Okay, I am thinking of taking my 2001 Toyota 4 Runner in for the gas pedal that has been sticking for months, as far as I can research, worst case scenario is a new Throttle Body is required. This would be covered under warranty for me (minus a $75 deductible).
But I am wondering, while they have it…Can I ask them to look THOUROUGHLY for other typical issues i.e. Timing Belt, Fuel Pump etc so that if these things look worn, I may get them replaced on that same deductible?
Do repair shops try to avoid this, or are they willing to do preventative repairs on things that are soon to need replacing?
Can’t hurt to ask. Whether it’s a dealership service shop or your neighborhood mechanic, they’ll be paid for whatever work they do, so they may actually be eager to do a quick go-over and see what else ought to be repaired.
As for your $75 deductible, is that per item or per incident? If it’s per incident (sticking gas pedal) you may have a hard time convincing anyone that the timing belt is related.
When dealers replace parts under warranty, they can and often are asked to show the warn/broken part they are replacing and charging back to the car manufacturer. It’s not always as simple as them doing preventative care and billing the guarantor without accountability.
But it doesn’t hurt to ask. Some are less than completely honest and I’ve know some who’ll “distribute” the work order among several clients without them even being aware of it. In other words, your preventative tensioner bearing replacement may show up on some other customer’s file with the same car as a critical repair.
The car maker will often call back parts for analysis or inspection. Afternoon extended warranty companies do not in my experience call parts back, bu they will quite often do an inspection before the work is approved to make sure they are not getting screwed. Mint Julip’s comment about a $75 deductible, and the T-belt being covered makes me think that we are discussing an extended warranty here.
The technical term for what you are describing is fraud. Speaking just for myself I do want to do business with crooks. If the dealer will screw the factory (their single bigest customer) they would probably screw me without a second thought.
You could bring it to an independent shop, have them look it over (like an inspection for a used car you were buying), and bring it back to the dealer for whatever it might need that the warranty covers.