Toyota
Reviews and Complaints

Approximately one month ago I went to Toyota Collision Center of Escondido located at 559 South Pine Street Escondido, CA 92025, they needed to fix small bump on my almost new Toyota Camry. Insurance agreed on the price and Toyota agreed to repair it, so I got quick estimate that job will be done in between one and two weeks (verbally and in writing). That was acceptable especially with low rate car rental that Toyota had at that time. Six days later I decided to call them to see if I may be lucky with only one week of waiting. On my huge surprise assistant told me that they did not even start working on my car and the reason was that... apparently they were unable to contact anyone at my insurance company (21 Century). I called insurance company immediately, and representative told me that no one ever called and he offer to transfer repair check immediately wherever I like to... and it did happen that way. That all telling me that no one for real contacted anyone, or if they did it was not completely and professionally finished business, Toyota people was lying.

Another proof is, why they did not call me telling me that something was going on”. Looks like Toyota office people including manager is more concerned about playing PC games and browsing web, at list that what I saw in few short visits to the office. After sending one complain email and talking to manager I sensed just a another bureaucrat, who likes to iron everything up by being “politically correct” also he kind of “complained” to me that my complain email went to his manager (?) and he arrogantly agree that he is still going to fix my car making the situation psychologically, on how good guy he was and how bad I am, not to mention that he arrogantly added “we still need to order parts for your car which will take another few days” Interesting how some people just disrespect your money, and they turn everything in to the big favor they giving to you, there were nothing about me paying for something that Toyota was excepted to do, it was more like Toyota is giving me the biggest favor ever. Stupidity arrogance and some misrepresentation of corporate power and big company name beside were unacceptable. NO ONE HAVE RIGHT TO HOLD MY CAR FOR 10 DAYS, THEN DO NOTHING AND MAKE ME TO PAY CAR RENTAL FOR ITS OWN STUPIDITY AND LAZINESS. Considering that manager was totally out of reality with extremely low IQ to reason on the same level, I complained several times by email and left voice mails to general manager. No one ever responded, then I complained to BBB San Diego case # [protected]. Toyota finally responded with again very arrogant and unprofessional statement. Beside regular story they also added, that I did not have an appointment (you see how guilty I am) I just walked in? Then as they claim, specific person in 21st century never responded (to the royalty of Toyota), also they stated that I am not welcome any more in Toyota Collision Center / Escondido, It appears to me that they do not like foreigners who have brains to think and process basic information, typically and generally we foreigners should be stupid and let Toyota management manipulate us in any way, NOT THIS TIME TOYOTA. Let me ask you something... Does anyone think that I will go back to them to give me another TOYOTA favor? Hopefully this complains will help honest working people to make proper decision about where to repair they car. I was not intimidated by Toyota management and I won my case, they pay for my car rental, at list part of it... NEVER AGAIN TOYOTA COLLISION CENTER OF ESCONDIDO.

I fought for Toyota to pay my car rental, the damages are more moral, Toyota Collision Center of Escondido having a prejudicial problem, of not being able to accept that "dumb" foreigner arguing for its rights, so looks like I hurt someone’s fillings...

Toyota is really taking its customers in the middle east for a ride. It produces a single owner's manual for all its Models. So Toyota Prado of all shades and sizes will all be described in the similar manual and if the owner does not understand it he will have to keep guessing which features are available in the car or not available.

Toyota is selling its 6 Cylinder Prado in the middle east for $ 36000 without Any stability or traction control. Most of the dealers in the middle east are staffed by under trained staff or deliberately fudge on features or safety elements.

Even after setting one back by $36K, the car comes with only 2 airbags and poor brakes. All the features of the car available to customers in Europe and Australia are not available to customers in the middle east. All you see is dozens of closed buttons with no use (reserved for features which were not given to customer's in the middle east).

Any car from the competition is available at 75% of the price of Toyota is Curtain Airbags and Stability and Traction control Programs. Toyota is truly fleecing its customers with a VERY HIGH PRICE AND VERY POOR PRODUCTS AND SPECIFICATIONS.

Since the awareness about cars and independent test rides and critiques are few and far between, Toyota is profiting at the cost and life of the customers in the middle east.

Kent Brown Toyota
951 County Route 64
Elmira, NY 14903
[protected]
REGIONAL TOYOTA HEADQUARTERS

I purchased by 1st Toyota from Kent Brown in 1999 and had all my service done there. Last year I was looking for a newer car and was unable to find another car with the mileage that I wanted at Kent Brown, so I began to look at other dealerships. I found a car at another dealership.

