I had a worse experience at Toyota dealership in Milford CT while my car was getting serviced for sudden breakdown from April 13 to 23rd, 2016. I have been a proud owner of Prius since 2008. It currently has roughly 108,000 miles. On April 13, 2016 while driving my car during lunch time, couple of warnings suddenly showed up but the car was running absolutely fine. I thought of taking the car to dealership in the evening. This is the same dealership where I have done all my oil changes to date. I stopped my car for lunch. After lunch, in about an hour, when I tried to start the key, it would not go into drive mode. I tried for about half and hour or so but with no luck. I ended up calling Milford toyota dealership who advice me to tow the car to them. After numerous calls finally had my car at dealership and Joe Borack was assigned as my adviser. He stated that car will be looked at next day around 9:30 when he has appropriate staff.
Next day around 11 AM I called Joe to check on status who said my appointment wasn't until 11:30 am so nobody had looked at the car.
This was in contrast to email I received from colonial Toyota confirming my appointment at 9:30 am that day. Anyway, I received a call from Joe in the evening that they could not figure out the issue with the car and would have to do extended diagnosis which would cost me additional $300 on top of about $100 I had paid for diagnosis earlier. Seemed like a rip-off. Going from basic diagnosis (which has already been paid0 to extended diagnosis should not cost that amount. Anyway, I agreed as I had no choice. I couldn't fathom experts at dealership would have such a hard time figuring out the issue. They took entire next day and finally diagnosed it to the issue with relays to hybrid battery. Joe told me that they would have to order it from Los Angeles and would only receive them by Tuesday. I asked him why not Monday. He stated they do not have any delivery on Monday. I asked him to go ahead with it.
On Monday I called just to check with Joe on the order status. I was told Joe was not in the office. I called him again Tuesday Morning around 10 am to check if he has received the part. He stated they did not receive it. I asked him why he can't call the LA office and check the status. He stated there was no hotline to LA office and he could only check the status online. He asked me to wait until afternoon when they receive another shipment by Fedex. I received a call from him about 2 pm that they do not have part and most likely will receive it next day. I conveyed my displeasure with the fact it is taking so much time and there is no way to confirm by calling the parts office if it has been shipped. He suggested taking the rental car which would cost me $30 flat fee. I stated I will wait for another day.
On wednesday, received a call from Joe that they have received the part and suggested shop floor man keep the car for a day for extended road test. I had to take my Wife to hospital for emergency and would be hard to pick up the car so I suggested him to keep the car with him.
Thursday morning Joe called and stated that when shop floor man took the car to him home, it drove fine but in the morning when he tried to start it, it did not move. He said most likey it is the Hybrid battery and that would need to be ordered from Los Angeles and since it is under warranty would be of no cost to me. They would also tow the car from Shop Floor Man's house. He also mentioned Toyota would offer rental car to me at no charge at this point (quite different from earlier when I was asked to pay for it). I asked him If I could be picked up from my home. I live about 3-4 miles from the dealership. He said driver was is New Haven and he would ask him to call me. I waited at home over an hour and did not receive any call. I called Joe again. He said driver was still in New Haven and so I would need to wait for his call. That sounded ridiculous. Driver could have called and let me know how much time it would take and if late not wait for him. Anyway, I told Joe that I would drive my wife's car to Hospital, pick her up and drive to dealership to pickup rental and he was fine with it.
Around 1 pm, I reached dealership. Saw Joe outside the office smoking. When saw me, asked me to go inside pick up the rental but did not seem in any mood to discuss status of the car. I prodded him to discuss where we stand on the car. I asked if I could take my child car seat from the car. He stated that the car is still not towed back to dealership so I can't.
It was kind of disappointing and frustrating as I had told him in the morning that I would need to pick up the child seat as well when I arrive there. Anyway, I had a enough of frustrating events that I chose to disregard this and went ahead to pick up renal car.
On Friday morning, I received a call from Joe that they have received replacement hybrid battery from California. Later in the day, he called again to confirm that battery has been replaced and car was driving fine with it but as again, he would like shop floor man to keep the car for a day to do the extended test which meant for him to drive the car to his home overnight.
On Saturday morning, I received a call from Joe that car drove fine overnight and is ready to be picked up. I went to the dealership around 10 am with the rental car to pick it up. I signed the documents and paid $695 which included 1) diagnosis 2) extended diagnosis 3) Relays 4) Labor for relays. I went out the door to pick up my car from the parking lot.
I was within 100ft of my car when I noticed a big scratch on front bumper on the passenger side. I was shocked. Went closer and noticed a crack in the bumper too. I rushed back to Joe's desk to inform him about the damage. He came out to look at the damage and took pictures with his cellphone camera. At first, he said most likely someone would have done it while it was parked outside. He seemed totally disconcerted. I asked him to figure out who damaged it or fix it as it was under their possession for 10 days and they should be responsible for it. He said they would look at video recordings when the car came in but would have to wait until Monday for that to be done since person in-charge (general manager) was not here. I stood my ground and told him I would not leave the facility until they resolve the issue or give me in-writing how it would be resolved. I asked to speak to manager. He called another manager who happened to general manager of sales who repeated the same that they would not give anything in writing and I would have to wait until Monday.
