I have followed this post since Bernd started it. As I and others have commented many times there is a lot of speculation, finger pointing, here say and just plain "pot stirring mixed in with some excellent advice and factual information.
However, dispite the many reports of Toyota working on the problem, my experience over the past two weeks indicates that after two plus years of this issue being brought to Toyota's attention, their dealerships, tech specialists and regional representatives are not all using the same play book, and many are STILL claiming they never heard of the problem.
On July 22 I traveled to Colorado Springs, CO to meet up with DaToy and Jorge to begin our Nine Passes in 2009 as posted on
My FJ Cruiser | My Toyota FJ Cruiser | My Toyota FJ Cruiser, Modifications, Expeditions, Mods, Equipment, gear, Photos and more. We looked at Tomas new fender install and as a matter of course inspected both my 2007 (build date 01/07) and Jorge's 2008 FJ. I had been monitoring a bulge on both inner fenders since 15,000 miles. We found a small rip in my inner fender on the drivers side and the bulge on the passerger side had grown. On Jorge's 2008 we found both inner fenders were starting to bulge. We continued our preparations for the trip and I decided upon our return from the trip to take my FJ to Toyota of Colorado Springs where Tomas had his fenders replaced. I am well beyond the 3/36 warranty period. At this time I have 58,000 miles on my FJ. But, I am confident I have my bulges documented by my MO dealership.
After returning from our trip Tomas accompanied me to the dealership. We met the Service Manager who came out and looked at my inner fenders. He called his Field Technical Specialist (FTS) who told him that the repairs were only covered within the 3/36 warranty period. He suggested I call the 1-800 number to get a claim set up. He asked if the bulges were documented. I said yes, that I had showed them to my local dealer in MO at 15,000 and again at 30,000 miles. I thanked him and called the 1-800 number.
The person who took my call at Toyota was very helpful. She set up a claim number for me and agreed to send it immediately directly to the Colorado Springs dealer. She told me two very illuminating things. 1. Many dealership service departments have seen the bulges and determined that they were normal and since no time was charged they have not been writing the bulges up on service orders. 2. The problem is being dealt with on a case by case basis by Toyota. As an aside she said that she owns an FJ and has the bulges and has experienced the bulges being called normal by her service manager.
The Colorado Springs Customer Relations person received my claim within two hours of my call to the 1-800 number. He called me and asked if I could bring my FJ by for him to look at. I went to the dealership and he inspected the rip and said he'd do some checking and call me. He called me within an hour and told me his FTS wanted verification that I had reported it to my local dealer. He said to have the MO service guy call him. I called MO and the service writer called him within 20 minutes and verified that they had seen the bulges at 15,000 miles but took no action. He called me an hour later and said his FTS now wanted the statement in writing. The next morning the service manager from MO sent him a copy of a service order completed at 30,000 miles and the service manager made a hand-written note with his signature on the service order and faxed it to the CO dealership. The CO service manager called me and said that the FTS was being anal and now wanted a typed letter on the MO dealerships letterhead stating they had seen the problem at 15,000 and 30,000 miles. I said the fax clearly had the dealerships logo and address on it and that was legal documentation. He told me the FTS was covering his butt with his boss... The MO service manager sent the documentation to the dealership within two hours. The CO service manager called me and said that the FTS's boss had passed the ball back to the MO dealership to fix the problem "since they had done all the work on my FJ". He said it was chicken sh*t" he knew, but the did it and he'd do all he could to help the MO guys order parts, etc.
I was quite upset and called the 1-800 number again. I got a real jerk. He said he was denying my claim. I asked him if he was authorized to deny my claim and he immediately backed off of that statement. I called to express my frustration at all the hoops we jumped through only to be passed off. He said he'd send me arbitration papers. Seeing I was getting no where with him and his unwillingness to let me speak to his superiors I hung up.
I called my MO service manager and apologized for the jerking around we'd been getting. He was not happy with what the CO folks had did, but was willing to work with me.
I once again called the 1-800 number to see how we could get the claim transferred to MO so we would not lose a weeks worth of work. The person I talked to this time was very helpful and told me what to do. He was off the line a couple of times and came back both times expressing his dismay for how strange the handling of my claim was and that I did not have a case manager assigned at his office. He told me that both the regional offices and dealerships were not handling the claims for this issue the same way but that corporate was aware of this and was "working on it". I said that I knew they had been doing this for two years and that they should have their procedures in place by now. He agreed.
Today I go to the MO dealership to move this process on. More later.
cheers,
dale
08 SANDSTORM {Clarification} Celtic in this usage is pronounced "Keltic" refering to the European Barbarion tribe, not "Seltic" as in a basketball team.:
Bernd
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