I called yesterday for an appointment to get the oil changed and got an appointment for 3:00 o'clock on Aug 4, 2007. When I got there and waited for them to take all the information off from my car and they saw that I had bought it at another dealership they refused to service my car even though I had an appointment.

I was a good customer for seven years keeping all the maintenance up on my car when ever it needed and was required. My understanding that when you buy a car, you should be able to get it serviced at any Toyota dealership.

The dealership is the closest one to my home which is 50 miles away.

Joan Hart

Toyota dealership in Qatar is a living shame. It is in complete contradiction to anything Toyota Stands for and claims in its adverting. Here is my letter to the General Mangaer of its dealership in Qatar.

Vehicle: Toyota Fortuner 2006 GX
Reference: Car Reg. No: Number Withheld
Job Card No: Number Withheld
File No: Number Witheld.

My car had a minor accident in the month of May. On 3rd of June I presented the Insurance file No and all the police Papers to the Body Shop workshop. Prima facie I was told come after a month. I went to the incharge Mr. Mohd Ameen and request for an early date. As a favor I was asked to come back on 19th June. Since then the car is in the body shop.

Every third day the service advisor Mr. Badran promises me the car will be delivered in 2 more days. Call me after 2 days etc etc. Finally even the mobile phone No. 5573992 is usually picked after 10 rings in half an hour.

Now after 10 days I am told today that it will be delivered next week. I requested Mr. Ameen to help me in this. He (as a habit of AAB) as asked me to call back after one hour. After 5 rings today he has not picked up the phone.

I want to get my vehicle. I am frustrated with the ownership experience of toyota. Note that i have come here from uae and al-futtaim has exemplary service. I would even hesitate a comparision.

Carson City Toyota
3659 South Carson St.
Carson City, NV 89701
Phone [protected]
Fax: [protected]
info AT carsoncitytoyota.com

We visited Carson City Toyota to buy a SUV. The dealer did not have the color and model we wanted and the dealer told us that they would get us one in three weeks plus. We signed a purchase order on 06/05. The dealer wanted us to put a $ 1000 deposit as good faith. The sales person told us that they are going to hold the check and will not be cashed until they get us the car.

The check was cashed on 06/08/07 and my finances were messed up. I called the dealer on 6/8/07 and asked him to refund the money. He promised to mail me a check back as soon as the check clears the dealer account. I called him again on 06/11/07 and the dealer told me that I should have a check by Friday 06/15/07. I also told him that we are not buying the car from his dealership because he lied to us.

On 06/12 I get a call from the manager telling me that the car will be in his dealership on 06/15/07 and that I should pick up the car with the check. I told him that we are not buying the car from him anymore. He kept on calling me everyday. Finally I faxed him a letter telling him that we are not going to buy the car from him and that he should refund the money to us.

Re: Huntington Toyota

I own a 2000 Toyota Avalon XLS with a mileage of 68,000. I am writing this letter to express my dissatisfaction and frustration regarding the service I received at Huntington Toyota (formally Steven Imports, Inc.). This dealership is located at 1720 Jericho Turnpike, Huntington, NY 11743, tel. [protected].

On December 7th 2006 I had my remote control for key less entry re-programmed and a new key made at this dealership. In less then one months time both my old and new remote controls are non-operational. This prompted me to again have both my remote controls reprogrammed on January 2nd 2007. Yet again, in less then 2 months time they stopped working. On June 12th 2007 I brought this issue to the Huntington Toyota dealership. I was informed by the Assistant Service Manager that the keyless entry computer is now defective. I was further informed that this computer is not under warranty and that I would have to pay the replacement cost of $813.58 + tax out of my own pocket (for comparison desktop computer cost is now about $600.00).

The sequence of events is clear, both of my remote controls stopped working only after the old one and the new one had been reprogrammed by a Toyota dealership. It would appear that the work has not been done right. I brought this to the attention of Assistant Service Manager, Mr. Chris Garzone, and asked him if he could assist me in resolving this issue. His response was to inform me that he was not going to “bend over” and eat that amount of money! I was shocked by his response and amazed by the lack of customer service that this dealership has! It is obvious that they really do not care about customer satisfaction (though this is their slogan) and are willing to lose a long time customer, neglecting the profit he brings to the dealership. I rank Toyota vehicles as the best cars in the world and had hoped their customer service would be the same. This is why I am extremely disappointed with this dealership and believe it has tarnished Toyota’s reputation.

