Toyota: Too Big To Care

I’ve been such an enthusiastic fan of the Prius that it’s embarrassing to discover that Toyota’s customer service is no better than any other auto manufacturer’s. My opinion of the social climate in the United States leads me to believe that Toyota would have been better off staying in Japan. Our first Prius, a 2003 manufactured in Japan, came with all kinds of corporate attention intended to, I suppose, allay any wariness about the new technology. After nearly two years of driving that car, Toyota offered us 90% of its original price in trade on the 2005 as incentive to make the move. Both cars have operated flawlessly until Thanksgiving Day when the unthinkable happened: Prudence shut down. Now we are getting the real story about service after the sale. The only thing that Findlay Toyota Flagstaff has succeeded at is relieving us of $60 to charge the battery which is now reportedly unchargeable (they were very adept at that). Centennial Toyota, who sold us both cars (and the extended warranty) is really sorry about our misfortune, but could only offer me the telephone number to Toyota Customer Service that I hung up on yesterday after having spent close to an hour on hold. I spent an equally long time on hold today but persevered, at which time Brandy actually assigned me a case number and case manager who is supposed to call me in the next twenty-four hours. Bottom line: your problem is not our problem. I’ll continue to do my best to impress upon Toyota that my problem is their problem, and you, dear reader, may be thankful that you’re not one of their customer service reps.