Dealer damage

Wanted some opinions on what you’d do if this happened to you.

I bought my 2020 new in January. Had a bad dash/windshield rattle. They told me to make an appointment to get the issue resolved. Decided to wait until my first service. Advisor told me to make an individual appointment for the rattles.

I went in today and drove with a tech. Prior to test drive the manager was saying it’s cause of my lift and after market suspension. I told him no it’s been here since I got the vehicle and the sound didn’t change after changing suspension. Tech verified there was a loud dash rattle and “whipping” sound.

they had my vehicle for 8 hours and partially fixed the dash rattle however the part that was rattling wasn’t touched. They put felt in an area I had no complaints about. They said it’s probably the suspension rattling. It’s not, but they said bring it in again at a later date. However while prying the dash apart, they used a flathead screwdriver and damaged my dashboard. if you had this happen what would you do?

also on top of the dash there’s little speckles of dash missing about the size of rice grains scattered.

 

I would take it back as soon as possible so they can at least see it and document it.

The longer you wait, the harder is to say it was caused during the last service visit

 

I already contacted them and informed them. Going back first thing in the morning. I was just curious on what a reasonable fix would be.

 

I worked for a Toyota Dealer.

Contact Toyota Motors corporation before walking back in. 800-331-4331.

the dealer will NOT want to pay for the repair. And Toyota won’t warranty a dealer mistake.

Once you have it on record with Toyota Motors. Ask to speak with either the owner or GM. Remain calm. Explain your case and ask who they plan on repairing the scratches as well as the rattles. Ask for the work to be done by a master tech. And not the tech that did the work.

The rattles are covered for 12 months or 12k if I remember correctly. The lift can have them void the suspension part of the warranty. Not the whole warranty.
In short. Expect this to be hard. But if approached calmly and firmly. You can get some satisfaction.

 

so I should avoid going in till I call
Toyota corporate? I was going to go in tomorrow. I already brought up the damage to my service advisor.

 

You at least have pictures that are time stamped, and you’ve alerted the dealer as well. It’s an uphill battle when it comes to that stuff and having lifts installed, as that’s always the dealers scapegoat. If you have multiple dealers in your area try a different, some are more willing to work with you than others which I don’t get. They get paid from Toyota corporate to do warranty work, that’s money for them so I don’t understand why they don’t just do warranty repairs from the get go

 

I would be taking that back. Apparently the tech guy has no clue about special interior removal tools. I have a set that I use so it don’t damage your interior parts. Audio installers use them to remove your interior for audio upgrades.

 

Take your time, try to stay calm, and have them fix it! This is why I hate to take my vehicles back for any sort of warranty work! Its not just Toyota, you should have seen the rims on my Hellcat, when the dealership rotated them for "free"!

 

Thanks for the info guys. Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t over reacting.

 

Demand new dash parts which are damaged and then settle for what they will likely to offer some $ usually 50% value of dash parts. They unlikely to replace the whole dash plus if they do they will screw something else in the process. DIY rattles or turn up the radio (that is what I do). Riding in complete silence is not an option on modern plastic interior cars, even $100+K Mercs have rattles after year or so of heat and cold cycles.

 

Im cool with normal rattles, however the rattle that I went in for was was excessive and could be heard with the radio up very loudly. It sounds like the dash is excessively rubbing against the a pillar. Also with my windshield occasionally making popping sounds when the sun hits it and it’s a cold day leads me to believe there’s something wrong. There is also a flapping sound that sounds like someone’s slapping the windshield. The amount of flapping increases as more wind resistance happens. They couldn’t help me with any of these issues.

Was told today to not come in and they’ll have someone get ahold of me on Wednesday. So they could “patch” and touch up my dash. I calmly and tactfully informed them they was unacceptable.

calling Toyota NA in the morning and filing a complaint.

 

after wiping the remainder of the dash down with a microfiber cloth and 3D LVP I found more damage. Little rice size chunks missing on the dash in random spots. When I got my vehicle back it was filthy, dirty finger prints on the dash and pillars. Steering wheel was dirty. Etc.

 

Good luck to you. You have gotten some good advice,hopefully it works out in your favor.

