[kadanaJ]

Hi fellow BHPians,

I need some friendly advice.

I recently purchased a pre-worshipped 2011 Toyota Corolla Altis D-4D. The car is absolutely brilliant, and I love driving it.

My problem is, I recently discovered that the model I purchased was recalled by Toyota due to faulty Takata airbags. I'm pretty worried because the previous owner of the car is not certain whether the airbags were replaced. It's driving me a little paranoid, to be honest.

Normally, I'd just give it to the Toyota service center, and ask them if it has been replaced. The problem, is that I recently saw this YouTube video about how a Honda dealership in the US lied to a customer to avoid the cost of putting in a replacement airbag. Watch the video from 7:39 to get to the part I'm referring to.

YouTube Video

If a dealership in the US is capable of lying to their customers, I have very little hope for out Indian fellows over here.

I know I'm being a little paranoid, but my question for you guys is this. If authorised service centres can be dishonest, and lie, how can I be absolutely certain that the airbags in my car are safe?

Any help would be appreciated.

[R2D2]

And why in the world do you need to view a US based Honda owner's YT video about a dishonest dealer and jump to conclusions? Believe me, Toyota's dealers and ASCs are far better than other automobile dealers and have some of the best customer satisfaction ratings in the industry. Don't believe me? Read around here on T-BHP.

Just take the car to the nearest Toyota ASC and they'll give you a confirmation either way. If you believe in 'seeing-is-believing' then ask them to take out the airbag and show it to you. Be prepared for the labor charges and time factor though. If the airbags have NOT been replaced ask them to schedule an appointment for the necessary service.

[Turbanator]

'm pretty worried because the previous owner of the car is not certain whether the airbags were replaced. It's driving me a little paranoid, to be honest.

Just drop an e-mail to voc@toyota-kirloskar.co.in with your VIN, they will have the record in case they have rectified earlier during a recall. They reply promptly. You don't need to mention second ownership or things like that - just the VIN and your query

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

how a Honda dealership in the US lied to a customer to avoid the cost of putting in a replacement airbag. Watch the video from 7:39 to get to the part I'm referring to.

If a dealership in the US is capable of lying to their customers, I have very little hope for out Indian fellows over here.

As far as I know, no warranty replacement is charged to the dealer at least in India. Logically speaking, the dealer need not spend his money to replace a part under warranty. At the same time, the dealer should also be reimbursed the cost of labour for working on your car. The USA would be more ideal and I can believe what happens in the video. And in countries like theirs, if the dealer indeed trick the customer, then he would have to shut shop in case the car met with an accident and the airbags did not deploy.

As in your case, the replacement would have been logged in the service record. You have all right to take it to the service center and demand a replacement. In case the job is already done, then they can prove it to you by showing the service history, which they will and should do for mutual benefit. In case it was done earlier and the dealer repeats it, they wont be reimbursed for the cost involved. Hence they will run a check to see if it was already done for your vehicle.

[saket77]

Ask the authorised service centre. They will be in the best position to tell that.

Just as a confidence boost, Honda service centres were proactive to replace the faulty Takata airbags. They would themselves check every car coming for routine service if the airbags needed replacement. I don't know if Toyota follows this practice but at Honda, they would put an orange and red paint dot on the VIN plate to signify that the replacement has been carried out. One dot for each airbag. Others may please confirm this if this practice was followed country wide or just here locally.

Check with Toyota and they shall definitely clear the air for you.

Regards,
Saket.

[SmartCat]

You are in bit of a pickle because Toyota India is apparently refusing to acknowledge that airbag inflators need to be replaced. See this:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post4279573

[OSH]

Originally Posted by saket77

I don't know if Toyota follows this practice but at Honda, they would put an orange and red paint dot on the VIN plate to signify that the replacement has been carried out. One dot for each airbag. Others may please confirm this if this practice was followed country wide or just here locally.

Yes, they do the same at Honda's mumbai dealerships.

