Terrible Repair Job at Authorised Toyota Centre

[joeappleby Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close joeappleby]

Hi all,

I had a minor accident where someone else ran into the back of my <6mth old prado, went through insurance, and decided to go to an authorised toyota repair centre. Long story short, total repair was 8.5k for the damage (see attached pic) which I thought was completely excessive, and they replaced the whole of the rear chassis bar, even tho it had only a minor dent.

I suspect that it was because since we went thru insurance, the repair shop decided to take advantage of us, and purposely replaced things which should not have been replaced. I was especially angry about the rear chassis bar, since it was huge solid piece which they cut off and then welded a new one in, which obviously reduces the structural integrity of the vehicle. (am I wrong?)

However, the thing that was really dishonest was that when I said I wanted the bar back (the one they cut off) at the end of the repair, when I went to pick it up, I could see that they had used some type of machine to bend the bar. (so it looks obviously bent and they can justify repairing it.) As the picture shows, the bar was bent at both ends, which definitely should not have been the case if you look at the damage done to the vehicle.

Lastly, when I got the car back, I could see that it was a shoddy repair job all around. Because they had welded the rear bar on, and since the tow bar goes on to the rear chassis bar, the towbar is now skewed. (See pictures) Plus, the towball is installed to one side which it clearly shows. The screws in the towbar is forcibly screwed in etc. I'm worried when I have to tow a caravan there will be issues.

For a 8.5k job for that amount of damage I am at a loss at how it could have turned out that way. Am I expecting too much? Seriously losing sleep over this. (see attached pictures of the repair bill).

Interested to hear of everyone's opinions.

Thanks

Joe

[LargeInAPrado Member Find all posts View Profile Close LargeInAPrado]

who are you insured with? Talk to them and get the assessor to check your car out away from the panel shop that did the repair, point out your issues have them written down and show them. Don't get stressed about the price just deal with the quality of repair.

[Guest Close Guest]

Have you got photos of the chassis?

[MDS69 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDS69]

I am not 100% on the 150 rear bar and tow bar setup but the offset could be as simple as they put the cut out in the bar and the infill piece off centre. As far as asking for the bar back, it is the insurance companies not yours.
With regards to thinking $8.5k is excessive, the insurance company obviously didn't think so as they authorised the repair. Insurance companies are very tight with their money and won't spend unnecessarily.

[joeappleby Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close joeappleby]

Here are pictures of the chassis bar that was replaced, and also the final repair quote.

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

I've had a rear bar replaced on my 120, similar damage to yours, I assume the 120 and 150 are similar. My neighbour owns a panel shop, he did the work and I watched the tear down. There is no way that cross member would have needed to be replaced. If I was in your situation I would be seriously mad!

[joeappleby Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close joeappleby]

I am mad. This is an authorised Toyota repair shop. My goodness, and they can't even screw in a screw right. Just typical of so many mechanics, when they see an insurance job, to overcharge and on top of it, to do a measly job.

So I've left with a wonky tow bar, and when I tow a caravan, there will be uneven wear, or even worse, it snaps off.

Going to ask them to take it apart and rectify the issue, otherwise looking up the relevant industry ombudsman/ consumer affairs to report them to.

I mean, I don't expect an artisan job cos its not a BMW or MB, but heck, even the Benz GLC is around the same price as a prado and if a MB technician did that I'm pretty sure they'd be fired!

Is it too much to expect to install a towbar straight, and to screw in screws right?

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

I'm a bit confused. Isn't that cross beam part of the tow bar assembly itself and not part of the chassis?

[Guest Close Guest]

I'm a bit confused. Isn't that cross beam part of the tow bar assembly itself and not part of the chassis?

It's the chassis. If you look 1 post up, the tow bar is pretty much intact.

[joeappleby Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close joeappleby]

It's the chassis. If you look 1 post up, the tow bar is pretty much intact.

It is the chassis because they had to cut it off with a blowtorch. If it was the tow bar assembly it could have been replaced easily.

[Riv39 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Riv39]

Deleted...duplicate post

[Riv39 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Riv39]

I am mad. This is an authorised Toyota repair shop. My goodness, and they can't even screw in a screw right. Just typical of so many mechanics, when they see an insurance job, to overcharge and on top of it, to do a measly job.

So I've left with a wonky tow bar, and when I tow a caravan, there will be uneven wear, or even worse, it snaps off.

Going to ask them to take it apart and rectify the issue, otherwise looking up the relevant industry ombudsman/ consumer affairs to report them to.

I mean, I don't expect an artisan job cos its not a BMW or MB, but heck, even the Benz GLC is around the same price as a prado and if a MB technician did that I'm pretty sure they'd be fired!

Is it too much to expect to install a towbar straight, and to screw in screws right?

I believe the Victorian Consumer Affairs Tribunal (VCAT) would be the place to take this up in the case of the repairer. Or if it is a problem with your insurance company then it's the Financial Institution Ombudsmen (FIO).

I took my insurance company to the FIO recently relating to a windscreen replacement and the insurance company changed their position and agreed to a genuine screen replacement. So they will start to listen when you go all the way.

[Hobes Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobes]

Definitely follow up, I had a repair job that was fixed in two weeks (not repaired even told me impossible to match new paint (new car)) ending up requiring 4.5 months to repair at a competent repairer, included replacing floor panel in car which was originally replaced and cut short by 15 mm and they bent everything to meet up. Unbelievable as all work goes to lowest quote but rectification work (different repairer) in my case was charged to original repairer as they where contracted to do it correctly/safely etc and I refused to let them have my car again.

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

Here are pictures of the chassis bar that was replaced, and also the final repair quote.

That is a pretty ordinary looking weld although it is a bit hard to see and it would be useful to have a better photo of the repair. I would want an NDT report or some sort of documentation that this 'repair' meets the required load standards as this is an important structural member and failure could have catastrophic consequences for you and/or other road users.

To give you some idea of what I'm talking about, look at how sensitive Toyota are about the towing capacity of the Prado. The fact that the short wheelbase is rated at 3t and the long wheelbase at 2.5t tells me that the chassis design limits are fairly sensitive.

The misalignment in your other picture may just be the positioning of the rubber hood. Hopefully they used some sort of alignment jig to check that everything is straight as a slight off-set with a 2.5t load on it would cause handling problems, particularly in the wet.

I would also be extremely pissed off if this was my vehicle. I had a similar incident and just replaced the towbar.

Edit: The fact that it is a high load bearing structure that looks poorly repaired should give you a lot of legal leverage. One of your best options would be if you can get a report from a welding expert that questions the integrity of the repair.

[Guest Close Guest]

I had a repair done many years ago that went very wrong too.
Brand new HSV club sport. Some total random decided to jump on the roof one day in the city. Sadly for him I saw him and caught him, by the time the police arrived sadly he had tripped over a number of times.
Car was 2 weeks old and best part of 70k..
The repairer I had to use as insured by AAMI absolutely foofed the job..
I ended up using the industry (insurance) ombudsman.
The repairs to their shoddy work topped out at over 40k!! Done by a competent repairer. Rework took best part of 3 months.

Don't be hesitant to get the ombudsman involved. But have your facts firm beforehand. Get an accredited welder to report and perhaps an industry body. Someone like the RAA/RACQ etc should be able to help. (Not sure where your located).


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