I am asking for your assistance in resolving of this issue.

Thank you very much for your understanding,
Mark.

I had a 2001 Toyota Echo that had a bad power steering motor that was going bad. My car was still under warranty, so I took it to Alderman's Toyota in Rutland Vermont to have the motor replaced.

Well, the customer service person was trying to make things difficult for me b/c I did not purchase my car from Alderman's but the warranty was good to do business with "any" Toyota dealership - so after an hour they finally started work on my Echo.

After 2.5 hours later - my car was done, by then my Partner came back from Shear's Honda (which is next door) and found a great deal on a CRV. I said great lets get rid of the Echo, b/c I didn't want to do business with this Toyota dealership in the future, and I wanted a bigger car.

2 weeks go by, and I get a phone call from Alderman's Toyota stating that my part was in. My mouth dropped. Either the customer service person did not replace the part, and just told me a bold face lie and said he replaced my part, or that he had to order another part which he neglected to tell me when I drove the car off the lot.

I told the CSR rep at Alderman's Toyota in Rutland Vermont that I had traded the car off 2 weeks ago, and no longer interested in doing business with them again.

People of Rutland or Vermont, beware of Alderman's Toyota!

I purchased two new vehicles from Atlantic Toyota in Amityville New York and both vehicles had major problems. The Camry's motor seized after 59,000 miles. The cost to repair this was $4,800 which I had to pay. The Sequoia had a broken transmission after 1 week due to bad electronic parts. The dealer fixed this but I was without my new vehicle for 28 days. I recommend that buyers stay away from this dealer.

I have an 2002 Prius. Since we have owned the car we have had a multitude of problems. Those problems include:

1) Car has gone through 12 tires in under 90,000 miles. No matter what is adjusted on the car, it eats the tires. This has included one blow out.

2) Grounding bracket broke lose and had to have it serviced. Was covered by warranty.
The following repairs were all made between 60,000 and 90,000 miles.

3) In less than 500 miles after my $300+ 60,000 mile service my fuel pump went out. It took a week to get it back and I had to rent a car since we did not have another. Within 2 days of getting the car back it went out again and had to be replaced. Another long wait and car rental.

4)Between 60,000 and 70,000 miles, there were multiple problems with the fuel pump, various related parts and the fuel injectors. I was told the injectors could not be cleaned on a Prius, only replaced. It cost over $600. Corporate Toyota later informed me that the injectors could be cleaned. Other have said they cannot be. It seems Toyota does not know its own vehicles.

5) Steering failed while driving down the interstate. Without warning, it became nearly impossible to steer. I have been tracking the steering problems with the Prius. My Prius has had the exact same problem as the others yet Toyota says they corrected the problem before mine was manufactured. I even reported the problem to several dealerships before it went out because it would shake and vibrate, lock up and jerk to the right. This was mainly happening when you first started the car. Toyota could never find the problem. I had to pay $2,200 to fix the problem. The dealership I brought the car to, Beaman toyota, was of no help. The only reason I brought the car to them was because the car broke down next to them.
Corporate Toyota looks for the local dealership to vouch for the customers, in other words, to see if you have come in regularly, are a loyal customer etc... Since I had never been there before, they did not vouch for me. I sent corporate Toyota a 30+ page fax of all my service receipts from the different dealerships I have been to. We have moved several times so we have had several dealerships. When we find a good one, we stick with them and we're loyal. we have had all our maintenance done, even oil changes at Toyota. It counted for nothing. Loyalty to Toyota is meaningless. They know that they can replace you with another customer at the drop off a hat.

The vehicle was bought to be reliable. Between 60,000 and 90,000 miles alone, the car has required nearly $5,000 in repairs, maintenance and tires. It has financially strained our family. One of the representatives from Toyota, Haven, agreed that our car did not represent what they consider Toyota quality, yet they will do nothing about it.

Over the course of ownership, I have dealt with Toyota financing, corporate Toyota and multiple dealerships. I can say they are all lacking.

We initially went with a sale on e-bay for a Prius 2001 with high mileage for a good price at Montrose Toyota in Akron, OH.

We should have gone with our regular dealer Motorcars Toyota on the Heights because they are ethical whereas Montrose is not ethical and treats women like dirt!