If your car is regular with a specific dealership they even call you up and inform you about the recalls. I own a 2012 City which has gone through 2-3 recalls regarding the inflators and airbags and everytime I was asked to get the car even if the next service was not due, I am very impressed with this attitude of theirs, usually other service centers say that you have to come only when the service is due as they are "full" on other days, but that's not the case with Honda. When it comes to keeping records, apart from following the above practice as saket77 has mentioned, IIRC they will bill you the part in the invoice as FOC so that even you have a record of the faulty part being changed. So you can ask the previous owner for the service invoives, if he was servicing the car properly at the dealership since the start. Nowadays every manufacturer follows an common online system where a car's history can be traced from any service center, so if the part is replaced there will be an online trail for sure.

I dont know about Toyota but Honda does take recalls very seriously, my 2007 City was recalled sometime in 2012/13 for a faulty master window switch panel, even at that time they had called up and informed me to get my car.

[vivek.ks]

For my 2003 Corolla, Nandi Toyota replaced airbag inflator immediately without issues.

Service Centre was prompt to acknowledge and do a fix. It was also mentioned in Job Sheet and Service receipt.

Do not worry !

[kadanaJ]

Originally Posted by R2D2

And why in the world do you need to view a US based Honda owner's YT video about a dishonest dealer and jump to conclusions? Believe me, Toyota's dealers and ASCs are far better than other automobile dealers and have some of the best customer satisfaction ratings in the industry. Don't believe me? Read around here on T-BHP.

Just take the car to the nearest Toyota ASC and they'll give you a confirmation either way. If you believe in 'seeing-is-believing' then ask them to take out the airbag and show it to you. Be prepared for the labor charges and time factor though. If the airbags have NOT been replaced ask them to schedule an appointment for the necessary service.

Honestly, the video just made me more paranoid than I would have been otherwise. Still, seeing something like that is scary, and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

If I ask them to take out and show me the airbags, how can I know if it is the defective one or not? Will it have Takata branding, or some other identifier on it?

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Just drop an e-mail to voc@toyota-kirloskar.co.in with your VIN, they will have the record in case they have rectified earlier during a recall. They reply promptly. You don't need to mention second ownership or things like that - just the VIN and your query

Thank you so much! And thanks again for providing me with the e-mail as well. This definitely seems like the best way to check if my car is safe. Will do so promptly!

Originally Posted by audioholic

As far as I know, no warranty replacement is charged to the dealer at least in India. Logically speaking, the dealer need not spend his money to replace a part under warranty. At the same time, the dealer should also be reimbursed the cost of labour for working on your car. The USA would be more ideal and I can believe what happens in the video. And in countries like theirs, if the dealer indeed trick the customer, then he would have to shut shop in case the car met with an accident and the airbags did not deploy.

As in your case, the replacement would have been logged in the service record. You have all right to take it to the service center and demand a replacement. In case the job is already done, then they can prove it to you by showing the service history, which they will and should do for mutual benefit. In case it was done earlier and the dealer repeats it, they wont be reimbursed for the cost involved. Hence they will run a check to see if it was already done for your vehicle.

Ideally dealers should be proactive to replace things like this, but some of them can be greedy as well. I don't know if the Honda dealership in the video was a particularly dishonest one compared to the rest, but when it comes to something where one's life is at stake, I'd rather not blindly trust the word of a dealer.

That above USA dealership video has really left me very distrustful of dealers and authorised service centres. And the graphic images of what happened to the lady who got hit by a faulty airbag, has me more than a little worried. I do not want a metal shard going through my face.

Still, I'll take it to them and do as you suggested for the additional peace of mind.

Originally Posted by saket77

Ask the authorised service centre. They will be in the best position to tell that.

Just as a confidence boost, Honda service centres were proactive to replace the faulty Takata airbags. They would themselves check every car coming for routine service if the airbags needed replacement. I don't know if Toyota follows this practice but at Honda, they would put an orange and red paint dot on the VIN plate to signify that the replacement has been carried out. One dot for each airbag. Others may please confirm this if this practice was followed country wide or just here locally.

Check with Toyota and they shall definitely clear the air for you.

Regards,
Saket.

Thanks for your reply. I'll be following Turbanator's suggestion of emailing Toyota directly. While I'm at it, I'll also ask them if their dealers were suppose to put a dot on the VIN, so I'll be able to check for myself.

