In my wife and I purchased a Certified 2002 Toyota Sienna from Antwerpen Toyota in Clarksville, Md. Earlier this year, after the check engine light came on — and goes off and comes on and goes off and comes on, etc. — my personal mechanic said the code had to do with the catalytic converter. He told me what to say to the service writer, and he said because only Toyota dealerships had the needed software, the job should take 10-15 minutes but cost about $200 so the dealership could make a few bucks. Fine.
Because Toyota issued a bulletin on the problem and covered the work on a Sienna with less than 80,000 miles, and we purchased the Certified van from Antwerpen when the vehicle had about 56,000 miles and now had 85,000 miles, I asked the service writer if the cost could be covered. The service writer said he would take of me. But a few days later, I was told I needed a new catalytic converter and the cost would be about $3,000. Whoa! I asked the service writer just to do what I asked, and he said no. I asked if the extended warranty I purchased from Toyota when I bought the van would cover the work, and he again said no.
When my wife and I exercised our First Amendment rights and told the service writers and the customer relations manager what we thought of their tactics, we were told that we were no longer welcome at the dealership because we had embarrassed the dealership in front of paying customers. We were even accused of slander, and when I informed the customer relations manager that as a former journalist I understood slander, and what he had just said to me was slanderous, he stated some unkind words I won't print here and hung up the phone. With friends like him, who needs enemies?
Forward to last month when we are driving from Maryland to California, and somewhere near Indianapolis, I start to hear a loud noise and the check engine light comes on for the first time in about a month. The car was running fine and the mileage was good, so I figured it's a problem with the muffler. When we arrived in California, we looked under the van and found the gasket for an oxygen sensor was busted and the sensor was finally dislodged but dangling. I took the Sienna to a place in Lodi, California, said what the problem was, and left with a fixed van for $360 for parts and labor.
If Antwerpen Toyota had just done what I had asked, bothered to locate the actual problem, or covered the work with the manufacturer-issued extended warranty, I would not write this report.instead, I would be praising the dealership, but I have nothing good to say about Antwerpen Toyota.
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