I've been having quite the odyssey with my 4Runner. It had developed a parasitic electric leak. Such that in a half day the new battery would drain below starting volts. Measured as a 3.5amp drain. I took it to Liberty Toyota in Co Springs for them to find it. They couldn't, had it for 2 weeks. They had their top mechanic on it. Then the drain went away without them finding and fixing it. Their explorations apparently changed the impedence on some connector, unplugging and replugging it. They tested it for several days and the drain never recurred. I told them, I have no confidence they fixed it and it won't recur. I have a suspicion that perhaps one of the computers whose memory is maintained even with the battery disconnected (perhaps by a capacitor or CMOS type circuit board battery), could use a reboot to reload the firmware. They poo pooed that but that may be what happened. (Yeah I'm a retired software engineer - "if your tool is a hammer - problems look like a nail")
I went down there to pick it up. They had provided me with a free rental car - a late model low mile Dodge Caravan from Enterprise - I'm 43 miles away. I paid them the $440 for their diagnostics by debit card - I was prepared to battle them as their hourly rate is $130/hr and they worked on it for nearly 2 weeks off and on. I'll be cursed if they are going to get 4 figures for diagnostics and no actual fix. They told me they cut me a break, only charging for 3 hours so apparently I'm supposed to be happy with that. I was looking at possible legal action and other options I might have to do if they were unreasonable on the bill. At that time, these people had lost my confidence and I would never patronize them again.
They are all paid up so they went to bring the car to the pickup point after they run it through their wash.
Gone.
My 4Runner. They can't find it anywhere.
Turns out, apparently one of their employees stole it OUT OF THE GARAGE (not visible on the lot) - per the store manager later, his investigation found the miscreant pried a security-locked garage door open with a jack. They have no security cameras in the garage. He said that may change.
I figured we'll never see it again. It's a highly desirable, low mile, indoor kept, black 4Runner Limited. A rare car, all the bells and whistles, heated leather electric captains chairs, sunroof, heated mirrors, excellent audio system with sub and so on. Liberty is a large dealer with hundreds of cars on the lot - not one Limited 4Runner - especially a classy looking black one. 2012 but serviced only by a dealer, never been offroad, looked new - in fact my friends / family asked if it was new. I got a super buy on it - Consumer Reports said I should have paid $4000 more than I did per it's condition & miles. No wonder a Toyota employee stole this cherry car he saw in the shop - I figured it was on the way to a container ship on the coast and West Africa.
Justin Lombardi - GM at Liberty - was apoplectic about it and determined to make me whole. I figured this might turn into a blessing but I'm still wary.
It was discovered gone last Tue. Justin thought it had been taken Sat eve. If so the theft had been undiscovered for 3 days. Plenty of time to get to San Diego / Oakland container docks.
The cops called me Fri and said they found it abandoned in a residential area 3 miles south of the dealer.
I ran down there. It was locked and the key fob gone. Obviously they had been baja-ing it. Somewhat battered, the running boards bent, dented bumper, scratched and my stuff that was boxed in the back was thoroughly jumbled. The cops were there, stayed until the tow truck arrived to haul it back to the dealer. They had fingerprinted the outside and followed us to the dealer so they could fingerprint inside after they opened it.
Justin met me in the office area - made it clear, after it was stolen and damaged on his watch, he's gonna make me whole. I was skeptical given their behavior so far but this is the Head Banana, says he owns it.
Well I took delivery a week later after they made the truck like new. New running boards, new bumper, paint, and detailed in and out. New key fobs and locks, reprogrammed smart key system. And they are replacing the missing Milwaukee 18v brushless hammer drill stolen out of the back. No charge for having the rental car for 3 weeks. And they never applied the $4XX charge on my debit card. Still hasn't appeared on my online bank ledger.
Gotta say, Justin Lombardi, General Manager at Liberty Toyota is a man of his word - stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. I am writing an appropriate letter he can post if he wants to. Others who contributed to the fix (known to me) are Sarah Zimmerman, Richard Simes and Warren Weimer.
Here's the truck as it appeared when I picked it up (stopped here for lunch in Kiowa).
