Complaint Review: Street Toyota

I bought my 2002 Camry from Street Toyota in February, 2003. I have a lot of complaints, and my most recent experience was the final straw. I'll never go back, but here's my history with this horrible company:

1) Battery in the car, which they advertise has a 2 year replacement warranty, failed after 18 months. They wouldn't replace it. Period. I dont remember the details, but something about they wont get reimbursed. I tried to argue that it wasnt my problem whether or not they received reimbursement, but they wouldnt budge. I purchased a replacement battery from Wal-mart. It went bad after 2 years, but guess what? They honored the warranty.

2) Recall on the side/curtain airbags. Took it to Street for repair, and when I picked it up, it was obvious the airbag panel was not securely attached. Also noticed black fingerprints on the beige headliner. Took it back to Street and was told the fastener for the airbag panel was broken during the repair. They ordered the part and repaired it a few days later. While the car was there, I asked them to look into a leak in the sun roof. They said it was a plugged drain hose, and they fixed it by forcing water down the line. They didn't address the black fingerprints, but I had already left before I noticed and decided it would be less hassle to clean it myself. The next day, I opened the overhead compartment to get my sunglasses, and a good quantity of water dumped out of it. I guess they flooded it with water when they were fixing the plugged drain.

3) Began having a strange issue with the transmission. After putting car in reverse gear, it would sometimes hesitate when I applied the gas. By the time I realized it didn't go into gear, it was too late. Reverse gear would finally engage, but since I was already pressing the accelerator, it would SLAM into gear. I reported issue to Street several times, but they could never replicate the problem, and looking at the transmission after the second complaint, they couldn't see anything wrong either. A coworker informed me of a funny incident the following day. He has a Camry 2 years newer than mine, and Street had tried to give him someone elses car the day before. Turns out the last 4 digits of the other car matched the last 4 digits on his. I looked at my car's VIN, comparing it to his, and guess what? They tried to give him my car. Funny co-incidence, but then I had to wonder if they had looked at HIS transmission when they said they couldn't find anything wrong.

4) Had the timing belt replaced around 80,000 miles. They said it was standard to replace the drive belt as well, since it saves on labor. The drive belt had been squealing, so I said good, go ahead and replace it. Picked the car up, and they DIDN'T REPLACE THE DRIVE BELT. Asked them why, and they said it didn't look like it needed it. Dang belt had 80,000 miles on it. How much longer did they think it would last? Regardless, I told them to replace it, and they didn't. So when the belt shredded at 110,000 miles, I replaced did it myself.

5) I was concerned that I was approaching the 80,000 mile power train warranty, but I was assured by the service rep at Street that Toyota would honor warranty repairs after expiration, if they could trace it to an issue reported before the warranty expired. At 82,000 miles the problem with the transmission was getting worse, so I took it back to Street. Guess what? They could now replicate the problem, but were absolutely adamant that Toyota would NOT cover it past the warranty period. To add insult to injury, I was told they could quote me a new transmission. I left, furious.

6) Plastic engine shield on bottom of vehicle was dragging the road. Service manager at Street suggested it was the fault of the service techs where I was getting my oil changed. The clips are removed when the oil is changed, and they're not putting all of them back on. So, they charged me an outrageous amount for new clips and recommended I start getting my oil changed with them. And so I did.

7) I've been using synthetic oil to combat the oil sludge problem that this engine is supposedly prone to. Because its a lot cheaper, I buy a 5 qt jug of Mobile One elsewhere and bring it to the dealer to pay them to put it in (which they said was fine). They constantly add oil to my bill, instead of noting I brought my own. They fix it, but it's a hassle. Worth noting is that their own techs keep forgetting to replace all of the clips mentioned in item 6 above. So I've been replacing them with my own stock that I purchased from the dealer a while back.

8) Took the car in for a safety inspection and a new power steering belt. I left the dealership and noticed later that they'd charged me twice for the safety inspection. I called, and they refunded the extraneous charge. So they fixed it but, again, it was a hassle. But that's not the worst of it. The following morning, I pulled out of my garage to hear the car squealing louder than I've ever heard before. I pulled back into the garage and checked under the hood. The drive belt was loose. I go to tighten it, and discover the adjustment bolt is finger tight. I can only imagine that the damned tech at Street got to working on the drive belt before he realized he was working on the wrong one. So instead of tightening it back, he switched gears and worked on the power steering belt.

9) Most recently, I took the car in for a front end alignment at 3:00. I told them I needed to be out by 5:00 to get my wife and was told it shouldn't take longer than an hour and a half. At 4:30, I see them pull my car into the exit lane in the garage, so I think I'm about done. But instead of calling my name, they kept calling customers that had arrived well after I did. Then, I saw them get into my car, pull it all the way around the shop to the back of the line. And then I continue to wait. My car gets to the front of the line again, and still they don't call me. I wait in line with the rest of the customers and when I get to the cashier, I tell her that my car has been in the "checkout lane" for 20 minutes. She looks confused and says she'll see if my paperwork is ready. She returns with my paperwork, and I look over to see my car leaving the shop AGAIN to go to the back of the line. I'm annoyed, and it's almost 5:00, so I checkout and leave (I have to back out of the shop, since I'm at the back of the line). I immediately notice the car is pulling worse than it was before the alignment. When I pick up my wife, I notice that they've charged me $6 for a misc shop/environmental service fee. I call them to discover it's ANOTHER mistake, and they'll take care of it. Another hassle. How many of their customers don't notice these erroneous fees??? Not only that, but I looked under the car today, and noticed they left off ANOTHER 2 CLIPS from the engine shield. I only had one left in my stock, so I guess I'll pay their parts dept another visit to buy more. And since they keep forgetting the clips anyway, I'll just go back to the previous shop for oil changes.

This looks like quite the list. Sure, it's taken me 7 years to compile this mental list (mental, meaning there's probably more that I just can't recall), but enough is enough. I take my car to the dealer to get exceptional service. Since I don't get it, there's no need for me to continue going there. I don't trust them, and as my car ages, I feel like it's more likely that it will get their least experienced technicians. So the problems can only get worse. Each year, the Amarillo Globe News takes a poll for the "Best of Amarillo," and each year, it seems like Street wins for the best service. I really don't see how, but I've been fooled for the last time. A couple of years ago they moved into a brand new dealership building, and I think things got worse. Did they reduce their labor costs by hiring inexperienced techs? I don't know, but I think it's plausible. Also, the price of their vehicles are outrageous, and they don't seem to negotiate on pricing much (if at all). I looked at a used Lexus the other day, and the sales rep wouldn't budge on the price--even after I explained they wanted the same price as a Certified one from the Lexus dealership in Lubbock. The problem is, Street can't certify Lexus automobiles. So you get a lot less warranty, but they want the same money. Ridiculous. Overall, I feel like the dealership is a joke. Maybe they're hurting to pay for the new building, and they think they have to be firm on their pricing? Again, I don't know, but I'm done trying to figure them out. They're not the only game in town. I just wish it had taken me less than 7 years to figure it out.