Cherokee County Toyota — Local services in Canton

The full story, and it's not a pretty one for me. In March of 2023, I had a factory built engine delivered to Cherokee County Toyota to be installed in my 1998 Toyota Tacoma. To date, (December 7th, 2024) the actual installation has NO problems. Perfect.

The actual problem begins with my throwout bearing in my clutch....it started knocking. I was told by the service advisor that the mechanic had actually suggested that i replace the clutch assembly, especially while the old engine had been removed...obviously saving on labor costs.

I was told that I refused that service. I had NEVER even spoke to the mechanic....about my clutch, the weather, nothing!! I have email trails, everything. Sooo, there I was in late spring 2023 with a faulty, yet still working clutch. But, they (Cherokee County Toyota) would make things right.

They charged me about $1,100 for a new factory flywheel and the clutch assembly, and as of this morning (having listened to the throwout bearing knocking for 1.5 years), my clutch has failed. No work today, no work tomorrow, and probably no work through Tuesday!!

I only have one day off each week, and I spent hours and hours...days trying to resolve this before the warranty expired . They failed me MISERABLY!!!!

Anyone who reads this post and wants to contact me, I welcome that. It was one of the worst experiences ever, and I have ALL the proof to back up what I have posted.

UPDATE TO DECEMBER 7TH, 2024 POST:

So, what the mechanics at Fast Lane Auto Repair in Woodstock discovered in repairing my truck (wouldn't go into gear on the morning of December 7th, 2024) was that the clutch fork had BROKEN! ( pictures attached) They also didn't see any evidence of repacking of grease in the new clutch assembly Cherokee County Toyota installed in the summer of 2023.

In my December 7th, 2024 post, I mention that I heard the throwout bearing knocking shortly after the installation (new clutch assembly by Cherokee County Toyota! ) and that I tried repeatedly to get it resolved. They didn't listen to me and fixed nothing.

So, with the new engine installation completed in the Spring of 2023, they flat-out LIED and said that I refused a new clutch prior to engine installation at the recommendation of the mechanic....I was speechless!! That never, ever happened. I mention all of that in my December 7th, 2024 post. But, they ended up putting a new one in during the summer of 2023, and from nearly the onset, the throwout bearing was knocking. (Again)

The mechanic and owner at Fast Lane both agreed that, because of the lack of repacking of grease when Cherokee County Toyota did the clutch installation, this very likely led to throwout bearing issues and most decidedly created so much heat, that the clutch fork actually broke.

There is practically zero chance of a clutch fork breaking. Do your own research with master, trusted mechanics. Neither has seen anything like that. Look at the pictures I attached.

NOW, all of that noise is gone and everything sounds beautiful, because the job (this time) was done correctly. However, I lost 6 days of work because this started early on a Saturday morning, and my mechanic is not open on weekends. (Saturday thru Thursday all in with no truck)

I will contact Cherokee County Toyota to see if they can make something right for me, but I'm certainly not holding my breath. I'll create another update after reaching out to them.

This was a painful and NEEDLESS problem. $2,600 plus was spent in a year and a half for a clutch, but this last $1500 plus could have been completely avoided! I work 6 days a week, but simply do not have the money for this kind of negligence. I truly hope this post can save someone from the potential nightmare they could face in leaving their vehicle with Cherokee County Toyota to repair.

Due to character limit, I had to leave new update below. New pictures added 03.18.25 (last 5) Note the lack of grease in previous assembly. (Done by Cherokee County...

Start to finish issues with the service department including damage to our vehicle. We had issues with our service advisor, so we spoke with the service manager who admitted the service advisor was misleading us and gave us his cell phone number to work directly with him after we asked not to deal with that advisor again. A request that was never honored. After another issue, the service manager and I spoke on the phone and he began sharing information about the advisor going through remedial training and mentorship from a senior advisor. It was uncomfortable to have him share personnel information that openly. I cut him off from continuing because it was none of my business.

Warranty parts were on backorder so they had our vehicle for about a month and a half. During this time we had the body shop do $5,000 worth of paint repair to get rid of small chips. They completely repainted one side of the vehicle.

The body shop asked for our vehicle prior to picking up from service so they could detail it. They wanted it pristine for us, which is how the dealership received it. We shared this information with the service advisor.

When my wife went to pick it up, there was grease on the outside and inside of the vehicle and it was filthy. The cashier wouldn't let her take it home because it showed the dealership owed us $5 and it needed to be fixed, but the advisor had already left for the day.

The next day I spoke with the service manager about the pickup issues and he promised to get it clean and delivered to us later that day. I reiterated we didn't want to deal with the advisor again.

