Fun Dealership Recent Oil Change

[Shinchu]

I brought mine to the dealer where I bought it from for my 1st oil change. asked them to tighten the handbrake that went all the way up before finally engaging, been that way since I bought it.
no problem, tightened at no cost because warranty? cool.


1 week later, im on the freeway and my rear wheels start vibrating like crazy, bouncing around like they might fly off the car. by some miracle I was 1 exit away from the same dealership. I carefully limped off the freeway and drove straight in to service and we all noticed a smell of... BRAKES.


after they had it for an hour it was determined the last tech who tightened the handbrake made it TOO TIGHT and it was lightly rubbing while I was driving. heat from freeway speed expanded the friction area, making it tighter and I was pretty much driving with e brake on.


they sanded the glaze from the pads, resurfaced the drum.
he said "no charge" I said "NO SHIT."
the driveway to the service ramp sucks too. I cant get up it without spinning one tire and my car is only 1.5" drop right now.


im not going to Kearny mesa Toyota for service anymore.

[CA86GRL]

The whole reason I got my FRS was because the dealership accidentally blew up my last car. Apparently you're supposed to actually replace the plug once your done emptying old oil

[MuseChaser]

I'm feelin' a little sheepish now... I really kinda LIKE the guys/gals at my dealership, and they do OK work; better than most, it appears. I just thought the magically regenerating brakes and topped off nonexistent power steering fluid were funny. I doubt very much that those "multi-point inspection" checklists are EVER, ANYWHERE, actually done with the type of thoroughness the actual owner of the car would do it themselves. Mostly, the techs are probably looking for something obvious that needs doing so they can sell another job to the customer.

Any dealership-employed techs, PLEASE feel free to chime in and correct me if that assessment is in error in any way.

Like I said, I mostly like these guys... sorry to have opened a can of worms.

[Bearcat86]

When I took my car in for it's first oil change for free at the dealership the service guy told me my tires were down to 2-3mm of tread and needed to be replaced. All while standing in front of my car. I looked at the tire and said "replace after only 5k miles?" and he said "yep, they're bald, it's a sports car after all" while looking at the tire. Baffled, I wasn't sure how to proceed at that point so I just stood there until he offered to measure it in front of me. Turns out all four were at 9mm. The tech's tool had the plastic tip broken off and he didn't have the sense to realize how far off his measurements were. He showed me the broken tool so I wouldn't think he was trying to scam me into a new set of tires. I politely told him that I would be taking my car elsewhere for all service/warranty work.

[Shinigami301]

This crap hasn't changed. Learned my lesson when I had a Toyota service manager insist my Celica 2ZZ-GE engine was overdue ...for a timing belt change.

(Chain drive in that motor)

[BRZBlack]

Took my BRZ to the dealership (for the last time) for an oil change about 2 years ago. Told them not to wash it. Picked up the car and it was wet. Like it was washed.
One of the fat dipshits in the car washing building leaned on the door and left a giant dent. Tried to say some BS like "it was like that when you got here yadda yadda". i did however (like a different poster on this tread) have a few pictures of the car before I brought it in.
Their 'dent guy" didnt come in until monday so I got a free loaner and an apology while it was fixed. Haven't gone back. Subaru in Highland Park, Illinois can eat a diiiiiick

[FR-Sky]

I had this experience as well.
The funny thing in my local Toyota dealership is that the service adviser has no clue about cars, and I had to request to talk to a technician for my questions every single time.
Right now, I do oil change and service at my trust local shop.

[stevesnj]

It's more scary than funny

[Mr. Kurtz]

I bought my 86 at A1 Toyota in New Haven CT; sales process was lawless. They got me the car fast(Sept 16), exactly as I wanted it, and priced it below MSRP.

Their service department...sucks. The dealer offers free oil changes every 5000 miles with every new car purchase. They told me to come in at 5k, so even though the ToyotaCare service recommends every 7500, I went in at 5k, figuring it was free, so why not?

I waited while they had it, was done in about 30 minutes, great. Grabbed my receipt, headed to the car, reading as I walked...and saw "NO OIL CHANGE" in big letters. Went back in, asked...and was told "oh no, you're not due until 7500." After explaining that I had read the entire manual, was well aware of this, only came in because they scheduled the appointment for me, and asking what they DID do, I was told they inspected everything and rotated the tires(also rec'ed every 7500), and to come back at 7500. Obviously frustrated at the frivolous waste of my morning, I let the service manager know I wasn't happy and he apologized and said they'd see me again at 7500.

Fast forward to 7500 miles, and I had just moved to Maine. Called up Berlin Ciry Toyota in Portland ME, and all went smooth...until I was checking out. They told me that A-1 had already made the claim with Toyota for the 7500 service, so while it didn't impact this visit, when I came around to 15,000 miles, I'd be using my last of the three ToyotaCare comp'ed services.

