Toyota Motor Corporation Consumer Reviews - Page 3

CAROL STREAM, ILLINOIS -- I was a co-maker for my son on his Toyota auto loan. Things started out good but then he moved to the east coast and got an apartment with friends. The friends all bailed and left him with an expensive apartment. It took most of his money to have a place to live and he stopped making payments. He was 3 months behind when I found out about the situation.

We got the loan caught up quickly. I asked Toyota why I didn't receive a notice at the address they had for me, they told me that they are not required to notify me at all. That that is my problem not theirs. They refused to correct my credit and therefore crushed my credit that I had spent years correcting after a tough financial divorce. I filed a complaint with the BBB and after months received a notice that they would do nothing.

I understand that my son should have told me that he was behind and I would have made the payments on time. So out the door went my credit. My son moved back to the midwest after a year away and continue to make his payments. Then he lost his job, so I started making his payments. Having to give him money to survive until he could find a new job (he started back to school so he wasn't eligible for unemployment), the payments were made before it would go past 30 days.

Once he paid online and hit send, a few days later he looked and they said the payment didn't go through so therefore again, another 1 times 30. Now they start calling after it's 2 weeks past due and I tell them that the payment will be made by the 15th of the month. His payment is due on the 19th. That way he won't go past 30 days and show as a negative on both of our credit reports.

Trouble is that after I tell them when it will be paid, they continue to call and call and call. Asking me the same questions over and over again. I tell them to look at the past payments and they will see that the payments have been made on the 15th for the past months. I was told by their representative that they can call me up to SEVEN times per day!!!

According to the Fair trade commission, they cannot MAKE FREQUENT CALLS TO HARASS YOU. To me to call so many times, this is harassment!!! They basically show that they don't care, you would think that with their recalls they would try a little more to be consumer friendly!!!

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA -- Firstly, I was forced to take my Tundra with 40K miles on it in for a defective Fuel Evaporation System leak which is a known faulty component on Tundra's. I was then forced to pay almost $400 out-of-pocket for Toyota's defective part. After 4 trips to the dealer because of this issue I paid for the repair even though it had nothing to do with 'normal' wear on the vehicle. The work was done, I paid and drove my truck home.

Next morning, my truck won't start! I check the battery and my battery is completely dead. Interestingly enough, I had never had this problem and then all of a sudden once Toyota of Carlsbad services my truck the battery is deemed useless. So an hour later Toyota has my truck towed up to their dealership. I receive a call later this day saying that Toyota of Carlsbad will NOT pay for the towing fee of $80 and it will cost another $200 for a new battery because they "feel their repair had nothing to do with your battery issues."

I priced a new battery and battery terminal at my local Napa Auto Parts at $89.00. Toyota of Carlsbad not only attempted to double the price of a simple car battery on me but they are now going to make me pay for a towing bill of $80 because of their faulty repair/repair procedures. So is it just a complete coincidence that my battery, with zero previous issues, is all of a sudden not usable after Toyota of Carlsbad's service team does work on my truck?

The service personnel at Toyota of Carlsbad were not only rude and demeaning to me but also had the nerve to jump start my truck in the service area of their own dealership. They obviously don't have any regard for showing all of their past, present and future customers that they have to jump-start an infuriated customer's vehicle. From a customer service standpoint this is EXACTLY why this dealership had to lay off over 30 service employees 2 weeks ago.

Even one of their own service employees was disgruntled with what had occurred with my vehicle because of his own team's actions as he gave me my truck keys after a jump-start in the parking lot. Ted, thank you. You made a horrible experience just a little bit better.

If you are reading this as a customer I have heard horrid stories of this dealership and went there anyway and look where it got me. I will NEVER go near Toyota of Carlsbad again and I think they are a liability to Toyota's good name. Toyota you need to step in and reevaluate this particular services team's goal, which should be to keep your customers content and not having to share stories like this with potential customers. Thank you.

HACKENSACK, NEW JERSEY -- I have owned new cars for over 30 years and never had a complaint about a dealership till last week. I brought my 2008 Scion xB into the dealership on a Friday for 15,000 mile service as most new car owners do, and the next day noticed a hole in my bumper. It looked as though someone had backed my car into something.

