the Dealer only thing that can be done is replace the seat assm that contains the motor give 2000.00
the Shop down the street can’t find any parts (OEM or 3rd party)
This is should be a recall… at very lest
this is very dangerous!!
that the owner of the car can’t manual set the seat in a safe position
But that it locks when the motor fails in a unsafe and unusable positions
This way Toyta can steal 2G from the poor owner !!
Please repost in a coherent fashion.
Give: Make (Toyota I assume), Model, year, mileage, problem, how long you have had the problem, diagnosis, et cetera, et cetera.
If i am not coherent is due to the dealership wanting 2g for something that shoud be at most a 500 dollar repair!!
2003 Camry
power seats
The deal charge me 90 dollars to “diagnosis” of the 2000 dollar part!!
Sorry, but we are not the dealer and frustration displacement doesn’t help us or you. Especially since we are a FREE public forum and not asking $90-$2000 for anything.
You still haven’t given us any information to work with. All I can say with what you have given is that after 5 years the dealership probably doesn’t have any liability.
How is the situation dangerous?
Why was the seat in a dangerous position to begin with?
What happened prior to the problem?
What exactly is the problem? Some details would be nice, not just that the seat is bad.
and this question is not a knock on you in any way, but as it has to do with a seat…
What is your body type?
You seem to be assuming that Toyota is giving the dealer the seat at a cheap, heavily discounted rate. Most people do assume this to be the case no matter what make of car is involved.
I have no idea what the dealer cost on this seat is but I would safely bet it’s far more than 500 bucks.
As to the diagnosis you’re talking about an electrical item. It takes time to trace electrics and make a diagnosis. Mechanics in the shop work on the flat rate “paid for what you do” system; just like all others.
If diagnosis time is not charged the shop will be shut down and everyone in there will be unemployed. At that point there will be no one to diagnose anything for anybody.
As to buying a seat assembly there is probably a reason for that also. In many cases, and not just with Toyota, many parts are simply not available to the dealer. The entire seat assembly may be the only way that Toyota will even provide the seat to the dealer and Toyota will not provide a smaller repair part.
It’s overpriced, a total crock I agree, but don’t blame the dealer for all of this. The best bet is to hit the salvage yards or possibly even eBay.
If a local yard does not have this particular seat ask if they could locate one with their parts locator service. Many yards are on systems like Eden and may be able to source a 1000 different salvage yards.
JMHO, and hope it helps anyway.
Do we just except the fact the we are going to be Overcharge for very simple but needed items
-
This is a seat with a basic motor (100 dollars at most)
-
This is a big safety problem what would happen it was the driver seat
a. Make the car undividable
b. It would place the driver too close to airbags -
Why can?t anyone tell me how to ?lock? the seat a good position and avoid 2000.000 for a seat motor?
Sorry the Dealer will just replace the motor for 2000.00 not the seat at all
Because there is no way to “lock” the seat and if you don’t like what Toyota charges for simple items like a seat motor ($2000 is ridiculous, I agree), then vote with your wallet. Don’t buy another Toyota, and tell your friends how ridiculously expensive your Toyota is to repair. Maybe this will help do away with the silly notion that Toyotas are the superheros of cars.
Anyway, ok4450 made an excellent suggestion, as he usually does…check the salvage yards, I’m sure you can find a good used motor for much cheaper and have an independant mechanic install it for you. Good luck.
Why can’t the seat be lock?
i am curious.
where are you contacting from?
to be honest it sounds like you are NOT a native english speaker/ typer. Not that it really matters, but… how do you expect to have a logical discussion with the Toyota dealer when you have a hard time discussing this with free (meaning don’t cost a thing) help?
remember, the people who are responding to you here don’t get paid bupkus (if you get my drift)
I’m not even entirely sure what you mean here. I’m assuming the seat won’t move from its current position since the seat motor isn’t functioning…so it IS locked right now…explain what are you trying to do.
Seriously pweber. You haven’t given us any information. You just want us to say “yes Mr./Ms. Pweber, you are exactly right”. Even if this is the response that we gave you, how would it help you in the slightest?
The questions I asked you were to try to diagnose the problem and, hopefully, come to a more acceptable solution. The dealers are always going to charge more for service and they usually shoot for giving the car back to you in a “like new” condition, regardless of cost. We, on this board, often do our own work and do not have the access too (or cash for) all the parts to make things like new so make compromises.
See if you can find the part at a junk yard. There must be a 2003 Camry with a usable seat motor. You can find used parts on the internet as well.
- It’s not really a “basic” motor. The seat and its underlying architecture, including the motor and assembly, have to withstand years of use (and abuse) under heavy loads and hold-up in the event of an accident.
- It’s not any more of a big problem than having any other major part of the car fail. It sucks to have to eat a 2 grand repair bill…believe me, I know. But if it doesn’t fail in a significant number of cars, it doesn’t qualify for a recall any more than 1 transmission failing out of 1,000,000.
- You can’t permanently lock the seat in a “good” position, because that is a safety issue in and of itself. I don’t think it would even pass inspection.
any links for on line
and how to tell them what part you needed so that you get the correct one
Thanks
Phil*
Do you belived that 2000.00 for a motor is good price?
this is >10% of the cost of the car!!!
Toyota dealer this is the only option they did not have a 500.00 If they did we would not be having this char
The other shop can’t find a working motor any suggestions
Basic or not, my 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass still had its original power seat motor and it worked fine, 23 years later.
Agree with the rest of what you said.
Your best bet might be to look up your local junk yards/wreckers in the Yellowpages and call around to see if they have this seat motor and if there’s any kind of warranty on it, if they do. All they’ll need from you to make sure it’s the right part for your car is the make/model/year.
Try that and let us know what you find. If you can’t find anything, then I’m sure someone here has a good online site they use for finding used car parts.
Or, while at the salvage yard, find a “manual” seat off of a base model to bolt to the rails and be done with the whole $2000 motor dilemma. On a 2003 Toyota you should even be able to find the correct color fairly easily.
Contact your local salvage yard, (Yellow Pages) and have them put the request out on the wire. They’ll have it shipped in to them and ready for your pickup.
Benzman
This is an earlier model but a quick look at several '03 Camrys showed them to be similar.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-96-Toyota-Camry-Driver-Side-Bucket-Seat-Must-See_W0QQitemZ300221890608QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item300221890608&
If not, your best bet is what I suggested earlier. Hit a reputable salvage yard up and if they don’t have one ask them if they can locate one with their parts locator which often ties them to a thousand or so salvage yards.
The yards generally use a Hollander Interchange which will tell them immediately what seat fits what years, etc. and chances are it would be a far sight cheaper than 2 grand.
(And I would not even mention to any salvage yard just how pricy that seat and/or motor is. No sense in throwing fuel on the fire!)