Warranty Repairs

I had a loose front bumper cover on each side. In for the repair under warranty and I told the service person I would like the parts they remove and replace. I was told I could not have the parts as the dealership needs them to prove it was a warranty repair. Any truth to this?

 

I have heard this before, don’t know if it is or not.

 

Sounds about right, not sure why but it would make sense. Normally when you get something warrantied on any product, companies keep the defective one. I’m sure they’ll give them to you for a fee though.

 

Where I used to work, a warrantied part required us sending the bad part back. So it makes sense.

 

Why in the world would they give parts out for free.

 

A dealership is usually a franchised location but also an extension of the parent company ( Toyota ). When performing warranty repairs dealerships are required to send defective parts back to WPRC or Toyota’s part inspection company to identify failures and why. The dealership tries to be sure a part or failure is warranty as if it’s caused by outside influence then the dealership gets debited the repair.

 

Thanks for the replies. Here is the resolution to this matter. I found Toyota TSB 0049-20 that specifically addresses the issue. The Bulletin instructs the dealership to remove the bumper cover, replace the retainers and then it appears to add velcro fasteners to both the retainers and the bumper cover. If it works in the long term anyone should be happy about it. The dealership could have taken ten minutes to explain this to me and I would have been satisfied. Instead I did the research on my own. Even when you spend more than $40,000 apparently you still need to stay on top of everything.

 

Much like basically everything in life if you want something done right you gotta do it yourself.

 

The service I get from my HVAC/Electrical professional is top notch and I will never come close to spending $40,000 with him. Big beautiful dealership with a giant garage stealing from every customer. After my two years of "free" maintenance is up they won't see me again unless absolutely necessary.

 

It’s called a stealership for a reason

 

You think that’s 40k the dealership pockets? Dealership MIGHT make 2-3k if the deal is good. Most dealerships make a small to medium profit on selling cars but a MUCH bigger profit through service.
I’m not defending dealerships at all but a lot of people latch on to the term “stealership” without knowing what the hell they are talking about or just because it’s trendy. Dealerships are a business like any other and only succeed by profit. There’s a few exceptions to the rule but dealerships ARE NOT TOYOTA USA. They are a franchised extension.
If your having shitty service find another shop. If you cant find another shop OR the brand itself is unsatisfactory on how customers are treated or vehicles are serviced then find another brand until you do find the service your looking for.
Another big issue is the advancement of technology to keep Pace with other manufacturers without proper tech training to support these advancements. Sometimes it’s bad techs, sometimes it’s bad manufacturer practices. I can tell you coronavirus has not helped this situation as most factory in person training has stopped for the time being but new cars and new technology keeps being released.
This is the nature of the industry and how manufacturers succeed or fail. Cars and brands get a good name or bad name by the amount of issues or how easily resolved these issues are. It’s not through cars made but the techs and dealerships ability to help customers and fix issues properly.
Many manufacturers are bending over backwards for customers as they realize that there’s dozens to chose from and they need to stand apart in the customers eyes. If your unhappy with Toyota service overall then go to a different manufacturer.
Also separately there’s absolutely great techs and Indy shops but there’s far more terrible ones. Most times a dealership is where you end up once your ride to too fubar for anybody else to fix. Dealerships have a lot more knowledge, factory and engineer support which costs money. Dealerships are more expensive as this stuff is not free. There is a ton more overhead at dealerships then Indy shops but there’s a ton more resources as well. Shitty techs and bad management at some places are a black eye on dealerships and the industry overall. Similar to rioters mixed with peaceful protesters. A few bad apples can ruin the perception of the bunch.

 

You make a few good points, however, there is no mercy coming from me on the slim profit margins. This place should have worked harder on selling their service. Way more effort put into the sale of the truck. I would have paid more than the final number.

 

Have spent over a year getting the runaround from dealer and TOYOTA on front bumper issue. I took my 2017 4Runner in while under warranty and opened a ticket and have contacted Toyota and gone by dealer for over a year and get runaround. I see a TSB in above posts and am approaching dealer with that now, but no resolution on a clear defect with cover or clips or something. Sucks to buy 43k vehicle because of supposed QUALITY and Toyota doesn't step up. Took lawsuit to get dash covers taken care of several years ago and maybe will take one to resolve this defect as well. Good luck, none for me yet!!!!!

 

It doesn't matter how much your damn car costs. There needs to be a certain % of the same troubles before it gets noticed. Yeah the TSB got put out. But guess how many different people had to go for the same issue just to get it on the radar?

Look at the fuel pump issue still with no resolution. I'm sure that is a higher priority the a bumper cover.

 

So, Toyota doesn't honor warranty unless there are enough cars with the same issue? I don't understand.

 

I never mentioned warranty one time in my post.

TSBs only come out after a certain threshold. But you were grumbling about no clear fix. Maybe they don't have one? I used the fuel pump as en example because they still don't have a fix for that as well and if you ask me its more serious than a bumper cover.