They sold my husband and I a vehicle that was not road worthy, had over $2,000 of damage to the fuel/hybrid system. I was stuck in the car coming from work and eventually they had to tow the vehicle back to Akron since we live in Cleveland, OH.

This was compounded by the fact that the car was never detailed, was just sprayed, and we did not view this as we picked it up at night in the dark. (We previously inspected it during the daylight on a Saturday and test drove it. The only item we could see was that it needed detailed which they promised.) I had three asthma attacks while driving in the car over 48 hours. We contacted the dealer within the first 24 hours and only got the run around at first.

Upon returning to the dealership within five days of signing on the used vehicle in order to decide upon a new vehicle to settle the deal, they treated me like a non-person. The owner neither acknowledged my presence or apologized for anything that happened, and he basically treated me as a woman would be treated over in a foreign country, a non-entity.

If I lived in Akron, I would drive 100 miles out of my way so as not to go to this dealership! Women are living in a century where women are to be treated as equals not as dirt!

We purchased a Tundra double cab pick up and had a vehicle picked out that the salesman said had all the options we wanted except the navigation system. The vehicle was to be delivered from another dealer as it was a fully loaded with almost all options. After agreeing to a price in writing via email (and we still have copies of all) we made an appointment to drive the 75 miles to purchase the truck. After several hours of paperwork the salesman tells us the truck to be delivered has several thousand miles on it (he knew that before we went there as he hadn't called anyone after we arrived) and that he would sell us a truck off the lot of the same color and put all the options the other truck had on it except the nav system as the truck on the lot was a 4x4 not a 4x2 we asked for and the diff would be a wash between 4x4 and nav. After we did all the paperwork and the finance guy kept "making mistakes" and having to redo the paperwork over and over again we finished the pile of papers and went home. After looking over everything again we realized they had changed the price of the vehicle and then they wanted to deny ever saying they would put the options on the truck but why would we pay 40k for a truck with no options when we could buy a fully loaded one for the same price? We are so mad at the way we were RIPPED OFF by these people it makes us steaming mad! DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM WILMINGTON TOYOTA OF NORTH CAROLINA. We have filed a lawsuit in with the courts there and are waiting to hear back from them on a date to go to trial over it and can't wait to show the judge the book of evidence we have to prove it. I will go sit in front of the dealership also with signs of on the truck saying how we were ripped off also and I am permanently disabled and they took advantage of me and my family in a bad time of our life. If you have had similar exp with these people let us know. Thanks.

I would like to share my experience Sloane Toyota of Devon dealership that began on Friday, January 12, 2007 and Saturday, January 13, 2007.

I placed a call on Friday and spoke with Mark Miller asking him about a 2006 Sequoia.

Mark advised that he had a long standing customer coming in that morning to upgrade his 2005 Limited Sequoia to a 2007 Sequoia. I asked him how much they would be asking wherein he advised $38,000.00. He went on to describe the vehicle which was exactly what I was looking for. Mark stated that if I gave a deposit of $100.00 he could hold the vehicle for 24 hours where no other sales person could I sell the vehicle until I got there. I asked him to call me once the vehicle was there. Around 11:30 that afternoon wherein Mark stated that the truck was now theirs and I could come in and look at it. My fiance, Brett, and I arrived there at approximately 12:15 to view the vehicle. At that time we placed the $100.00 deposit with the understanding that we would be back on Saturday morning to work out the numbers. We received a receipt for the deposit and verified that the deposit was left on their system for the 2005 Limited Sequoia as promised.

Saturday morning at 9:48 I received a call from Mark asking if we were coming in to work out the numbers for the vehicle. I confirmed that we were leaving our home within the half hour. When we arrived Mark took our trade in vehicle to be appraised for a trade in value. Mark came back to the table with a different amount for the truck $38,336.00 (approx.) and $1700.00 for a trade in value. Brett countered with the $38,000.00 amount which was originally told to me and $2,000.00 for the trade in. Mark agreed however we wanted to test drive prior to signing on the agreed amount. After the test drive Brett signed the agreement and Mark left to get the remaining paperwork started.

Brett completed the loan information and gave a check for the remaining deposit. Approximately 15 minutes later Mark comes back with Chris the sales manager wherein Chris advised that he was very sorry however he was in the process of selling the same vehicle to another customer whom they had a long standing relationship with. He wanted to offer us a 2007 Sequoia however obviously there was going to be a significant price difference. I explained to him what we were told about the truck not being sold to anyone else since we had placed a deposit which was to hold the vehicle for us. Chris then went to talk with the other customers only to come back 10 minutes later to advise that he was refusing to sell us the 2005 vehicle. He told us that he understood if we told him to pound sand but because this other customer was a long standing customer he was selling to them and not us. This is outright DISCRIMINATION! By Toyota accepting our deposit for the 2005 vehicle they in effect created a contract per their own policy which they then later violated.

