Toyota's degrading service over 11 yrs & a possible consumer court case

In addition to the unprofessional attitude of the dealership, the experience is worsened by the deteriorating quality of Toyota's own email support.

BHPian amalji recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Context,

I have been a customer of Toyota in India from 2011 till date (2022). While my first ownership experience with Toyota - Toyota Etios Diesel has been excellent in terms of customer support both from the dealership as well from Toyota, my 2nd Toyota Ownership - Innova Crysta Touring Sport 2.8L Diesel Automatic has been a case of hit or miss. In addition to the unprofessional attitude of the dealership, the experience is worsened by the deteriorating quality of Toyota's own email support.

In my past experiences, whenever the dealership plays tricks, Toyota generally comes to the rescue of its customers. Unfortunately, the email support from Toyota doesn't seem to work as efficiently as it used to in the olden times. The people who handle the email feel more like robots than humans and don't have a clue about what I am talking about. They seem to have zero empathy (which was never the case earlier) and are interested in just doing the procedures for the sake of it.

I'll try to mention the high-level bucketing of my bad experiences and then try to explain it. Later on, I'll try and quote similar experiences in team-bhp from the same dealership as well.

1. Adding non-Toyota items to the service quote without the customer asking for it. If you count them, they will try to pitch it first and if they understand that the customer won't take bullshit, they give up. It's a scam. They will try this with 100 customers, 10 might react and 90 might not even know what is happening just trusting the dealership blindly.
2. Missing out on replacements recommended by Toyota during regular service!
3. Denial of a problem before warranty and proactively bringing it as a problem post-warranty (The funny thing is that they forgot the fact that my vehicle was under extended warranty).
4. Service advisors lie through their teeth even for very basic complaints reported.
5. Not owning up to the mess they created with the 17" alloys and low profile tyres on a 2-tonne ladder-on-frame vehicle.
6. Robotic Toyota customer care doesn't seem to understand that it's a human speaking from the other end.

Adding non-Toyota recommended items to the service quote

This has been a regular happening in Nandi Toyota, Kudlu gate. If I don't explicitly say that I do not want them to add anything other than what Toyota recommends for the x kms service, they will add a bunch of useless items to the quote boosting up the bill by 30%! Some incidents I can remember.

1. During the first 2 services in Nandi Toyota, Kudlu Gate ( 5k and 10k ) even I got scammed. Because I am not used to Toyota dealerships scamming me in the past, I didn't look with a suspicious eye at the quote and just approved it. They scammed me with "Mech care" without explicitly taking my permission.
2. During the 70,000 km service of Innova Crysta at Nandi Toyota, Kudlu Gate the initial quote given was 14487.74 INR + tax. They added items like Mech Care, AC Filter coating ( God knows what it is !), and Injector cleaning fluid. I gave them a call and asked them to remove things not recommended by Toyota. Suddenly the quote became 10,760.44 INR + tax ). The scam would have increased the bill by 34.64% had I not intervened.
3. Once, I remember they trying to add some pollution prevention package with a hefty charge. I asked him why is it added and they told me that if they don't do it, smoke will come. I said I have never seen smoke from the tailpipe of the Crysta ( forget mine, not even the taxis that ply the road ). He insisted that it will come if I don't do it. I asked him to share the directive from Toyota on the same and then he understood that I got his bullshit and silently removed it from the quote. Again, the culprit is Nandi Toyota, Kudlu gate.

After the first 2 experiences, I make it a point to be explicit in letting the dealership know that I do not want them to add anything other than what Toyota recommends for the service.

For the 70,000 km service, I was not explicit since I opted for vehicle pick up and drop and hence did not meet the service advisor. And the dealer went to the old habit - Scamming the customer.

My Concerns about this incident

• The customer gives the vehicle for specific work. What gives the dealership the authority to add extra items to that list?
• Why is it that the dealership is not showing transparency with the customer in being explicit that this is not part of the regular service and instead is/are optional items which the customer can choose to add or not?
• Why is it that the dealership is lying through its teeth to convince the customer to go for a scam package?
• Even if there is a genuine requirement to control pollution, isn't it the responsibility of Toyota to take care of it proactively (at least during the warranty period )? In this case, it was clearly a scam by the dealer. So no point thinking about it. But, this kind of BS from a Toyota dealership is beyond my imagination!

The benchmark that I compare against

Never ever in the 1,25,000 km ( 6 years - 2011 to 2017 ) of Ownership of my Toyota Etios Diesel have I ever been pushed into such scams. Etios Diesel was primarily serviced in Nippon Toyota and Amana Toyota in Trivandrum, Ernakulam and Wayanad. I do not know whether they have stooped to this level as well because it's been a long since I did a regular service from Nippon / Amana Toyota.

Missing out on planned replacements

During the 60,000 km service, the initial quote did not have brake fluid replacement listed. The brake fluid replacement interval in Toyota Innova Crysta Diesel is 40,000 km / 2 years. So, even though 40,000 km have not passed it had been more than 2 years since the last replacement ( thanks to the low running during Covid times ). They missed it completely. The worst thing was that when I pointed it out to the service advisor, he mentioned that if it has to be replaced, it will come automatically in the software without even taking the effort to check the service manual or consulting with someone else. I insisted on replacing it and he replaced it.

They missed replacing the AC filter in the 60,000 km service. AC filter on the Crysta has a replacement interval of 20,000 km. I noticed only after a few weeks and then did not follow up since it was not a critical part.

The benchmark that I compare against:

Never ever has such a miss happened in the 1,25,000 km (6 years - 2011 to 2017) of Ownership of my Toyota Etios Diesel.

