Toyota Torque Converter

Thanks for the update. Hopefully it will work. I always find it more annoying to have issues with a newer car than an older car, it is about expectations I guess.

Pay attention to your routes and any construction going on. That is probably where you are picking up the nails. Otherwise, maybe there is a new tire shop in town with a different business model :slight_smile:

Happy Thanksgiving.

Galant, the first two tires got punctured when encountering a horrific crash aftermath mere moments after it happened. An off duty cop insisted traffic move along through the debris field so approaching emergency vehicles could get access.

Most recent third puncture from a nail was courtesy of nails when the entire house roof, decking and all, was removed. Thousands of nails from three previous sets of shingles on the original deck ended up on the loose. The contractor did an awesome job raking, running a big magnet multiple times but a few nails escaped and one ended in my tire out the curb. Like I said, I am convinced nails illicitly propogate. The contractor was going to pay for the tire repair but since the dealership fixed that tire for free I did not gig the contractor.

I have a 2012 Camry, like the car, dislike the dealers I have tried. Dealership I bought it from over torqued the lug nuts by more that twice the spec even when I brought it back after it was difficult to loosen the lugs with a 3 foot pipe over my breaker bar.

Second dealer flat out lied to me telling me my cabin filter and air filter were dirty and needed changing. I replied, that’s funny, the air cleaner looked fine when I checked it yesterday and the new cabin filter has been in less than a day. They did reflash the transmission even though I wasn’t having a problem.

Car is roomy, actually gets EPA fuel mileage, has a good ride and been very reliable in the 4 years I have had it, but will never see a Toyota Dealer again unless it needs warranty work. It has a 150,000 mile emissions warranty.

I don’t recall having much of a good experience with any dealership.

Recently I decided to try the Hyundai dealership on our newly acquired CPO. They did an oil change but were too busy so had to keep the car for a full day; two shuttle trips for us. They also dented the driver door, were nice enough to admit it and have their dent guy fix it, but that added another one day trip back to them. Last week I was doing a brake fluid flush and getting the lug nuts off the wheels was hell. The noises that came out of the rims were not nice and I had to use my breaker bar along with pipes to get enough leverage.

This is flat out ridiculous, esp if we had a flat in the boonies at 2 AM.

I will continue to do my own maintenance and hope that I would not need warranty work.

Fortunately, I have a good independent shop to start going back to for everything but warranty work. I do have one more oil change and tire rotation coming from the dealer though.

I am not averse to using a dealership for service. Over the years I have had some very good treatment at several. Personally, I think it all gets back to the ownership/management and how they choose to conduct business overall.

When I traded the 2007 Impala trouble prone money pit for the current Camry I almost bought another Chevy because the service department at that dealer has been so excellent to do with business with. I just couldn’t quite accept the risk of another GM at this point though despite the fact another Impala sure would have been a comfy ride.

Phew, got through most of this. Toyota may have good cars but the pattern I have been seeing here is that the dealerships are really getting pretty bad. Why, I dunno but there must be something going on.

“I am convinced nails illicitly propogate”

As do coat hangers. And, I know that phillips and flat blade screwdrivers swap in the night. When I need a phillips, all there are are flat blade ones. And vv.

@Bing

" . . . there must be something going on."

Personally, I don’t think so

It all boils down to the individuals at the particular dealership. At that dealership that @Marnet mentioned, it seems that multiple people were incompetent, rude, or just plain wrong. That includes some of the service writers, the receptionist, and the service manager. But one of the of the mechanics and one of the service writers were competent and had the “right” attitude. There’s only so much they can do, though, because somebody at the dealership has to approve the warranty repairs

The service manager pretty much decides how everything will play out. If he’s a hard ass, or very cautious, he will stand in the way of major repairs under warranty, if he has anything to say about it. He’ll be more concerned about his numbers. There are many numbers that corporate looks at, and he’ll want them to look good on the computer screen

I worked at a dealership that had many competent mechanics and service writers. And many things that should have been replaced/repaired under warranty met a road block. That road block was the service manager.

And he’ll keep being a road block, until a problem becomes so severe, that they can’t deny experiencing it, seeing, it, hearing it, etc. But he might be able to stall the customer long enough, so that the car is now out of warranty. And now the customer’s choice is pay for the repair, or shut up and go away.

That is why it’s important to shop around. If the service writer is incompetent, try another service writer. If the service manager is the problem, try another dealership. If you’re not getting anywhere, get the regional manager involved. That often starts the ball rolling. If still nothing is hpappening, call corporate. And so on

@Marnet could have had the same experience at any dealership, doesn’t matter what brand of car it is

@db4690 Thank you. You are spot on and obviously have noted details of this entire irritating saga.

@Marnet

You’re welcome

I know you had good experiences at the dealer you were bringing your old Impala to. But I think if you would have “tried” a little bit, you would have quickly encountered the nightmare of all Chevy dealers.

They’re out there, and in great numbers. And that goes for all brands

A sad fact of life :frowning:

Before I bought the 2012 Camry my only experiences were with a Volkswagen dealer ( horrible )and 4 different Chrysler dealers- all very good, work was always done when promised and done right, none of them tried to duck warranty work either like the VW dealer did.

@db4690 Ironically my Toyota dealer gives good service, especially on warranty items and recalls, but the same family owns one of the largest Chevrolet dealerships and there gives less than adequate service.

Toyota’s contract requirements must be different than GM’s.