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andrewbm228

Toyota Reading Jemca..... COMPLAINT

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Hi Guys,

 

I know i don not comment on this forum nearly enough but i would just like to give you guys a run down on my experience with the Toyota Dealership in Reading.

 

I took the car in Monday afternoon for the Tuesday service (I pass on my way home from work) No courtesy car was available, No big issue as I only live one station away from my office. Now I travel a lot for work and have only done 1,700 miles in the last 7 months so was only doing a very basic service as it had come up to its 30k service mark.

 

Tuesday Midday roles around i get a call saying the service and warranty work was complete(both window runners replaced due to surface rust).... Great everything sounds good, I got the usual your breaks are 80% worn and front disks are lipped and they can change them for a whopping £700, Since the car does not drive a huge amount I said no as i am planning on buying better disks and pads for the car. 

 

Paid the £200 for the service (Oil Filter, Oil, Air Filter is pretty much all they did) Picked car up Tuesday afternoon drove home, Then all went downhill...... Very Downhill.....

 

This morning i jump in the car, drive to the Train Station to pick Colleague up. Upon waiting for his train to arrive i go through the Invoice etc and pull the Log Book to check its been stamped....... Well what do you know no stamp, Ok no big deal i have the invoice and can pop it to get the book stamped. Today i had a business meeting in Wantage 34 miles each way, on my way home from Wantage about mid way my front right tire starts making this really weird knocking noise and the steering went all funny. I called Toyota to find out if i can bring the car right away due to the noise doesnt sound very safe. I was denied the option to do this due to the Mechanics leaving at 5pm, So i continued on home with the noise getting progressively worse. When i arrived home i pulled into my garage to use the handheld LED light to see if there is anything visible going on.

 

I have attached a picture with what i found....... Literally all the wheel nuts i unscrewed by hand!!!!! 

 

Just would like some advice on what options i have, has anyone else received this sort of experience?! the whole place felt very amateur and unprofessional (like they just dont care) Yes i understand its not a Ferrari or Lambo.

 

RANT OVER, Thanks for reading.

 

Andrew 

     

 

 

IMG_2382.JPG

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Well first of all, log books don't need to be stamped as Toyota have a record on their system (If it's any consolation I haven't had mine stamped for any of mine yet even if they haven't been done at Toyota because I keep forgetting to take it with me haha. 

Also you're meant to tighten your wheels after some miles if they have been off anyway, though if one is missing now? Sounds like they missed one, though I had a similar noise after putting my wheels back on and I could literally undo them with my hands but after tightening them they were fine.

 

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@rob275 You are telling me less than 12 hours after a service i should be checking my wheel nuts?? Its not like i just did the nurburgring. 

I would expect a higher quality of service from a dealership sorry.... 

@Nicebiscuit I have sent them an email and will follow up with a call tomorrow, there overall service has been pretty poor TBH.

 

 

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Considering you're meant to tighten them 50 miles later and your journey was 34 miles and the issue occurred midway on the way back yeah, perhaps you should have. I'm not saying they have tightened them correctly or not though. Only you can tell that, your best course of action is to speak to them.

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As above, check your wheel nuts ASAP after any mechanical work being carried out. It's one of the reasons I carry my breaker bar in my car at all times

Wheel nuts can come undone very easily, and yes it's more than likely that they just whizzed them on with the gun and forgot to tighten with a torque bar, but it's your responsibility to check in my opinion. I've learned the hard way when I was test fitting wheels on a car years ago, thought I'd done everything back up and had the wheel fall off on my just a mile down the road

Whenever the wheels are taken off, check them yourself ASAP

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This is unacceptable. What if this have been and old woman in a Yaris? Is it expected she carried a torque wrench with her just in case? You pay silly money at dealers because you expect good service. I understand service departments are under pressure to get work done but this is an amateur mistake. I'd take a video and give them hell for it

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1 hour ago, daidaiiro said:

Pretty much every invoice I've had for tyres has a standard disclaimer that wheel nuts must  be checked after 50 miles or so.

Not excusing OP's issue, just sayin'. ;)

This. Every single garage I've ever been to has this disclaimer clearly posted somewhere

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As above, they only say to check to cover themselves if something goes wrong. They can just turn around and say "Well, we did warn you".

