This review is not to bad mouth Ciocca Toyota of - se_directional
This review is not to bad mouth Ciocca Toyota of Williamsport, it is meant to be informative and assist others on choosing a repair facility. This review only covers the maintenance department, the Ciocca collision center in Williamsport and, from what I can figure out, the head of the Ciocca Toyota of Williamsport and the corporate office.
I have a 2022 Tacoma Off Road that was involved in an accident where another person’s front drivers wheel fell off and hit my truck causing minor cosmetic damage to the bumper and the driver fender flare as well as major damage to the front driver’s wheel and the suspension components for that wheel. I had my truck towed there as I believed a toyota dealership would know how to repair a Toyota properly and efficiently. I spoke directly with the service manager and he assured me that he would make sure my truck was repaired properly and as I had explained the accident and that a wheel/tire hit me doiong 55 mph while I was doing the same in the opposite direction I believed the majority of the hardware for that corner was damaged. As far as I can find out, my truck sat at the dealership lot for 10 days before being taken over to the collision center. While at the collision center one employee stands out as the only person at Ciocca that I would trust with anything to do with my truck. Gabe is a good, honest person and none of this review reflects on him. While at the collision center they repainted my front bumper cover, replaced the driver fender flare, replaced the broken wheel and got 4 new tires put on. With the new wheel a new TPMS sensor was needed as the original was lost during the accident.
After the collisoin center was done the truck was sent back to the dealership where an alignment was performed and it was determined many components needed to be replaced like the low A-arm, wheel bearing, CV shaft, and the tabs that are adjusting the alignment where bent. Due to welding needing to be done for the alignment tabs the truck went back over to the collision center. After the tabs were repaired another alignment was completed and I was told it was okay to come pick up my truck. At this time it had been a little over 40 days. I took the truck for a test drive with Gabe and we both noted that it was pulling to the left. My truck went back to the dealership and it was determined the upper control arm was bent so this was replaced. I contacted the dealership after a few days and they had my truck ready. I did a quick test drive and it seemed fine but after a couple hours of driving I noticed it was pulling again.
Being a mechanic myself, I was a nuclear mehcanic in the Navy for 10+ years and I have always worked on my own vehicles, I put the truck up on my lift and did some inspecting of their “work”. Here are my findings.
1. The upper control are is held in place by a long bolt, approximately 12 inches, and this bolt was removed to replace the upper control arm. On the end of the bolt I noticed the threads were mangled like a set of vice grips had been used to remove the bolt.
2. The bolt that hold the upper control arm in place was bent. The last 3.5 inches are bent and when the bolt was rotated it changed the caster and camber of the drivers side front wheel. The fact that the technician had difficulty removing this bolt and did not notice, or chose not to notice, that the bolt was bent is very bad mechanical practice especially as it is a bolt that affects alignment and if it has a stress fracture it could fail placing my and my families life in danger.
3. I had asked more than three times if the studs that hold the wheel on were replaced. I was told by the service representative and the manager that they were replaced. This was a lie, as I removed the wheel the studs still had the marking from the factory where they verify the torque on the studs. If the people I asked didn’t know they should have said so and checked it out. The studs absorbed the impact of a 75 lb wheel hitting my wheel at an approximate speed of 110 MPH. That wheel hit so hard it broke my wheel and we where never able to find the wheel that fell off the other vehicle. Again, the decision not to replace these bolt which may or may not have stress fractures places my life and my families life in danger.
4. To remove the bolt the inner fender has to be bent outwards. The service tech attempted bypass this step and ground down the flange of the bolt head. This was unsuccessful and they proceeded to use a pair of vice grips or pliers to bend the metal out. Them bending the metal is not what I have a problem with, them using regular pliers instead of non-marring pliers meant they scratched the paint and they did not even bother to put a coat of spray paint on the metal to help prevent corrosion.
5. There were missing fasteners on the bottom side of the bumper cover.
6. After driving the vehicle for 15-20 miles the TPMS sensor light came on and I had to take it back for them to program in the sensor. While I was there the technician told me it was not a Toyota sensor.
Due to this dealerships errors I have contacted Toyota directly and I contacted the corporate office for Ciocca dealerships. I purchased the upper control arm bolt, the six studs for the wheel, the correct cotter pins for the castle nuts that to the steering knuckle. I also got the truck aligned at a local shop after replacing the parts.
The corporate office is supposed to be sending me a check for the replaced parts and to cover the alignment plus 50 dollars. This dealership’s service department, management, and the corporate office have not done their job properly and they should not be trusted to work on your vehicle.
Read More
Dealer Reviews
Service Reviews
Cars for Sale
Log In