Ask AAA: Camry Power Window Warranty Problems
on Sep 29 in Maintenance & Repairs tagged repairs, Warranties by Jason
Here’s a question that was recently sent to us:
I lease a 2006 Toyota Camry and recently the driver side window made a really loud noise when I rolled it down, and then I wasn’t able to roll it back up. I paid the dealership $150 for them to look at it and tell me that the whole window needed to be replaced. Apparently, the window clips broke and since the clips come from the manufacturer I would need the whole glass replaced. My warranty expired about 5,000 miles ago, but I consider myself a good customer. The dealership told me it would cost $400 (less the $150) to repair. They also offered me 20% discount. I feel that this repair should be taken care of by the dealer or Toyota – what should I do?
Answer:
First, what the dealer has told you is correct. It’s silly, but once the clips holding the glass to the mechanism break, it’s time to replace the whole apparatus.
Since the dealer isn’t willing to repair the window free of charge, you can try and find an independent repair shop to do the work for less. However, the 20% discount the dealership offered you likely makes them the cheapest place to go.
As far as getting your repair covered completely, there is something called “after warranty assistance.” It’s not really easy to get, but I would definitely try. Just keep in mind that since your warranty is completely past, you will likely have to pay something. The question is, how much? After warranty assistance will usually cover 50-80% of the cost, so that should be your goal.
Our Recommendation: Speaking with the GM is usually productive in this situation, but you want to give the service manager a chance to come through for you. We would suggest you call and ask the service manager for after warranty assistance before you call the general manager.
Exactly How Cars Work Explained REALLY Nicely
on Aug 27 in Maintenance & Repairs tagged repairs, scheduled maintenance by Jason
Most people in the world have only a vague concept of how the mechanical components in their vehicle actually function. Ask someone to explain how their engine really works, or what happens when the transmission is “shifted,” and you’ll get a blank stare.
Let me say right now that while I believe everyone should have a basic understanding of how everyday devices work (like a car’s engine, for instance), I will be the first to admit I have no idea how a lot of things work (not when it comes to cars of course, but I can’t explain how babies work to save my life…).
I’ll go one step further and say that when it comes to owning a car, you don’t really need to know how everything works in order to get by. You can enjoy a long and fruitful life of auto ownership without knowing anything about the 4-stroke cycle or how transmissions work.
HOWEVER, the facts are these:
- It’s nice to know how things work. It makes us feel smarter and more informed.
- It doesn’t take much effort to learn – two hours of your life *tops* will cover all the bases.
- Most importantly, knowing the basics of how your car works will dramatically reduce the likelihood that someone will try to take advantage of you.
SO, if you want to learn more, check out CarBibles.com. Without over-hyping the site, let me say that it is AWESOME. The explanations are all fantastic (and correct), and they’re delivered in a clear, concise method that had me chuckling.
If you’re interested in learning about your car, visit this site. My advice is to start with the article about your vehicle’s engine and fuel system. An hour or two of your time spent reading and learning will go a long ways towards your next visit to your local service facility.
Just think about the look on your mechanic’s face when you start asking intelligent and informed questions about the repairs he or she is advocating. By proving you have a basic understanding, you’re demonstrating that you’re willing to call their bluff. You’ll notice the number of recommended repairs usually drops quite a bit once you’ve proven just how smart you are.
Crack the books and get started! If you like the info as much as I do, make sure to leave the owner of the site, Chris Longhurst, a small donation.
Using Auto Touch Up Paint
on Apr 03 in Maintenance & Repairs tagged car paint, repairs by Jason
You’ve just exited your local mall and you’re confidently walking towards your car when you notice something isn’t right — the paint is SCRATCHED! You look around, hoping to see the culprit, vainly wishing they were still around so you could vent your rage. Then, you walk up to the scratch hoping it will “rub-off”. Alas, that doesn’t work either. What do you do next — get out the touch-up paint?
For God’s sake NO! The sound of the words “touch-up paint” always make me cringe. Fixing a scratch in your car’s paint with a cheap bottle of touch-up is like fixing a piece of electronics with a hammer. It might work, but it also might ruin how the thing looks.
Unless the scratch is HUGE, the standard touch-up paint in the bottle is a bad idea. It’s hard to apply (unless you’ve got experience) and it’s usually overkill. The good news is that there are some methods that will remove or greatly reduce the appearance of the scratch on your new car, and they’re surprisingly inexpensive.
The best way to fix a light scratch is called “wet sanding”. Essentially, a paint pro will do an EXTREMELY light sanding on the scratch which will reorganize the paint/clear-coat molecules and make the scratch “disappear” — provided of course the scratch isn’t too big or too deep. This will usually cost very little – some scratch repair pros will fix every scratch on your car for $100 or less.