The same service advisor brought the vehicle to our house. After he left I inspected the vehicle and found a couple of scuffs on the brand new paint, a scratch on the hood, and one of the chrome wheels destroyed from being curbed multiple times.

I took the vehicle back to the dealership and spoke with the service director. He said he would speak with the service manager about it. Days later I sent the service manager a text asking if they spoke. He responded with a text message saying "Yes sir I did we both agree that we're not responsible for the curb damage on your wheel. There are no curbs that would do that in our service area or body shop." I pointed out how ridiculous that sounded. He asked if I wanted the service director to call me. I said I didn't want to be told they have special curbs that magically don't scratch wheels. I never got a call or response to that.

I ultimately sent an email to the service manager and service director. I explained how meticulous we keep our 2023 Highlander. It is washed every week and we wipe down the vehicle ourselves, including the chrome wheels. We know every imperfection on the vehicle. There is no doubt the wheel was in perfect condition.

In this email I included pictures of a curb behind their service drive completely marked up from tires rubbing on it to disprove their point about not having curbs that would do that. I gave them a deadline to respond saying they would replace the wheel and fix the paint issues or else they would force me to take them to court. I preferred they replace the wheel and we go our separate ways.

My wife and I were easy going and calm through every issue. After the first and second issue with the service advisor, we even told the service manager how great our previous experiences had been. I would have never seen it getting to the point it did. Never in my life have I considered taking anyone to court. We would have walked away, but that wheel was too destroyed and too expensive.

The service manager responded to my email and said they would replace the wheel, and they did. After it was done, the service manager and director were waiting by the vehicle and told me I was not welcome back. They fired me after I fired them. It was tacky. They never apologized or owned up to anything except the service advisor being misleading.

Body shop was 5 stars all day and fixed the paint issues. John Gilbert is awesome and goes...

Cherokee county Toyota taught us a very valuable lesson, that we thought we already knew.

You can’t trust a car salesman.

We needed a new car in Fall 2024, and wanted a 4Runner. Since the 2025 model wouldn’t be coming out until the summer, we opted for a certified preowned 4Runner with low miles. A quick google search populated a certified preowned vehicle with only 21,000 miles at Cherokee County Toyota. During our buying experience, the car salesman said the vehicle was Certified Pre-Owned and said the tires on the vehicle were brand new. The buying process was not terrible, but the finance department was pushy, and quick. They do not want you to actually read the fine print, or know how expensive their add on packages are. They tell you total monthly payment and expect you to ask no questions.

After purchasing the vehicle from Cherokee county, we began having issues with the steering column. Vibration, noise, and metal grinding. Pretty alarming when we owned the car for less than a week.

We ended up taking the vehicle to Cherokee county Toyota three times. We were told it was normal for all terrain tires to make noise. And my concerns were brushed off. The last time I brought the vehicle, the technician informed me that ‘rough driving’ and ‘hitting objects’ can cause a car to loose its alignment. Suggesting that my driving was causing these issues. This is not only degrading but also sexual discrimination.

After four months of frustration, we went to a third party mechanic. This mechanic found that the shocks were bad (he could compress the shocks with his hand), the tires were bad (from the bad shocks), and the dust shield on one of the tires was creating the metal sound (he bent it back in .5 seconds). This mechanic fixed everything. The car now drives beautifully.

We have been attempting to get some of the money spent back from Cherokee County Toyota. They refuse due to (1) us using a third party, (2) the vehicle having been driven over 11,000 miles since purchase, and the fact that it was (3) not certified pre owned.

These are funny refusals for us. (1) We only used a third party mechanic because they continued to brush off my complaints. (2) it only got that many miles because of the run around trying to get them to help us. A little manipulative if you ask me. (3) we really thought it was certified pre owned. We had conversations with the salesman about it being certified pre owned. We believed we were only looking at a certified pre owned vehicle. We were shocked to find out that the vehicle was not Certified Pre-Owned. This is truly our fault for believing the salesman’s word and not double checking the paperwork before signing. A hard lesson learned.

It’s sad when you cannot take someone’s word, or trust anything they say. Especially from a major, local owned, car dealership. It’s equally frustrating to have my concerns dismissed, and find out that I was indeed correct on my concerns the entire time. We could have bought a cheaper 4Runner from another dealership and avoided this headache.

I strongly recommend that if you are going to buy a vehicle from this dealership, you get everything in writing, don’t take their word for it, and fully inspect your vehicle before leaving the lot; even if it only has 21,000 miles on it.

I gave this dealership one star because of their lack of communication, poor ability to put the customer first and inability to stand by their salesman’s word. The dealership could have answered us kindly, tried to meet us halfway, and at least engaged with us in dealing with this manner. Instead, we were constantly brushed off, pushed aside...