They certainly do not put that warning up as they expect wheel nuts to fall off left right and centre. That's clear negligence on the part of the dealer, however, because they issue that warning, you may not have a leg to stand on.

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I can't agree with some of the comments on here. Whilst I've been instructed by tyre fitters to return after 50 miles for retorquing (and it needs to be retorquing - a tyre brace doesn't cut it) I've never been asked by a dealer to do so.

The average motorist doesn't possess a torque wrench anyway. Plus the standard 'fifty miles' advice presumably gives some margin - I.e the wheel might need retorquing so that it doesn't loosen over the next x thousand miles, not that it'll be dangerously loose like the OPs at that point.

This is a safety issue. That wheel clearly wasn't secured at all and if there'd been an accident they should have been looking at charges for criminal negligence.

Depending on their response to the OP when he complains (mistakes happen, even serious ones and they may hold their hands up and respond accordingly) I wouldn't consider using this workshop.

I've had garages get things wrong, but the good ones agree with the customer and put it right. If they go the extra mile with the OP, it'll show that this is an unusual slip in standards, if they fob him off then it indicates they probably don't care

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Just had a call from Toyota. I will say there response was quick and efficient, After ensuring i was ok and not in A&E they have ordered a replacement wheel nut and held there hand up as this is part of there Quality Control.

 

The Technician said he didnt remove any wheels during this service, I think that is untrue but there is no hard proof of this.

 

 

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1 hour ago, andrewbm228 said:

Just had a call from Toyota. I will say there response was quick and efficient, After ensuring i was ok and not in A&E they have ordered a replacement wheel nut and held there hand up as this is part of there Quality Control.

 

The Technician said he didnt remove any wheels during this service, I think that is untrue but there is no hard proof of this.

 

 

Surely you should check wheel nut tightness on any service?

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1 hour ago, andrewbm228 said:

The Technician said he didnt remove any wheels during this service, I think that is untrue but there is no hard proof of this.

 

 

And yet they had assessed the quality of the brakes? I've never seen them do this without removing the wheel. How would they?

 

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3 minutes ago, Twigman said:

And yet they had assessed the quality of the brakes? I've never seen them do this without removing the wheel. How would they?

 

They have a camera now that they put in the inspection plate but I personally think they did take the front right wheel to inspect the actually disk, how would the know if it needs changing without looking at the whole disk.

 

Just wanted to give you guys an update and the response from the dealership 

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There's a viewing window where I have mine serviced. I always have it done while I wait. I watch.

Every time they've taken all the wheels off, at every service.

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This reminds me of an event from my past.

 

Many years ago, during a period of living at my parents' house near Watford, I owned a Triumph Spitfire.I was working in Milton Keynes and commuted up the M1 from J5 every morning. One evening my Dad came home, walked in and told me that he wasn't happy with the condition of one of my tyres on my car and that I should rotate the tyres and get the one he didn't like changed. I told him I'd get it sorted that weekend. He flew off on one and insisted I do it 'now'.....I dug my heels in and insisted I'd sort it at the weekend.

He went off in a strop and took it upon himself to do it himself. He swapped the 'dodgy' wheel for the spare and swapped the front and rear axles.

 

Next morning was a glorious sunny morning. I set off for work in MK with the roof down. Everything was fine until I overtook a lorry on the M1 at about 70 and heard bang bang bang from the front left corner, then I saw my front left wheel rolling away from me and the front left corner smashed down on the ground and the car tried to turn left. I watched the wheel roll along the road and bounce over the barrier and off into the countryside. I was in the middle lane, having just overtaken a truck! the car swerved to the left and very luckily I brought it to a stop on the hard shoulder before hitting the barrier. The truck i'd just overtalken pulled in infront of me. The driver got out. He was a bit shaken up as I had obviously swerved in front of him. He told me he'd just been thinking how what a wonderful day it was to have a little convertible sports car like mine when the wheel had come off! We both went looking for the rogue wheel. It was stuck in a tree down the embankment!

On inspecting the front left corner the brake disc had worn down all the way to the bottom trunnion in just the couple of hundred yards it had been gouging the tarmac! So the brake and suspension were both fucked.

