Never trust the Toyota brand!!!

My vehicle a(Toyota etios) picked up a whinning noise in the gearbox plus other sort off issue with it.After much back and forth with Toyota Umhlanga,they acknowledged the issue and decided to replace the releaser bearing in the gearbox.After them repairing my car the problem was still there and it was told to me that there is nothing much they can do and I can take my car for a 2nd opinion to another Toyota Dealership.I then decided to go with that, so I took my vehicle to Toyota Durban North and then it was when my nightmare began...

The workshop Forman @ Toyota Durban North test drove my car and he advised me to take my vehicle to Gearbox center for them to test drive it again and give me a report which needs to come back to them because Toyota does not deal with gearbox issues and a Gearbox specialist will have more knowledge to give me a exact report.It was also told to me that Toyota Durban north deals with Gearbox centre in Springfield park.

After Gearbox centre confirmed there is a major problem with the gearbox and giving me a report, I got back to Toyota Durban North with the report and they agreed to sort out my vehicle.During this time I was also in communication with Toyota SA as I had a case with them once I discovered that Toyota Umhlanga had not done a proper job with my vehicle.

After dropping of my vehicle @ Toyota Durban North for them to sort my vehicle out. I was promised that no decision etc would be taken on my vehicle until everything is discussed with me 1st or Toyota Sa. That never happened, myself and my wife had to do all the chasing to get feedback from the dealership about what is going on with our vehicle. What really took us by surprise was when we spoke to the workshop Forman after 4-5 days of dropping the car off and he informed us that they could not find the defective part in the Gearbox so they have already made a decision to replace all the components in the Gearbox and they have already ordered all the parts for our gearbox,they should receive the parts by Monday and they will start with the repair on our vehicle. When we questioned them about why have they chosen to repair and not replace the gearbox,they informed us that they are unable to find any defective parts in the gearbox so they are opting to replace all the components in the gearbox and the warranty will not put a new Gearbox. This to us sounded very strange because the Gearbox is now being repaired twice and stripped off the car twice already, so we should get an opportunity to decide whether we want it repaired again or replaced by law.Well we didn't authorize the repair and we contacted Toyota SA to inform them of what is going on. Toyota SA informed us that Toyota Durban North has not followed protocol with regards to the warranty and communication and they where going to speak to the dealership and see what is going on. Nothing good ever came off that as Toyota SA ended up siding with the dealership and kept trying to get us to give in to the dealerships terms. After seeing that we are getting no way with Toyota SA and the Dealership. The Dealership manager of Toyota Durban North threatened to put our gearbox together and return our vehicle without repairing it. We were very upset and we needed our vehicle so we authorized them to go ahead with the repair.

