They bought a brand new vehicle from them Monday. The least the dealership could do is presume the fault is on them and fix it. It's called customer service.

No that's not correct, it's the same as wrecking your car 2 days later and asking for them to fix it and not the insurance company. OP needs to make an insurance claim.

It sucks that a rodent ate the wires but that's not the dealers problem.

I would demand a warranty claim and kick it upstairs. Claim a faulty wire. The damn car is less than a DAY old ! Make the dealer prove that a rat ate thru it in ONE day.
Push like hell thru the GM warranty department. RAISE HELL up the chain of command.

aggiepaintrain said:

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No that's not correct, it's the same as wrecking your car 2 days later and asking for them to fix it and not the insurance company. OP needs to make an insurance claim.

It sucks that a rodent ate the wires but that's not the dealers problem.

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No, it's not. No one knows when or where the mice ate the wires at. That's why the dealer should resolve the issue since it's a brand new car.

If I had the same situation in one of our units that required new wiring to restore it to an functioning system I would gladly replace the wiring and get them back up ASAP with no cost to them. The vehicle is new and it has not been established where the unit took damaged. The place it failed at might not have been the place it was damaged. It seems to be a rare situation on a new vehicle to entirely fix this for the customer with no cost to them is a no brainer to many dealerships. Kind of surprised they have taken this opportunity to not help their customer out.

Don't just talk to the service manager -- get the sales manager involved. Keep going up the chain. Explain you will be getting media involved.

Should have bought at Sterling. Their service department is great!

In all seriousness that sucks. I haven't heard anything good about Atkinson's service department in a long time. Unfortunately I don't think they're going to be much help. You may want to contact Toyota directly.

I have an idea - let's cover our wires in food. What could go wrong?!?

If we didn't subsidize the soy industry so heavily we wouldn't have all this excess soy to get rid of.

*On a more constructive note, there are several class action suits pending to make this covered under the warranty. And there is a tape you can cover your wiring in to deter rodents (horrible for a new car I know but at least it is something in your control).

*** Do not have them splice your wiring *** Having them pay your deducible is the better of the two options. I have been doing wiring around avionics systems, vehicles, and equipment for years.

Doing a wire harness repair correctly and built to last as long as an original uncut harness is beyond the capabilities of the dealerships in town. It will probably work for a while but I would not trust it. It is simply out of the scope of the shops around here. This would be a huge moneymaker for the dealer because it is 0.01% parts and 99.99% labor.

In the hierarchy of failures, previously repair wiring would be one of the first places I would troubleshoot if your car started acting strange. But not with a new harness.

Do you have any pictures of the damage?

Damage had to have been at the dealer... I've hat that happen before and it does take a short time for them to chew through the wiring, but it would take a long while for them to have done enough damage in order for your car not to work..

salloh_tamu said:

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It is my understanding that Atkinson Toyota and Toyota went above and beyond and resolved the customer's issue at Toyota's cost.

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Far from it. Based on above comments they were given 3 options:

• Pay $3200 to fix it yourselves
• We splice the wires and do a crappy repair for you
• File an insurance claim on your own insurance

For a brand new car they just bought, none of these are acceptable.

Above and beyond? You must have very low standards.

Butt splices are never the correct way. They will corrode away and cause nothing but issues down the road. Solder connection with heat shrink is the only acceptable way in my book. I am almost positive that they wouldn't butt splice but it depends on the mechanics. I worked as a mechanic there years ago and I can't imagine myself butt splicing anything.

Slocum on a mobile said:

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I have had similar experiences with the locals. The moral of the story: I DO NOT BUY CARS in B/CS anymore !!! Period. End of story. They all have crappy customer service, because there's not ten other dealerships they have to compete with like Houston or Austin. They rip o.... ERRRR.... deal with college students every day, and mommy and daddy take care of everything. They have no need to deal with you peasant locals.

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I will never forget this incident. I think it was around 05. I went into Atkinson Toyota (maybe it was Bossier Atkinson then?) and the car I wanted I had gotten a drive out price on there. Hadn't agreed to anything yet but they had given me their "best price". As I was sitting in the chair Sterling McCall in Houston called me and told me I could get $1,200 less drive out with them for the exact same car. I relayed this to the sales person sitting right in front of me. He got up, went to talk to his "sales manager". 5 mins later he comes back not with the Sales Manager but with the owner Mr. Atkinson. Mr. A proceeds to sit down and bluntly tell me straight up "if you decide you're going to go to Houston to buy this car over a few hundred dollars, don't expect us to service your car when you need it. If you can go to Houston to buy a car, you can go to Houston to get it serviced.".

I'm sure he's a nice guy and maybe he was just having a bad day. But I'm sorry, you simply don't deal with customers that way. I took the $1,200 less deal at Sterling McCall in Houston later that afternoon.

