Repair Process on This OEM Defect

[Yuck]

Originally Posted by Tanuki

Exactly. It is because of me and my diligence that anything is even happening. The fact that a car with that defect is even in my garage, is proof that Toyota wants to do the bare minimum. I will scan the letter in tomorrow, but you can definitely see that the way it is written puts a lot of weight on the non replacement option. I am planning to call in about this because where this is regional, the options can still be escalated. At a bare minimum, replace the bra with the car. How is purchasing the bra from a more experienced and higher regarded professional any different than purchasing through them? Why should that be refundable if they did the work, but no one else? If they'd gotten back to me in a timely manner, the bra wouldn't have even been installed.

I'm going through an issue with Toyota/Scion as well. I hope it works out for you in your favor! My story can be read here on this thread

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...t=11587&page=2

In an nutshell, what happened to my FRS...

-Purchased the FRS on August 12th
-Car motor blew out August 13th (loose bolt from the steering wheel shot into the motor while driving, destroyed the head valve on the transmission)
-Waiting on replacement for new FRS from Toyota, they originally proposed that they wanted to rebuild the motor and give me the same car, but none of the technicians agreed that would be an good idea!

[soconfoozed]

You did the right thing by posting this.

Option One is asinine. Not paying to replace the clear bra just completely blows my mind, a "comparable" car is not an adequate replacement for what you bought (do they even detail how a price delta would be handled), and to think you should wait 120 days when they should be assuming that a reasonable person already sold their previous vehicle is just the icing on the ragecake.

Option Two is of course no option at all. This isn't something that's meant to be fixed.

I think the real solution is Secret Option Three: writing back with an amended version of Option One, which includes clear bra replacement, an exact replacement FR-S, and if they truly can't find you that replacement in a timely manner, provides you transportation in the intervening time -- be it a rental, your current (defective) FR-S, or some other solution. On top of this, I would ask for the Platinum warranty, and I wouldn't feel guilty about it at all. What are you really asking for here? An exact replacement, and an extended warranty. How is that unreasonable? It isn't. They should be happy to give you that, because somebody more selfish could really take them to task for this.

The $500 gift card is truly laughable. As you note, what would you even spend it on? It isn't even related to your issue. Trying to distract you with their left hand while your car is in their right. Obnoxious. And of course their true cost for that solution isn't $500, it's whatever their sell price for $500 of representative accessories is to their dealers, which is why they're motivated pursue it.

[Tanuki]

Thank you to all.

As far as the Carfax goes: I have no idea why or how they report. I had an STI that was T-Boned a week or so after I purchased the car brand new. The repairs were upwards of $7k and were paid through insurance. A month later that same car was backed into causing around $2k in damage as well. Neither of these ever reported to Carfax, BUT my oil changes did. So Honestly it is a crap shoot with Carfax. I personally don't think this would show on Carfax either though.

Texas FRS- I am going to call in a minute here and get the full details on the bra. The letter doesn't state "NO BRA REPLACEMENT," but I would guess that some of the wordage would suggest that. I want to know exactly what the process is with the replacement, the loaner vehicle etc, before I can make any kind of decision. I honestly think they are doing less than the bare minimum on the replacement though if they aren't even willing to replace the bra. Had I purchased the bra from them, it would be replaced, but not paying another shop to do it? Once again, it is their fault the car needs to be replaced, and I wasn't going to put 1500 miles on a car with no bra while I waited for them to make decisions. I see your side of it as well though, so I am just going to ask them if they want to be know for doing the bare minimum on something like this?

YuckFou, that sucks, and the fact that they wanted to replace the motor and keep you in that car shows that once again, they want to just do the bare minimum and cut costs. My friend took his STI into subaru for the 7500 mile oil change and they did not replace the drain plug after draining the oil. The motor went the next day. Subaru bought the car back from him and gave him a brand new one. They went above and beyond, and never even asked him if a replacement engine would be enough.

[Yuck]

Originally Posted by Tanuki

Thank you to all.

As far as the Carfax goes: I have no idea why or how they report. I had an STI that was T-Boned a week or so after I purchased the car brand new. The repairs were upwards of $7k and were paid through insurance. A month later that same car was backed into causing around $2k in damage as well. Neither of these ever reported to Carfax, BUT my oil changes did. So Honestly it is a crap shoot with Carfax. I personally don't think this would show on Carfax either though.

