Gatorland Toyota - Service Center

I feel as though there was an attempt to oversell me on part’s needed for my 2016 Toyota 4Runner SR5. The person attempting to do a 4 wheel alignment on my Toyota didn’t really know what he was doing! When part’s needed for my 2016 Toyota 4Runner SR5. The person attempting to do a 4 wheel alignment on my Toyota didn’t really know what he was doing! When I was escorted to my vehicle, the person doing the job showed me where his wrench was slipping and claimed that Rust was the reason his wrench was slipping. I looked at the wrench that he continued to use on my right side inner and outer tie rod’s and it was slipping and I cautioned him against going any further! He had actually damaged the contact surfaces for the wrenches! He still claimed that rust was the reason for tool slippage. I told him that my vehicle had been aligned every single year since I purchased the vehicle and that the most recent alignment was done at a Good Year in Ohio where the new tire’s were installed along with 4 Brand New Shock Absorber’s in September of 2022 before I moved to Florida in October of 2022! When I was told that the replacement parts were going to cost me almost $2500.00,I was very angry, but I contained myself until I arrived home! The attempted alignment was much worse than when I bought my vehicle on, and had I believed what they were saying to me and allowed them to escape the irresponsibility for their action’s ,my front tire’s would have been destroyed as well as my front end part’s! I asked about them getting a Toyota Master Mechanic to manage the problem, but it seemed that one was not made available to me. I took my vehicle to a Goodyear Dealer to see if an alignment was still possible and they were able to complete the job. I returned to Gator Land Toyota seeking a refund for the botched alignment and was told that I would not receive one! I told them, “YES YOU WILL REFUND MY MONEY!” After Mr. Valentine spoke to his Supervisor, I was given a partial refund of $76.00 even though I had to pay more than $126.00 elsewhere to have it done. I was also told that next time I should return with something simpler to fix! On the perceived maintenance that was claimed to be needed to be performed,changing my Transmission Fluid was one of the job’s needed to be done even though my vehicle has never,ever towed a Trailer! Other Dealerships in Ohio let me know that unless I towed a trailer,this is something that would not need to be done! Had I allowed this to happen, I strongly believe that there would be another huge problem and unnecessary expense involved. I am not interested in any unprofessional or unskilled person working on my vehicle. I want a new vehicle in the future and will buy another Toyota 4Runner ST5, but I honestly need to have faith in not just the Dealership but especially the Toyota Certified Master Mechanic’s that will perform the needed maintenance. In essence I believe that Gatorland Toyota cares about it’s Customer Base, but if your worker’s are incentivized on part’s sold, then they possibly have a conflict of interest based on their need to get a decent pay check! Mr. Valentine in essence has always provided me with good information and services and this is the only time I have ever had expressed any disagreement with the services provided. I don’t believe that it’s something purposeful on his part, but the Mechanic needs some Training in order to do is better job. But I still have damaged tie rod’s both inner and outer that have the damage contact surfaces where the tool’s are supposed to grip onto! I don’t believe that anyone from Gatorland will ever accept responsibility for this damage! If I were a Litigious Man,we would be in Court right now! But I really don’t want this!!! More