dsfra
Member
Not an auspicious beginning...
I just sent this e-mail to the Sales Manager and General Manager at my local Toyota dealership:
My wife and I bought a new 4Runner from your dealership last Monday, 02/20/12. After owning it for less than a week, we are very displeased to be bringing it to your service department tomorrow morning.
A few days after we bought the vehicle, I attempted to remove the antenna on the right-front fender, since I was intending to replace it with a short after-market antenna and needed to see exactly what sort of mount the new antenna would need to match. I first tried a 5/16" box wrench (.3125"), which was a slightly loose fit on the antenna. An 8mm wrench (.3149") would be even worse, so I wrapped some masking tape on the hex at the base of the antenna so the wrench would not cause any damage, and used the 5/16" wrench. After applying what should have been adequate torque to loosen the antenna, it still would not turn. I looked in the 4Runner owner's manual to make sure that the antenna was in fact removable by turning it counter-clockwise, and that it didn't have concealed set screws or something else holding it on. Per the manual, not only was it removable as expected, but I found that Toyota stipulates that the antenna be removed before taking the vehicle through automatic car washes (p. 502), so clearly I wasn't doing anything unusual by trying to remove it. In fact, according to the manual (p. 385), I should have been provided with an "included wrench", "in glove box" [sic], specifically for antenna removal. I looked in the glove box - no wrench. Yesterday, I made a trip to your dealership and talked to our salesperson: he provided a wrench, said that the antenna was installed at the dealership as part of pre-delivery preparation, used the Toyota wrench to try to loosen the antenna, and agreed that the antenna had been over-tightened when installed. He finally got the antenna to turn, but it was not turning independently of the mounting base - the assembly inside the base was turning. I was concerned about the antenna cable getting pulled or twisted, and suggested that someone from the service department look at it - the base of the antenna and the guts of the mounting base were now loose and moving around inside the fender. No one from the service department was available, so it was suggested that I make an appointment with the service department, which I did for tomorrow morning at 8:30. There is now no radio reception for either AM or FM - only static.
When I show up at 8:30 tomorrow morning, I would like to discuss with your service manager exactly what will be involved. I assume, since the antenna base itself (part 86309E) inside the fender is apparently damaged, that either the right-front wheel, wheel flare, and inner fender liner will need to be removed to allow access through the wheel well, or the panel running across the base of the windshield and under the rear edge of the hood will need to be removed, along with the wipers, to allow access from under the hood. In the former case, my hope is that no part of the right-front suspension will need to be touched.
I never would have expected to buy a $40,000 vehicle that, within a week of delivery and after 76 total miles, needs to be brought back to the dealership and be torn apart for repairs.
While I hasten to add that we had a good experience dealing with the sales staff when buying the vehicle, these subsequent problems have detracted greatly from the experience.
Consider yourself warned: If you haven't tried to remove your antenna yet, be real, real careful...
We're hoping that this first week of ownership isn't a preview of what's to come. We're looking forward to retirement and lots of red dust in Utah before too long.
I just sent this e-mail to the Sales Manager and General Manager at my local Toyota dealership:
My wife and I bought a new 4Runner from your dealership last Monday, 02/20/12. After owning it for less than a week, we are very displeased to be bringing it to your service department tomorrow morning.
A few days after we bought the vehicle, I attempted to remove the antenna on the right-front fender, since I was intending to replace it with a short after-market antenna and needed to see exactly what sort of mount the new antenna would need to match. I first tried a 5/16" box wrench (.3125"), which was a slightly loose fit on the antenna. An 8mm wrench (.3149") would be even worse, so I wrapped some masking tape on the hex at the base of the antenna so the wrench would not cause any damage, and used the 5/16" wrench. After applying what should have been adequate torque to loosen the antenna, it still would not turn. I looked in the 4Runner owner's manual to make sure that the antenna was in fact removable by turning it counter-clockwise, and that it didn't have concealed set screws or something else holding it on. Per the manual, not only was it removable as expected, but I found that Toyota stipulates that the antenna be removed before taking the vehicle through automatic car washes (p. 502), so clearly I wasn't doing anything unusual by trying to remove it. In fact, according to the manual (p. 385), I should have been provided with an "included wrench", "in glove box" [sic], specifically for antenna removal. I looked in the glove box - no wrench. Yesterday, I made a trip to your dealership and talked to our salesperson: he provided a wrench, said that the antenna was installed at the dealership as part of pre-delivery preparation, used the Toyota wrench to try to loosen the antenna, and agreed that the antenna had been over-tightened when installed. He finally got the antenna to turn, but it was not turning independently of the mounting base - the assembly inside the base was turning. I was concerned about the antenna cable getting pulled or twisted, and suggested that someone from the service department look at it - the base of the antenna and the guts of the mounting base were now loose and moving around inside the fender. No one from the service department was available, so it was suggested that I make an appointment with the service department, which I did for tomorrow morning at 8:30. There is now no radio reception for either AM or FM - only static.
When I show up at 8:30 tomorrow morning, I would like to discuss with your service manager exactly what will be involved. I assume, since the antenna base itself (part 86309E) inside the fender is apparently damaged, that either the right-front wheel, wheel flare, and inner fender liner will need to be removed to allow access through the wheel well, or the panel running across the base of the windshield and under the rear edge of the hood will need to be removed, along with the wipers, to allow access from under the hood. In the former case, my hope is that no part of the right-front suspension will need to be touched.
I never would have expected to buy a $40,000 vehicle that, within a week of delivery and after 76 total miles, needs to be brought back to the dealership and be torn apart for repairs.
While I hasten to add that we had a good experience dealing with the sales staff when buying the vehicle, these subsequent problems have detracted greatly from the experience.
Consider yourself warned: If you haven't tried to remove your antenna yet, be real, real careful...
We're hoping that this first week of ownership isn't a preview of what's to come. We're looking forward to retirement and lots of red dust in Utah before too long.