 

I had a similar experience with my Tacoma, I had taken it in for a crack gauge cluster. The dealership scratched the crap out of my dash and steering column during the install. After I picked up my Tacoma from the dealer I noticed all the scratches and bad scuff marks. They offered to repair it using their third party detailer that uses super glue and paint to blend the scratches. A week later I noticed the paint coming off and once I rubbed a cloth over it the paint literally flaked off. Long story short, I request a new dash and a couple weeks later, they installed a new dash with care.

I think sometimes dealers think customers won’t noticed things like that..

 

Yeah, they wanted to use a guy to patch. The rep text me. Wouldn’t answer the phone. This is what I sent to them.

“If a "patch" or a "touch up" is done I will not accept the repair nor will I accept the vehicle back from your dealership. I will accept nothing other than the way it was brought in. Tomorrow morning I will be contacting Toyota North America again and putting in a complaint about my experience yesterday. Making attempts to blame my suspension For the rattles is unacceptable. Toyota North America informed me rattles are covered for 12k or 12 months whatever comes first. And the only thing voided by adding my suspension is the actual parts that are not factory. The part that's damaged is where they put the felt stripping. The dash never rattled in that area, the dash rattled near the passenger side near the a pillar. I pointed that out to the tech who went for the ride along and he agreed with it as well. So not sure why anything was touched on the driver side in that area.”

 

Great advice here! Be polite, respectful but assertive and tenacious. The dealer who sold you the vehicle has more investment in having you a happy customer than starting out fresh with a new guy who does not know you. Suspension rattles are easy to identify. If that’s not it, don’t let them misdirect you. As for rattles in general, ok, I may be a bit obsessive compulsive as most owners on this forum tend to be, but I’ve never owned a Toyota that rattled. My 2018 is tight, tight, tight. As it should be, it’s only two years old and has 34km on it - still new. But it’s been driven on really rough gravel/washboard roads in parts of northern Canada, and used normally for what it’s meant for. It’s quiet, really, really quiet.

 

between my dash and driver door it sounds like marbles in a tin can. Lol.
I also demanded new parts. Waiting to hear from a “manager”

 

Good luck, Antman, never take no for an answer.

 

Sorry for the late reply If the appointment was today or tomorrow it keep it or reschedule stating you want to speak with the service manager at your appointment. Best if it’s around noon. Or early afternoon so that you can then ask to speak with the GM or owner if he can’t satisfy you. As for a new Dash. You can push for it. My need a letter from a lawyer if they say No.

The touch up process on the plastic isn’t bad. If you decide that’s ok. Have them either make a payment or give some expensive Toyota aftermarket part you want.

touch up will only run them $1-200 dash and repair time will easily break 4 figures. Best of luck. Let me know how it pans out.

 

I don’t think you can really touch up damaged plastic. I’d be really apprehensive about letting a dealer put in a new dash. One of those damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations. Go tearing out the old dash and put in a new one and you could have more rattles and shakes than you started with.

I’ve been in the OP’s shoes and it sucks. But sometimes just accepting it is the correct answer. Not that I’d blame you for pushing for a resolution. Just know that new problems might arise when you start tearing into plastic and clips, etc.

 

I will tell you I had similar issue. Car had 200 miles. They wrecked my headliner (oil finger prints, bent, missing screw covers and did who knows what to factory XM antenna. I set pictures to the GM and head of service. It was stressful, but they replaced the entire headliner and corrected all the issues. I just said, if you make a mistake and damage something be straight up and say you did it. Don’t wait for an owner to find it. Right ? Stuff happens but come straight forward. I agree with the advice to not yell and scream. I guarantee you will have it all resolved including your rattle.

 

Touch up repair on plastic dash and column is garage. If you only go by appearance it’s fine but once you touch it with a micro cloth or try to dust it, it will flake off (Personal Experience). It won’t hold up over time. Speak with the Service Manager and request new dash and plastic pieces that was scratched. Most likely the dealership will honor their mistake.

 

I have no worries snout it it will get taken care of or not. It’s mainly I wanted to have reassurance I wasn’t over reacting to the damage. Or a normal person wouldn’t find this as a big deal.

They’ve already torn apart the dash and put it back. Can’t see it getting much worse.

 

Best of luck to you fighting this dealer! I agree that it should be returned to the exact condition it was, when you brought it in. No exceptions!

 

Update: I have an appointment tomorrow with the head service manager. I filed a complaint with Toyota corporate at 7am PST and received a call at 930am. With an apology and a promise to make it right. Hopefully it goes well.