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I again came w/the same problem to LT on May 16th, 2008 willing to get it done this time, and I did take a road test with the mechanic.
...on Monday, July 28th 2008 I was refused service at Lawrence Toyota by Service Manager and the owner of Lawrence Toyota who called my Toyota Camry a "CAN OF WORMS" and who would not want to finish repairing the steering wheel "grinding noise"*Description given by their own, Lawrence Toyota mechanics.
LAWRENCE TOYOTA have been repairing my Toyota Camry for THE STEERING WHEEL "Hiss", "Clicks", or "Grinding noise" for 3 months in a row, May, June, and July 2008 respectively.
On May 16th,2008 I was refused service 1st time ever. On May 23rd,2008 the steering wheel boot has been lubricated, which did NOT fix the problem. In June 12,13, 2008 the spiral cable/clock had been replaced, which did not solve the problem. In July 15,16,17,18, 2008 the SAME spiral cable/clock had been replaced,(an hour job) which obviously did NOT repair the steering wheel= Lawrence Toyota mechanics have either no clue how to repair this noise or they didn't want to repair it. TOO COSTLY? Probably.
TOO COSTLY? Probably. Service Manager stated that they've put already a lot of money into my Camry...really? Latest repair that was unsuccessful third time in a row for example,it took 4 days of labor, but the only thing that was "repaired" was=spiral cable/clock had been replaced, which is about an hour job. Check for yourself. After the latest repair that my car was kept in the shop for July 15,16,17,18 and nothing had been accomplished my alarm began turning on by itself creating a lot of noise.
Lawrence Toyota had not finished the work on my Camry it started on May 23rd, 2008. Can you see what I mean?
Monday, July 28, 2008 - I had met the owner of Lawrence Toyota and the Service Manager. They would reeeaaaalllly like to help as they said but the Owner of Lawrence Toyota said..I don't want to open another CAN OF WORMS"He meant my Toyota Camry that he sold me. Or we tried to fix it..Something new will get broken like a seat and this will go on and on...neither would he trade my car or sell me another one for the same reasons stated=another can of worms=new problems w/the car and customer who only wants the job be done properly.
Therefore,it seems that according to Lawrence Toyota a good customer is the one who takes his car not to Lawrence Toyota where his/her car was bought and is covered by an Extended Warranty but to any other mechanic paying thousands of dollars for repairs. That was just a definition of a good customer. With people like that is always good to do business, they lose money on purchasing an Extended Warranty and are willing to repair their Toyota somewhere else.
A bad customer is the one that would like to have his car repaired at the place where the vehicle and the warranty was purchased.
I told the owner of Lawrence Toyota and Service Manager that after latest repairs my ALARM GOES OFF by itself and the steering wheel is still not repaired. But neither one of them felt it was the right thing to do to repair my Toyota properly and to finally to finish the job they started. They had meeting especially for my Camry/CAN OF WORMS and decided they would NOT finish the repairs on WARRANTY that they started on my TOYOTA CAMRY in May 23rd, June 12,13 and July 15,16,17,18, 2008 like any REPUTABLE place WOULD.
Lawrence Toyota don't want to finish repairing my car that they weren't able to fix for the last 3 months holding onto my car in May 23rd, June 12,13, and July 15,16,17,18 respectively.
It's not very surprising that the steering wheel has not been repaired as Lawrence Toyota mechanics replaced the same part, spiral cable/clock twice.
Interests
These latest repairs required at least taking apart steering wheel and who knows what else. Hence, the alarm goes off by itself since the latest July 15,16,17,18 repairs and the steering wheel still produces "grinding noise", which is the description given by their own, Lawrence Toyota mechanics.
Latest repair took 4 days,from July 15 to July 18,2008 and the only thing that was done was the spiral clock replaced that takes an hour to be replaced?! Something is very FISHY about this kind of service.
Now after these repairs my Car's ALARM GOES OFF BY ITSELF! This too was too much of a trouble for Lawrence Toyota to take care of as of Monday, July 28, 2008. Speaking of Steering wheel ..Grinding noise.., I had gone for to Lawrence Toyota 4 times, once was refused service. Work done on this problem was a warranty work, since it was not done properly neither in May nor in July.
Warranty is purchased by people to AVOID COSTLY REPAIRS, NOT to get into Costly repairs or being KICKED OUT OF THE DEALERSHIP WHERE ONE BUYS THE BRAND NEW CAR...THE DEALERSHIP THAT REFUSES TO SERVICE THE VEHICLE SINCE THEY ARE NOT WILLING TO REPAIR IT PROPERLY.
New car is purchased to avoid costly repairs not to spend thousands of dollars on costly repairs.
There is a lot to tell, even though I will not be serviced my car at Lawrence Toyota anymore as they refused to repair the steering wheel Grinding Noise which they weren't able to get repaired for the last 3 months. The story has not ended yet as I need to rethink what happened and take appropriate steps.
The story goes back to 2006, 2007 when I had came to Lawrence Toyota with the steering wheel problem and vibration of the vehicle.
In 2006, and 2007 I was told that there was NO FAULT FOUND for vibrations, and that shaft or some part has been replaced/some work had been done.
The problem would not go away and I would come back in 2007, with the exact same results.
In 2008 however, I decided to pay more attention to this issue and to my surprise I was refused service on May 16th,2008 even though My Camry was an still is covered by an extended warranty.
http://www.carcomplaints.com/Toyota/Camry/2004/steering/knock_in_the_steering_wheel.shtml
http://toyotacamryvibrations.synthasite.com/index.php
MAY 2008
MY TOYOTA CAMRY IS COVERED BY AN EXTENDED WARRANTY YET on May 16th 2008, LAWRENCE TOYOTA Former of Mechanics and Service front desk rep. refused to take my Camry into the garage to repair STEERING WHEEL VIBRATIONS AND HISS COMING FROM THE STEERING WHEEL WHILE TURNING THE WHEEL.
As of now I have filed a complaint with BBB and plan on filing another complaint with another governmental branch that will hopefully help LAWRENCE TOYOTA not to ignore STEERING WHEEL PROBLEMS, ENTIRE VEHICLE SHAKING, NOISE HISS COMING FROM STEERING WHEEL...and take RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR WORK TILL THE JOB IS ACCOMPLISHED, NOT SCREWED UP. What kind of service it is and what kind of people these are?
KNOW please, I have a serious issue with my car and LAWRENCE TOYOTA has IGNORED it.
My 2004 Toyota Camry has 2 MAJOR PROBLEMS that last for about last 3 years. Steering Wheel Vibration problem that shakes the entire vehicle at different speeds, and steering wheel noise(quiet "HISS") coming out of the steering wheel while making turns. LAWRENCE TOYOTA has already tried to repair the problems but unsuccessfully. When on Friday, May 16th 2008 Lawrence Toyota mechanic and myself took a test drive the Foreman of mechanics Mr. C.S. recognized the vibration and hiss coming from the steering wheel, but when we came back to the dealership he has changed his mind and instructed front desk adviser Mr. B. that they will not be repairing my car as they have already tried to repair it for the last couple of years and instructed the adviser to state that during the test drive there was NO FAULT FOUND.