How do you know if a scratch is too big to wet sanded?
- Are we talking about a scratch that you can easily feel with a fingernail? If so, it’s too big.
- Does the scratch run the length of a whole body panel? If it does, you may not be able to wet-sany.
- Can you see any metal in the scratch? Sometimes you can see white or gray in the scratch, but that’s usually primer. We’re looking for actual metal here. If you see metal, you’ve definitely got a deep scratch.
If any of the above is true, you have what is considered a “deep scratch” and the solution is to take your car to your local body shop. If your car has been keyed and/or an entire panel is scratched, you may want to call your insurance company. The cost of repairing deep and or big scratches can range, from less than a hundred dollars to a few thousand. Make sure you get a few quotes if it’s much more than $100 to fix your scratch.
If the scratch is light, your local body shop should be able to fix it up for less than $50. Make sure the shop you’re going to us has a written guarantee and that you understand it. Usually the person repairing your car will tell you what it’s going to look like when they’re done.
Finally, make sure you realize that either one of the above methods will greatly diminish the appearance of the scratch, but that a scratch in a factory paint job can’t truly be “fixed”. It’s never going to look perfect, but if you hire a professional, it will be hard for anyone to see it and no one will know about it but you.
After Warranty Assistance: Warranty Coverage For Vehicles Outside Of Warranty
on Mar 19 in Maintenance & Repairs tagged car dealer tips, repairs, Warranties by Jason
Recently, I came across a story about a person with a 2004 SUV that needed a really expensive repair, all because of a leaky $4 O-Ring. The problem – the warranty on this person’s SUV is for 5 years or 60k miles, but the SUV has 95k miles on it. It was past the mileage limit (but still inside the 5 year time limit).
What can a person do in this situation? Since the part is not 5 years old yet, isn’t there something the dealer can do to warranty this repair?
The good news is there’s something called “after-warranty-assistance” for people in this situation – provided the person with the problem is the vehicle’s original owner (if you bought the car used this won’t help you). After warranty assistance won’t cover all your costs, but it might make a big dent in the total bill.
Basically, after-warranty-assistance (AWA) is an un-official program between a car manufacturer and their dealer (most large automakers offer some version of this program). Under an AWA claim, a dealer can offer a reduced labor rate and/or free parts on something that failed outside the terms of the warranty, provided there’s some “gray” area in terms of miles and/or years. For instance, when I was managing at a Ford dealership, I once got Ford to cover a broken A/C compressor on a used Explorer. The SUV was 5 years old, but it only had 20k miles. So even though it was outside the time limit on the 3/36 warranty, it was inside the miles (these were the days before Ford’s 5yr/60k mile powertrain warranty). I remember the service manager working with me on a couple of high miles vehicles that were less than 3 years old. Same goes for my time at a Toyota dealer.
Typically AWA is granted on a percentage basis – from 20% of the cost of the uncovered repair all the way up to 100%. If you’re still inside part of your manufacturer’s warranty (or even if you’re just outside it) you’ve got a shot at AWA.
If you want to improve your chances of being granted some AWA from your local dealer, I would suggest the following:
- Pull all your maintenance and repair records for your vehicle. Hopefully you’ve had this work done at your local dealer. This will prove you take care of your car and that you’re a loyal customer.
- If you own or have owned any other vehicles of the same make (GM, Ford, Dodge, etc.), make copies of the registration for each. This will show the manufacturer you are a long term owner of their product.
- Be nice to the people at the dealership – these AWA requests take a lot of work on their end. If they don’t like you, you’re not going to get much help.
- Follow up with the dealership’s GM and service manager – these are the two people with the most power to help you.
- Explain that you understand you’re going to have some out of pocket expenses. Even if the dealer can’t get AWA from the manufacturer, they might be willing to split some labor costs with you in the interest of customer service.
If none of this works (or if you aren’t the original owner of this vehicle with the problem), you might ask the dealer about what they can do towards a trade-in. Maybe the service and sales departments can work out a way to get you full value for your vehicle, even though it needs an expensive repair.
If you want to keep your vehicle, a local independent repair shop might be able to cut your bill in half. They might be able to get you a refurbished part as well. The service advisors at your local dealership can probably recommend a couple of places that do good work for less money (with a little buttering up).
Have a service problem that you’d like some advice with? Contact us!
Car Dealership Customer Service Tips
on Feb 16 in Maintenance & Repairs tagged repairs by Jason
Your new car (or your new car dealer) is giving you a headache. There’s a problem and the customer service you’ve received hasn’t been good enough. You feel like you’ve done your part, but your problem is still unresolved. How do you get it solved?