About a year ago my husband and I went into Atkinson with my daughter to help her find a car and co-sign if needed. She had been at her job for just over a year and her old clunker was about to leave this world for good. Immediately when we walked in we were approached by a Salesman and shown to a desk to sit and chat with him. We explained why we were there and what we were looking for. The whole time he would give us a little nod here and there and didn't say much at all. When we were done explaining to him everything, he excused himself and left us for a good 15 minutes. He came back to the desk and said "I don't think there is anything we can do for you, thanks for coming in." My husband and I were floored, we kind of just sat there and looked at each other for a minute before we got up with our daughter and walked out. We drove over to Lithia Dodge and my daughter drove out of there in a brand new car within a couple of hours. I will never step foot in Atkinson again and I will never recommend them to anyone, even those die hard I will only drive a "Toyota" people I know.

Actually there is not. I have no reason not to give the complete scenario and that is it. The clunker my daughter had was a Camry and she wanted another Camry so we went to Atkinson. Including the 15 minutes he left us sitting there we were there a total of about 25, maybe 30 minutes at the most and what I described is exactly what happened, nothing more and nothing less.

I feel quite confident Stinkerbelle is spot on I do not know him or her. Stop and think for a moment, it is all volume kinda like running cattle. Also to comment to the previous poster that stated PA said by him saving a few hundred dollars on the vehicle if he needs service he can drive to Houston. I have purchased 4 new vehicles in my life (no Toyotas ) and each time I tell the salesman, manager , owner you will not put your dealership name on my vehicle and they are shocked and I say if you send me a check every month for advertising I will sign a contract. Does the builder of your home have his name above your address? or your beautiful new sofa have Ashley, or Star furniture flashing when friends come over. The car business is one I despise to ever have to walk on a lot.

Jimmy Conway said:

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Slocum on a mobile said:

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I have had similar experiences with the locals. The moral of the story: I DO NOT BUY CARS in B/CS anymore !!! Period. End of story. They all have crappy customer service, because there's not ten other dealerships they have to compete with like Houston or Austin. They rip o.... ERRRR.... deal with college students every day, and mommy and daddy take care of everything. They have no need to deal with you peasant locals.

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I will never forget this incident. I think it was around 05. I went into Atkinson Toyota (maybe it was Bossier Atkinson then?) and the car I wanted I had gotten a drive out price on there. Hadn't agreed to anything yet but they had given me their "best price". As I was sitting in the chair Sterling McCall in Houston called me and told me I could get $1,200 less drive out with them for the exact same car. I relayed this to the sales person sitting right in front of me. He got up, went to talk to his "sales manager". 5 mins later he comes back not with the Sales Manager but with the owner Mr. Atkinson. Mr. A proceeds to sit down and bluntly tell me straight up "if you decide you're going to go to Houston to buy this car over a few hundred dollars, don't expect us to service your car when you need it. If you can go to Houston to buy a car, you can go to Houston to get it serviced.".

I'm sure he's a nice guy and maybe he was just having a bad day. But I'm sorry, you simply don't deal with customers that way. I took the $1,200 less deal at Sterling McCall in Houston later that afternoon.

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This is not just unethical BUT illegal and against the franchise agreement. Many many moons ago I had a great quote from Lawrence Marshall on a car and took it to Lone Star on 290 to see if they could match. They could not but the so-called manager gave me the same line of BS about not servicing the car if I bought it from LM. I called the GM regional office ( got the back number from the LM salesman who I knew from school) and reported the conversation. They were extremely concerned and made it VERY clear that every GM dealership in the entire friggin country WILL honor a GM warranty regardless as to where the car was purchased. its VERY clearly and strongly stated in every franchise agreement and is backed up by consumer law in virtually every state including Texas. This applies to all brands and dealerships. The new car warranty is from the manufacturer NOT the dealership.
I actually got a follow up call from someone at GM HQ in Mich and a week later got a call from the head honcho at Lone Star with a guarantee that the clown who said this was reprimanded drawn and quartered etc and offered to sell me a car below LM with free service for 2 years and all manner of babble.... I already bought the car from LM yet he actually asked me to stop by where I got the 2 years of free oil changes just as part of his apology. I guess that the LIE told by the salesman and seemingly by Mr A is a big NO NO in the car industry.
If you experience was recent I suggest that you inform Toyota Regional AND CC Mr A and see what kinda response you might get.

I will never understand this. I was in the car business for years before I got into media. Why are car dealers considered crooks when trying to mark up their inventory 3-5% above cost and trying to make a profit? Do you go into Bestbuy and demand to pay cost for a TV they have marked up 200%? Do you go into Dillards and demand to pay cost for a suit they have marked up 400% over cost? No. Then why is it okay to do this at a car dealership and why are they crooks for wanting to make a profit just like any other RETAIL store in the world?