My Recent Work

[rambler]

hi all

well here i am again,not on a good note... :censor:

you all know i had the DMF changed along with a new clutch last thurs / fri

it was all good..until sunday morning,i didnt use the rav saturday.

i was going out for the day on sunday,to cambridge for a lovely walk along the river with other walking pals.

but...i took the A120,M11 route from colchester,halfway along the M11 i heard a couple of VERY loud bangs from under gear lever area,...i kept going.

upon pulling into the trunpington p & r ,over speed bumps,it 'banged' few more times,i parked up....took a look under vehicle,initially couldnt see anything wrong.

then i saw them,..the two bolts that support the center propshaft bracket were hanging loose ,a good half inch between the bracket and the mount points on each side.

left loose since the work was done,i called the RAC ,and when he arrived i put him in picture about the work that had been done,him said that they must have missed those two bolts......i almost lost it :censor: :censor: :censor: :censor:

he reccommended i take a few pic's of the bolts(loose) before he did them up for evidence of shoddy workmanship.

so what would have happened if the bolts had come right out along the M11 ,would i have been digging holes in the road at 70mph ! ! :o :o :o

from what i gather from speaking to friends,this could have been lethal for my rav and me

am i right folks???

i am now trying to get a full labour refund for this..as im a tad angry :censor:

rambler

[Davrav]

hi all

well here i am again,not on a good note... :censor:

you all know i had the DMF changed along with a new clutch last thurs / fri

it was all good..until sunday morning,i didnt use the rav saturday.

i was going out for the day on sunday,to cambridge for a lovely walk along the river with other walking pals.

but...i took the A120,M11 route from colchester,halfway along the M11 i heard a couple of VERY loud bangs from under gear lever area,...i kept going.

upon pulling into the trunpington p & r ,over speed bumps,it 'banged' few more times,i parked up....took a look under vehicle,initially couldnt see anything wrong.

then i saw them,..the two bolts that support the center propshaft bracket were hanging loose ,a good half inch between the bracket and the mount points on each side.

left loose since the work was done,i called the RAC ,and when he arrived i put him in picture about the work that had been done,him said that they must have missed those two bolts......i almost lost it :censor: :censor: :censor: :censor:

he reccommended i take a few pic's of the bolts(loose) before he did them up for evidence of shoddy workmanship.

so what would have happened if the bolts had come right out along the M11 ,would i have been digging holes in the road at 70mph ! ! :o :o :o

from what i gather from speaking to friends,this could have been lethal for my rav and me

am i right folks???

i am now trying to get a full labour refund for this..as im a tad angry :censor:

rambler

That does not sound good Rambler.

I think I would insist that the garage pay for a full independent RAC check on the work done on the basis that you have no faith in their own ability to check the work. Be polite but firm and put everything in a letter. Might be worth contacting the Toyota area manager and the dealership managing director too.

Then go for compensation once you are happy that they have not missed anything else.

What a bunch of plonkers.

[Norfolk n Chance]

I'm sure Trading Standards would be interested in this too!!

[anchorman]

The short answer is yes - it could have proved fatal if that had come adrift. Your dealer has some explaining to do.

This should be good.

Never mind Rambs - you're still here. Do keep us informed!!!

[jedi134]

Another great show of quality work by a Toyota main dealer garage. Nice one Toyota I`d take my chances with a back street outfit nower days.

Someone must have been blind to miss those, its not as if there hidden is it?

[Big Kev]

Another great show of quality work by a Toyota main dealer garage. Nice one Toyota I`d take my chances with a back street outfit nower days.

Someone must have been blind to miss those, its not as if there hidden is it?

Delighted you're still with us, Rambles....my first ever company car did even worse (Leyland Marina...nuff said, eh?)

Propshaft came adrift at 65mph the day after a major gearbox overhaul at 12000 miles!!!!!

Was lucky, as you were, that the car did not emulate Daley Thomson with his vaulting pole.

As already advised, let them know verbally first, get a name you speak to, and refer to said name when you write to dealer MD, copy to Toyota U.K. and your solicitor. On behalf of yourself and all TOC members/drivers, please go "the whole hog" on this woeful episode. At minimum get full refund.

Big Kev.

