In October of I purchased a Toyota Land Crusier from a private individual. At the time of purchase I had the vehicle inspected by a mechanic who confirmed what the seller told me, that the vehicle had NEW brake pads.
Within a very short amount of time I noticed vibration coming from the brake petal and noticed the pulsing of the brakes and took my car to the Speedy at 1355 Dorothy Lane in Kettering, Ohio. (This was sometime in November.) Eric Hollis (then Store Manager) and a man named Jan (since retired) inspected my car and new rear rotors were suggested to fix the problem as my rear rotors were warped. $400 some odd dollars later I'm out the door with new rear rotors.
It was pretty obvious right away that the problem wasn't fixed as the pedal was still vibrating and the stopping power was still pulsating. So a couple weeks later, when I could afford to be without a car for an entire day (again), I took my car back to Speedy and the problem now was my front rotors were warped. Front rotors costing more than the rear, now I was out the door with $500 plus out of my pocket, and now had nearly $1000 in just rotors. Speedy also sold me new brake pads all the way around.
That seemed to fix the problem (vibration) for a while, but slowly the vibration returned and about three months later (March I believe) I was back at Speedy. They replaced the front and rear rotors with brand new ones as the most recent ones were all warped. *They did replace these under the warranty that came with the rotors* so at least it didn't cost me anything... But still 3 months (less than 3,000 miles) for rotors??? Most people get 60,000 miles or more out of rotors!
Problem seemed fixed but again, about 3 months later (June/July) I'm back and they resurface them and then again, 3 months later, (October) I'm back and have the rear rotors replaced a THIRD time.
*So, to recap, in November I brought my car to Speedy and complained about my brakes pulsating. Now, $1000 later, I have the same problem I started out with.
So after my October visit I took my car to a competitor, for a free brake inspection. My feeling was that after this fifth attempt to fix my brakes was unsucessful, maybe I should get a second opinion. They that my front rotors were warped. The suggested that I needed new callipers, and would need new rotors also, as the front rotors are warped beyond machining.
After hearing this, I decided to bypass the store and talk to Speedy Customer Service at their corporate HQ. My hope was that if someone at corporate realized that I had gone through 3 NEW rear rotors and 2 NEW front rotors in less than 12k miles, they would come to the conclusion that the store needed to dig deeper to solve my problem. Perhaps another of their chain stores has an expert on Toyota Land Crusiers? Worth a try I thought.
I talked to John (the only John in Customer Service there) and told him that I was more than willing to pay for whatever parts might still be needed to fix my car (besides the things they replaced still under warranty, of course). I expressed that I just want my brakes fixed RIGHT this time...
It was 2 weeks before I got any resolution from them... DID THEY OFFER TO HELP? Did they say, "We found a guy at our Toledo store who has a Land Crusier and we're bringing him down to look at your car" Or how about "you know Rob, those rotors we charged you $140 a piece for are sold $49 a pair, so I'll tell you what, let's throw some callipers on there, half price... Afterall, if that doesn't work the ONLY thing left is the hubs, so what the hell"
No! They offered me the cost of the front rotors, minus labor, minus tax as a refund... Or basically around $200! So I spend $1000 and end up right where I started, with the exact same problem, and they'll give me $200 back and release their liability. *slap*
So I rejected that and was told that corporate customer service couldn't offer me anything more, that it's up the District Manager... Who in fact is now Eric Hollis, the former Manager of the store my brakes were done at.
After talking to Eric, he offered me $425... Or basically, the list prices of the rotor... This is minus labor, minus taxes... And this is where things stand now...
*Ahem* My car is in the same stage as it was when I first took my car to Speedy about 1 year ago. The pedal vibrates and the car is jerky stopping. I am out over $1000. Speedy acknowledges that my car is not fixed, and they want to KEEP more than 1/2 the money that I paid??? For what?
I'm hoping that by writing this, someone at Speedy will try to help me get my brakes fixed. I don't know what else to do, I just really can't afford to lose $500 for nothing. It seems as if a lawsuit is about the only option I have left.
I will update this and let everyone know how it was handled. I hope I will be telling you all that i have working brakes!
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