my mom got this coupon in the mail for an oil and filter change for $20 from Performance Toyota. so I scheduled an appointment to bring in the car. I talked on the phone with this guy who said the total time would be 20 mins and that nick would be servicing us. when my mom came in with the car ('89 Camry), the mechanic(s) spent a total of 45 mins working in the car, despite the guy saying it was only 20 mins. Afterwards, my mom was rushing towards work because she was late. then she noticed that whenever she would slow down, the steering wheel would start vibrating. she waited a few days after the incident to decide to have it fixed because she wasn't so sure about what to do. so I called the customer service dept to schedule an appointment and explain the problem. the lady asked who helped us, I said "nick" and she hung up to call him. after a few mins, she calls back saying nick is not in his office and that she'll give us a call the next day. the next day came and she called. I wasn't there but my sister picked up. my sister told me that nick says it was because of the brakes. and she didn't tell me if he said anything else.
there are a few things that seem very suspicious:
1) before the oil change, the car was fine...it was after it that the steering would start shaking. btw, can that steering wheel problem cause an accident? and can I threaten them with a lawsuit if an accident does occur?
2) why would the guy who scheduled the appointment say the oil and filter change would take only 20 mins when the mechanics worked on the car for 45 mins? what were they even doing?
3) we had the call come into performance toyota a bit more than a year ago for a brakes problem. they fixed it for $1400 and there was a 1-year warranty should the same problem occur within in a year. now that the one year warranty was just over (july 14), it seems even more suspicious. perhaps the mechanic rigged our car on purpose when it was just out of warranty so we would have to pay them for their service
4) when I talked to that customer service lady, she said that she doesn't see how changing an oil would affect the steering wheel since the oil/filter change had no direct contact with the steering wheel or its part. then the next day, nick somehow figured out it was the brakes that's been having problems.
I've tried to take out the bias in the story as much as possible and tried to present it in a neutral way. me and my mom don't know much about cars so I need your guys' help/tips on this. in fact, we're asians and my mom doesn't speak english well, which was obvious to the mechanics when we brought in the car, so she could have been an easy target for a scam. was there something wrong with the way the mechanics did something and please also address the suspicions listed above. do you think I've been scamed? if so, how would I deal with this? and if we do have to pay them for fixing the breaks problem, it's probably going to cost us $1400 like last time.
there are a few things that seem very suspicious:
1) before the oil change, the car was fine...it was after it that the steering would start shaking. btw, can that steering wheel problem cause an accident? and can I threaten them with a lawsuit if an accident does occur?
2) why would the guy who scheduled the appointment say the oil and filter change would take only 20 mins when the mechanics worked on the car for 45 mins? what were they even doing?
3) we had the call come into performance toyota a bit more than a year ago for a brakes problem. they fixed it for $1400 and there was a 1-year warranty should the same problem occur within in a year. now that the one year warranty was just over (july 14), it seems even more suspicious. perhaps the mechanic rigged our car on purpose when it was just out of warranty so we would have to pay them for their service
4) when I talked to that customer service lady, she said that she doesn't see how changing an oil would affect the steering wheel since the oil/filter change had no direct contact with the steering wheel or its part. then the next day, nick somehow figured out it was the brakes that's been having problems.
I've tried to take out the bias in the story as much as possible and tried to present it in a neutral way. me and my mom don't know much about cars so I need your guys' help/tips on this. in fact, we're asians and my mom doesn't speak english well, which was obvious to the mechanics when we brought in the car, so she could have been an easy target for a scam. was there something wrong with the way the mechanics did something and please also address the suspicions listed above. do you think I've been scamed? if so, how would I deal with this? and if we do have to pay them for fixing the breaks problem, it's probably going to cost us $1400 like last time.
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