NEED QUICK ARBITRATION/ATTOURNEY HELP!!! Seat rattle issue!

[swooopeno]

Arbitration time.

Ok, finally at that point in the arbitration process to have toyota fix my driver's side seat rattle. I have/will ask them to replace the seat with a limited version power seat, or buy back the vehicle and I'll purchase a limited myself.

Some questions for you that have been through this process or a similar process and possibly for you experienced attorneys:

1. An event occured a few weeks back that has made me feel unsafe driving with the seat like that. The seat was NOT like that when I bought it (it started to be loose around 10k miles, despite all the new ones being loose on the dealer's lot). I'm not sure if I should keep my mouth closed during the hearing, or tell them as much as I can.

2. Would it be advantageous to bring in a copy of the seat rattle topic found on this web site an other websites, stating that others are having this same issue? Would it actually do me harm to bring this info in?

3. If they were to offer to buy back the truck, do they buy it back for purchase price or current value price? If it is purchase price, do they credit tax, license, etc. back?

4. When I take it to the dealer, should the truck be as dirty as it is now (just went off-roading), or should I make it shiny and new?

5. Any other advice to win this case?

Sorry to seem ignorant, but I haven't dealt w/ the 'justice' system before.

Thanks guys!

 

[swooopeno]

bump...

anyone have any ideas?

 

[KMX3060]

You should have an attorney.

Those are attorney questions.

 

[Mafster]

Just watch it that since you have aftermarket leather, that they don't blame the seat rattle on the leather installer as a result of them removing the seats and possibly stripping/not tightening bolts properly. My dealership suggested that the rattle may be coming as the result of the above, but I clearly had it before my leather install.

Also wash the truck--you don't want to look like a hick when dealing with them. It is better to appear to have babied it then used it how it was designed to be used.

I would have all documentation possible to support your case--presented prior to the hearing.

Also I know that the dealership has to have been given 3 attempts to remedy the item before any arbitration is considered (Lemon Law-check your state's specifics--Google it). They also have to acknowledge/find that there is a problem when they tried to fix it those 3+ times.


Thomas-> I'm not an attorney, but I did sleep in a cardboard box last night. :

 

[swooopeno]

Great - thanks for the opinions.... pretty much what I was thinking. I'll let you know how it goes today