My Toyota Experience: Good Thinking, Bad Product?

I bought a Toyota Rav 4 in August 2006 from Elizade Motors. Since it was my first ever brand new car and I had an old car then, I only drove it on special occasions. My first reaction after the purchase was that contrary to the perception I had of the brand, the car was a little too lightweight than I expected. Initially, I thought my disappointment was buyer dissonance but when I had the opportunity to drive the American Specs of the same car, I could confirm that my Nigerian Specs was significantly different. The only way to describe it is ‘pangolo’ (empty tin) compared to the American version.

About the 1st service, I noticed that when I step on the brakes, it made this peculiar sound like it was struggling to catch. I mentioned my observation to the service personnel at Elizade Service Center in Ogba and was told they checked and nothing was wrong. I however don’t remember if I insisted my complaints must be included in the job sheet. It was a brand new car with just over 5000 kilometers so I didn’t make any fuss once they reassured me.

The next thing I noticed was that my steering wheel made clicking noises when turning to the right side as if the car had a shaft problem. However, when you make the full turn of the steering wheel, there was no clicking sound. I also mentioned this sounds each time we went to service the car and the usual response was there was no problem. I remember one of the staff explaining to me that it was normal with Rav 4. Since this was my first Toyota car, I had nothing to compare notes with and they were the experts. By August 2009 when my 3 year warranty was to expire, my car which had less than 30,000 kilometers on it was driving like an over flogged jalopy! Getting into potholes on Lagos roads was a nightmare as the car seemed like it had no shock absorbers.

I notice the difference because whenever I drove other vehicles which were older than mine over the same stretch of roads, my experience was distinctly different. Two weeks before my warranty expired, I decided to seek a second opinion and asked Mr Kunle Osinaike, Automobile Engineer and Producer of Automedics on Radio Continental to test drive the car. The minute he turned the steering and stepped on the brakes he confirmed that there definitely was an issue with the vehicle. Elizade serviced the vehicle for 3 years and gave it a clean bill of health in spite of my constant complaints about these sounds. Uncle Kunle advised me to take it back (we just serviced less than a month or so) and even offered to go with me in case they still disputed the fault.

I took it in just about 2 weeks before my 3 year warranty expired and met a really nice officer Idowu, who impressed me with his service delivery so much I wrote about my experience. He took the car in and confirmed that there was something wrong with the steering which had affected the shock absorber on the right side. He informed me that since it was still under warranty, they would fix the steering wheel and replace the two shocks though only the right side was affected. We scheduled an appointment and I went home a happy customer not knowing my ordeal had just begun.

Elizade had the car for about a week and when I was getting restive and sent my driver over, they told him we had to take our turn as they were working on other cars before ours. My driver caught a glimpse of the workshop and told me he saw other Rav 4 all jacked up like mine. I thought it was strange then to have so many cars of the same brand in warranty repairs at the same time. That was when I suspected it was a factory fault but since they took responsibility, I didn’t want to make a fuss.

A few days later, they called that they had changed the shock absorbers but the part to fix the steering wheel had to come in from Japan. We were advised to take the car and they would call us when the part was in. I asked about the brake sound and another irritating sound from the back of the car and was told all was fine. It took a few months for Elizade to call that the part was ready, by which time; the clicking sound was now constant on the right front wheel area. Even after fixing the steering wheel, they returned the car without checking the right wheel click.

I immediately protested and was then informed that there was some rubber issue. When I pointed out that this sound had been for years, the Warranty Officer told me they noticed it but since they had already requested for more than 3 parts for my car on warranty, they could not accept liability for it anymore, more so my warranty had since expired by now. This is without any consideration for the fact that the repairs were briefed in under warranty and were never fully concluded because Elizade and Toyota just didn’t have the complete parts to finish the job at any given time.