I called the dealership up on Monday morning to complain about the hole and they basically did not want to hear my story. I was immediately told by their service manager Sean to have my insurance company contact theirs. No apology, nor did they want to even see what was done. They did not want to hear about it. I was amazed; I called back and asked to talk to the GM or sales manager. I was told by the switchboard that I should talk to the service manager. I told the lady that I had just talked to the service manager and did not like his response. She said "I'm sorry but he is the man to talk to."

I was furious so I called the Scion 800 number and told them about the incident. They were shocked also but told me the car dealerships were independent and handles things their own way. I talked to my insurance company and they told me to get an incident number. But since I did not report this to Scion when I was picking up my car, the service manager did not open an incident report.

I guess I was wrong about car dealerships. I now know that every time I leave the dealership I need to walk around the car to see if anything had been damaged. I have not done that before in 30 years but guess I have to start doing that now. I will never buy a Scion again and will definitely not give Toyota of Hackensack any more business.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -- I am a consumer that feels that customer service is an integral part of the company. Without the service, it doesn't matter how good the item is, NO ONE would like to deal with a sour face. Maybe it's the financial situation that everyone is in these days. One can admit that there are many negative beings out there, But that doesn't mean everyone is.

Toyota's service seems to dwindle every time I deal with them. The product may be great, but there are other companies out there that give better rewards as you make a connection with them. Toyota's representatives, or maybe it's the company policy, itself, but they seem to care only about their profits and not about what the people want. When they want money, they will call and bug/bother you until you give them the answer they want. Then they hire third parties who act basically like criminals.

Well, to tell the truth, I was late a few payments on my car. They hire a repo company who comes into my private garage (ILLEGALLY~!!) and take my car. It's my fault for the payments, so I get what I deserve, but when I tell Toyota's representatives that the third party they hired are acting illegally, they say they don't care what the third party does, as long as I get the point.

Then comes another instance when I DID mail in the payments on time, But they call me WAY TOO MUCH asking if payment has been made. I ask them to stop making these calls and they say that it's in their authority to do whatever they want.

I think there's some shady people in that business... No wonder the world is full of angry mobs. We can't stop evil with evil. If they THINK that they are in a "power" position, boy, do they take advantage of it. I just needed to ramble on.

HOUSTON, TEXAS -- I am a person who believes in good maintenance on my vehicles and was a loyal purchaser of Toyota. Recently after purchasing my vehicle, I begin to feel some hesitation and I took it in to see if they could find out what it was. I specifically told them that I wanted them to check out my transmission because of the hesitation. I was told by "Mike Calvert" technicians that it was a waste of time to check because the truck was over a year old. At this time I also wanted them to check the upholstery because of it coming loose and I was told that I would have to bring it in on another day because it was too busy.

Now I realize Saturdays are busy days and there is a reason why because everyone is off. Each time I have taken my car to be serviced, I have requested them to check my transmission and apparently they just put they have checked the transmission, but without doing it. Now my warranty has expired!!! Now I am having problems with the transmission and other thing I have told them about is rearing its ugly head. I do not know if the corporate office is informed or they are turning their heads to the different complaints.

Most dealerships service departments are a disgrace and a sham, they only do part of the work and leave the rest for the consumers to foot the bill. Now I have to dole out money to have my transmission diagnosed and maybe repaired. This could have been prevented if the technicians would have listened in the beginning. I really believe because I was a woman they felt I was being paranoid, but little do they know I was a participator in fixing some cars and finding out about the particulars of when I may be having a problem with my car.

After this fiasco with my Toyota, I do believe I will purchase an American made car and probably get a better deal of not being taken. Also I have not seen where on any website where Toyota is a major contributor to any American cause on this website and for that I am asking to consider strongly about the next car you purchase (maybe a company that supports our causes).

I spent more to purchase a new Toyota 4x4 pickup believing Toyota's claims of excellent reliability and support. Unfortunately, the vehicle I purchased used the notorious 3.0L V-6 engine that Toyota initiated a voluntary recall on for replacement of head gaskets. My gaskets were replaced at no cost to my initial delight. However, I was not forewarned that the underlying design defect was unresolved and that this problem would reoccur in the future.

Consequently, I was totally surprised when I noted antifreeze under my vehicle the other day and was informed by the dealer that my head gaskets had blown and the truck's heads needed repair. Follow-up contact with Toyota was extremely disappointing. They indicated that their previous voluntary action was a once only offer and that the "campaign" was now over with respect to Toyota replacing head gaskets at their expense.