[cabcurtains]

Shocking, why do they do it

[goodison]

More to the point is why was the propshaft center bearing bolts loosened in the first place, the gearbox unbolts off the bellhousing and transfer box, ample time for the job is 6 hours. Pleased your OK though, bearing in mind everyone makes mistakes in their work, even the medical profession, but their mistakes are either buried or burn't

[ormi]

More to the point is why was the propshaft center bearing bolts loosened in the first place, the gearbox unbolts off the bellhousing and transfer box, ample time for the job is 6 hours. Pleased your OK though, bearing in mind everyone makes mistakes in their work, even the medical profession, but their mistakes are either buried or burn't

i agree with the above everyone makes mistakes.

some garages inc mine will remove the box and the transferbox all in a one'r their for you have to remove the prop..... and some do it the above way

hope you get something sorted out.

[jedi134]

But I don`t really want to be paying full wack for mistakes,do you?? I pay good money for a good job,

I stay away from dealerships now, as their not much better than anyone else.

Like I said previously, I`d take my chances with a back street garage nowerdays, dealerships are only any good if your still in warranty, and even then they`ll try and wriggle out of it.

[rambler]

hi folks

here are a couple of photo's of the loose bolts hopefully...

bad enough do you reckon????

for an official toyota engineer to miss ??

i think so

[Catweazle]

Don't know if it's just me doing something wrong (as usual) but I can't access the pictures.

[Davrav]

Don't know if it's just me doing something wrong (as usual) but I can't access the pictures.

Nope, you aren't alone

[rambler]

ok cracked it now

all because of the little http thingy

[shcm]

It's because when you press the "insert image" button on this site there is already a "http://" in the "insert image" pop-up box and the link you copy from photobucket also already has a "http://", so you end up with something like:

"http://http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac158/jamierav/21032010_004.jpg"

which It won't understand. If you delete the "http://" from the "insert image" pop-up box on this site first and then paste the link it should work.

Probably a slight set-up bug on here.

Anyway, that's what contained in the post and why it is not working, as I've checked page source.

This is what you want?:

EDIT: No, I'm not impressed with the dealer handywork by the way

[rambler]

hi folks

further to these photo's,i have sent a carefully worded email to the 'operations' manager at colchester toyota.

i must admit my spelling isnt the best,but i also attached the photo's onto the email,as the service dept mananger rang me & offered thier unreserved apologies,and assured me that their 'best' technician who carried out the work,had been disaplined.

they also took the rav4 (now fixed by the RAC) back to re-check the work carried out,and offered me a FOC 90'000 mile service..in a few months time,probably

does anybody know how much a 90'000 service costs please?

i have actually asked in the email,as i think its reasonable to do so,that i be reinbursed for the labour costs instead of the FOC service.

given the fact that ive paid top notch prices for professional,fault free workmanship..and didnt get it....

do we all think thats acceptable?

i am now awaiting a reply from them...see what happens

your thoughts would be gratefully accepted as usual

[jedi134]

Well I would think thats an acceptable request, unless Toyota want to be all over Sky News again with the headline "Toyota`s best technician fails again" or luckly not in your case Rambler "Rav4 pole vaults into in coming traffic of busy motorway"

I`d push them for that, as you say you`ve paid top wack for this apparently quality repair. You could have paid a back street mechanic a lot less to leave these bolts out.

Did you get a statement/report from the RAC guy?

Dealerships/Politicians there all the same.

[bitman]

i would have a chat with my lawyer if i was you...

[anchorman]

There is no doubt that it is shoddy workmanship as most good mechanics will look over all the work before letting it go but this is exactly why I do my own as I have seen it time and time before. It is also why (and sorry to those who are conscientious) I have absolutely no recognition of a "Toyota Technician". Its a fancy term for somebody who has attended a number of Toyota training courses and not an assurance of an experienced mechanic with good analytical skills. We are supposed to be convinced that this image of "teccy" is something more than a good vehicle engineer.

Having said that Rambs, you have to ask what you can expect to happen now. You obviously paid a lot of money for the work done but if you decide to invest in lawyers or litigation you take it to the next level and you may be at risk. You have to balance what could have happened with what did happen and although it was clearly negligent there was no accident and in that case how do you quantify your losses. It was inconvenient waiting for assistance and a scare and salt in the wound of just having paid out good money. I think you should continue your present course and see what the dealer says. They will be horrified if you tell TGB what happened as they are constantly being assessed and that is a good bargaining tool. The dealer has made you an offer but you may be able to get more. The 90k service is an interim and is probably worth about £150 to you but only half of that to him.

