Rogue Iq3

[Bishop Tricky]

I posted this earlier in the main forum, but I think I should have posted it here.

Hi to everyone, and thanks for the add.
We bought a brand new iQ3 and took delivery of it on 31st May.

I've driven 72 miles, and it's back in the workshop for four new brake discs, new brake pads, and a full caliper overhaul x 4. And the list goes on.

Today, 11th June 2014, there is a Toyota engineer at the dealership
where we bought the car, he was called in by Toyota UK to investigate
this rogue little car.
The dealer principle has asked us if there there is anything he could do for us to make things better.
My wife said "Yes. Please sell us the car that everyone else got".
We purchased the iQ3 over the phone, without even test driving one. We
read everything there was to read about this amazing little/big car, and
watched every video on Youtube etc.

The iQ3 ticked every box in our list, and added quite a few of it's own.

[sweet-dentist]

Brand new?

What is this?

___________________

ByTheWay... Very welcome on this forum... :)

Hoped I could be of any help... but as a foreigner (Dutch), I do not really hear the tone in your letter... It sounds to my that you are upset / OR that you are really satisfied..

Some words I do not know how it is used..

Like "ticked every box" Is that a good or a bad sign?

And "rogue"... what does this emply?

Purchased over the phone...well I myself bought this car after one brief sitdown (bumping my head while getting seated) and ordered a red one ... that had to wait for 4 months to arrive... Totally worth it..

But a car with this problems after 72 miles is very weird...

Please keep us updated on the new results...

[Bishop Tricky]

I'm inclined to believe that our iQ3 has been sitting in the compound at Portbury for over a year, as the date of manufacture on the tyres is 6th week 2013.

And last year Portbury was hit with it's worse storms in 100 years.

When we first went to pick up the car it wasn't in the show room, or even at the front car park of the dealership. The salesman told us it was around the back of the premises, and that experience was completely atrocious. We had to walk around the back of their MOT station, step over a small fence, walk directly behind the building on a path that was strewn with old body panels, engine components, broken glass and various other pieces of junk metal, then across a yard full of old and new damaged cars, then through a large semi wall-less barn type building, and finally to a tiny and very dusty yard.
The car was covered in dirt grit and sandy grit, with unremoved car body polish patches everywhere, there was car body polish residue on nearly every interior panel, and the best bit was when we finally got into the car (I got into the back to see for myself if you really could comfortably get a 6 foot 14 stone person in the back. And you can!) and the salesman started the engine and put the blower fan on. The fan was vibrating so badly that the whole of the dashboard shook, and the noise was so bad that I had to raise my voice to tell the salesman to turn it off.
The salesman drove us back to the showroom, and on the way he went over a very large concrete speed bump and smacked it somewhere underneath.
When we got to the showroom and told the sales manager about the noise he asked the workshop manager to come and have a listen to the noise. When the workshop manager arrived he was wearing leg coveralls which were greasy, and he sat in the drivers seat without using a seat cover. I wasn't impressed.
I then asked the salesman why the car didn't have the front and back mud flaps that I asked for, he told me that they didn't have time to fit them and would I mind fitting them myself. Even though I paid for them to be fitted.
We complained and they gave us a Yaris to use while they sorted out our car over the next couple of days.

[sweet-dentist]

Terrible ... terrible... really terrible story.

This is a nightmare... I really doubt if this little tortured car will ever com to life.... :-(

What a shameful dealership....

[GRB]

I would get straight on to Toyota head offices and complain on serve. This is totally different to any service I have received from my local dealership (Coventry) . To the point that when they failed to get a part in for a repair we had letter from toyota head office apologising .

Not the service you expect. By the way we have an IQ3 and it is superb

Good luck with sorting out and don't let it put you off what I think is one of the best small cars on the road

[tarquin]

I think if i went to pick up my NEW car and was asked to follow a sales person anywhere to the rear of the dealership i would have stopped him there and then. After all when they have made a car ready for collection they should feel proud of it and have it on display at the front still promoting sales. That has to be the worst dealership in the country. When ever i go to mine for the smallest thing, they wash and valet mine as a matter of course and as for scraping it over bumps disgraceful. Could of set the airbag alarm off ( oops ref to old post lol)

David

[FROSTYBALLS]

Think I would be looking to reject the car. A new car shouldn't need replacement brake discs, etc, and I would also have lost confidence in the dealership. Have you been in touch with Toyota GB?

[buklau111]

If it was me, sue em! Thats not allowed, they cannot sell you a car like that, im sure it breaks some sort of trading act. Tell them to take that car back and replace it with a new car or give your money back (which i doubt).

Also what dealer is it? Name and shame time, and the name of the nut head who served you?

MOD EDIT

You can use the edit function to add to your post

^^ Dont get it, what do you mean? I dident need to edit it????

[Bishop Tricky]

I have been in touch with Toyota UK and the dealership principle.

