We purchased a new Toyota Tundra in 2007 and the Extra Care Platinum warranty from Toyota of Des Moines. We have always had the truck serviced regularly at Toyota dealers. Toyota of Des Moines installed new struts at 30,000 miles. The service manager said the technician removed the lower ball joints to install struts on both sides.
While traveling in Canada with our truck towing our travel trailer on July 6, 2011, we needed repairs on the left-front suspension. The lower ball joint had one bolt missing, and the other bolt was loose and partially unscrewed. We took it to Cochrane Toyota in Alberta. The service technician said the bolts had been removed to install the new struts and weren’t tightened and torqued properly. He said the bolts were installed at the factory and should never have been removed.
The service manager called Toyota of Des Moines and discussed the problem. They requested we return the parts for their inspection, which we did. They inspected the parts, and on August 2, the service manager said they would cover our claim and planned to cut us a check that week using Toyota of Des Moines’ liability insurance, not our Toyota extended warranty, which would not cover it because it wasn’t a factory defect. The Toyota Extra Care representative said when the technician removed the bolts it basically voided our warranty. The total cost of repairs, parts and labor was $3,734.85 in U.S. dollars plus a foreign transaction fee of $74.69, totaling $3,809.54. As of this date, we have not received any payment at all.
We called Toyota Customer Care, and they said they would reimburse a goodwill payment of $2,336.78 in Canadian currency, which covers parts only. We believe Toyota of Des Moines should pay the balance of $1,472.76 because they loosened the bolts. We are enclosing copies of the Cochrane Toyota bill, the Toyota Extra Care warranty, our Visa bill and a letter from Ron Short, service manager of Toyota of Des Moines, and ask for your help in obtaining reimbursement for the repairs and labor.
After Action line sent a petition to Toyota, Good Sam received the following email from Darrell Powell:
Today we received a check for $1,472.76 from Toyota of Des Moines, which is the balance due for the labor repairs on our Toyota Tundra. We greatly appreciate Action Line’s help in resolving our claim! Not sure we would have received the check without your help. Again, thank you very much.
Since 1981, the Good Sam Club’s Action Line has helped resolved thousands of disputes between members and businesses. If you have an RV-related consumer issue and would like assistance, contact Action Line.