I told them I would not take delivery of car until it is fixed or I would call police to report damages to my car and also called credit card company to reverse the charges. At this, a gentleman showed up and he asked Joe to show him damages on the car. He went with me to look at the damages himself. He told me though he would not take responsibility of damages. He would take care of the fixing the bumper next Thursday. I asked him to introduce himself first. He introduced himself as Justine Raffone, General Sales Manager. He took me to his office and scheduled appointment for Thursday April 28 for fixing the car bumper at no-charge and also offered free rental while this would be taken care of. I thanked and left his office and even realized that Joe was lying to me that General manager was not present in the office that day.
On Sunday while taking my son to playground, I noticed the rear door on driver side would not open/close smoothly. It had to be banged hard to close it and while opening would make a loud clicking noise as if something was stuck. I was shocked to find that. I inspected entire car once again. Still in shock that car has been treated so badly and that too at reputed dealership and makes me wonder what other kind of negligence was done to my vehicle. No customer should have to go through the nightmare like I went through. I lost my faith and confidence that Colonial Toyota would ever be fix my vehicle correctly.
I need reputed prius mechanic not affiliated with Toyota to independently look into what other parts has been tempered with while it was under Colonial Toyota's possession. I never had any of these problems until after my vehicle was serviced there.
It feels as if some novice was driving/handling the car all the time. I emailed Justine Raffone about the issue with door but has not received any response in 24 hours since then. I copied it to Al Shaham, Service manger who has not responded either. Now I even suspect part that have been replaced (relays, batteries) are not genuinely new since there is no proof and Joe had mentioned even though they have put new battery, it would not have warranty beyond the current one. It is unlikely relays and battery went bad at the same instance. Just because dealership could not figure out the real cause which was the battery and had already put new relays, they made me pay for relays as well. Extended diagnosis was just a means to lure me into paying more since toyota error codes should have been sufficient to diagnose and should not have taken two days.
On April 28. I dropped the car for fixing the scratches and crack on the front bumper. I picked up the car in the evening on April 29. It visually looked fine. Within 15 days of service, scratches have reappeared after I drove under rain. It appeared some kind of glaze like product was used to hide the swirls and scratches which was washed off with rain. Contacted Justin Raffone but no response. Even emailed Toyota headquarters and awaiting response.
I expect Toyota to look into this matter seriously and provide a way forward after an awful experience. I no longer feel a proud Prius owner and unlikely will ever own or suggest anyone to buy Toyota, esp. from Colonial Milford.
Colonial Toyota Reviews
I had a worse experience at Toyota dealership in Milford CT while my car was getting serviced for sudden breakdown from April 13 to 23rd, 2016. I have been a proud owner of Prius since 2008. It currently has roughly 108,000 miles. On April 13, 2016 while driving my car during lunch time, couple of warnings suddenly showed up but the car was running absolutely fine. I thought of taking the car to dealership in the evening. This is the same dealership where I have done all my oil changes to date. I stopped my car for lunch. After lunch, in about an hour, when I tried to start the key, it would not go into drive mode. I tried for about half and hour or so but with no luck. I ended up calling Milford toyota dealership who advice me to tow the car to them. After numerous calls finally had my car at dealership and Joe Borack was assigned as my adviser. He stated that car will be looked at next day around 9:30 when he has appropriate staff.
Next day around 11 AM I called Joe to check on status who said my appointment wasn't until 11:30 am so nobody had looked at the car.
This was in contrast to email I received from colonial Toyota confirming my appointment at 9:30 am that day. Anyway, I received a call from Joe in the evening that they could not figure out the issue with the car and would have to do extended diagnosis which would cost me additional $300 on top of about $100 I had paid for diagnosis earlier. Seemed like a rip-off. Going from basic diagnosis (which has already been paid0 to extended diagnosis should not cost that amount. Anyway, I agreed as I had no choice. I couldn't fathom experts at dealership would have such a hard time figuring out the issue. They took entire next day and finally diagnosed it to the issue with relays to hybrid battery. Joe told me that they would have to order it from Los Angeles and would only receive them by Tuesday. I asked him why not Monday. He stated they do not have any delivery on Monday. I asked him to go ahead with it.
On Monday I called just to check with Joe on the order status. I was told Joe was not in the office. I called him again Tuesday Morning around 10 am to check if he has received the part. He stated they did not receive it. I asked him why he can't call the LA office and check the status. He stated there was no hotline to LA office and he could only check the status online. He asked me to wait until afternoon when they receive another shipment by Fedex. I received a call from him about 2 pm that they do not have part and most likely will receive it next day. I conveyed my displeasure with the fact it is taking so much time and there is no way to confirm by calling the parts office if it has been shipped. He suggested taking the rental car which would cost me $30 flat fee. I stated I will wait for another day.
On wednesday, received a call from Joe that they have received the part and suggested shop floor man keep the car for a day for extended road test. I had to take my Wife to hospital for emergency and would be hard to pick up the car so I suggested him to keep the car with him.