After establishing that fact, I offered to pay for the part so it won’t cause further damage but refused to pay for repairs but Elizade insisted it was my full responsibility. They promised to order the part, and called a few weeks ago to ask us to bring the car as the part was in their office. We took it in and after two days, I was told to come pick up my car. My driver got there only to call me that the car was not fixed after 2 days in their workshop because they just discovered that the wrong part was sent from Toyota Nigeria. After two days!

Due to Elizade’s sloppy after sales service delivery, the car is still with these defects which might be affecting other parts of the vehicle. While still trying to find an alternative solution to this, I discovered that my car’s chassis was within the range listed by Toyota Nigeria for ‘check up’ appointment! So my brake pedal issue could have been a factory fault all these years and I was falsely reassured until it started to affect other parts of the car.

While I am grossly aggrieved at Elizade and Toyota Nigeria for endangering my life and taking advantage of my vulnerability as a woman to pass off a defective product as superior quality and falsely reassure me to avoid culpability, I cannot but wonder if there are any standards for vehicles imported into Nigeria in the first instance.

I am aware that nations specify the minimum standard of products that can be imported into their country but it seems the Nigerian government was not copied on that memo. As a consumer rights and protection advocate, I have raised the alarm that with porous regulations and zero enforcements, Nigeria is sitting duck for substandard products. While my experience with Toyota could be an isolated case as the brand is not substandard, thousands of products flood our markets without any way for consumers to verify their quality.

Where is Standards Organisation of Nigeria in this global Toyota recall? Who do I report my experience and suspicion of a factory defect in the Rav 4 2006 edition so they can investigate to ensure that consumers like me are not endangered by our purchase? The case in the automobile industry is particularly critical because Nigerian lives are on the line. How are we sure that many of the accidents that we attribute to bad roads, reckless driving and carelessness are not actually caused by some minor defect in the vehicle? Who is saddled with the responsibility to investigate accidents to determine their causes so we can avoid such in future?

I have checked with the Consumer Protection Council and was assured the DG had directed that a letter requesting for Toyota to state the accurate exposure of the Nigerian consumer to this identified faults be dispatched last week. However, the CPC must speak up for the Nigerian consumer and engage the SON on the issues that affect our purchase choices.

What are the Nigerian specifications for approved vehicles? One would expect that given the state of our national road network, extra fortified shocks would be a standard requirement for any vehicle intended for the Nigerian market. Also, with the inability to get the fuel equation right, a less sensitive fuel injection system would also make that list to fortify our vehicles from adulterated fuel accessioned by the embarrassment of scarcity.

The only advantage I have as a Nigerian consumer is the ability and opportunity to speak and be heard through the media. Millions of Nigerians like me suffer in silence because there is no voice to echo their pains. Even I may have to bear my burdens after venting because there is no one to hold Elizade and Toyota Nigeria to fulfill their contractual obligations to fix my car of a recurring defect complained about under warranty.

My issue is too minute in the face of gargantuan national ‘issues’ of a sick President; an Acting President trying to manage his loyalty to terrestrial powers while attempting to steer a rudderless nation; a National Assembly totally engulfed in the politics of remaining relevant mixed with our national demons of fuel scarcity, scanty electricity and massive ATM scams, exploitation of ignorant consumers and this sudden unprecedented heat scourge!

This is one of those times I wish I had a President like Obama who published a Consumer Handbook of guidelines on practically every purchase decision with a personal note reassuring his citizens of his commitment to their protection and how they can seek redress. I wonder if Acting President Goodluck Jonathan spares us a thought as consumers in his overloaded 12 hour schedule.

If he does, maybe he will recognize the crucial role of consumer protection and strengthen the structures like SON, CPC, NERC and CBN enough for them to do more than bark. Nigerian consumers desperately want them to bite too!

Meanwhile, I have formally complained to Elizade and waiting for their response. An official apology for their insincerity with me during the warranty period on my vehicle and full responsibility for returning my car to perfect condition or a replacement of the car is what I expect or else, I will seek legal redress. It is time to test the structures that should protect consumers.

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