Listen to this article.
First of all, if you’re having a problem with your new car and it hasn’t been taken care of, your best hope for a solution is to work with your local dealer. Believe it or not, your local dealership is invested in solving your problem because they know that’s the best way to make you a lifetime customer. It’s a well known fact (known by dealers and car manufacturers alike) that while dealerships spend thousands of dollars in advertising trying to create trust with their customers, statistics show that the *best* way to create trust with consumers is to solve their problems.
But before your local new car dealer will help you, they need to believe that you’re going to be a good future customer. It’s much easier for a dealership to justify helping you (especially if it costs money) if they believe they will earn that money back in the future. The best way to convince a dealership you’re going to be a good customer in the future is to show them you’re a good customer now.
You can show the dealership you’re a good customer by being nice to the dealer’s employees. While it might make you feel better to yell or be rude, nothing will hurt your cause more than a group of employees at the dealership that hate you. If you want to get what you want, give them a reason to like you and want to help you. “Kill em’ with kindness” and you will prove you’re a customer worth saving.
While being pleasant will help you get what you want from your local dealer, working with the dealership’s General Manager (GM) will help you just as much. GM’s have the full backing of the manufacturer and they have the power to do just about anything to solve a customer service complaint. Keep in mind that many dealership general managers are powerful enough to get senior manufacturer sales executives on the phone at any time, so they’re absolutely capable of getting the manufacturer to do something for you. They are also usually experienced professionals that know how to help. Make sure you ask to speak with the dealership GM when you have a customer service problem.
In the rare case that speaking with the GM of your local dealer doesn’t work, the next step is to call the manufacturer’s customer service hotline (the number can be found in your owner’s manual). You should try to contact the local regional office as well. While the local regional office will probably just refer you to the national hotline, you may be able to speak with a regional Toyota executive. Persistence is key.
So, to summarize, if you have a new car customer service problem, your local dealer is your starting point. Make sure to ask to speak with the general manager and to be nice to everyone you speak with. If the local dealer doesn’t get it done, try working with the manufacturer’s national hotline. Finally, call your manufacturer’s regional office. As long as you’re persistent and pleasant, you’ll get the best possible customer service.
Luxury Cars: Not So Luxurious When It Comes To Repairs
on Oct 01 in Bad Used Cars tagged Bad Used Cars, luxury car, repairs, Used Cars by Mark
If you’ve ever considered buying a late-model German luxury car, make sure you do your homework first. Recently we had the opportunity to see what happens when a 2000 Audi A6 has a power steering failure…
Our little Audi developed a power steering leak at one of the seals. This type of repair can be pretty easy in most cars, but our Audi is a little different. In order to replace or rebuild the power steering rack the sub-frame needs to be lowered to gain access to the rack. This operation is listed as a 12-hour repair in the automotive labor repair manuals. In most shops, the labor rate is about $100.00 per hour (as of Sept. 07) and that means the labor alone on this repair is about $1,200.00. But that’s just the start.
Removing the rack is only the first step in the repair process. Once the Audi power steering rack has been removed, we still need to fix the leak. This can be accomplished in one of two ways: 1) Replace the rack or 2) Rebuild. Amazingly, the cost of both of these options is nearly the same – about $1,000.00. So, most people opt to replace the rack. Now we’re up to $2,200 to fix a leaky steering rack, but we’re not done yet.
The Audi’s steering rack uses a very special power steering fluid called Pentosin CHF 11S. This is the only fluid that can be used in the rack, and it runs about $20.00. Per quart. The good news is that the system only takes 19 quarts. And the hits just keep on comin’.
So let’s recap: We’ve purchased a $1,000.00 power steering rack, $1,200.00 of labor, $380.00 of power steering fluid and a 10% shop supplies fee of $258.00. That’s a grand total of $2,838.00 (plus tax). Sounds a little scary I know, but our Audi is damn-near useless without power steering…
What’s the bottom line? While an Audi A6, BMW M5 or Mercedes Benz C class all sound like great ways to show the world you have arrived, they might empty your bank account. If a power steering rack repair can be this expensive and complicated, just imagine what an air conditioning repair will cost! Our advice, avoid used luxury vehicles whenever possible. With that being said please understand we don’t dislike German luxury vehicles. The German manufactures have excellent warranties on their new vehicles. Most new German vehicles cover all maintenance and repairs for the first four years or so. This type of coverage can give you real piece of mind — but the moment that the warranty expires, watch out! Things can get pretty expensive in a hurry.