Why don't you ask for a big service and a timing belt? I know it isn't ready yet but it gives you another 20k for a big service and 60k for a belt. I think firm but polite is the way otherwise they might just wash their hands and take a risk that you will back down before going to court and they might be right.

[Big Kev]

There is no doubt that it is shoddy workmanship as most good mechanics will look over all the work before letting it go but this is exactly why I do my own as I have seen it time and time before. It is also why (and sorry to those who are conscientious) I have absolutely no recognition of a "Toyota Technician". Its a fancy term for somebody who has attended a number of Toyota training courses and not an assurance of an experienced mechanic with good analytical skills. We are supposed to be convinced that this image of "teccy" is something more than a good vehicle engineer.

Having said that Rambs, you have to ask what you can expect to happen now. You obviously paid a lot of money for the work done but if you decide to invest in lawyers or litigation you take it to the next level and you may be at risk. You have to balance what could have happened with what did happen and although it was clearly negligent there was no accident and in that case how do you quantify your losses. It was inconvenient waiting for assistance and a scare and salt in the wound of just having paid out good money. I think you should continue your present course and see what the dealer says. They will be horrified if you tell TGB what happened as they are constantly being assessed and that is a good bargaining tool. The dealer has made you an offer but you may be able to get more. The 90k service is an interim and is probably worth about £150 to you but only half of that to him.

Why don't you ask for a big service and a timing belt? I know it isn't ready yet but it gives you another 20k for a big service and 60k for a belt. I think firm but polite is the way otherwise they might just wash their hands and take a risk that you will back down before going to court and they might be right.

Would concur with Anchorman that this better dealt with at a local level for now, but a wee sad disappointed face and dropping casually into conversation that "you wonder if Toyota U.K. would be more forthcoming" would do no harm.

Offering you a minor service is a major disservice. If any help required, me and Bothy will put on kilts and paint our faces blue and attend your next meeting.

By now, I would have had you in and valeted your car within an inch of its life as a PART apology to be getting on with, Rambles.

Inwardly get stuck to them,

Big Kev

[Parts-King]

If any help required, me and Bothy will put on kilts and paint our faces blue and attend your next meeting.

Oh gawd........You can have anything you like, Not the blue faces and kilts.......pleeeeeease! :D:

Kingo

[rambler]

hi folks

Did i get a statement/report from the RAC guy?

yep got a statement,reads...

prop-shaft center mount loose,both bolts half out , retighten & check all ok.

and yes the dealership have 'a copy' of the report (i made a few copies).

and i left one of the copies on my passenger seat ready for when they re-checked it tuesday,along with photo's as you have seen on here (and a few more) inc 1 with the RAC van / engineer fixing rav

as yet still today,i have had no more contact from them at all

i think i will give them until the end of the week,then go to TGB .

a question though folks,as i mentioned earlier i did email the 'op manager' there,how will i know if he received the email?.

as i can only 'assume' he's received it,and is maybe seeking advice from his superiors

about my situation.

[MarsKy]

a question though folks,as i mentioned earlier i did email the 'op manager' there,how will i know if he received the email?.

as i can only 'assume' he's received it,and is maybe seeking advice from his superiors

about my situation.

Just follow up with a phone call to the effect "I sent you an email with my complaint and I would like your response to it".

And then hit him with quality assurance question - most reputable places will get a supervisor to inspect and sign off on the work. Ask what the supervisor's excuse was.

Then go on and ask him if a potential fatality and all the hassle you had to go through is commensurate with the cost to them of a minor service, and did he think that Watchdog and Toyota GB would agree?

[Parts-King]

Never rely on emailing people, they can easily say it has not been received. Send anything IN WRITING by recorded delivery to the CENTRE MANAGER and copy to the person you are dealing with. I have to say in the first instance, TGB will just bat it back to the dealer to sort out, they rarely get involved in dealer issues but will of course take up your case if you are not getting anywhere. The Centre Manager and Service Manager are the people you need to target

Kingo

[local hero]

If any help required, me and Bothy will put on kilts and paint our faces blue and attend your next meeting.

Oh gawd........You can have anything you like, Not the blue faces and kilts.......pleeeeeease! :D:

Kingo

Big Kev + Bothy ready for battle..WELL THAT SHOULD PUT THE WIND UP E'M :D