all the way to the top!

 

They did not have any other tC's on the lot. I wouldn't put it past them to do something as stupid as taking it out for a test drive. I also wouldn't put it past the mechanics and/or valets to take it out for a little joyride. It is a new car, barely anyone has it out there, and it's just so tempting to do something like that. They probably figured I wouldn't notice and/or care seeing as though I'm a young guy.

I am first coursing my complaint through the Customer Relations Manager at the Crestmont Toyota dealership and I hope he compensates me properly. I spoke to my dad and he said he doesn't even want to talk to them and it's either a) the dealer gives me a new tC (because god knows where and how the car was driven for those 34 undocumented miles) or b) we will end up returning the car and getting a full refund and taking our business elsewhere. I feel that the dealer should ultimately pay severely for what they did. We've owned 8 cars as a family, ranging from BMW, Honda, Ford, and Pontiac and we have never experienced mileage discrepancies after the cars have been in for service. Not to mention the several scratches all over the center console that they have said they would fix on a voluntary basis. The last thing I want to do is bring the car back in for more service and have them drive it places again.

 

First, you need to get the scene from Ferris Beuller with the two parking valet guys out of your head.

What could they possibly have done to the car in 34 miles that isn't showing now but will break in a few 1000 more? It's unproffesional, but hardly the stuff to make a federal case over or waste too much time on it. The scratches I would definitely make them fix. Give them some grief about the miles, make 'em throw you a freebie or something, but don't expect a huge settlement.

It's very POSSIBLE that the tech didn't fill in the miles and the service advisor just guesstimated the numbers. These techs also know what a lot of these things will pay. If they know that Scion will allow an hour of time looking for squeaks, etc. on a new model Scion that is the amount of time they will use up. Does the rattling happpen more at freeway speeds? On a highway, fifteen minutes each way listening for the squeak, that'd rack up the miles easily. I used to be a service advisor. I've been told to "drive this until you hear it squeak or until you reach Fortuna" That's a town about 20 minutes away. I've even driven a lady's car home and to work for 3 days trying to re-create a hard-starting problem. It could be legit, just a paperwork snafu.

Good Luck.

 

Probably a clerical F-Up. They also could have been trying to replicate the issue. Can't fix it if they can't find it.

Good luck, though.

 

44 miles though is still to much to find a rattle.

 

what a goddamn spaz, I guess i understand being mildly upset about 34 extra miles, but a new car? you're nuts....

 

^ haha yeah, new car or full refund, not happening. This makes me recall all of the posts where someone was ____ed that their brand new xB had 30 miles on it when they bought it. That is less of an offense than unexplainable miles on a car that is in for service.

I mean really, what could they have done by just putting a few miles on. Although, one has to wonder, if a dealer had a grudge and was to wire your car with explosives, they'd probably have to drive to an outside contractor...

 

Definitely wasn't going to get a new car, but a full refund is a possibility. Within a certain timeframe, you are allowed to return your car under certain circumstances. Obviously you don't think it's that big of a deal because it isn't your car we're talking about. A multitude of things could've been done to my car within those undocumented miles. The car wasn't even broken in yet. Pushing it hard the slightest bit could've done damage to the vehicle. Just imagine beating the ____ out of a car and that's basically the worst that could've happened to my car. You wouldn't want someone maltreating your new vehicle, would you?

 

No I'd freak out too and try to get whatever I could just because I like being an a$$.

But we are trying to make you see what is most likely going to happen, so you arn't even more ____ed off when far-reaching, world-ending, free-car-giveaway action is NOT taken.

I was merely trying to suggest that I miiiiiight trust a service person to know how to drive, and know how to shift, my car. Meanwhile, the guy who picks up his car "brand new" with 40 miles on it is buying it after 3 people learned how to drive stick for the first time using it. Which would you prefer?

 

I've discussed it with my dealer and they are compensating me by replacing the entire center console fascia after they scratched it up during service. I also have the 100,000mi. extended warranty so if anything breaks, they're just going to have to fix it for free. This is good for them because Toyota pays them.

 

What could anyone possibly do to hurt your car in 34mi. ? The standard powertrain warranty is for 5 years and 50k mi. and that should cover any "profound mechanical detriment" your car may have encountered. Personally I would find something more constructive to worry about. Lighten up, you'll live longer!

 

Well that depends upon how many WOT burnouts the joyrider did, wouldn't it?

My worry would be that the joyrider did something that would reduce a toyota's normal 200K mile longevity to 100K miles or less. Sure, you might get past the 50K warranty, but that's not all that most drivers want or expect.

I think that it's more an ethical question on the dealer's part than a concern about the specific car. If someone doesn't call the dealer on minor missteps, then what will stop them from more significant abuses?

 

I'm not quite sure if you've ever driven a manual transmission car before but you can do some pretty nasty stuff if your sole intention is to "have fun." If you've ever been in a car with someone who jack rabbits at every stop light, then you know exactly what I am concerned about. I'm worried about the long term longevity of my car and not anything short term. Wear and tear on the clutch is something the warranty does not cover and if they launched at every stop light when taking it out for a joy ride, it is something I will eventually need to replace with my own money.

 

I have driven a few manual transmission cars over the years, what with owning one and working on them for a living and all, and my point was that in 34 miles, how many WOT launches could one really do? How many would someone do? How many will YOU do? Clutches generally last over 100,000 miles these days (even with plenty of WOT launches) I can understand being cheesed off if they were joyriding your car( There might be a perfectly logical explanation for the milage)and all, but expecting a new car or a full refund of your purchase price would only happen in bizzaro world. Enjoy your new car and don't worry so much, these are well-built cars and don't break too often even if someone drove it like they stole it for 34 miles. It'll be OK

 

Let's hope so...

 

I remember hitting 105mph in a Toyota Tercel wagon on 5 miles of country road, and then seeing the RR tracks ahead sign, hitting the brakes hard enough that the whole car shuddered during decel, and damaging the calipers enough that they needed replacing, although you couldn't tell during "normal" driving conditions, just hard braking. Even them hitting hard bumps can through the alignment off a little, as mentioned the point is an ethical one and should be addressed in that manner. Sort of like Jacko holding his baby out the window, nobody was hurt but it shouldn't happen.