Okay,
The point. Dealer had my T4R for 6 days (see below if you want more detail). I get in it on Tuesday pm, after work, and load in my crap, go to put the sun glasses into the holder in the headliner, and the sunglass holder door FLINGS open with MUCH more speed than usual. I sat there for a second looking at it because it surprised me. Then dismissed it because I couldn't figure it out.
On the way home, kept opening / closing, sunglass holder door and finally realized, the little black gear that slows down the opening of the door is GONE!! I'm thinking crap, it popped out into the headliner.
I call Stevinson the next day (they were closed when I realized what happened), explain to the nice, but lost, service person what I'm observing and she is happy to schedule me for a $55 "R&I" to see what it'll cost for parts.
A little history here, A while back, I did the upgrade from the standard console in the headliner to the homelink console (that thread on this site ROCKS!). So I have the standard console in the garage as extra, just collecting dust).
Irritated, I agree to the R&I charge because I dont' want to break something taking out the new homelink console (the consoles tend to pull apart when you remove them and I don't want to buy another). Next Thurs is my R&I date.
I get home today, and am looking at the old console and realize that the little black "friction" gear just easily popps out if you put presure on it from the inside.
So, now I'm wondering if the part is actually in the headliner. So, I go ahead and pull the console out. (This one came out a HELL OF A LOT EASIER than the other one) and I start feeling around in the headliner for the little black friction gear and ITS NOT FREAKING THERE!!
The headliner is shaped so that if the gear worked its way out, it would be there. And mine is NOT!
So, here's what I think. I firmly believe some tech, or mechanic, with knowledge of the center console pulled the damn thing down, pushed out the little friction gear, and put the homelink unit back in! What else would explain it? Now he has a functioning sunglass holder door, and I do not! Is this reasonable to think?
Since I had it apart, I went ahead and put in the friction gear from my old console. So everthing is good w/ my T4r.
Now I'm pissed, I called and left a message w/ the service manager. Will go into the dealership w/ my old console, and explain my THEORY of the missing friction gear. I'm so glad I kept that old part from last year's upgrade or else I'd be buying another $100 homelink console if I wanted to fix it.
Anyone else have an obsure part just vanish when their car is at the dealership?
I'll update after my conversation w/ the service manager tomorrow.
=====================
More Background on my repairs to this SR5:
What to say. Stevinson's service dept. has been good. No complaints other than the above obscure missing part. Since I bought my 2005 SR5, its seen several warranty trips. More than I would have liked, but all the issues seem to have been resolved. Work done:
1) Font windshield molding a little loose, both replaced. No charge.
2) Rear seat cover "clip" on back of seat was loose / broken. New rear seat cover was put on under warranty. They provided rental car for two days. No charge.
3) Rattle in headliner (no sunroof), dealer put in "noise kit" under warranty. No charge.
4) Now with 39k miles on it, the rear center seat belt was binding. Couldn't get the damn thing out of the seat to belt up. When I laid down the larger part of the rear center seat (my T4R has a 3rd row in it), the belt bound and the rear seat would not raise up again. Took 6 days to get the correct part and install. Stevinson put me in a Solara from Enterprise, w/ no charge to me. Not sure of what the delay was. Very gracious service people at this dealership. They, or Toyota national, spent lots of $ when it was all said and done.
Despite the irritation above, I'll continue going there, but will think twice about leaving my vehicle there again.
The point. Dealer had my T4R for 6 days (see below if you want more detail). I get in it on Tuesday pm, after work, and load in my crap, go to put the sun glasses into the holder in the headliner, and the sunglass holder door FLINGS open with MUCH more speed than usual. I sat there for a second looking at it because it surprised me. Then dismissed it because I couldn't figure it out.
On the way home, kept opening / closing, sunglass holder door and finally realized, the little black gear that slows down the opening of the door is GONE!! I'm thinking crap, it popped out into the headliner.
I call Stevinson the next day (they were closed when I realized what happened), explain to the nice, but lost, service person what I'm observing and she is happy to schedule me for a $55 "R&I" to see what it'll cost for parts.
A little history here, A while back, I did the upgrade from the standard console in the headliner to the homelink console (that thread on this site ROCKS!). So I have the standard console in the garage as extra, just collecting dust).
Irritated, I agree to the R&I charge because I dont' want to break something taking out the new homelink console (the consoles tend to pull apart when you remove them and I don't want to buy another). Next Thurs is my R&I date.
I get home today, and am looking at the old console and realize that the little black "friction" gear just easily popps out if you put presure on it from the inside.
So, now I'm wondering if the part is actually in the headliner. So, I go ahead and pull the console out. (This one came out a HELL OF A LOT EASIER than the other one) and I start feeling around in the headliner for the little black friction gear and ITS NOT FREAKING THERE!!
The headliner is shaped so that if the gear worked its way out, it would be there. And mine is NOT!
So, here's what I think. I firmly believe some tech, or mechanic, with knowledge of the center console pulled the damn thing down, pushed out the little friction gear, and put the homelink unit back in! What else would explain it? Now he has a functioning sunglass holder door, and I do not! Is this reasonable to think?
Since I had it apart, I went ahead and put in the friction gear from my old console. So everthing is good w/ my T4r.
Now I'm pissed, I called and left a message w/ the service manager. Will go into the dealership w/ my old console, and explain my THEORY of the missing friction gear. I'm so glad I kept that old part from last year's upgrade or else I'd be buying another $100 homelink console if I wanted to fix it.
Anyone else have an obsure part just vanish when their car is at the dealership?
I'll update after my conversation w/ the service manager tomorrow.
=====================
More Background on my repairs to this SR5:
What to say. Stevinson's service dept. has been good. No complaints other than the above obscure missing part. Since I bought my 2005 SR5, its seen several warranty trips. More than I would have liked, but all the issues seem to have been resolved. Work done:
1) Font windshield molding a little loose, both replaced. No charge.
2) Rear seat cover "clip" on back of seat was loose / broken. New rear seat cover was put on under warranty. They provided rental car for two days. No charge.
3) Rattle in headliner (no sunroof), dealer put in "noise kit" under warranty. No charge.
4) Now with 39k miles on it, the rear center seat belt was binding. Couldn't get the damn thing out of the seat to belt up. When I laid down the larger part of the rear center seat (my T4R has a 3rd row in it), the belt bound and the rear seat would not raise up again. Took 6 days to get the correct part and install. Stevinson put me in a Solara from Enterprise, w/ no charge to me. Not sure of what the delay was. Very gracious service people at this dealership. They, or Toyota national, spent lots of $ when it was all said and done.
Despite the irritation above, I'll continue going there, but will think twice about leaving my vehicle there again.
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