Toyota Battery Warranty
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So sometime, I think, in 2014 we bought a holdover 2013 Toyota Sienna. We don't drive it much, so every so often I have to recharge the battery to get it going again. Lately it's been getting worse and worse, and now the charger complains of an open cell. I was able to drive it a few weeks back, but then the next weekend it wouldn't start again.
I figured it's been 4 years or so, maybe time to replace the battery. Stopped by costco, figured out what battery I needed, about $95 plus $15 for the core charge out the door. Not too bad.
Went to replace it today. The hold-down bar was seized, so took me a bit to replace it. Everything went fairly smoothly otherwise. When I took the old battery out, I saw under the hold-down bar that it has an 84 warranty with a sticker of 11/14. So right about 4 years. Since it's past the manufacture date, I'm guessing they replaced the battery when I bought the car (I bought it new, even though it as a holdover).
I figured I would get about 50% back on the battery plus the core charge ($15 from costco).
Since it's a toyota battery, I take it to the dealer. Explain the situtation to the service department, they tell me to go to parts. Go to parts, wait for 5 minutes while everyone ignores me, finally when someone asks what I want, I explain the issue to them, once they finally understand it, they tell me I gotta go to service to get it tested.
Go back to service, ask them to test it, they tell me to bring the car in. Explain to them that the battery is in the trunk, should I just bring the battery in - they say it would be easier to just drive the car into service. So I drive my (non Toyota) car into the service and explain to them that I want the battery tested. They proceed to start writing the car up and ask me for keys. I say that I have the battery in the trunk, that this is not the car from the battery and that I just need to get the battery tested. They say they have to brinng the whole car in. I ask how long it will take and the guy has me go back to the service desk who explains that it would probably be 1.5 hours, since there are some people ahead of me and I don't have an appointment. I tell them that I don't have 1.5 hours to wait and I'm happy to drop off the battery and come back later, but they say it's policy and that I can't just leave the battery, what if it gets lost, etc. He said maybe if the manager is willing to do me a solid, they could do it.
At this point, the manager comes up and we explain the situation to him. He advises me that I would need to put the battery back into the original car, jump it, and bring it over, that's the only way they can test it. I explain to him that the car wouldn't jump, and I'm happy to put the battery in the trunk of the Toyota and bring it over, and they can spend an hour swapping batteries. At some point he was also telling me that the battery I have is not the original battery (which is probably true, given that the sticket is from 2014), and that I would need a receipt for the battery (which I obviously don't have since it came with the car). I don't remember where we ended up but basically, he said that he would not be testing the battery today. I asked him to see the policy and he said he doesn't have one, and they they are a franchise and they have their own rules and that I was welcome to call Toyota corporate. I said that would be great, and asked for his name. He said his name was MIke and he would give me a card. He said he was going to give me the number and then I would have to take my car and exit the premises (which I thought was a little funny, but didn't think much of it.) I dialed the number he gave me, and asked for the card again. He grabbed a card from the front and wrote his name on it, although I'm not quite sure he spelled it correctly.
At this point I was on the phone with Toyota, and started driving out of the service center. I saw one of the guys outside talking on his cell, but I didn't think much of it. I drove towards the exit and parked in one of the empty spots (there were plenty available). I got through to the rep almost right away, and he asked me for my VIN, which I didn't have on me, but could pull up from my Geico app. As I was pulling it up I asked him for some general info on how to take advantage of the battery warranty and was told that I would need to buy the battery from them in order to quality for the warranty. I asked to see it in writing and was put on hold. . In the meantime, the guy who was outside on his cell came over and made a show to look all around and under my car. I wasn't sure WTF he was doing, but it didn't seem good. When the CSR put me on hold, I decided it would be better to drive to my next destination.
As I got there, he finally came back and told me that the policy allows them to give me a credit if I can show a copy of my receipt, and a copy of the test that says the battery is bad, and a copy of the receipt where I replaced the battery. I explained to him that I replaced it myself, and that the dealer refused to test the battery. He asked me for the info on the dealer and put me on hold to go call them. When he came back, he told me that not only will that dealer not be testing my battery, but I am no longer welcome there and that if I show up again, police would be called, because I created a "disturbance". While I was upset and maybe raised my voice a little, I think I remained pretty calm under the circumstances and was pretty far from creating a disturbance. I don' t think I even cursed once. I told him as much and that I want the manager fired or at least have him apologize. He said he would start a case, but since it is a franchise, there is not a lot they can do.
I spent about half an hour at the dealership and about an hour on the phone. At this point the money I would've gotten from the battery is not worth the time investment, but I am just shocked that the manager would make up such a story. I get that I basically implied that he's either lying or doesn't know what he's doing ini regards the battery warranty, but I hardly think that's the reason to blacklist someone from the establishment or call the police.
I'm supposed to hear from Toyota corporate management within a day and from the dealership's customer rep within two days, so we'll see what happens. Supposedly I should just be able to submit my Costco receipt and they will submit for reimbursement, but the guy on the phone (who was very nice and helpful, btw), said that he wanted a manager to make sure to answer my question if whether I should return the battery to Costco now to get my core charge back, or hold on to it while the reimbursement department processes the case (which can take up to 6 weeks).