After Toyota Durban North was done with our repair and informed us that we can collect the vehicle, we informed Toyota SA and they promised us that upon picking up our car they technicians will be present to test drive the vehicle with us to make sure all was in order, however that never happened. The vehicle was test driven by the workshop manager who knew nothing about the faults before when the car came in. I never at all said to the workshop manager that the vehicle is fine because when we just drove around a small block for a test drive, all I said is that i am not happy with the repair plus i will have to drive it for awhile before I can get back to them. After driving my vehicle for a few hours I picked up that the vehicle is still the same and it now also picked up a vibration, like loose feeling on the steering wheel plus hard gear change. We immediately contacted the dealership and informed them of this and the Dealership Manager had the cheek to lie and say that i said the vehicle was fine upon collection. At this point we had enough and it was getting frustrating to deal with.All was told to us from the Dealership Manager is that they cannot do much now and we are more than welcome to bring in our car and do a evaluation and take a new car.(very easy for them to say that and brush the problem aside) We did not give into that decision of doing a evaluation and then we decided to do our own investigation without the help of Toyota. We took our vehicle on a personal level to the very same Gearbox center that repaired our Gearbox a week ago when Toyota Durban north dealt with them on that case. So now this time it was like my first visit to them coz I now dealt with a different specialist yet from the very same Gearbox centre. After the guy at Gearbox centre test drove the vehicle, he mentioned the issues and gave us a report to state that the gearbox is whinning and it needs to be striped an repaired.WOW isint that a surprise when Toyota Durban North said there is nothing more they can do. This really shocked us and got us very upset. We informed the dealership of this report we got to back us up because 1. They didnt follow protocol. 2. They made they own decisions on or vehicle without considering us. 3.Forced us to go ahead with the repair. 4.Turned us away stating they have fixed our car and it is fine. 5.To prove they have not fixed our car. They then advised us to bring the vehicle back for a check up after refusing at first.We also informed Toyota SA of the same but they didn't seem to be shocked of the news, they just wanted us to continue doing this back an forth with the dealership. The next day we noticed the vehicle picked up a very bad oil/greasy leak, noise in the suspension and after that we inspected the car ourselves and we found some things to be rather shady in the way they have repaired our car.So we decided to drop by the dealership for them to take a look at the leak, and other bad repairs that were done to the car.When I got to the dealership I was told to take a seat and in a few minutes later the guy from Gearbox center who gave me the report at the office walks in and then comes back in from the workshop with the Dealership Manager.They both approached me and she informed me that she wanted the guy from Gearbox center to test drive my vehicle, at that point I refused because I immediately picked up that this was a trick to get the guy to change his story now coz I have caught them out in a lie. The Forman from the dealership then test drove the vehicle with me and insisted there's nothing wrong with the car.Regarding the leak they told me to wait for a ramp so they can check under,I said no problem and waited. The Dealership Manager then approached me again with the guy from Gearbox center and I told her straight out that I don't wish to speak to him or for him to test drive my car as I have a report already and that's it, the Dealership manager tried all that she possibly could to get an reaction out of me coz she saw I wasn't giving in to her nonsense and silly claims.On top of all that behavior,she was being rather rude,sarcastic and speaking about irrelevant stuff regarding my car that has got nothing to do with the Gearbox.I refused to give into her and she left back into the building. Before my vehicle could go on the ramp I asked the guy who was taking my details if I could go in and show them exactly where the oil/greasy stuff was leaking from and he agreed its fine I can go in. I waited for them to put my vehicle up, then i proceeded to go inside the workshop to point out the leak and bad repairs. However again the Dealership Manager followed me and interrupted me and refused for me to go in and point out the faults claiming that it is not safe for me and they know what is the problem, however I needed them to see exactly where the fault was as the workshop guys knew nothing.As the vehicle went up, the Dealership manager and her two Forman went under my car and were busy discussing and im not sure what.Me looking eagerly and to know what they are up to after they lies, I then proceeded to go under my vehicle and point out the faults.As pointing out the faults the Dealership manager had no words to explain to me but she kept on being rude and instructing the guys to lower my vehicle while I was still under it,she could of injured me.She didn't want to give me a chance to show them how bad its messed up and kept on talking over my voice. She then asked the guys to drive my vehicle to the front for me to leave.Beside all of that she was following me all over the Dealership like im a criminal so I dont get info from anyone.When the guy drove my car around, i questioned him about what are they going to do, he just raised his hands and said to me that he doesn't know and i must call the dealership and find out. And again after all that she waited for me to leave the yard at Toyota durban north. They still didn't take responsibility for anything or send myself or Toyota SA a report uptil now. I contacted Toyota SA and still they didn't help us. All they did was insisted I go back to the dealership.(How can you go back when you got pathetic treatment and lied too). We called the dealership again and asked for an appointment so they could check the vehicle up properly in middle December 2019 but they refused and gave me a date on the 2nd January 2020 yet all of this happened in December and we needed our vehicle to go on holiday.We had to rent a car to use over the holiday as our car was in bad condition to use.When it came to the 2nd of January we couldn't take our vehicle for them to have a look as we were still on holiday.But they never bothered uptil now. After this I decided to report the Dealership to the Motor Industry Ombudsman because I honestly believe that Toyota Durban North did a terrible repair on my vehicle and they robbed Toyota Warranty and myself coz it would have made more sense for them to replace my gearbox rather than repair it again and now its messed up. They also mislead customers and treat them unethically when they try to point out they wrong doings.

Toyota SA was also supposed to be a customer service to assist customers however they side with the dealerships and give customers the run around also.

From December 2019 uptil now in July 2020 our vehicle is parked off and cannot be used because of Toyota and they shady repairs,lies and not wanting to take responsibility for they actions.Yet I must still pay for my car that I cannot use.

Toyota has proven to be a brand that can not be trusted. People need to think twice before buying a new car from Toyota. Friendly service when buying a car but poor and unfair service when they need to fix your car.

I cant even imagine how many others are taken for a ride like this by Toyota.

I will surely use all my proof to deal with Toyota Durban north for what they have done to us and how they have treated us to suffer for absolutely no reason.

From today as a Toyota owner of vehicles, I am no more a believer in the brand.

I am hoping Toyota can get back to me and resolve this issue as thisbis totally unacceptable.