My TCH is in a body shop now (human hit and run, not deer) and I miss it and worry about it being fixed right.

Hopefully mine is being handled properly and I'll have it back at the end of the week.

You can't help but worry when a wonderful car is being redone (my passenger side was smacked and the doors are being replaced and rear alignment being checked to look for more damage).

Sigh.

 

Well now it has been 90 (ninety) days tomorrow and I still am driving a rental. The Toyota service garage totally messed up the car. They somehow damaged the main wiring harness, which they claim was due to the accident . Remember I drove it in with no problems, lights, bells or whistles. The cost of the harness was $3,500. Insurance refused (rightly so) to pay for it. They argued for literally weeks and then concluded that they would split the cost three ways, Service area, body shop and Insurance. All fine at that point. I was to pick the car up last Friday, but first the service manager wanted to drive it home and check it out. He found that the steering somehow went out and now it will be $1,100 more for a complete rack and pinion system. What are they trying to pull?.. They are paying for my rental car but I wonder how long they can play this game?. Further will my beloved TCH ever be right again. I know they are all a Toyota certified repair shop etc. but I REALLY have my doubts and will be always skeptical about what they have/are doing.
Meanwhile, I have put nearly 4,000 miles on a rental car. a KIA POS.
I guess I should consider the miles I am saving on my TCH , but then again, I still am making car payments on a car I haven't seen since March the 10th!!.
Totally dismayed..
WillyBill

 

Wow, got much much worse. That's a lot of stuff to go wrong, and my car was worse off than yours! I don't think Butler is really trying to play a game, they are just totally sucking at fixing your car. My car came out looking fine, and no noticable difference besides the mic and voice recognition not working right, but I will still always have my doubt about everything on the inside even though I didn't have anywhere remotely the problems you are having. Butler Service on Keystone Ave and Butler Body Shop in Carmel are owned by the same guy and they have to pay 2/3rds....I guess rightly so. I agree that with all the stuff that has gone with your car I could never feel like it's 100%. My Hoosier sympathies go out to you. I guess if anything goes wrong in the future you have someone to blame . . .

 

OK so maybe I am a little 'bitter' at this point.. Hopefully this week will be the end of it and they will have restored my confidence in their service capabilities. BTW the Body shop has been great during all this and very customer service oriented and, for the most part, completely on my side during all this. I just want it to end and get my car back.. Funny, my car has been there so long the plates EXPIRED! LOL

 

Update but still not done !.. Toyota and insurance company still fighting over who should pay for a replacement rack and pinion electric power steering unit, which was determined to have gone bad as well. No word yet. Toyota has had me turn in the rental car which tallied up $1,200 and now am driving a manager's 09 Camry until mine ever sees the light of day again. 96 days today

 

Update- DAY 100 !.. New Rack & Pinion steering assy arrived from Japan and was installed on Wednesday.. Steering now working fine. Svc Mgr driving miles on vehicle to insure success. Only remaining thing.. Car now has center console squeak, which has a TSB and will be fixed today.
Still TBD is who will pay for the bad/defective/un-operable Rack and Pinion gear that was removed.. Apparently there is a regular CSI event going on to determine who pays.. Certainly NOT me !. Hope to get my CH back next week!..

 

FINALLY !! after an UNPRECEDENTED 105 days in repair, MY 2007 TCH Magnetic Grey HYBRID is on the road again Toyota service and BUTLER body shop did an outstanding job supporting my cause in getting the repair finished correctly.. It took a complete new wiring harness, a new front airbag sensor, a new ECU and an entire new electric rack and pinion steering mechanism, but I picked up the car yesterday afternoon and checked it out about as thoroughly as humanly possible.. Almost imediately, the Hybrid Battery went green and MPG went up to 38 mpg.
All accessories work as they should, including NAV, displays, satellite radio AC and heat .. Brakes seemed a little tight but then after 105 days, you would expect some rotor rusting which did occur. My insurance company really disappointed me here. Instead of fighting for the consumer, they continually fought the servicer!. They outright refused to pay for some of the repairs. Toyota had to absorb a LOT of cost on the repair and including a large car rental bill. I thought BUTLER toyota did an outstanding job of getting it done right despite the arguments from the insurance company as well as many delays by them as well. This is really unusal since the damage was due from a third party insured who already assumed liability in the accident. The car looks great and like new again and I should have some pictures up in the next few days.

ATTA Boy Butler Toyota, Butler Body Shop, Ken Wycoff, and Butler management! Poor service award goes to American Family Insurance.

 

Do you have any pictures of the damage?

EDIT: Never mind - I found them earlier in the thread!

 

WillyBill — Well, I'm certainly glad to hear that you finally have your TCH back again as good as new! It sounds from your description as if most of your problems were the result of damage caused by incompetent workmanship on the part of the various repairers. Certainly, the wiring harness, steering, airbag, and ECU failures were not present when you drove the damaged vehicle in! Quite an ordeal! Good luck for the future — you've certainly had more than your share of bad luck.

Stan

 

May she run many years without another mishap!!!!!!!