My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

[Mark42]

I drop off the new Sienna to have a tow hitch installed at Toyota of Morristown, NJ. Sales told me the hitch includes a wire harness and draw bar.

The offical Toyota install document lists the wire harness as a "Mandatory" part and it "must be installed prior to installing the hitch". It also states for the service technician to place the draw bar "behind the passenger seat on the floor".

I pick up the Sienna and it has a hitch, but no wire harness or draw bar.

Toyota calls this their "Ace Installation" service.

Go figure.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

Maybe the directions weren't printed in Spanish?..... ​

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

i'd have a serious talk with the service manager. if no results, then the dealership owner. then the regional manager.

 

[WaterWitch2]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

My Dad took his 4Runner to the Toyota dealer for something non hitch and wiring related. They repaired whatever it was he took it in for and told him there was something wrong with the hitch wiring. They charged $180 or so to cut out the wiring and throw it in the back seat.

 

[moterboat]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

you wanted you got it... toyotaaaaaaa...... the tech's at the dealerships try to slip by on the repairs that don't pay very well,and anything factory warranty, in florida anyway,straight commission,they like to pick and choose,I know,I'm an ex tech..

 

[Windykid]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

Let the beatings begin!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[aspeck]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

Maybe the directions weren't printed in Spanish?..... ​

Or maybe they were only printed in Japanese ...

 

[moterboat]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

Or maybe they were only printed in Japanese ...

but if they were just printed in japanese,the mexicans still cound'nt read them..... now we will have to open the borders to..........

 

[Mark42]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

The service manager called me back and explained that although I negotiated the hitch, wire harness and draw bar with the salesman as part of the purchase price, the sales department just wrote a work order to install a hitch.

I explained to him that it sounds like there is a disconnect between sales and service. He agreed, citing my specific salesman as a repeat offender. He said he would order the parts and let me know when they are in.

I also explained that I am angered by having to drive an hour to drop off the van, an hour back and all in all, it will be 8 hours of my wife and my time (4 hours each) plus some $20- $25 in gas. So I asked him to get a loaner car so my wife can drop off the van, take the loaner and save us time and gas. He agreed to that too.

So now I wait for the parts to come in.

BTW, the wire harness is nice, its all plug-n-play, no cutting. It tapps into the brake and turn signals, but uses a separate power source to drive the trailer lights (therefore a relay box in the harness). Thats nice becasue any load the trailer has (even if its just LED lights) will not be added to the turn signal circuit.

I hope it all works out well.

 

[arboldt]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

After reading about your hassles, I'm really glad I did it differently. A year ago we got a new Honda CRV. The HondaSUV newsgroup members all liked the Curt 2" hitch; I bought one by Valley along with a plug-n-play wiring harness through etrailer. I guess these days they make hitches for specific models. Even I put mine on in about 30 minutes -- only reason it took that long was my neighbor stopped by to chat. It was incredibly easy. Never again will I pay to have a hitch installed.

 

[zoe'sdad]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

I know of a dealership in California that charges $500 to install a hitch and harness then sends the truck to U-haul and has the work done for $300.

 

[Mark42]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

Installing the hitch is a 20 minute job, has predrilled and threaded holes in the sub frame to bolt to. The hasle is the wire harness. It requires that the interior be removed starting at the ceiling and work around to the rear well. That is a big job, so I negotiated that must be included in the purchase price.

Otherwise, I would have done it myself. And the Toyota hitch is much nicer that the Hidden Hitch. Although the Hidden Hitch is a 2" draw bar and the Toyota is 1.25", I still went with the Toyota because it has two hard points that stablize attachments like racks and flat carry all's.

 

[i386]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

Sorry for your troubles. I'm glad the service manager is going to make it right. BTW I bought a chrome hitch cover on eBay. It's nothing special. When I got it, I realized it wouldn't fit my 2" receiver. It's yours if you want it. Just send me a PM and I'll send it to you. If not I'll just hang on to it until I find someone who will take it.

 

[RetNav]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

During the horse trading leading up to my purchase of a new Dodge Ram 5.7 I noticed that it only had the 4 wire pigtail. Told the salesman that it wouldn't work as my work trailer had electric brakes and the truck I was trading in had the 7 prong plug and brake control. He said "no problem, I'll have that installed before you pick it up". He did and it works great.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

Money..... and quality control. He is my WAG wild a** guess

Most mechanics at a dealership get paid a flat rate for the work they do and various mechanics have special rates of pay.

Does the shop take a high paid tech mechanic to intall a plug and play hitch system..... when that same high tech mechanic could be making himself/herself (and the dealership) some decent money on a technical repair???

The mechanic who did the work was probably a newer person and either did not read the directions or never asked for help (advice).

I'm sorrry you had a bad time and it was not done right the first time and I will bet that someone got a butt chewing. It is now going to cost them more money to do it right. That service manager is not happy.

On a brighter side we have all performed some maneuver that created a situation where we had to do the job again..... most of us learned from it too.

 

[mike176]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

When i worked as a tech at a dodge dealer the salesmen would have to come back and negotiate the add ons with the tech. Thats was a good way to make some extra money sometimes.

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

why wouldn't the Toyota dealer just send the technician to your house or work to install a plug and play harness? instead of loaners and commutes to the stealership.... seems obvious to me...

 

[i386]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

why wouldn't the Toyota dealer just send the technician to your house or work to install a plug and play harness? instead of loaners and commutes to the stealership.... seems obvious to me...

Because they're probably not equipped with a truck that would have all the tools and materials he might need. Plus the tech could service several more cars at the dealership if he didn't loose so much time traveling. I agree it would be a nice gesture though.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

After reading about your hassles, I'm really glad I did it differently. A year ago we got a new Honda CRV. The HondaSUV newsgroup members all liked the Curt 2" hitch; I bought one by Valley along with a plug-n-play wiring harness through etrailer. I guess these days they make hitches for specific models. Even I put mine on in about 30 minutes -- only reason it took that long was my neighbor stopped by to chat. It was incredibly easy. Never again will I pay to have a hitch installed.

Yeah, very easy! The hardest part is laying on the floor, holding up the hitch while trying to install the bolts. I don't know about the Sienna but on the Tundra there is a harness close to the rear wheel well that you would plug one of those trailer lights circuit power box to. No tearing apart anything.

 

[rob711]

Re: My Toyota Service departmemt leaves me wondering.

not hitch related but toyota..we just got a 03 sequioa..yes it has a hitch and a 7 pin connector...we had a problem with the 3rd row seat so we had to bring it back..i noticed the oil pressure gauge barley registers at highway speeds...mentioned that to the lady when i dropped it off she had a tech come from the back and told me thats normal and not to worry even though its well below where it says it should be in the manual..i've gone on other forums and learned this is a problem with the sending unit...i'm going to call the service manager and hopefully get him to argee to fix it...ither wise i'll sit out front and tell every person who comes there that the srvice department is useless.