Beware of Sparks Toyota in Myrtle Beach SC

I would like to share an experience with all of you to protect yourselves from Sparks Toyota’s service department. On Monday I took my son’s 2012 tundra in for service because the airbag light came on. prior to taking it there my friend who is a certified mechanic ran the codes on his computer and stated that it was a sensor in the passenger seat needed either replacement or recalibration. He looked it up in his system and he said that there is an open campaign for Toyota to re-calibrate the seat sensor and that he suggested we go to Toyota since they are aware of the issue. I dropped the truck off Monday morning at 7 AM. They charged me $132 to diagnose the system which I was fine with. Two hours later they called me and told me the technician found the wiring harness for the airbag had to be replaced because the pins on the plug were damaged and cannot be repaired. I told him I would be right there not to touch the truck upon my arrival I looked at the plug-in question. I discussed it with the service manager, the technician and the general manager and all of them played stupid. I paid the bill and took it back to my friend to rescan the system upon his inspection he noticed and photographed the plug that the technician disassembled and pulled the wire from. (attached picture) to make a long story short Sparks Toyota’s mechanic sabotaged my truck and tried to charge me $2300 for something that was not needed I reached out to Patrick Sparks the owner and his response was maybe you should just stay with your mechanic. I now have one brand new 2021 tundra that was purchased on Christmas Eve from them that I can no longer utilize their service for warranty work the next dealerships an hour and a half away. Anybody that needs service at Sparks Toyota needs to pay close attention to the fraudulent practices because if not you will be taken advantage of just like I was. This is not about the $132 this is about how many other people are they taking advantage of. When I dropped my truck off the service area is full of seniors. I’m sure they were taken advantage of them just like Me.

 

This is the reason none of my Toyota’s go to the dealership for anything but recalls. I’m also very fortunate I have a master toyo mechanic that does all my work on the trucks. They are slimy bastards

 

Whoa; this sucks and I am sorry you’re going through this. I hope you can find a reasonable and amicable solution

 

Seems damn near criminal. Perhaps contact the local district attorney.

I have no room in my life for total douche bags. I've bought some parts from Sparks over the last three years. I'll be making sure to not do that again.

 

Call Toyota and ask them to sort this out for you a loyal customer without a trustworthy dealer nearby.

 

This^^^^^^