Texas FRS- I am going to call in a minute here and get the full details on the bra. The letter doesn't state "NO BRA REPLACEMENT," but I would guess that some of the wordage would suggest that. I want to know exactly what the process is with the replacement, the loaner vehicle etc, before I can make any kind of decision. I honestly think they are doing less than the bare minimum on the replacement though if they aren't even willing to replace the bra. Had I purchased the bra from them, it would be replaced, but not paying another shop to do it? Once again, it is their fault the car needs to be replaced, and I wasn't going to put 1500 miles on a car with no bra while I waited for them to make decisions. I see your side of it as well though, so I am just going to ask them if they want to be know for doing the bare minimum on something like this?

YuckFou, that sucks, and the fact that they wanted to replace the motor and keep you in that car shows that once again, they want to just do the bare minimum and cut costs. My friend took his STI into subaru for the 7500 mile oil change and they did not replace the drain plug after draining the oil. The motor went the next day. Subaru bought the car back from him and gave him a brand new one. They went above and beyond, and never even asked him if a replacement engine would be enough.

Tanuki,

I believe with Carfax it's up to the shop to report it or not? I had an 2007 Toyota Tacoma that was rear ended twice and both of those didn't end up on the Carfax, but all of my maintenance showed up because they were through Toyota dealership and those did show up.

[feyrerm]

After going through a situation similar to this with honda over panel fit, nav, and bumper damage problems where they had the car in their shop for the first 4 months I owned the car, and basically just getting a huge hastle and nothing in return, the offer of a replacement car is a good one. Trust me.

I am sure the dealership will be happy to give you a loaner while you wait, and I would try to recover the cost of the Bra from the dealer by discounts on the purchase price of the replacement car. The 120 days and the "comparable" thing are just them trying to cover themselves from lawsuits. I am sure they will do all they can to get you the exact same car as fast as possible. Unfortunately these cars aren't made in Kentucky they are shipped from Japan and that takes time.

I personally think they should replace it with an identical car ASAP and offer the Bra or equal value free, and give you the 7 year 100,000k warenty as a thanks for your patients kinda thing. The warenty really costs them nothing anyway. But I know the reality is your are very lucky to get what your getting.

It sucks.

[Texas BRZ]

Originally Posted by Tanuki

Thank you to all.

As far as the Carfax goes: I have no idea why or how they report. I had an STI that was T-Boned a week or so after I purchased the car brand new. The repairs were upwards of $7k and were paid through insurance. A month later that same car was backed into causing around $2k in damage as well. Neither of these ever reported to Carfax, BUT my oil changes did. So Honestly it is a crap shoot with Carfax. I personally don't think this would show on Carfax either though.

Texas FRS- I am going to call in a minute here and get the full details on the bra. The letter doesn't state "NO BRA REPLACEMENT," but I would guess that some of the wordage would suggest that. I want to know exactly what the process is with the replacement, the loaner vehicle etc, before I can make any kind of decision. I honestly think they are doing less than the bare minimum on the replacement though if they aren't even willing to replace the bra. Had I purchased the bra from them, it would be replaced, but not paying another shop to do it? Once again, it is their fault the car needs to be replaced, and I wasn't going to put 1500 miles on a car with no bra while I waited for them to make decisions. I see your side of it as well though, so I am just going to ask them if they want to be know for doing the bare minimum on something like this?

YuckFou, that sucks, and the fact that they wanted to replace the motor and keep you in that car shows that once again, they want to just do the bare minimum and cut costs. My friend took his STI into subaru for the 7500 mile oil change and they did not replace the drain plug after draining the oil. The motor went the next day. Subaru bought the car back from him and gave him a brand new one. They went above and beyond, and never even asked him if a replacement engine would be enough.

I'm not in your shoes, and I couldn't imagine your frustration. I have a habit of being neutral, but judging from the situation, you ultimately have the leverage to seek justice for your disadvantage faced.

[Justin.b]

Can you keep this car during the 120 day wait? If so, go with that.

Honestly, I wouldn't be terribly concerned with having this repaired. It's probably the fastest option, you keep your clearbra, get an extended warranty and get on your way.

It's a couple of spot welds in the trunk. It's not as if there's a suspension mount point swinging loose.

Honestly, if there had been a trim piece in the trunk covering that area, you could have driven this vehicle its entire life without any ill effects from this. Don't drive yourself crazy over something that is, imho, quite minor.

-Justin

[Memphis]

Id push for the clear bra replacement as that was in no way a cause to your problem and was done before realizing you would need an entirely new car.

