Update 11:
21 Dec 2013
The Journey Continues:
Since my last update on 6 Dec 2013 there have been some interesting events. No major changes or fixed; more so, an angry service manager at Toyota and continued phone-tag with corporate. I dropped my car off on 13 Dec 2013 to have it looked at. I made sure I called the dealership twice that week on two separate days out of respect and to not blind-side them with a car that has a seized motor. That ended up happening anyways since the dealership has two different service buildings and the manager looking at my car was never updated by the other two service managers. That sounds like poor communication skills to me.
On 16 Dec 2013 I ended up calling the service manager since they left a message. He wanted to know the history of the car and what modifications I did to it. Since I put the car back to stock I only talked about the current modifications since I was only dropping the car off to get a diagnostics ran, as per what corporate Toyota told me to do. I also figured the dealership would have contacted corporate since I told the other service managers I had a claim started. Little to my knowledge the service manager continued to pry to information that was already presented upfront with corporate.
(This is where is get interesting)
The service manager said they did their research and contacted the other dealership my car was bought from. That is how he found out about the original modifications and turbo kit. He then accused me of dropping off my car at another dealership (his) just to try to get around the warranty troubles. At this point I am confused since I'm just doing what corporate told me to do. The service manager gets into a heated conversation making false actualization's. He accused my tuner and myself of making modifications to the Variable Valve Timing (VVT), the Active Valve Control System (AVCS) and the timing chain, which did not occur. I know exactly what was modified on that car and was willing to share (corporate already knows too) but he blew me off and said he has already done his research and know exactly what was done with the car and doesn't care (wow, true customer service there).
He basically said, "you know what you did." Well, yeah I do since I made or authorized the modifications to this car...but I didn't modify the components you are referring to. He continued to say, "well someone did and it had to have been you or your tuner." He talked about the timing chain cover being on backwards and he could tell the timing was off. I found it interesting that the regional manager never authorized him to touch the car and he also said he did NOT touch the car, yet how can he point out by looking at the car that those modifications were made? Everything he pointed were never adjusted, touched, tampered, etc. I did not have a chance to talk with the regional manager but they came out to see the car.
Hopefully more to come on that when I talk with corporate.
You can read more about this topic on this post:
Dealership Accuses Variable Valve Timing (VVT) Ajustment
Overall, that dealership has lost it's integrity in my eyes for me to authorize them pulling out my engine and diagnosing the issue. I will be continuing to talk with corporate but will be picking up my car this week. Even with adding the turbo I actually have more than enough information to put together for "other avenues of approach." My next update might take a while for legal means but I will be sure to keep you posted on the successes/fails I've made.