The reason for the exceptionally loud and vibrating fan blower was because there were numerous leaves inside the blower housing and a Sycamore seed (Propeller) trapped between the vanes of the blower itself. The Sales manager called me on the Monday morning to tell me that they had found leaves, twigs etc. inside the blower casing, and he also sent me some photos that they had took to prove it.
But then when I looked at the photos I was even more peeved when I saw the photo of the Sycamore seed in the blower fan.... because they placed it on the front seat to take the photo without even putting a seat cover on the seat!

I finally went to pick the car up on Tuesday morning. The car was in the showroom looking clean and shiny, and there were flowers and chocolates for my wife, and the car had been given a full exterior and interior treatment with the "Bodycare" process as a goodwill gesture for what had happened over the last few days.

The drive home was excellent (approx 25 miles, including 15 on a motorway), it was far better than the Mercedes Benz A Class that it has replaced. But when I arrived home... it wouldn't go into reverse.
I rang the dealership and told them I was having gearbox problems, but I would take it for a drive the next day to see if it cleared itself, as new cars sometimes need to be driven a bit to settle things.
But this was not the case. The following morning I took my wife to the station, it was raining but the auto window wipers only worked when they wanted to, so I put it in normal mode. When I got back home it wouldn't go into reverse again and I ended up parking the car further up the road where I could just pull into a space without reversing.
But I still took it for a drive to see if anything else was going to play up. The first thing was that I was now having trouble getting into 1st and 2nd gear as well as reverse.
I went into a supermarket underground car park and was driving around for at least a minute before the auto headlights came on. I then took the car for a run on a dual carriageway and stopped off at some local shops. When I came back to the car I noticed that the front disc brake had turned black, and when I looked around the car to check the others.... they had also "Blacked-out", which in laymans terms means they had overheated.
I took the car home and called the dealership to come and get the car, but to collect it with a low-loader as it was not fit to drive.
It was when the AA came to get the car and I was taking photos that I noticed a twig that was caught between the gear selectors on the top of the gearbox, which explains why I was having trouble with the gearbox, and there was also the remants of more leaves etc.

The car is now back at the dealership and Toyota UK are fully involved.

And to be totally honest.... I still think this little car is worth all of the fuss and stuff, and as long as they are going to sort out everything that should be sorted, we will still be keeping it.

[bobkneale]

My view, Document in writing the whole story in detail. then ask them (Toyota Dealer) to take the car back and ask for a replacement brand new car or a full refund if they only offer you a new car have it independently audited by the AA before you take ownership, if they refuse, go to your soilisitor to take them to court under the sale of goods act, for selling an item that is totally unfit for sale, see below link.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/advice/2011/01/buying/returning-a-car-new

if they refuse, park the IQ in front of Toyota's head office with a very large sign on top stating the problem, take photographs of the car and the large sign on top of it and go to all the major newspapers with the story, and the major TV networks plus get your solisitor to write to Toyota H/O in UK and Japan. Also go to the BBC and contact the presenter who presents the program "Cowboy Builders" and E mail him you story in detail.

Massive action sometimes gets the right result ! And I'm only just getting warmed up !

Good Luck !

[Andy Kay]

I bought my used iQ3 five or six weeks ago as a kind of experiment to see if I could live with such a quirky little car. Now I love it to bits. So even if this particular iQ3 is not for you, I'd urge you not to tar them all with the same brush. You just got unlucky.

[tarquin]

I am stunned!! How can you ask a customer to pick up their new car without test driving it first and going through it so you don't have egg on your face

On a tech note the wipers and lights have 3 levels of sensitivity you can choose in the software. So maybe its not set on the normal level

David

[bobkneale]

I bought my used iQ3 five or six weeks ago as a kind of experiment to see if I could live with such a quirky little car. Now I love it to bits. So even if this particular iQ3 is not for you, I'd urge you not to tar them all with the same brush. You just got unlucky.

The issue is not a IQ issue it is a dealership issue, nothing wrong with an IQ !

[bobkneale]

I am stunned!! How can you ask a customer to pick up their new car without test driving it first and going through it so you don't have egg on your face

On a tech note the wipers and lights have 3 levels of sensitivity you can choose in the software. So maybe its not set on the normal level

David

Does not sound like a technical issue more like a poor dealership !

[bobkneale]

Name and shame the dealership all over this forum and every other forum possible, that's my view !

I take no prisoners !

[bobkneale]

I bought my used iQ3 five or six weeks ago as a kind of experiment to see if I could live with such a quirky little car. Now I love it to bits. So even if this particular iQ3 is not for you, I'd urge you not to tar them all with the same brush. You just got unlucky.

The issue is not a IQ issue it is a dealership issue, nothing wrong with an IQ !

Also nothing to do with luck in my view !

[Bishop Tricky]

Thanks to everyone for the advice and encouragement.

I have spoken to the principle of the dealership and also to Toyota UK as to how we can resolve this situation.
I also informed the dealership principle that there is actually one other new pearlescent white iQ3 left in the country, and it's at the holding compound at Portbury, which is where our car came from.
The reason it has to be the same colour is because at night time the pearlescent white is like a giant reflector, which I see as an added safety feature to the already more than sufficient safety gadgets on board.