Originally Posted by smartcat

You are in bit of a pickle because Toyota India is apparently refusing to acknowledge that airbag inflators need to be replaced. See this:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post4279573

Smartcat, you've hit the heart of the matter with regards to why I am so worried. I know I can't blindly trust a dealer, but I still need to find out the status of my car. It's my life at stake after all, and I'll run pillar to post to find out if my vehicle is safe.

Originally Posted by OSH

Yes, they do the same at Honda's mumbai dealerships.

If your car is regular with a specific dealership they even call you up and inform you about the recalls. I own a 2012 City which has gone through 2-3 recalls regarding the inflators and airbags and everytime I was asked to get the car even if the next service was not due, I am very impressed with this attitude of theirs, usually other service centers say that you have to come only when the service is due as they are "full" on other days, but that's not the case with Honda. When it comes to keeping records, apart from following the above practice as saket77 has mentioned, IIRC they will bill you the part in the invoice as FOC so that even you have a record of the faulty part being changed. So you can ask the previous owner for the service invoives, if he was servicing the car properly at the dealership since the start. Nowadays every manufacturer follows an common online system where a car's history can be traced from any service center, so if the part is replaced there will be an online trail for sure.

I dont know about Toyota but Honda does take recalls very seriously, my 2007 City was recalled sometime in 2012/13 for a faulty master window switch panel, even at that time they had called up and informed me to get my car.

I think it's a dealer to dealer thing. Every company has their share of excellent dealers, and their share of unscrupulous ones as well.

It's good to know the dealers have a centralized system for this. One of my questions was whether I could take it to any dealer to check the status, and you've just answered that for me.

Originally Posted by vivek.ks

For my 2003 Corolla, Nandi Toyota replaced airbag inflator immediately without issues.

Service Centre was prompt to acknowledge and do a fix. It was also mentioned in Job Sheet and Service receipt.

Do not worry !

I think Shinrai is the dealership closest to my place. Hope they're an honest bunch.


Thank you all for your helpful responses.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

Honestly, the video just made me more paranoid than I would have been otherwise. Still, seeing something like that is scary, and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

If I ask them to take out and show me the airbags, how can I know if it is the defective one or not? Will it have Takata branding, or some other identifier on it?

You have every reason to be worried. But instead of working yourself into a state of paranoia just take the car to the dealer for a check ASAP. Remember, ONLY Takata airbags require replacement.

TKM's toll free # is 1800-425-0001.

...but when it comes to something where one's life is at stake, I'd rather not blindly trust the word of a dealer.

If you do not trust the word of a dealer then you should ask them to show you the airbag assemblies. There are 2 - driver (steering wheel) and front passenger (above the glove compartment). As mentioned earlier seeing is believing, right? They will obviously charge you for the labour.

[OSH]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

It's good to know the dealers have a centralized system for this.

Bro now you have the following options;

1. Ask the previous owner to be honest with you about the recall being carried out or not, ask him for the past invoices. If he says he is not sure/does not have the invoices, ask him to provide the dealer's name where the previous services were conducted. If he is not even giving you this information, there is something fishy, maybe the car was not serviced at the dealership at all and thats why this guy is keeping sshh.

2. Open your owners manual and check for dealer stamps in the service history section, there should be complete log of all the previous services. If they are present, you will atleast get the dealer name. After this you can approach them to know the entire history of the car and recalls carried out.

3. If you cannot go ahead with the above options your best bet will be contacting Toyota with all your vehicle details through email/toll free number as mentioned earlier. I feel this can be done even at the dealership level as there is a central online system which majority of the manufacturers are now following.

4. All options gone, take your car to any service center and check your records yourself, if you dont find anything there, then the only option is changing the recalled parts at your own expence for your peace of mind.

Also, there is no point in asking them to remove the existing parts and showing you because we are anyways not that qualified to detect a faulty part. I feel you should try these options out and then just relax and enjoy your ride, don't think more about this issue. Think of it like this; if the takata fault would not have come to light, everyone would be driving their cars with the faulty parts without any worries.