Toyota woes

geordiepaul2001

Hi all,

I am after a bit of advice on behalf of my sister in law.

In December 2009 she skidded in the snow and the car struck the kerb.
Since then the Toyota Yaris has been emmiting a grinding noise from underneath.
She took the car into the dealers and they said nothing was wrong with it.
After a few weeks the noise was still present so she returned to the dealers, this time she was told that it was gearbox and that it needed replacing, which they duly did.
A few weeks after and the noise is still there.
She has returned to the dealership a 3rd time and this time they have said that the axle is bent and the chasis is damaged.
She is now in the process of paying a further £1000 for these repairs.

Does anyone else think that this level of customer service stinks?
Surely she has some recourse against work being carried out that wasn't needed (gearbox).

Any thoughts and opinions are welcome.

harveybobbles

geordiepaul2001 wrote: »

She has returned to the dealership a 3rd time and this time they have said that the axle is bent and the chasis is damaged.

Take it to somewhere that does 4 wheel alignment.

gilbert_and_sullivan

With hindsight (get me a pint whilst you're there) she should have submitted the car to a proper accident repair workshop after the kerb strike as an insurance job.

The trouble with a presumably sideblow to a immovable object like a kerb is that who can tell what has been damaged without stripping the entire drivetrain, from wheelbearings and driveshaft couplings through to the gearbox final drive.

It's entirely possible that the gearbox final drive bearings were damaged which caused the grinding sound, now in theory a proper mechanic would whip the final drive out find the faulty bearings and replace them, the big problem is finding that mech.

So say they've replaced the gearbox and as far as they are concerned the job is done, it seems from your post that it was OK for a few weeks and now the noise has started again.
Maybe the gearbox is singing cos the out of line chassis is straining the bearings again, who knows without precise chassis measurements.

To put the chassis out of line the blow must have been quite severe, she should really have had the car inspected by a competent crash repair shop at the time.

Did she tell the Toyota dealer about the accident so they knew what to look for in the frist place.

It might still be worth talking to her insurance company about this, they can only tell her to get lost, and they just might be sympathetic.

geordiepaul2001

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

So say they've replaced the gearbox and as far as they are concerned the job is done, it seems from your post that it was OK for a few weeks and now the noise has started again.

Apologies my original post was not clear, the noise has always been present even after the gearbox was changed.

She did advise Toyota as to what had happened so they had prior knowledge.

Paul

Strider590

Has the problem been fixed? it actually sounds to me like a piece of plastic (wheel arch liner or undertray) may have come loose and is catching on either the ground or the road wheel.

My ex drove all the way to Devon (from Wolverhampton) with the wheel arch liner catching on the front passenger side wheel, she called me AFTER she got there to see if I knew what the noise and burning smell was........