Thursday morning Joe called and stated that when shop floor man took the car to him home, it drove fine but in the morning when he tried to start it, it did not move. He said most likey it is the Hybrid battery and that would need to be ordered from Los Angeles and since it is under warranty would be of no cost to me. They would also tow the car from Shop Floor Man's house. He also mentioned Toyota would offer rental car to me at no charge at this point (quite different from earlier when I was asked to pay for it). I asked him If I could be picked up from my home. I live about 3-4 miles from the dealership. He said driver was is New Haven and he would ask him to call me. I waited at home over an hour and did not receive any call. I called Joe again. He said driver was still in New Haven and so I would need to wait for his call. That sounded ridiculous. Driver could have called and let me know how much time it would take and if late not wait for him. Anyway, I told Joe that I would drive my wife's car to Hospital, pick her up and drive to dealership to pickup rental and he was fine with it.
Around 1 pm, I reached dealership. Saw Joe outside the office smoking. When saw me, asked me to go inside pick up the rental but did not seem in any mood to discuss status of the car. I prodded him to discuss where we stand on the car. I asked if I could take my child car seat from the car. He stated that the car is still not towed back to dealership so I can't.
It was kind of disappointing and frustrating as I had told him in the morning that I would need to pick up the child seat as well when I arrive there. Anyway, I had a enough of frustrating events that I chose to disregard this and went ahead to pick up renal car.
On Friday morning, I received a call from Joe that they have received replacement hybrid battery from California. Later in the day, he called again to confirm that battery has been replaced and car was driving fine with it but as again, he would like shop floor man to keep the car for a day to do the extended test which meant for him to drive the car to his home overnight.
On Saturday morning, I received a call from Joe that car drove fine overnight and is ready to be picked up. I went to the dealership around 10 am with the rental car to pick it up. I signed the documents and paid $695 which included 1) diagnosis 2) extended diagnosis 3) Relays 4) Labor for relays. I went out the door to pick up my car from the parking lot.
I was within 100ft of my car when I noticed a big scratch on front bumper on the passenger side. I was shocked. Went closer and noticed a crack in the bumper too. I rushed back to Joe's desk to inform him about the damage. He came out to look at the damage and took pictures with his cellphone camera. At first, he said most likely someone would have done it while it was parked outside. He seemed totally disconcerted. I asked him to figure out who damaged it or fix it as it was under their possession for 10 days and they should be responsible for it. He said they would look at video recordings when the car came in but would have to wait until Monday for that to be done since person in-charge (general manager) was not here. I stood my ground and told him I would not leave the facility until they resolve the issue or give me in-writing how it would be resolved. I asked to speak to manager. He called another manager who happened to general manager of sales who repeated the same that they would not give anything in writing and I would have to wait until Monday.
I told them I would not take delivery of car until it is fixed or I would call police to report damages to my car and also called credit card company to reverse the charges. At this, a gentleman showed up and he asked Joe to show him damages on the car. He went with me to look at the damages himself. He told me though he would not take responsibility of damages. He would take care of the fixing the bumper next Thursday. I asked him to introduce himself first. He introduced himself as Justine Raffone, General Sales Manager. He took me to his office and scheduled appointment for Thursday April 28 for fixing the car bumper at no-charge and also offered free rental while this would be taken care of. I thanked and left his office and even realized that Joe was lying to me that General manager was not present in the office that day.
On Sunday while taking my son to playground, I noticed the rear door on driver side would not open/close smoothly. It had to be banged hard to close it and while opening would make a loud clicking noise as if something was stuck. I was shocked to find that. I inspected entire car once again. Still in shock that car has been treated so badly and that too at reputed dealership and makes me wonder what other kind of negligence was done to my vehicle. No customer should have to go through the nightmare like I went through. I lost my faith and confidence that Colonial Toyota would ever be fix my vehicle correctly.
I need reputed prius mechanic not affiliated with Toyota to independently look into what other parts has been tempered with while it was under Colonial Toyota's possession. I never had any of these problems until after my vehicle was serviced there.
It feels as if some novice was driving/handling the car all the time. I emailed Justine Raffone about the issue with door but has not received any response in 24 hours since then. I copied it to Al Shaham, Service manger who has not responded either. Now I even suspect part that have been replaced (relays, batteries) are not genuinely new since there is no proof and Joe had mentioned even though they have put new battery, it would not have warranty beyond the current one. It is unlikely relays and battery went bad at the same instance. Just because dealership could not figure out the real cause which was the battery and had already put new relays, they made me pay for relays as well. Extended diagnosis was just a means to lure me into paying more since toyota error codes should have been sufficient to diagnose and should not have taken two days.
On April 28. I dropped the car for fixing the scratches and crack on the front bumper. I picked up the car in the evening on April 29. It visually looked fine. Within 15 days of service, scratches have reappeared after I drove under rain. It appeared some kind of glaze like product was used to hide the swirls and scratches which was washed off with rain. Contacted Justin Raffone but no response. Even emailed Toyota headquarters and awaiting response.
I expect Toyota to look into this matter seriously and provide a way forward after an awful experience. I no longer feel a proud Prius owner and unlikely will ever own or suggest anyone to buy Toyota, esp. from Colonial Milford.