Complaint Review: Coggin Toyota At The Avenues

October 17, 2008

Service Manager
Coggin Toyota of the Avenues
10564 Phillips Avenue
Jacksonville FL 32256

Dear Sir or Madam:

Since I have spoken with two different service managers about the following matter, I cannot be certain of whom to contact or whose name to use in this letter; hence, the generic Service Manager address.

I am writing you (whoever you may be) because I have apparently failed in my attempts to resolve an issue by telephone with two of your managers, who identified themselves as JoMar (sp.?) and Rick. In both cases, they were to get back to me by telephone, but I have not heard from either of them. And I doubt I ever will. My telephone conversations with them occurred on September 29 and October 6, respectively.

The following is the history of my difficulty with your service department, which I am also sending to the various review agencies on the internet who provide consumers with a forum for their difficulties. I note, in passing, that your company does not seem to be beyond reproach in those forums. Perhaps you should spend some time reviewing the complaints.

Since August of 2005, I have allowed your service department to maintain my 1996 RAV4, scheduling service for it every 5,000 miles. (In 2006, I purchased a 2007 Yaris, which I have also been scheduling for service with your company as described; and although that may be irrelevant information under current circumstances, it is important to me, personally, since it effectively doubles the number of visits and cost of maintenance that I have expended at your address in the past three years.) The maintenance that your department performed on my RAV4 on September 3, 2008, is the immediate subject of this letter.

The 19 Point Inspection on my RAV4 on September 3, 2008, yielded a score of Checked and Okay on Interior/Exterior, Under Vehicle, Under Hood, and Battery Performance maintenance areas. There were no Comments/Estimates made and no categories under either Requires Immediate Attention or May Need Future Attention were checked. Most pertinently, the Battery Performance area indicated a Pass rating for Battery Terminals/Cables/Mountings and Check Condition of Battery (Storage Capacity Test.) Two other indications were available: Recharge Retest and Fail; however, my RAV4 was checked Pass. Given such a comprehensive rating by what I assumed were experts in the field, and given my trust in Coggin Toyota, I was pleased to get the rating, paid my charges, and went on my way.

On September 28, 2008, my RAV4 completely failed to operate. The AAA service respondent whom I contacted determined that my battery was entirely depleted and showed me that the corrosion which had occurred was extreme. Corrosion had extended beyond the area of the battery housing into parts of the engine; the terminals were no longer functioning. After cleaning out the entire compartment and surrounding area and installing a new battery and terminals, the AAA serviceman charged me $148.85. When I told him that my vehicle had been inspected by Coggin Toyota three weeks earlier and that the Battery Performance area had earned a Pass, he indicated that it was likely no one at your company had even opened the hood, much less examined the battery area. Corrosion to that degree would have been readily observed by anyone looking under the hood.

I phoned your service department on September 29 and asked for a service manager or someone in charge. I was given JoMar (sp.?), who apologized for the inconvenience that I had suffered. I told him that inconvenience wasn't the issue but that, rather, I was concerned about the level of expertise at Coggin and the skill that was applied in the service area. I told him that I doubted the hood on my vehicle was ever raised during my maintenance appointment and that the perfunctory checking of Pass was something that anyone could achieve as long as he possessed a ballpoint pen. I stated that the matter was a trust issue for me and that the response about inconvenience was inadequate. JoMar(sp.?) said that someone would call me back about this issue.

After a week passed, I called again and requested to speak to a person in charge of service difficulties. I was given Rick, who stated that there were problems with the 19 Point Inspection being mandated by the corporation in such a short amount of time. I stated that I thought that if a form was issued with the designation Pass, someone in charge and reasonably capable of viewing an engine ought to have at least glanced at the battery. I told him that I was certain that no one had and that I had lost trust in Coggin Toyota. He said that he would order my records (they not being available on site) and that he would examine them and get back to me. He asked that he be given two days to accomplish this task. I readily agreed but, as before, have not been contacted.

Therefore, I have concluded that 1) Coggin Toyota has poor management; 2) Coggin Toyota provides less than they and their forms state they are providing; 3) Coggin Toyota may be culpable in causing maintenance difficulties by failing to provide services as described in their forms and by their personnel. Beyond these issues, the communication difficulties with your company have been detailed here and add further problems for your customers.

I look forward to your earliest response, whoever you may be.

Elizabeth
Saint Johns, Florida
U.S.A.