Accordingly, I am now faced with a $2000 bill that I must pay for a recurrent problem arising from the original design defect. Further, had I been warned at the time of the original repair that this problem would reoccur rather than the problem having been fixed; I could have undertaken preventative measures to limit my exposure here.

The moral of the story is not to trust Toyota with respect to their claims of extra reliability and quality support. Their support is only there when it's expedient to them and not to their customer. Toyota is clearly not in the business of long term Customer care even when subsequent problems are the result of design defects they themselves acknowledge. Accordingly, for breaking faith with me in this regard, I will obviously not be purchasing a new vehicle from Toyota based upon their false claims of outstanding reliability and exceptional support.

BURLINGTON, VERMONT -- Anyone seen an exploding 4Runner moonroof? We bought a new 2003 4Runner last summer. In December I was driving home from work (in Vermont). It was ~33 degrees and had been raining all day. I was driving along at 45 mph with the heat on high and suddenly there was an enormous compression throughout the interior. I looked up and the moonroof safety glass was completely shattered (yet still in one piece).

We took it to the dealer (Heritage Toyota, Burlington VT) and they accused my wife of pushing the glass up from the inside with a blunt instrument. We called Toyota and they accused my wife of lying again and suggested that may be I was lying to her. My wife expressed concern for our kids and the guy said the entire vehicle is safety hazard ("The wheels could fall off mam") and told us the next step was to get an attorney and sue them.

I have a friend who works for Toyota and he said that there have been a few incidents of this in recent months throughout New England. Anyone have a similar story? I can see two on the Volvo site (and Volvo honored their warranty!). Just a side note (I need to vent) - I've been a loyal Toyota customer for 20+ years now. The service was just received, both from our local dealer and the corporation is UNBELIEVABLE and I cannot see myself ever buying another one again.

The latest Toyota commercials with the kid talking about lame parents and having a vehicle not up to his standards sends a truly negative message. The message it sends is that kids should be ashamed of their parents' cars and embarrassed to be seen in anything other that the top of the line new car. Wake up call, not EVERYONE is in a financial situation that allows them to purchase new cars especially in today's economy. Your commercial appears to target kids and suggests to them that they should be ashamed and embarrassed of their situations. Really, Really tasteless shallow bit of advertising.

ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA -- I purchased a new 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid this summer. The sticker says "satellite radio ready" which I would think means "subscribe" for the standard fee. When I questioned the salesperson, he said that you needed to purchase some additional equipment - he thought about $300. I purchased the vehicle and thought after a couple of weeks I would have the XM satellite radio installed. I checked with two dealers - one said $795 - the other said $695! I asked if they had to replace the radio!! I finally decided to have it done through a dealer friend for $545.

I picked the vehicle up and noted a small black antenna inside the rear window glued on the ledge. I questioned this type of antenna (which looks like the one that comes with the standard $39 XM receiver). I was told that Toyota U.S.A. sent this as the "factory installed" type of antenna! I questioned Toyota - received an incident number in July - it is now almost December; no response. The radio did not work very well - cut in and out by trees, etc. My dealer finally found an antenna and mounted it on the trunk (painted gray to match my auto.) Still no response from Toyota! I question their advertising and most important, their lack of customer service from the Corporate Office.

I have a 2001 4runner. In June 2012 it began to hesitate upon acceleration. It would bog down then accelerate like there was an invisible turbo. Also a severe highway shake. I took it to the dealer North Hills Toyota pgh pa, paid 120.00 for diagnosis. They told me my emergency brake was probably hung up causing the hesitation and shake. They wanted 100.00 per side plus labor to replace the bell cranks. I opted to have them rebuilt because it's a common but cheap fix. Free to be exact. So needless to say the hesitation/ shake is still there. Took it back and left it for 5 days.

Finally they said I had a broken belt in rear tire. Bought a brand new tire mounted and balanced all four tires. 85.00. and they finally diagnosed the hesitation, said it was the TPS. Throttle Position Sensor. OK fine. Problem is that you can't just get the sensor you need whole throttle body. So I bought the brand new Toyota throttle body. 850.00 dollars. Guess what? NO FIX.. Exactly the same.. So called them back and now there is nothing they can do. Spoke to a technician supervisor who told me it's time to buy a new car. Very funny, NOT!! So now I am out over 1300.00.