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@dangeRuss Neat. Well, their corporate is probably exercising poor enough oversight that the manager will be just fine.
Also, you will need to surrender that battery to the armed agents at your door, right now.
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@Gribnit said in Toyota Battery Warranty:
@dangeRuss Neat. Well, their corporate is probably exercising poor enough oversight that the manager will be just fine.
From reading other reviews about the place, seems like the sales department is great, but the service center is awful. I'm really shocked that he blacklisted me from there. That's the one thing I can't get over. The interaction was not even that bad, I've had a lot worse, and acted a lot worse, and never been blacklisted before. I've done circuit city price matching, so enough said. The funny thing is most places that piss me off end up going out of business a short while later. I guess Karma is a bitch.
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@dangeRuss Preemptive defense because you asked for the corporate number. A bad manager threatened with oversight is like a 'possum stuck in a drawer.
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@Gribnit said in Toyota Battery Warranty:
@dangeRuss Preemptive defense because you asked for the corporate number. A bad manager threatened with oversight is like a 'possum stuck in a drawer.
It's not the first time I've asked for a corporate number, but I've never had anything even remotely similar happen to me. The guy pretending to be the manager (since I've never actually confirmed that he's the manager) maybe even be right about the policy, and it's not uncommon for places to refer me to corporate when they can't produce the policy they claim is very real, but usually that's where it ends. I say thank you and move on to talking to corporate. If the manager is not in the wrong, he's got nothing to worry about. It's the lying and blacklisting me is where he screwed up. That move was way over the line, and hopefully lands him in some hot water.
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@pie_flavor said in Toyota Battery Warranty:
@dangeRuss said in Toyota Battery Warranty:
hopefully lands him in some hot water.
Yeah, right.
I can't imagine the management is happy with the negative reviews the service center is receiving. The service department didn't seem very busy (I think there were 2 people there getting service, and I didn't see anyone new come in the in the whole time I was there. It wouldn't have really cost them anything to run the battery test, as I'm sure they had guys just sitting there (one who was apparently willing to follow me around and look under my car). I get that they weren't going to make any money off of me today, and they probably don't want to have someone who knows how to replace their own battery as a customer. They would've gotten paid for the battery from the manufacturer, so it shouldn't have been a net loss for them, other than having a tech test the battery, which should've been pretty quick (my charger said right away that there's an open cell).
It's a shame too because the place is not too far from me and I was considering using them to at least do an oil change for my Toyota and possibly my Nissan. As I usually bring in my own oil and filter, they probably wouldn't be making ton of money off me anyway, but I didn't even get a chance to ask them if they would allow me to do that. I guess I need to find another Toyota dealer, since they owe me a recall as well.
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Another funny thing that happened yesterday was at Costco, the guy in front of me was returning his battery for the core charge, to which I reminded him that the sticker on the battery says that it has a 72 months warranty and he should be able to get something back for it.
The cashier said that he would either get the core charge ($15) or the credit. I explained to her that the core charge is for returning the old battery and the prorated refund is for there being some life left on the warranty. She said that's not how it works, but she will check with the manager. Eventually she came back and gave him $35.
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I'd have considered tossing the old battery in the dealer's dumpster and then sending the EPA an anonymous tip about improper battery disposal.
I was surprised by my last Wal-Mart interaction. I'd bought cheap batteries with only a 3-year warranty, and around Year 3.1, they began having trouble and didn't like to charge. If I left a battery charger on them overnight at the max charge rate about twice a week, things worked well enough, so I limped by for a month or so.
I took the batteries back to Wal-Mart and ordered a new set. They tested the old ones and said they were fine, which was not true, and yet to my surprise they gave me a prorated warranty refund as well as the core charge for the old batteries even though they were just beyond the warranty period.
I've had no problems at all with the new batteries, so I can't imagine how they tested the old ones and concluded they were fine. As a bonus, the new ones don't emit the sulfur smell I sometimes noticed with the old ones.
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@mott555 said in Toyota Battery Warranty:
I'd have considered tossing the old battery in the dealer's dumpster and then sending the EPA an anonymous tip about improper battery disposal.
Maybe that's why there were watching me like a hawk after I left? Anyway, that would be stupid for two reasons - a. I would lose the core charge and b. I would break my back tossing the battery in. I can barely lift it as it is. Plus even if I did reach the EPA, I highly doubt they would do anything.
@mott555 said in Toyota Battery Warranty:
. I'd bought cheap batteries with only a 3-year warranty
The new Costco batteries only have a 3 year warranty or so. Down from 72 months that was on the battery the guy brought in from 2014.
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Got a check recently from another dealership after they helped me put warranty service on this battery. Not sure if they ever got paid by Toyota corporate since the check came from the dealership, but they covered the full replacement cost of the battery. Very nice dealership and I plan to take all my service business there.
