Some info straight from Toyota Technical Information Service

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flushing or changing during the life of the vehicle.

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or substitutes may result in shift concerns and damage to the internal

transmission components.

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atmosphere, ATF-WS may absorb moisture and potentially cause shift concerns if

used in operation.

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only

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drained from the overflow plug should be discarded following proper local

regulations and never reused. Failure to do so could result in shift concerns and

damage to the internal transmission components.

 

Well, I am an educated consumer but my multitudinous questions *never* get properly answered. I'm given a quick answer that often makes NO sense and I'm usually treated like an idiot, because I'm a woman. Very, very, very frustrating. Nothing would please me more than a thorough and detailed explanation when I'm having my car serviced.

As to the original question, I have a 2003 Toyota Camry LE and that car spent 15 days in the shop during its first year, all for squeaks and noises and rattles and such. They found many pieces were either missing or not tightented. Cables were flopping around in the trunk area because TWO clips had never been installed. A rear speaker rattled because the bolts on its underside had never been tightened. It was the rattliest car I ever drove - and I bought it BRAND new in 2003. Finally, the dealer took the car for 8 days and disassembled most of the interior and repaired all the rattles and other troubles. When they returned the car to me after the 8-day extravaganza, there were still rattles in the dash but they explained that fixing those would take more time and probably CREATE more rattles than it resolved.

Very disappointing!

Rose Thornton

 

I drive a 96 Camry and the build quality is great, however I have noticed from driving the newer models 03-06 that the transmission has a much better feel than the older cars, the shifts are smoother, the TCU feels more confident in it's shift points, and the stick feels like it came from a Lexus. I can't really comment on the interior assembly quality because thats something you have to really own the car to get a good feel for, however the quality of the materials used has increased and the new cars have a more luxurious feel to the interior, although the older models had a much more durable quality to the interior. The design of how the interior panels fit together has made assembly, and disassembly much faster and easier, with less risk of damaging the panels, for example the rear seat side cushions no longer have to be removed to take out the rear deck.

For rosethornil, I am sorry for your dissatisfaction in having your car serviced, I think that you are getting short answers not because you are a woman, but because the service techs have to deal with a very large number of people with varying degrees of understanding of the mechanical workings of the cars they drive. Sometimes you can tell someone what is wrong with their car, sometimes you have to walk them through what isn't working, and what it normally does, and sometimes you just don't know how to explain it to them, most often because it is a small part of a larger system of parts and would take quite a long explanation to get to why it isn't doing what it should. If you can't get your service shop to show you the problem, I can only suggest that you try to learn on your own about your car, you don't need to be able to diagnose problems or know the specifications for your car, but if you pick up a service manual (Haynes , Chilton ect) at a local parts store you will be able to ask your service shop what parts are being replaced and see a picture of the part and read where on the car it is. or as an alternative you could post your questions on this forum and I'm sure you would get some better answers, also in my personal opinion the dealer that told you that fixing the rattles in the dash wasn't worth it, wasn't lying. Dash work is not fun and can cause the dash panels to not fit as tight as before they were removed, although Toyota makes it much, much easier than other manufactures do (looking at you GM!).

 

Concur with Sexiewasd, the best approach and perhaps defense is getting up to speed on the basics of how cars operate and maybe a little basic repair. There are many auto sites like this one that can help someone with car issues and pass on info on specific model problems and repairs.

It is not just gender and Toyota dealers. Some but not all repair outlets are not very forth coming and even take advantage of a patron’s lack of knowledge.

A few outlets however have picked up not treating the customer as an "idiot" and the result is increased sales and service work.

 

Well, thanks for the comments on getting "up to speed" but the fact is, I took two years of auto tech at an accreditedvocational school (a few years ago!) and graduated with straight A's, much to the astonishment of the testosterone-laden young menwho were in the class with me. That's the problem. One look at a woman (or even a woman's NAME online) and the immediate presumption is that she doesn't know anything about cars, but needs to run out and buy a book with lots of pretty pictures so she can learn a little something all those "thing-a-mabobbers" under the car's hood and maybe - just maybe - learn totalk quasi-intelligently about her vehicle with a nice, smart man.

Most service writers seem to know less about cars than I do and that's alsoa large part of the problem.

Sigh.

Rose in Virginia

 

"Most service writers seem to know less about cars than I do and that's alsoa large part of the problem."

I totally agree with you there. Not a day goes by where i dont have to explain some part of a car to a service writer.

Btw, why are you taking your car to a dealer if you have all your training and knowledge?

 

When writing my last post I was not being gender specific in my statements. The issue was customers end up being fleeced by repair shops and car dealers and there is no shortage of businesses that fail to respond to customers concerns or talk down to them.

And that a little education may help, although many businesses can be extremely over baring if given a chance.

Some businesses do not talk down to the customer and appreciate their patronage. They are out there, but difficult to find.

Poor customer service is not limited to cars or gender, it has migrated into most aspects of business.

 

Toyomoho, that's a VERY good point. Last month, I called United Airlines in the middle of a workday and found myself talking to someone in India. United Airlines routes their calls to India!!I asked a couple questions about the type of jet I was buying a ticket on and the person was unable to answer that question. (I don't like tiny prop planes and the customer service clerk couldn't tell me if it was a jet or a prop plane.)

Customer service seems to be at an all time low - sadly.

Rose

 

I am sorry if I offended you, I did assume that you knew less about your car than you do, because 80% of the people on the road have absolutely no clue how their car gets them to work. You already have done your part by understanding your car. I can only suggest that you either get your car repaired somewhere that does have better customer service, or keep pushing for more detailed answers and let them know that their answers aren't good enough. Who knows they might change with enough pressure.