Toyota.com/Potential Toyota Customers/Suspects,
Within 6 months after purchasing a 2003 Toyota Corolla from Courtesy Toyota in Winter Park it was clear that the ground effects (plastic body trim) that were added to the vehicle at the Southeast Port (Jacksonville) were improperly installed. The ground effects were obviously installed by inexperienced body shop personnel... Several were becoming loose... On the front and side. No rivets or bolts were used to fasten the ground effects... Simply double sided tape, the lack of, and improper placement of this tape, caused the panels to hang loosely from the body of the vehicle in a short span of time. It should be noted that these ground effects, along with the rims and tires (17"), cost an additional $1,700.00 as part of a racing package.
Being that I am in the military (Coast Guard) and moved frequently during all of this mess, it was necessary to address this problem with a Toyota dealership outside the district/area of where I purchased the vehicle. The first dealership to look at the problem (Nov. 2004) was a dealership in Hayward, Ca... Near where I was stationed at the time. There advice was to take the problem back to the original dealership where we purchased the vehicle in Florida. This was possible only because I was being re-stationed in Florida within a month from this time. Although I wanted quicker results, taking this problem back to the origin was a reluctant option. After taking extra time to settle into my new unit in South Florida, I made a special trip to the Orlando Area dealership (250 miles/Courtesy Toyota) in March to take care of this obvious problem. Courtesy Toyota agreed with the defective body shop work, and determined that it fell under the 36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty agreement, but could not take care of the problem on this particular weekend because the body shop was closing within hours for the weekend. The trip was a wasted one, but Courtesy explained to me that ANY Toyota dealership could take care of this problem.
(A side note to this problem is that I had to purchase double sided molding tape to attempt to temporarily bond the ground effects to the body of the car because some of the panels were at the verge of falling off... My personal attempts were only lasting for weeks at a time)
At this point the problem was now being taken to South Florida to be resolved near my current residence. And this is where the pathetic excuses and dodging of customer service issues began. Within a few weeks the Corolla was due for service (Oil) and I decided to take this and the Ground Effect problem to Maroone Toyota in Weston, Fl. The service staff immediately questioned why the home dealership would not perform the job, was not convinced that the job fell under the warranty agreement, and did not seem intent on amending this problem in any way. The service Manager at this dealership got involved and determined that the job was a long one (5 hours, involved removing the old adhesive... Messy), and would "look into" the problem and would get back to me. Several weeks passed with no phone calls or e-mails... I called the service department upset that no one was contacting me and wanted to know how they were going to help me.
Frustrated with the delays and lack of communication, I filed a complaint with the regional Customer Relations Manager in S. Florida. This manager made a trip to the dealership to discuss the issue and to take another look at the car. I arranged to have the vehicle dropped off for a few days so that everyone involved... Managers and body shop employees could look at the faulty work. The final decision was that because of a minor accident in the front passenger side of the vehicle... The entire body of the vehicle was affected and this was the reason for the ground effects becoming loose. Although this accident did occur prior to my first complaint of the ground effects being loose... This minor accident in the upper panel/mirror area of the car had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FAULTY INSTALLATION OF THE GROUND PANELS!!! Many of the 2003 Corollas that I observed had a more permanent black bonding strip adhered between the ground effect and the body of the car. It was obvious that my particular ground effect kit was not professionally installed as evident by the random strips of molding tape that could be seen along the falling ground panels.
Maroone Toyota was obviously trying to excuse themselves from this defective installation work. The job was an involved, messy project as admitted by the body shop and managing staff of the dealership. It is my sincere belief that the 5-hour body work coupled with the fact that the dealership had no vested interest in the vehicle because of the fact that it was purchased elsewhere, created a situation in that Maroone Toyota did not want to take the time to work on a vehicle that was not "theres" so to speak. The fact that I did not mention the minor accident initially was not an attempt to request a fraudulent warrantied repair... Rather, it was because this accident in the front passenger side had no bearing on the ground effects anywhere on the vehicle, much less on the opposite side of the car! The home dealership in Orlando (Courtesy Toyota) knew about the accident, but realized the obvious!!! The ground effects were simply installed un-professionally and were willing to take pro-active customer service measures to make the situation right!
After arguing my position with Maroone that the accident had nothing to do with the defective ground effect installation, the decision not to do the work was final, with the exception that the work could be performed, if I agreed to pay out-of-pocket. Of course this was a ludicrous option that I would have no part of. Maroone was turning away from a frustrated, mis-treated Toyota customer.
Several frustrating months of keeping the panels in place with store-bought molding tape passed before I could plan another trip back to Orlando to let Courtesy Toyota do what should have been the first time:
Finally in November of one year after the panels were initially observed to be loose, and 8 months since the first documented complaint was filed with Courtesy Toyota, Courtesy Toyota in Winter Park took the time to do what was right. They took all of the old ground effects off of the vehicle, re-taped them, and bolted the front panels in place (one of the bolts came loose that day). Although the job was not perfect, it was an honest attempt to make me happy and do what they could to more permanently keep the ground effects in place. Sal Sardisco and Jim Smith in Orlando should be commended for their efforts in doing what is right, and taking care of the customer. Tracy Montes and Lisa Robertson in S. Florida should be removed from any esteemed Customer Service Positions because of their lack of concern for the customer and obvious concern with profit and financial interests.
The bottom line is that for any prospective Toyota Customer... BEWARE! Toyota is not consistent from dealer to dealer with how they handle customer service issues... Be careful on taking a significant problem or issue to another Toyota dealership outside of the district/area where the vehicle was purchased... You may get the run-around. Although the vehicle itself has been a good purchase overall, I cannot recommend any potential Toyota customer any positive favor for the Customer Service attitude of the Toyota Corporation. As evident by my experiences, Toyota within districts/dealerships have there own agendas and reactions to problems. I WILL NOT BE PURCHASING ANOTHER TOYOTA BECAUSE OF THIS!!! It is a shame because the vehicles are dependable and basically well put together (with the exception of the ground effects), but this is meaningless without a solid backing from ALL Toyota dealerships in ALL regions and districts. As is the case in life, bad things happen to good people... And bad things can and will happen to good cars, but without the proper support, both good people and good automobiles are fruitless in what they can offer if they are not supported by good moral, ethical individuals.
One word does come to mind when reflecting on the battle that I have faced with Toyota over the last 12 months...
Nissan!!!
A frustrated, battered, mis-treated, and soon not-to-be TOYOTA customer,
Timothy
Hialeah, Florida
U.S.A.
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