Inferior Toyota Parts & Lack of Accountability

The below was sent to Toyota's Customer Care e-mail address (***) on the 7th of August. I have not received a response to date. They really do not case. Anyway, here we go:

I bought a 2020 Toyota Hilux 2.4 GD-6 RB SRX A/T in June of 2023. The purchase price included the installment of a towbar, which the vehicle did not have initially. The vehicle was purchased through Foster’s Toyota Robertville (and financed through Standard Bank). Address: Fosters Toyota Cnr Nadine and Anvil Roads Roodepoort. Tel: *** We were assisted by sales agent by the name of Persilla. We started noticing around Nov / December 2023 that the towbar had some slack, which worsened to such an extent that we reached out to Foster’s Toyota in January of 2024. My son, who is the principal driver of the vehicle was asked to bring the vehicle to Foster’s Toyota. On this day they replaced something on the towbar, and he left their premises with the towbar fixed. My son again noticed during beginning of April that the towbar loosed again. He contacted Persila on the 11th of April to advise. Persila asked him to send her a video of the towbar (we have a copy of video date stamped). She advised my son that she must first speak to her manager on how to proceed. On the 12th of April (the following day) she sent my son a video back of a new towbar on another vehicle, which had the same slack. In her WhatsApp to my son, she said “it is from the factory” suggesting again that it is normal for the towbar to have this slack. We asked for another opinion from a private vehicle servicing company in Alberton. The owner, who has been in the car service industry for 3 decades advised that that is utter “nonsense” and that it is dangerous for a towbar to have slack to the degree the Hilux had. My son experienced that the trailer was swerving. You can just imagine what can happen to Adriaan (my son) or other road users if the trailer had to come lose. My son tried to reach Persilla again, but his messages were ignored. He could not contact her since.

Out of desperation and based on the feedback around the dangers of driving like that, my son, on my recommendation (as I’ve purchased Toyota from them before) reached out to CMH Toyota Alberton (proximity to where we stay). He drove to them. At CMH Toyota he spoke to Tebogo and Bennie. They were eager to assist, which we were very appreciative of. They fastened the tension knob and asked Adriaan to test it over the next couple of days. After a couple of days, it slacked again and returned to CMH Toyota Alberton. My son was then advised by Tebogo and Bennie that those particular towbars were on a recall list and that a shim kit had to be ordered and installed. My son was contacted around 2 weeks later to bring the vehicle in. They installed the shimming kit, and the towbar issue was fixed. Towbar went in for repairs (shimming) where they installed a shim kid at TCMH Toyota Alberton on the 26th of June 2024. We were by Tebogo (proof attached).

Around 2 ½ weeks later, the towbar became loose again. Adriaan (my son) returned to CMH Toyota Alberton, where they advised that unfortunately there is nothing else that can be done, and that we will have to install a new towbar ourselves. We were even provided with a quote for a new towbar, latest model, costing more than R 8 300. You can imagine the frustration and utter disappointment in Toyota, that we must replace the towbar ourselves. I believe this is unacceptable and disgraceful that a poor-quality part (towbar) needs to become my problem to fix and pay for. Which I categorically reject. I am willing though to pay in the difference in price between the obvious inferior product and the new towbar price, excluding labor costs. I need urgent traction on this request. I think it is unacceptable to expect a Toyota owner of 22 odd years (6 vehicle purchased across 3 provinces) to just accept the above outcome and just pay myself. Not to mention the danger to my son, his family and other road users, in case of an accident.