Option 1 needs to be revised and or clarified by Toyota

[baldolera]

I honestly don't get why they want to skimp out on something so small like this (to their company). One faulty car is a big deal, of course, to their production line and workers. But replacing that car and giving something like an extended warranty and replaced tints/clear-bra/whatever and other complementaries is nothing to such a huge company. However, the consumer has paid for a $25K car, quite a sum of money for an individual. Situations like this can become very big, as shown by Jalopnik contacting the consumer. Tons of people will see this situation. If Toyota decides to skimp out on something that is so small to them, it will not make their customer happy and word will get around. This will take quite a toll on Toyota's reputation. If Toyota is smart, they should have given a more fair deal to the consumer. If they do that they will actually boost their reputation because word will get around that, hey, Toyota is a great company with great customer service! Toyota should realize their reputation is worth a lot more than a single car, extended warranty on said car, and a clear-bra job.

[Wolfking]

I'm !@#$% confused! How the !@#$^ did this car pass QC? From my experience the, Japanese would never let this fly! Plz note, your VIN does not start with a "J."

Since these are mass produced, let the company provide you with a proper vehicle. Proper means new. It's just "correct" busniess. Keep us posted T and good luck.

[Justin.b]

Originally Posted by baldolera

I honestly don't get why they want to skimp out on something so small as this (to their company). One faulty car is a big deal, of course. But replacing that car and giving something like an extended warranty and replaced tints/clear-bra/whatever and other complementaries is nothing to such a huge company. However, the consumer has paid for a $25K car, quite a sum of money for an individual. Situations like this can become very big, as shown by Jalopnik contacting the consumer. Tons of people can see things like this. If Toyota decides to skimp out on something that is so small to them, it will not make their customer happy and word will get around. This will take quite a toll on Toyota's reputation. If Toyota is smart, they should have given a more fair deal to the consumer. If they do that they will actually boost their reputation because word will get around that, hey, Toyota is a great company with great customer service! Toyota should realize their reputation is worth a lot more than a single car, extended warranty on said car, and a clear-bra job.

On the other hand, what do they have to win? Some customers aren't going to be satisfied. Even the ones who can be satisfied aren't going to run around the internet telling of their satisfaction with nearly the enthusiasm they posted about their unhappiness.

I'm still not quite sure why their initial offer to repair the vehicle wasn't acceptable. Now they're offering repair +extended warranty and credit, or an exchange for a new vehicle. I'd say toyota's gone pretty far to keep this guy happy - and they haven't succeeded yet.

-Justin

[Tanuki]

I gave my new point of contact a call to go through a few of the details in the letter. She was EXTREMELY nice to me and easy to talk to. I did not make any demands or additional requests, but only called to ask questions and gain clarification on the letter that I received yesterday.

Here are the questions that I asked regarding the situation as well as what Toyota's resolution would be for each:

Should I choose to keep the car and accept your compensation, what is the status of the vehicle history report? Because the car would be fixed through a National Toyota Entity, the work would be recorded on the vehicle's National History Report.

Should I choose the option of vehicle replacement with a potential 120 day wait, what would I drive in the mean time? The vehicle purchased would maintain in my possession until the replacement transaction occurred. Because the vehicle was financed through Toyota Financial, they would look at a collateral change (so I don't have to have an entirely new account set up) and I would treat the current FRS as my normal vehicle until the replacement came. I was also told that in the 23 years she has worked in her position at Toyota, this is the FIRST time that she has seen vehicle replacement offered. She had already looked at availability, and I would have to order the car (which I would rather do than to take whats on a lot for some reason). She did say that the 120 day wait is the extreme condition though and they want to set the expectation though it wont always be the case (I can wait 120 days, especially if I am driving their car in the meantime).

Point 3 in the letter (posted below) states that "You are required to pay all costs for additional accessories or options that were not on the original vehicle," Does this mean that the Clear Bra is not replaced along with the vehicle? This is somewhat of a CYA blanket statement. With items adhered to the vehicle (Bra/ Tint), the rules are different. It will be replaced, though who will do the work remains to be answered. Her responses led me to believe that whoever the dealership sublets their clear bra work to would do the job (which is A OK with me).

[Spartan65]

You would think from a legal prospective they would have you also sign a non disclosure agreement. The publicity will hurt the brand, halo car or not. You could send the offer to your congress rep and see if he warrants an inquiry. Spot welds are part of sturtural integrity. They might not matter now, but Heaven forbid your in the car in a collision they could be the deciding factor of crash integrity.
I realized there would be issues on a first year car, every one with one right now is like a paying beta tester for Toyota / Subaru. So the best bet is to go public and this forum isn't big enough to let the world know they are toying (sorry about the pun) with our safety in pushing a concept to production that has yet to come to fruition with customer safety as key and primary.

[Justin.b]

Now you want to get the Congress involved?

Is this thread a trap? Are there hidden cameras here watching me read this silliness?

Alan Funt, where are you? I know you're here somewhere.

-Justin