There is going to be a meeting tomorrow afternoon at Toyota UK to discuss our iQ3 and the problems that have arisen so far, and also the manner in which we were sold the vehicle.

I will say though that the dealership principle has been very helpful and open with us concerning all correspondence between himself and Toyota UK.

Any advice concerning what I should or shouldn't accept as a goodwill gesture from either the dealership and/or Toyota UK would be very welcomed.

ps. Once I figure out how to post photos on here I will put up the pics of the fan, rust etc.

[Bishop Tricky]

Here are some of the photo's.

[Raistlin]

Did it come with a snorkel...

[tarquin]

Bob

The technical ref was he said he was in an underground car park and had driven around for a while before the lights came on, si suggested that the sensitivity set up in the software has 3 levels and it may have not been set on the standard, Thinking about it,some lighting outputs a fair bit of UV, that would have kept the auto lights off

David

[bobkneale]

The dealership principle's leadership credibility is already destroyed from my personal point of view, as he cannot take away from you the experience you have already received !

Looking at the photo's, the standard Toyota pre inspection should have picked up 99% if not all of these issues, and then they should have been corrected in advance of you taking ownership of the car. It looks like this was not done by the dealer ?

So many of these issues are just visual so they can be easily seen.

My IQ is 4 years old and I have just a very little rust on "some" of the areas as shown in your pictures, Rusting in your pictures is quite heavy in some areas, however on a new car it should be ZERO in my view.

Regarding what you should accept as a "goodwill" gesture is a personal matter that only you can decide upon in my view.

If you choose to keep the car and these current issues get corrected you might be at "some risk" of any other longer term latent defect not showing up till later in ownership ? that's the risk you take if you choose to keep it !

As it is the only one left in the colour of your choice you are now stuck with a difficult decision.

If it was me I would choose another colour and start again with different new IQ car of a different colour from a completely different storage location and also from a different dealer. I guess that's the only way to remove all the potential latent risk factors However that's just my view !

Assuming that there are a number of new IQ's still stored in the same location there is also the potential risk of some or all of them being effected in a similar manner, I wonder how the dealer is going to deal with that one ?

Lets hope Toyota sort out this Rouge Dealer to prevent anyone else having to suffer this problem.

[bobkneale]

If you do choose to get your money back and start again, there are plenty of quite or very low mileage approved Toyota IQ's for sale in the UK with lots of warranty left at significantly cash less than a new one ! Save yourself a load of cash, go to a better Toyota dealer !

Just an idea ?

[Soeley]

Hi welcome to the forum, it's a shame you couldn't join with a better story. I am glad this hasn't put you off iQ ownership though as they are a cracking little car (when prepared properly). If only your dealer had given it a full shakedown test drive and valet before you picked it up and you be none the wiser. It looks as though all the problems are just down to it been sat in storage for so long, they should have known that and checked it over.

I hope it all gets sorted soon for you and then you can start enjoying your iQ.

[buklau111]

Give the car back, it will probably come up with more problems along the line. Imagine places where you cannot visually see, if there are places which are rusting already. Give the car back, claim all your money back and demand compensation and go to another dealer and buy another brand new IQ. Just take em' to court (i did work experience there :D) and trust me jury will be on your side, this is un-acceptable coming from Toyota.

[Parts-King]

With the greatest of respect Omar, you have no idea!

Rejecting a car is not a simple task, it is certainly not stress free, and at least "up front" it is not without cost!

You have no doubt been treated poorly, your new iQ should have been your pride and joy, and the dealership should never have dealt with you in such a disrespectful manner.

In order to reject the car, you have to do so in a reasonable time period, that period is not stated in law, but it is likely to be a short period

What I would do would be to document EVERYTHING. Put it all down on paper, what happened, at what time, who you spoke to, as if your life depended on it!! Get that letter sent in WRITING to the Dealer Principle, explaining all the faults, timeline etc, and what outcome you expect. Are you going to reject the car? Tell them, if you want to keep the car, give them a time period where you expect the car to be put back to "as new" state (say 21 days) You then have to tell them what you intend to do if they fail that deadline. i am sure it will not come to that, but do it today, make a note of any out of pocket expenses, if it did come to handing the car back, you are not automatically entitled to compensation, but you are entitled to consequential losses, so if you have any expenses travelling back and forth or car hire, you would be entitled to claim that back

Trust me, getting the car put right in a short time frame is the best option, unless of course you have lost complete faith in the car. It is not a quick process and might involve you in having to hire a lawyer for which you would have to pay, and claim back as a consequential loss. Try not to go there if possible, but if you do, you will have to inform them you want to do so on the basis the car is not as described, of satisfactory quality or fit for purpose

If you bought the car on Hire Purchase, the HP company take on the responsibility so depending on how you bought the car, you could look at that avenue

Good luck

Kingo