DCH Freehold Toyota

THIS IS A MUST READ THIS IF YOU WANT THE REAL STORY ON DCH. Everything I was told by DCH Toyota Service was either a ridiculous made up story or was later proven to be contradicted by another DCH Toyota s DCH. Everything I was told by DCH Toyota Service was either a ridiculous made up story or was later proven to be contradicted by another DCH Toyota service technician. I have no doubt they will concoct some reply to this terrible rating BUT I WOULD NOT TRUST ANYTHING THEY SAY AFTER MY TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. ALSO, I HAVE NEVER TAKEN THE TIME TO WRITE A REVIEW ON AND VENDOR OR SUPPLIER BEFORE BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO INTENSELY MISTREATED IN MY LIFE. Here is what happened and I realize it is a long story but well worth the read before ever thinking about servicing your car there. 1st week we had the car, a new 2008 Camry LE, the windshield washer fluid was spraying in our faces causing us to choke from the chemicals coming thru the vents and the radio was causing a terrible buzzing sound and causing extreme vibration throughout the interior of the car. I like to turn up the bass more than most but this was unbearable. DCH's response was that all cars ever made spray washer fluid thru the vents and we had to set the "bass" setting on the radio to at least -2, not +2 so there were no bass tones being pumped out. Okay, it is not a mechanical problem, but how would you like to own a car where you would not be able to enjoy the playing music on its radio. DCH blamed the radio stations for broadcasting the music with too much bass. REALLY!! Was I supposed to call them and complain. They would not budge from these absurd answers even though I asked them if they thought there was another customer on the planet that would believe these responses. I decided I could never go back to them for service after that experience unless it was for a warranty repair. In 2010, we went back to have DCH Toyoya check downshifting and jerking of the car from what we suspected to be the transmission. After checking on this for us, they told us the transmission was fine. Then in June 2012, we brought it back for a warranty repair on the struts and to check the transmission problem which was now more pronounced. They told us they could not find any problem with the transmission itself but claimed that the wrong transmission fluid was in the transmission. They said it could cause damage. HOWEVER, the fluid was never changed from the day we bought the car. They also said that it must have been changed very recently because it was "pristine" (not appearing to show any dirt or blackening). They also said that the transmission contains lifetime fluid which should never be changed. Then DCH quoted me a price of about $350 to drain the fluid and replace it with the correct fluid and then repeat the whole process again. I told them not to do this until I could investigate this further. When I asked them to explain how the wrong fluid got into the transmission if I never had it changed, they tried to blame it on the fact that I always serviced the vehicle at Mr. Tire (formerly Vespias) and suggested that the mechanic may have accidentally drained the transmission fluid instead of the oil and then hid their mistake by just filling it back up with the wrong fluid. I contacted Mr. Tire to explain the situation. The manager called DCH Toyota and spoke to the service rep that handled my car. He actually admitted when confronted by the knowledgeable Manager from Mr. Tire that there really was no way to test if the wrong fluid was in the transmission. He also admitted that DCH does not even have the equipment to properly flush the transmission fluid. It turns out all they were going to do is open the drain plug from which only 4 of the 12 quarts would drain out. Then put in 4 qts. of new fluid and the repeat the process again. For this they would charge $350. If what they said was true, surely would have left a lot of the wrong fluid in the transmission. Finally, the DCH rep also admitted that with the lifetime fluid it should not have the appearance of being dirty or darkened, otherwise how could it be good for a lifetime. After hearing this, I went back to complain about all this "disinformation" and revisions to the story. I was put in touch with the DCH Customer Service Manager who contradicted the statement that the transmission fluid should never be changed. She told me and my wife that it should be changed every 100.000 miles or so. At the time, I had almost 87,0000 miles on the car. She offered to have a "Master Technician" perform a detailed diagnosis of the transmission and that there would not be any charge. We accepted this offer and asked her if we could drop the car Sunday night for servicing on Monday. Monday afternoon we were told by DCH that the Master Technician is not in on Monday. They did actually provide a courtesy loaner car. I did not hear anything back from them on Tuesday. Around 4:30 in the afternoon I had to call them and was advised that the Master Technician was still not in on Tuesday. On Wednesday they called to say that they now agreed there is a problem with the transmission and that what we told them we were experiencing, was valid. I told them not to do any work without a warranty. HERE COMES THE FINAL BLOW. Without any proof, they reported to the Toyota extended warranty company that they repair should NOT BE COVERED because the wrong transmission fluid caused the problem. Think about this. They missed the proper diagnosis of the problem in 2010 which they admitted. Then they missed the diagnosis of the problem just one week earlier. They stated that the fluid was just recently changed because it was pristine. So, if the transmission fluid was just changed why was there the same problem with the transmission in 2010, only less pronounced. They admitted that no test existed to determine which fluid was in the transmission and simply based their opinion on the color of the fluid. I know the fluid was never changed.So, if the wrong fluid was in the transmission, it most likely was filled with the wrong fluid at the factory for all we know. Then there's even more. I went to pick up the car that night and return the courtesy car. They did not know where the key were and thought the car was still being worked on. I insisted that they have the customer service manager call me the next day to give a status update about what they were doing and when I could pick up the car. They promised to get her the message. She did not call the next day. So, again, I had to call them. I finally got a call back that I could pick up the car and there was no other work being done on the car. These people are so disrespectful, rude and untrustworthy. THIS HAS TO BE THE MOST INCOMPETENT REPAIR SHOP AROUND AND THEY CLEARLY CAN NEVER BE TRUSTED. I recognize the relatively high rating from other customers but think about it. How many of those customers just went along with anything they were told by DCH and as long as they got their car back without any apparent problem, regardless of what it cost and regardless of whether the work done was even needed, they would have no basis to be unhappy. I was fortunate enough to have another independent expert to investigate and refute the nonsense they were trying to peddle. If DCH tries to dispute these facts, the Manager at Mr. Tire in Manalapan can back up what I stated here about the transmission problem. IN CONCLUSION, ONLY SERVICE YOUR CAR WITH DCH TOYOTA AT YOUR OWN RISK. More