I have told them that I am considering suing and this is their response:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr **************
with referance to our telephone conversation last week and yesterday the 07/08/01 I have looked into your complaint, and my findings are as follows. the problems you have experienced with your avensis are not due to misuse or poor preparation but to component failure, (which are covered by the warranty)with this in mind and the obvious inconvenience this has caused I am prepared to stand by my original offer of a free service or a full refund of monies and the return of your part exchange
this offer will be in full and final settlement and is valid until 15/08/01.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No mention of the misrepresentation as a demonstrator, only the faults.
With 5 repair visits and misrepresentation, the free service worth £100 (not needed til next May so they may "forget" it) or my old car back which could have been left out in all conditions or driven as a dealership runaround, their compensation offer is inadequate.
(It will not be them doing the service but my local toyota dealer who has had to put up with repairing this car on 5 occasions). They are 50 miles away, and the car was advertised on the web. I shall never buy a car via the web again!
As I am writing this, they have replied again:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
as per my previous email all these points were taken into consideration and fully discussed with my brand director Peter Hampson before our final decision was made.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looks like they are not worried by the threat of court action.
Oh, and I have a witness to the salesman 's claim that the car was "our own car/ a demonstrator". It was a lie, but they do not seem bothered.
Maybe I should name and shame these b*****s here! They cannot sue me for libel, because it is true!
|
Go and name them. If you believe you have had shoddy service, say so.
I don't know how Toyota always seem to do well in the JD Power surveys, as during any of my dealings with them, they have always been rubbish. You can always complain to Toyota, and if nothing else, the Dealership has to fill in a lengthy form, detailing everything that has gone on. You've also learnt that you ALWAYS need to look at the log book before buying, to see what has really gone on.
|
Tempted ...............
I'll think about it.
Don't want to prejudice any claim made in a small claims court.
|
Very original name.
At least do us a favour by not putting in a false e-mail address. Just leave it blank.
|
|
I, and my wife especially, had a series of Toyotas from the first Carina until 1994 with every satisfaction. I still have a 1985 one as a hobby, which a local agent services and finds all parts for (not that it needs many). But, these were all Japanese made........
|
|
yea they are going to start making 3 door corolla's in the uk instead of bringing them in from japan... wonder how this will affect the quality
|
|
|
|
Dave N makes a very interesting point in his dodgy deal reply in which he doubts the credibility of these JD Power surveys where Toyota regularly get such high ratings.
This is something I can never get my head round and have eventually came to the conclusion that it is the lemmings syndrome.
A friend of mine recently bought a new Avensis and as well giving me a test drive I was also forced to examine every detail of his new love.
I waxed lyrical over it as one must do with a friend but in honesty I was very dissapointed with it.
The boot lid felt so flimsy and clanged like an old style Ford. there was nothing which left me feeling impressed.
What is it that endears these cars to people who constantly put in good reports to JD power or am I just being cynical????
Alvin
|
They must be as gullible as I was.
Never Again.
TOYOTA
This
One
Yucky
Old
Trashy
Automobile
Best acronym I can come up with.
John Smith is a pseudonym, with BLANK e-mail address
|
You could use the Dealer who supplied my 4-Runner.
Never a problem with the car, excellent service with collect & deliver and courtesy car.
All in all, recommended as highly as I can..
Automotriz Portezuelo Ltda.
America Vespucio, 1654
Huechuraba
Santiago
Chile
Mind you, I'm not sure that they would consider collecting and delivering yours on the same day.
On which point, I have wondered why it isn't in the car by car breakdown. Is that because it doesn't ??
|
|
|
John,
I fear for your health with the intense emotional anger you are feeling.
I think counselling is called for and if I was the man doing it I would suggest that you make up a sandwich board with "Cheating bastards" or something similar on it.. Wear it naked outside their showrooms when they open up in the morning and get yourself arrested.
