Faulty alternator install, 3 shops, a tow, and ... a refund?
hello! I'm writing to ask if I have grounds to ask a mechanic shop for a refund for faulty work even if NAPA is warrantying the work with another shop. I purchased a 2014 Tacoma this past October and love the truck so far but have had reoccurring battery problems linked to the alternator and a bad replacement.
In January of this year I took it to a shop after doing a battery test at Advance Auto Parts and finding that my alternator was aggressively overcharging (around 17-18 at 1k rpm). That shop said they replaced the alternator and belt and charged me $900 but my battery and dash lights started lighting up like a Christmas tree again not a week later. I took it to two more shops, the second finding that the alternator plug needed to be replaced so I did that.
Smooth sailing for a couple weeks then insert wet upstate NY snow, salt and rain and I'm back to a full panel of lights, disabled safety functions, and no speedometer for 24h periods when it was wet, along with my battery recently dying every time the truck was off longer than 4h or so.
I read this sub and found that I should test the battery before replacing it to test the alternator but assumed my 4 mo. old alternator was chugging along, and that my battery must've just been cooked from the whole alternator saga. So I replace my battery, all the lights go off, safety functions are normal and so is my speedometer, or so I thought. I go hiking the day after replacing the battery, turn my truck on after and it doesn't give me a good turn over so I drive a little bit and then pull over and try to restart the girl, but this time she's completely dead, no turnover. I then try to jump it about 5-6 times with my jump box and the help of park rangers trucks, only getting it to hold a charge for about 30 sec at a time.
I eventually get the truck towed to the Napa service center nearest to the park and they tell me the alternator looks much older than 4.5 months and that it won't be covered under Napa's warranty because it failed due to corrosion. How is it so corroded after 4.5 months with minimal wet driving and 1-2 car washes a week? I filed a warranty claim w Napa myself and got it taken care of, but I still want the original shop to refund me my $900, is this out of place?
I've had to rent cars, take Ubers, ask for favors from friends and change work schedules along with purchasing a jump box and new battery all to find out that the original work done was faulty. I also definitely was getting some extra sliding in this winter when my safety functions would randomly disable. You could argue that I'm getting my truck fixed so it's even, but I feel that the shop should reimburse me for all of the costs accrued dealing with their faulty work, thoughts?
(2014 Toyota Tacoma V6 Access Cab, 170k mi)