ArmyofOne

OK, so let me start by saying im not totally turned off to the brand, they are machines and these things happen. but as long as i am in this vicinity, i will NEVER own another toyota. on the 24th of march, i noticed my 2005 matrix had blown its rear differential seals (the vehcile is AWD) leaking fluid at one point, but there was no more fluid in the diff. for the past few weeks, i had noticed a loud humming noice that did not change pitch at all (regardless of road surface) coming from the rear of the car. i put new tires on, no change in noise or pitch. so on the 24th of march, i took my car to toyota of watertown, also known as waite toyota. I was very rudely told that toyota does not authorize loaner/rental cars unless the repair exceeds eight hours, and i would have to wait 2 days with no car AND pay an $85 diagnosis fee. THEN and only then, if the repair was scheduled to exceed 8 hours, would i get a rental. it is still under the 5 year, 60,000 mile powertrain warranty with only 39,000 miles on the clock. so i say no thank you, and i go to the dealer i purchased the car from, Dealmaker Honda. I have an extended warranty through HondaCare, and it is bumper to bumper, so i had honda take a look at it. they were MORE than happy to do so and gave me a rental free of charge. they called me a week later and told me they had found the problem, but they werent allowed to fix it, because hondacare's warranty will not cover it until toyota's factory coverage ceases at 60,000 miles. meantime they sent the car to waite toyota of watertown (the *******s) and are having them fix it, and the honda dealer is coming out of pocket for the rental im driving. so at this point all im out is the money for gas....no biggie.

well, today (wednesday)...i got a call from my wife, the honda dealer took delivery of the car from toyota, and the noise is not gone, in fact its worse. back to square one. I go to the toyota dealer EXTREMELY livid and asked if the service tech drove the car after the leaks were repaired. the answer the service manager gave was..."i would think that he did"...this means no. the leaks are gone, but the rear diff is almost certianly bad, because we drove the car for a good while with little/no oil in the rear diff. (completely by no fault of our own. this afternoon while running errands in town, the hum of the rear diff became a loud grinding noise.

we are now awaiting word on financing for a 2008 Honda Civic EX. loaded with every feature available...but im reporting this toyota dealership, they cursed at me and led me along like a puppy, and then they disrespected my wife and i have had it. not to mention this is the SECOND time in 40 days the matrix has been in the shop for a somewhat major problem...and the first time it left me stranded.

as i said before, i have no issue with the brand of car, even though with less than 40k on the odo, i am having leaks severe enough to do this kind of damage...something is wrong there, so the next toyota i buy will be brand new, or old enough that i dont give a rats ***.

mmarshall

Sounds more like a dealership problem to me, rather than a problem with Toyota in general. The nicest and most courteous service manager I ever met is at a local Toyota shop here. Don't toss out the whole bushel because of one bad apple.

However, if your story was accurate, you are certainly justifed making a complaint to Toyota Customer Service. They take complaints like this seriously, and dealership ratings can suffer as a result. In extreme cases, they can lose their franchise.

BTW....I hope that long-ago broken leg healed up OK.

ArmyofOne

oh its most definately a dealership problem, and is not turning me or my wife off to thebrand, but as long as we live here, we cant have a toyota...i just cant justify it. basically they just told me that if i purchased a 40,000 dollar avalon, and i was having this problem with 10,000 miles, they wouldnt give me a loaner? whats wrong with this picture, a factory warranty is a factory warranty, if an avalon owner gets a loaner for a sunroof motor repair, i should be able to get one for this. but im not gonna drive 60-90 miles to the next dealer...having to drive 30 is bad enough.

SLegacy99

If its any help, my mom called Lexus once and told them how poed she was that her RX330, with 70k on the odo was leaking oil. They agreed to pay half. Don't know if Toyota will do the same, but they certainly retained our business.

Also, we had an All trac Previa for 12 years, not big issues, especially not with the AWD. That said, Subaru AWD is wonderful.

tex2670

Agreed--you could have easily swapped "Honda" for "Toyota" in that story--every make has a dealership somewhere with a horror story, and every one has a dealer with very happy customers.

TRDFantasy

That definitely is a dealer problem more than Toyota problem. The dealer should have given you a loaner and should have taken a look at your car no problem.

ArmyofOne

agreed... and i am happy with the matrix, and toyota as a brand. but as long as i have to deal with this particular dealership, i will not have a toyota. if i get stationed somewhere else, we will get another one. i mean, they cussed at my wife for god's sake...the service manager called my wife a ***** in front of me!

Koma

iTrader: (3)

Watertown, MA?

SoCalSC4

A rear diff in a Matrix? Is it AWD?

Didn't think they made it in an all-wheel drive version...

Big Andy

To my mind once you had taken it back to the original (Honda) supplying dealer and they agreed to fix it, your dealings should have remained with them. It was up to them to sort the repair out, either in-house, or with Toyota. They were responsible for giving you the car back in a roadworthy condition and there is no way you should have to go back to Toyota - leave that up to them.

PK_Celsior

iTrader: (18)

yea toyota repair places tend to suck. i remember i use to take my mom camry to the toyota dealership. i had to ***** at them a couple of times for messing things up. now i have my own lexus mechanic that takes care of all my cars. thank god or my mom camry might be in pieces at 60k miles

ArmyofOne

yes its AWD. 2005 Matrix XR 4WD to be exact...i dont know why they cal it 4WD though, its AWD...

ArmyofOne

so this tears it...

just picked up a 2006 Civic EX, loaded...for 16900. only 20K on the clock, with 160,000 miles of warranty.

oh, and it came with window tint and a killer factory system.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Time to change your signature...

Congrats on the excellent find. DAMN! 160k mile warranty!!!

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Congrats. I would have made the same move. Civics are awesome