Toyota Open Letter
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The Regional Service Manager of Toyanda, Jesse Nesmith, began the negotiation by setting a pleasant tone and going over my concerns. She then read through the notes on file to review the information on the diagnostic test. Jesse stated that the issue was not caused by a computer or electronic error. She stated that it was an internal issue with the vehicle and it was due to lack of maintenance on the vehicle. This information was unexpected for me and led me to believe that this would negotiation would be a bit more challenging. I explained to Jesse that I was unaware of any maintenance issues and as a customer; I purchased the vehicle because it was known to be reliable. I had very little knowledge of the reasons why a transmission would malfunction. Based on a past unpleasant experience with another vehicle, which ended up me filing a case for a lemon law hearing, I was not a fan of repairs and did not want to haggle over the price for a new transmission. I had determined my bottom line and figured getting a fair price would be enough.
Based on being a student and my financial circumstances, I determined my price cap to be $950 with a 3 year warranty. Jesse offered the transmission for free and informed me that I would only be responsible for the labor cost of $700. My main concern was having something else go wrong with the transmission and being in the same situation. I requested a warranty. Initially Jesse informed me that the warranty cost would be an additional $700. I explained my position and that EverGo repair option. Jesse stated that since I was a valued Toyanda customer and they would like to maintain my patronage, she could offer the warranty for $200. After it was all said and done, we agreed to $900 for a new transmission with a one and half year warranty and a contingency that future issues with the transmission beyond that point will be covered under an extended one and half year warranty, covering the transmission for a total of 3 years.
Seeing that I did not plan to keep the car beyond another 3 years and I thought the value of having a new Toyanda quality transmission was greater than a 3rd party repair, I initially thought the deal was fair. However, after hearing the results of other deals, I think I could have had a better outcome. I recognized that my view on the value of what I agreed to and my efforts in the negations could have been stronger. It did not occur to me to request other options, such as discounts on future purchases or added services as part of the negation. Although I went into the negation with a set price and objective, there was definitely a disparity of results among other deals, which led me to view my effort as less desirable. As a customer with an alternative option, my first thought going into the negation was that I had the power. However, once I was informed of the maintenance issue, I began to think that the balance of power shifted and the Jesse now held