Help! How to tell fuel pump not damage in service by Toyota Hurstville

[dragonfly]

I just conducted a server in Hurstville Toyota for my Prius 2007. I drove my car in perfect condition to Hurstville Toyota to have service for 80000 KM. They gave me a price at $664 for service. Then I was told to pay extra $213 for regular maintenance. Although I thought it should be included in service package at the first place and presented as total price, I still accepted it. However, I was told the car need a replacement for fuel pump at price with more than $700. I checked with one of friend and he told me 80000 km service including intank fuel filter and fuel pump might be damaged during service.I just remembered the stuff did not said anything and just told me they found some suspicious problem. The car need be kept over-night to check the issue on the first day. The day after, stuff told me the fuel pump need be replaced and put an order for me. How can I tell the fuel pump has not been damaged by service guys?
I did not pick up my car yet.
Thanks

[Hatta1978]

Hi,
it's a bit hard to know if the service personnel damaged the pump or not, but you can ask them to test it for you and ask them to explain the damage. Maybe take some photo to share in the forum. I've read that some vehicle makes do have the same service procedure for internal fuel pump. But not at 80k. Maybe more.
Cheers.

[petergoudie]

Make sure they give you the old fuel pump so someone can look at it. Tell them immediately that you want all the old parts back.

[Dan_k36]

I'm not sure of those fuel pumps but in most other late Toyotas they are under the rear seat, to get them out u have to take a plastic ring off which 9 out of 10 times will brake of strip cause it's super tight.
Then the fuel pump is "clipped" in to the filter and after sitting in fuel for a long time it goes "soft" so when unclip it it will brake the clips or the end of the pump,, now I'm not saying this happened to you but it could have and that's why they want it replaced and now the fun comes of who should pay for it... 50/50 maybe as its not your fault but it's not there's as well, if they told u at the start that maybe the pump could brake u would have known that it could happen and would have been expecting that call

[allencr]

Not that I don't like preventive maintenance but,
Going to a dealer with phrase 'please service my car' is exactly them same as telling them 'please fuck me'.

[maj]

Not that I don't like preventive maintenance but,
Going to a dealer with phrase 'please service my car' is exactly them same as telling them 'please fuck me'.

Not overly helping this thread with an opinion like that, and over here dealerships are sometimes quite good and reasonably priced for servicing, I have taken my daily exclusively to the dealer and it's given me years of reliability despite how hard I drive it. Some choose to, others shop around.

Anyway back on topic. Dealerships are not allowed to throw costs for no reason, so you will be able to request their inspection notes or an explanation of what they found when they either inspected or performed the service checklist which justified the failure that required a new pump. If the fuel pump filter is a serviceable item and the failure was caused by the mechanic breaking something when it came out, or they claim it was broken beyond use when it came out, you can dispute this as you acknowledge it was working perfectly when it was driven in. If it was not a serviceable item but showed up on an inspection then it's likely you will not be able to dispute anything, instead tell them you don't want them to replace since you will do it elsewhere.

The only exception to this might be in the fine print for any documentation you sign regarding damage to serviceable items.
Whenever I take my subaru into the dealer there is a rep who looks over my car and itemises all flaws/imperfections with the car, very similar to a japanese auction report, which I have to sign. This is because if they put a scratch on my car that wasn't there before or they failed to itemise it, then I can claim they caused the damage and have them pay for it. I have to sign this sheet along with the service sheet when I drop the car off, any additional work is not allowed without my authorisation.

If you are not getting anywhere with the dealership directly, there will be an escalation path to Toyota Australia, if you feel the dealership has not adequately explained the reasons or are committed to charging you for something you did not authorise in the initial inspection sheet, Toyota Australia will provide the mediation between you and the dealer and right any wrong, you are the customer after all and they value your business. I know of cases where issues have been caused by one dealership, and once it was escalated they were told to take the car to another dealer (different owner) who provided the second opinion, and actually were able to prove the first dealer had caused damage. The second dealership proceeded to fix it and sent the bill to the first dealer.

[Suavemechanic]

your subaru experience is not like my experiences at the toyota dealership ....i find thumping the table loudly and yelling rude words gets you a little quiet room and a nice man who can actually fix the problem .keep shopping around for a good dealership they vary a lot

[maj]

You are always entitled to voice your dissatisfaction of a particular dealer to Toyota Australia. Whether it gets anywhere or not is the difference I guess.
I've had unfortunate incidents happen at the dealership too and I'd be lying if I said it's been a 100% smooth experience. What I do find comforting though is that they are absolutely professional in their approach to everything. It's much easier dealing with a service manager to come to an agreement on what is wrong and what needs to be fixed at what cost, than dealing with an imbecile mechanic who can't string three words together without two of them consisting of swearing whilst he's accessing how much he can take you for a ride for.

The previous owner of my soobie (who is a good friend of mine) had many instances where the dealer was at fault for issues caused, the biggest being not torquing and bolting up the engine mounts properly causing a skew in the engine geometry, which ultimately wrecked the gearbox (driveshaft was mal-aligned which caused all sorts of issues and vibrations). It had to be sent off to Subaru in Japan before they'd replace it; they were the only ones qualified to diagnose the problem accurately and were also very keen to find out what happened for their own R&D. The overall time he was without the car was 2 months.
The lesson learnt; research your rights as a consumer, be clear, concise and forthcoming about any issues or costs with the car. If it still fails use your research to escalate where possible.
Although I know the service sheet front to back these days, I never walk out of the service office without them itemising everything for me and double checking costs. I also check any difference in pricing for identical services and question the reason why.

[TERRA Operative]

I never walk out of the service office without them itemising everything for me and double checking costs. I also check any difference in pricing for identical services and question the reason why.

This is very important. Also double check that what they write down is actually what was done. I am paranoid with my vehicles so go over that stuff like a hawk.
Also, be assertive about what you want done, it's your money after all.

[George]

Nice thread guys. I've always thought it's only our local dealers who messes with the stuff like said above

[splatt]

Not that I don't like preventive maintenance but,
Going to a dealer with phrase 'please service my car' is exactly them same as telling them 'please fuck me'.

Totally agree, but as it's a Prius, they might insist you bring your sisters/wife/mother in to be serviced at the same time