After weeks researching what kind of used car to buy, the choice was down to Toyota or Nissan, and I finally settled on a 2004 Toyota Echo. Unfortunately, I never thought of checking out the dealer’s service department. I should have listened to my daughter, she loves her Nissan and the service department treats her well.
I took the Echo in to Toyota service department for what I thought would be a minor headight adjustment. When the lights were on dim there was absolutely no visibility. If I went down an incline or over a bump I couldn’t even see 6 feet in front of the car, because there was this black line – a definite division between the light shining and it just being totally obscured and dark. I should have got a clue when it took the service guy 2 hours to set the lights higher, but I paid the bill and went on my way. The next time I used the car after dark I found lo-beam was working… not as good as I like, but acceptably enough. However the brights were set so high that they didn’t shine on the road, but way up into the trees and were so high that they even made a street light go out.
So I took the car back to the good ol’ boys in the service dept and told them low-beams were now better but asked them to adjust the high beam. The guy said that the design is such that the highs and lows are attached and so he would have it set back a bit. Also he advised new headlights so I took his word and had some installed, this of course didn’t make a bit of difference because the problem was not the lights but the obscuration which the good ol’ boys are now for some reason not believing. At any rate, the lights were reset for the second time and once again when they are on dim they have become useless because of this black line obscuration and I can’t see the road more than a few feet in front of me… 6 feet when going down an incline or over a bump, no better than it was when I originally took it in and possibly even worse.
For the third time I made a trip back to the good ol’ boys in Toyota service with the car. Each time they see me they are becoming more surly. I tried again to describe the problem and to explain that it is a safety issue because the road is obscured by this black line and I can’t see the road to drive. This time a good ol’boy condescended to take me out in the parking lot and give me an lesson on how modern headlights work, describing cats eyes and mirrors etc. Then he took off with the car and drove it around the building so he could put the lights on some wall which I guess indicated to him that they are indeed shining to his satisfaction. When I insisted they are not working properly and that I can’t see to drive with them he started yelling at me out in the parking lot that they are set to specifications and there is nothing wrong with them, and I just don’t understand how they are supposed to work.
I asked him if they would at least set the lights back so that at least I could use them on dim for the time being. He said that if they did this I would be blinding the oncoming cars and they would be flashing their lights at me. I said if they didn’t set the lights back I would have to drive on high-beam all the time so I could see the road. He refused to have them reset. He said I could leave the car overnight and I told him I need it to get around because my husband is in the hospital; and I live 20 miles out of town. He never offered me a courtesy car or anything, just walked away. I don’t know who this miserable bastard was, but I have a feeling he was the service manager.
I had to drive all the way home and pick up our other vehicle so I would be able to drive home after dark. This is not over by a long shot and I do not give up. It took seven years but I beat the WCB, I give these lowly cretins a week.
… more to follow …