Denial of a problem before warranty and proactively bringing it as a problem post warranty

From the very first few days of ownership of the Innova Crysta, I started noticing a "Gidu Gidu Gidu" subtle sound when going over certain kinds of potholes. It was not irritating or loud but it was loud enough to grab the driver's attention and you could figure out that something is not working well.

During my 5k service at Nandi Toyota, Kudlu gate I reported this sound. They did a test drive along with me and kind of put insulation tapes on the seat locking mechanisms and told me that mechanically everything is fine. The steering has a slight play but I can ignore that since it's part of every Innova Crysta. I trusted them ( like I normally do with a Toyota dealer ) even though the sound was still there.

They added the above comment on the service invoice. I did not contest it since there was a mild rattle from the seats as well in addition to the "Gidu Gidu" subtle sound.

For the 65k service ( post the standard 3 years warranty ), they mentioned that there is a play in the steering rack end and that they will recommend replacement. The events that unfolded after that played a huge part in my losing trust in the ethics of this dealership - Nandi Toyota, Kudlu gate.

• Me - "it's fine. Go ahead and replace it. "
• The service advisor mentioned that it will cost around Rs 8,000.
• Me - "Why can't it be replaced under the warranty?"
• Service Advisor - "Warranty is only for 3 years and it's over, Sir"
• Me - "The vehicle has an extended warranty and it's still active. Please check it."
• Service Advisor - "The sir, did the vehicle have any frontal impact?"
• Me - "I remember replacing a clip in the front bumper for Rs 500. The only memory I have is that. "
• Service Advisor - "OK Sir. I'll check and come back."

After a few hours:

• Service Advisor - "Sir, the warranty got rejected"
• Me - "Why is that?"
• Service Advisor - "Because your car has a frontal impact, warranty on steering cannot be used."
• Me - "Are you saying that a bumper clip that got replaced due to a minor pull where the bumper locked against a metal piece near the gate while reversing is enough for Toyota to not respect the warranty for a steering issue? And that too, something which happened years ago!"
• Service Advisor - "Unfortunately, for steering warranty claims, that's our process"
• I said ok and hung up the phone.

The next day, I sent out an email to Nandi Toyota dealership asking for an explanation as to why the warranty was rejected.

I get an initial response apologizing for the inconvenience and then all of a sudden the warranty gets approved. The reason why I sent out that email was because I was 100% sure that there was no insurance claim made for a frontal impact ever on my Innova Crysta! The bumper clip replacement was just a 500 INR bill and I paid it from my pocket.

Now, the best part of the incident is about to come. The "Gidu Gidu" sound which was present on the vehicle from the first few days of ownership is gone for good now! Basically, this means that the steering play was the root cause of the sound. The dealership for some reason did not have the incentive to repair it under the warranty the first time it was reported. But once the warranty expired, the dealership became proactive in pointing out issues with my vehicle which has been existing forever!

My Concerns about this incident

• Why is it that the Service advisor did not even check whether my vehicle has an active warranty before asking for money from me?
• Why was he trying to push back on warranty using silly incidents?
• Does the whole conversation also mean that most of the famed Toyota warranty becomes null and void post an accident? PS: The vehicle is covered under Zero depreciation Return to Invoice Value Toyota insurance from day 1!Does the proactiveness of the service centre change pre and post-warranty expiration?
• Why doesn't Toyota reply back with an explanation as to why the warranty was rejected? Shouldn't they have at least apologized for the lie that they gave for warranty rejection?

PS: This is not the only incident where I got this kind of experience from Toyota. But those incidents are bigger and should be told in a different context. So, I'll add it to the other part of this thread.

The benchmark that I compare against

• The proactive recall by Toyota to fix the potential fuel leak issue on Toyota Etios.
• The proactive recall by Toyota to fix the suspension thud sound on Toyota Etios.

Both the above incidents helped me build trust in the brand - Toyota that even if they mess up on something, they will own the problem and fix it proactively for the customer. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with the Innova Crysta Ownership. Instead what I see now is denial like in the case of the low-profile tyres of the Crysta and the associated problems or the famous brake judder problem.

Service advisors lying through their teeth even for very basic complaints reported.

For the 60k Service at Nandi Toyota, Kudlu Gate, I made 2 additional requests in addition to the regular service.

• Change my address in the Toyota portal since it's still showing my old address.
• Continuous rattle with the Toyota OEM Accessory - DVR

The SA promised me that the address will be changed within a day and asked me to WhatsApp him the new address which I did on the same day.

I was promised over the phone that the rattle will be fixed by a different company and they will come home and repair it. I thought maybe since it's an accessory, Toyota might have just rebranded another device and the original company might do the repair. Post the service I asked him when should I expect the vendor to do the repair and there was no response. After waiting for 10 days with no response or action, I escalated it further. I was told that there is no option of someone coming home and repairing it and that I will have to take the vehicle again to the service centre. They did not even offer me a free pick-up and drop as compensation for the lie their service advisor told me. The address change was made minutes after my escalation. So, the 24 hours waiting time that the service advisor told me was a bluff as well.

My Concerns about this incident

• The lack of empathy from the service advisor in not giving truthful information and bluffing to the customer just assuming that the customer will forget about the incident after a few days.
• Even when it got escalated, there is no effort from the dealership to compensate for the inconvenience caused because of that lie other than telling me that it was a wrong expectation set by the service advisor and to bring the vehicle to the service centre again.

Continue reading BHPian amalji's experience for more insights and information.