 

The police turned up, as they tend to do if you're stuck on the hard shoulder.

They went round my car with a wheel brace and managed to turn every wheel nut by at least 1/2 turn!

My Dad did feel a bit guilty and sorted me new front suspension and brakes as his pennance.

 

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I tend to go around myself now every time the car's been out of my hands and take a quick look at everything. After the last time I was at a dealer they left my brake fluid cap off they were extremely apologetic and recycled the whole system then and there, but that was a lesson for me and and even when I get my car back from Fensport etc I make sure to do a quick inspection just in case. People are human and dealership mechanics especially aren't the best paid, the car is my baby and I take some responsibility for making sure she's ok.

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You're a forgiving lot. I think it's admirable that you take responsibility for your own cars, but we're paying through the nose for dealership (and indeed specialist service). Which is fine if you get what you pay for. This isn't the guy down the arches who'll service it for a tenner...

Anyway there are conscientious dealers around, and not so good. Takes a while to figure out which.

At least these guys took some responsibility in the end (kind of). I'd still look for another dealer though. I've been lied to by main dealers too. They only get to do it the once...

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13 hours ago, andrewbm228 said:

Just had a call from Toyota. I will say there response was quick and efficient, After ensuring i was ok and not in A&E they have ordered a replacement wheel nut and held there hand up as this is part of there Quality Control.

 

The Technician said he didnt remove any wheels during this service, I think that is untrue but there is no hard proof of this.

 

 

If that wheel has been driven loose it needs inspecting for any damage, eg elongation to  the stud holes and the hub studs. Not just torque it up with a new nut. 

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I agree that the wheel stud holes etc should be checked. I had the same thing happen on my GT4, banging when turning left, 2 nuts almost off and others so loose I could turn a couple of times! Other side were also loose but not as bad. Just had work done by garage, wheels put back on by trainees. I was advised to check wheel holes for elongation and luckily OK. I have always been advised when having tyres changed to check wheel nuts no later than 30 miles.

My car was brought from Jemca Reading and I had the experience of 'Thanks for your money, goodbye'.

When I got home I realised I hadn't got the Supagard pack. I rang and they put it in the post, I received 6 sachets of shampoo some bird muck remover (small can) and another small item. My local dealer has told me that I should have got a holdall with loads of stuff like sponge, chamois, wheel cleaner etc like the Guardex pack my son got with his Polo.

I emailed twice and have never received a reply even to say NO you don't get anything else!

I am happy with my local dealer, Beadles Medway but would not entertain using (Jemca Reading).

 

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It wouldn't be a car forum without people finding franchise garages to be grossly negligent as well as expensive.

Missing dipsticks, wrong oil filter, just not changing the things they've billed you for, replacing parts before they're due, charging £100 to plug in an OBD reader, but I haven't seen wobbly wheels until now!

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On 8/28/2016 at 8:16 PM, The Minion said:

I agree that the wheel stud holes etc should be checked. I had the same thing happen on my GT4, banging when turning left, 2 nuts almost off and others so loose I could turn a couple of times! Other side were also loose but not as bad. Just had work done by garage, wheels put back on by trainees. I was advised to check wheel holes for elongation and luckily OK. I have always been advised when having tyres changed to check wheel nuts no later than 30 miles.

My car was brought from Jemca Reading and I had the experience of 'Thanks for your money, goodbye'.

When I got home I realised I hadn't got the Supagard pack. I rang and they put it in the post, I received 6 sachets of shampoo some bird muck remover (small can) and another small item. My local dealer has told me that I should have got a holdall with loads of stuff like sponge, chamois, wheel cleaner etc like the Guardex pack my son got with his Polo.

I emailed twice and have never received a reply even to say NO you don't get anything else!

I am happy with my local dealer, Beadles Medway but would not entertain using (Jemca Reading).

 

I have sent complaints up to the top, no idea if they will care but i was back there again yesterday. They replaced the window runners due to the common rust and didnt put a screw cap cover back on, just really shabby work in my eyes. (I think they pulled one off the show model to replace mine!) With all that said i will never go back to them even if its under warranty, I will find an alternative Toyota Dealer.

 

 

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