I would like to express the pain me and my wife went through over our first used Toyota from this dealership.
I was may of 2004 when we stop at tri county Toyota and purchased a certified used 2000 Toyota Camry with 47XXX miles on it. We also bought and extended warrant. After two days of purchase my wife noticed that the check engine light was on, we contact tri county and the response was we did not close the gas cap properly, at that time we had not even drove 40 miles and never fill gas yet. They reset the computer and three weeks later the same thing happened again ,I took the car back at this time they told me that the pollution sensor was bad and they replaced it at no cost. The car run and we noticed that a funny noise is coming from the engine. April 2005 during state inspection and emission the found out that there was a part of exist system that need to be replaced and the cost was over $1000. Fortunately this was covered by federal requirement that manufacturer should guarantee the performance for up to 80000 miles. Few months after the inspection, the check light engine came back and we returned the car back to try county.They did not find any problem and reset the computer.Two days later the light came on again, we returned the car back and pay diagnostic fee to find what was wrong, they told us that the EGR valve was bad and will cost about $400 to fix. Few weeks later we took the car back and fix the EGR valve.Two days later the light was on again we took it back and could not find what was wrong.We took to coniceli Toyota for diagnostic and they also could not find what was wrong other that to come up with some other maintenance things that were not on the part of problem.My wife endure the pain to drive the car without knowing what was wrong until April of 2006 when a local mechanic found out that the EGR switch was the problem and we did not need to change EGR valve in the first place.

This is what I want to alert current customers and new ones that be extra careful with the dealership because their service is not trust worth.

I purchased a 2003 Toyota Corolla from Atlantic Toyota in Amityville New York. In the three years that I have had the car the rubber window guard has been replaced twice because it becomes loose and comes down with the window. The first two times were covered under my warranty. The third time I was told by Atlantic Toyota that the last time it was replaced was one year and two months ago and if it was under one year they could have replaced it for free under the warranty but I was two months over the warranty. They said they would give me a break and only charge me $185.00. (what a break!).
The assistant service manager Jayme was extremely rude when I tried to say that I thought it was a strange repair to happen so often perhaps it was a manufacturers defect she kept interrupting me and wouldn't even let me finish a sentence. She definitely needs to learn some customer service and people skills if she's going to speak to customers that way!

I replied that there must be some manufacturers defect as I had been driving for thirty years and had never had to replace this window guard on any of my cars let alone three times in three years on one car!

The dealership referred me to customer care service. The service rep I spoke with was very sympathetic and thought that it was very odd that the same part would need to be replaced three times in three years. He felt that it warranted being turned over to a case manager. He referred my case to one. Sandy called me back and said that she was sorry but it was over the warranty time and there was nothing they could do.

I have bought Toyota cars for many years but after this poor service this will be my last!
Ms. M

I had a 60K tuneup on my 2003 Toyota Prius on 7/13/06. When I returned in the late afternoon to pick up the car I was given the keys and told to have a nice day. I was ready to drive off when I noticed a 16"crack in my windshield which had not been there when I dropped the car off that morning.

When I brought this to the Service Mgrs attention he pointed out a tiny, almost imperceptible little nick at the edge of the windshield and said when they gave me my"complimentary car wash" it must have caused the crack. However, Toyota was liable for nothing. He mentioned that it was just a very hot day (114 degrees) so those things happen. My question was since they are Toyota of the DESERT, they should know you don't spray water on a hot windshield...

Now I'm out $250 to have the windshield replaced.

My main gripe is that they didn't even have the decency to point it out to me when I picked up the vehicle, and at least say they were sorry...

I have a new 2006 Toyota Corolla. It "clicks" and jerks when shifting from Park to Reverse or Drive to Reverse. The shifter sticks at times when shifting and the car sways when driving. I have had the car to Sierra Toyota in Lancaster five times with no success. Because I am a woman they don't take me seriously. The same is true with the Toyota Corporation. Actually, I get lies from my case worker at Toyota Corp. It seems to me that Toyota's reputation is going downhill fast from my experiences and that of others.