JGinCC
 

I have a 2009 Camry and have been very satisfied with it until recently when I noticed the dashboard was sticky and my dogs hair was sticking to it, as well as a bug! I notified Toyota Corporate of this problem and they setup an appointment with a local dealership to look at it. The dealership tried to blame the problem on the two time use of windex on the window, which is absurd! I told them that there was a problem with the material that it was made with and not the windex! They in trying to clean it, put two gouges in the dash! When I pointed this out, the service manager, just said mmhuh! He said that they would order a dash cover at no charge to cover it up. I told him after thinking about this that it was not a satifactory solution and that I wanted a new dashboard installed, at Toyotas expense. He got back with me a week later and told me that he spoke with the dealership in Houston who I bought it from( I live in Corpus Christi now) and he said they offered to pay half the cost of the dash if I paid the other half, hah! The dashboard was over $1000!!! I told him that would not do, that Toyota needed to replace the thing, at no cost! It has been over 2 weeks now and I have heard no word! I went looking online to see if anyone else was having this problem and I come across this website and see others are having the same problem. I think Toyota made these dashboards with a material that does not stand up to the Souths high temperatures and they need to replace any dashboards that are having this happen. Another words, another RECALL! Does anyone else think this sounds like a fair solution to our problem? By the way, the dealerships service manager's boss mentioned to him that he noticed that his Lexus was starting to feel sticky, but was not as bad as mine....hmmm, is there not an issue here that should be persued?:confused:

There were recent posts at this site about the dash boards melting. Use the search function to find it.

Ask at the Toyotanation website.

Is the car still under warranty?

You are upset I would be to. This could be a defect Toyota is denying as it has popped up before. However it is always best to polite with a dealer. They have WIDE latitude in performing customer service issues and can be of great help or decline to do any work at all, warranty, otherwise, offer parts cost sharing or pay the total bill.

Toyota customer service may or may not be of any help, if not your left with few options.

I suggest you continue to work with the dealer being polite but keep bugging them. Going over their head to Toyota corporate may alienate them resulting a worse or no deal.

If they are firm on the $500 cost take it. Make sure this is the full cost, labor costs to install the dash may be more then the total part cost, you don't want another surprise in being asked to pick a portion of labor.

Parts cost sharing is common with dealers on this type of issue. They can opt to pay all, some, nothing or just send you on your way. Paying 1/2 is common. Not stating this is right but how things work.

One other alternative is finding out if you state has arbitration for warranty claims. Your states consumer affairs department should know. However if you go this route expect the dealer to severe any efforts to help you.

Recalls are for safety issues that could cause an accident. Toyota does not want to get sued for a defect causing an accident.

Technical Service Bulletins (TSB) are for non-safety issues typically defects found after the cars are in service. I doubt one is available covering the dash or the dealer would be referencing it for this repair.

If enough customers have this problem, a TSB may be issued. What is enough, only Toyota and their bean counters know.