This will give you your day in court at nil cost (avoids the small claims court costs) and gives you the opportunity to air your grievance.
Toyota will be represented in court and may even offer you a new replacement car to keep you quiet.
No need to thank me John but remember you must give them your real name when your'e in the dock.
We are all here to help.
Alvin
|
Thanks,
Regards
Fred Bloggs
|
|
|
|
|
JSmith - your first post has a js@yahoo.com address.
|
|
|
|
I too have my doubts about the JD Power survey. Regularly the Vectra came out near the bottom of the pile. At the same time, it won 'Fleet car of the Year' more than once. Now, that is judged by the guys paying the bills and doesn't equate to the claimed unreliability. In my previous job, many of us had Vectras as our company car. Not only did they easily beat Mondeos for economy, but, I simply don't remember anyone being stuck due to breakdown.
I therefore find the JD Power results a bit odd. I suspect the responses are skewed by the fact it's not a true random selection of respondents, but simply invites responses, resulting in people that have either a particular interest, a particular grievance, or perhaps unrealistically high or low expectations to respond.
regards
john
|
|
I think the same as you. We all remember those people that bought Skoda a few years back, and thought they were trully wonderful, regardless of what anyone else said. I also noticed a trend by 'age of driver'. As most of those at the top tend to be driven by older people (I'm asking for it now!), and maybe these are the sort of people to accept what the garage tells them and cough up with no complaining.
|
i think for a car like the vectra it would be nice to know what the stats were for german built examples as opposed to the uk built ones...
i agree the science behind this survey is maybe suspect...
on the whole i think quality of car, and quality of the dealer network are two different topics, and one can ruin the other...
|
Yes, the JD Power survey gives equal weighting to all elements of the 'car owning experience'. So, if the car is lots of trouble, but the dealer is helpful, then it tends to offset the problems. However, if the only time you see them is at annual service time, you don't necessarily get a good impression....
Having also owned a Ford Fiesta, an Escort and a Saab 900 (all of which came out better than the Vectra) at various times, I'd go for the Vectra any day
Cheers
John
|
|
|
|
Crazed, (If I can call you that)
I agree, I read somewhere that Vectras in Germany suffered severe rust problems in their rear chassis. This was about two years ago. What the article (in Car Magazine) didn't elaborate on was whether these were Vectras as we know them or whether they were old style Cavaliers. I owned a Belgian made S reg Cavalier for a time. What a cracking build quality that had even in comparison to more modern cars. A chap in the same mob as me had an R plater with a 1300cc engine made in the UK and that was a box of frogs in comparison. Horrid paint quality, horrid engine and poorly screwed together.
|
yea, mind you have to be careful (brother in law works at luton), cos some german vectras come into the uk pretty much finished - and just a few bits and bobs are done to them and these are logged as UK cars
which is different to a UK car built from scratch in luton (it'll only be vans soon) or a pure german car
But I'm sure other makers ship half finished cars around the world for economic reasons, and I suppose it would be a toss up where any bystander would define it as having been made
i recently had a german vectra for 3 years, which was ok apart from cam belt failure and crap steering, however prior to that I had several cavaliers (both company and my own), and I would say cavs were much better than vectras anydays...
Anyway I've gone full circle and bought japanese again... funny old world
|
|
and i'd like to know how the vitara's of different origin stack up, and corolla's etc etc
|
I have a hazy recollection of an article in the Telegraph motoring section a couple of years ago which took the view that German built Orions were better screwed together and lasted longer than their scouser built equivalents.
No surprise really.
as ever
Mark
|
|
|
|
Mark,
I concur. Fords bought by Forces in Germany in the 70s and 80s as personal imports (oh happy days) were UK spec German made and all the better for it (apparantly), mind you all Capris were made in Germany and they were pretty
crappy.
|
Thanks Dai
I think your point about the Capri is spot on I have long held the view that Ford actually mixed up the order of letters for the name of this model in their original press release.
as ever
Mark
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