Contacted A-1, who, to their credit, did offer to reimburse me when I needed my third and final "free" service done if I had it done elsewhere, offered no excuse for falsing submitting a claim for the first one. Shady business practice, combined with a visit I made to them with P219A andP118F codes present when they told me "I'd need to have my remote starter removed before they could diagnose it" if the codes came back after clearing out, means I won't go back to them even for the free 5k oil changes in the future, even if I'm back in CT at the time.

[arxm]

unrelated to our cars but at the dealership i used to work at a lady came in and complained about her washer fluid leaving streaks so i went and checked it out and noticed that her car was running fairly hot, turns out someone put coolant in the washer reservoir and washer fluid as coolant... it wasn't done by us but we couldn't let her drive around like that she ended up getting the fluids flushed and replaced properly by us then got reimbursed by the shop that screwed it up LOL

[MuseChaser]

A few days after the appointment that led me to make the original post re/ magic brake pads and mystery power steering fluid, I received the usual form email from the dealership's P.R. rep, followed by the typical requested online survey. I replied nicely to the P.R. person via email, explaining my positive long-term relationship w/ the dealership and appreciation for the service manager's help and friendliness in the past year and half since I've owned this car. I also explained that I wouldn't have bothered mentioning any complaints if she hadn't requested my input, but .. since she asked... I told her about the pads, non-existent steering fluid, and failure to check differential and transmission fluids. All of this was via email. I then filled out the online survey, mostly postively, but did mention the few concerns.

Well, the next day the service manager called me on the phone and fell all over himself apologizing. He had a meeting with all of his techs, directing them to take the inspection bullet list very seriously in the future. He really was appalled.. I felt bad I had even said anything. I thought he was going to commit hara-kari or something.

There ARE good dealerships out there, and even the good ones aren't perfect. I trust service folks a LOT more than I trust the sales departments, but that's probably because I know more about fixing than I do about selling.

Hang in there..

[Clipdat]

Nice! So the techs will pay attention to the bullet list "very seriously" for the next week or two, and then it'll be back to "business as usual"

Originally Posted by MuseChaser

Well, the next day the service manager called me on the phone and fell all over himself apologizing. He had a meeting with all of his techs, directing them to take the inspection bullet list very seriously in the future

[MuseChaser]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Nice! So the techs will pay attention to the bullet list "very seriously" for the next week or two, and then it'll be back to "business as usual"

Yeah, probably, but I can't really blame them. They're under a lot of pressure to get a lot done in a short amount of time. The overhead in a large shop is ridiculous. My last oil change at the dealership cost me $60. If I did it myself, it'd probably cost me about... $60. (6 quarts x $5 if I find a great sale, $8 or even $9 if I don't, plus $8 for a good filter, plug gasket washer, gas to drive the old oil to recycler, garage supplies, blah blah). On top of that, they're supposed to pull all the wheels, measure the pads, top off coolant and other fluids, undo the fill plugs on the diff and tranny to check the levels... if they did the entire free inspection, it'd probably take 30 minutes. In that thirty minutes, they could have done another hour (or more) of $94/hr book-rate billable work.

Not excusing it; giving a customer inaccurate inspection results helps no one, and can result in what should have been avoidable problems occuring in the near future. Just saying I understand it.

[Clipdat]

Yeah, you're making some really valid points here for sure.

Honestly the whole service aspect of the dealership needs to be rethought or retooled somehow.

Kinda like how some consumers are now increasing their desire to be able to order a car directly from the manufacturer and have it delivered to them without ever stepping foot into a dealer.

A similar shift in thought needs to happen to the service departments, specifically in regards to honestly, transparency, and treating customer cars the same or better than they would treat their own.

Originally Posted by MuseChaser

Yeah, probably, but I can't really blame them. They're under a lot of pressure to get a lot done in a short amount of time. The overhead in a large shop is ridiculous. My last oil change at the dealership cost me $60. If I did it myself, it'd probably cost me about... $60. (6 quarts x $5 if I find a great sale, $8 or even $9 if I don't, plus $8 for a good filter, plug gasket washer, gas to drive the old oil to recycler, garage supplies, blah blah). On top of that, they're supposed to pull all the wheels, measure the pads, top off coolant and other fluids, undo the fill plugs on the diff and tranny to check the levels... if they did the entire free inspection, it'd probably take 30 minutes. In that thirty minutes, they could have done another hour (or more) of $94/hr book-rate billable work.

Not excusing it; giving a customer inaccurate inspection results helps no one, and can result in what should have been avoidable problems occuring in the near future. Just saying I understand it.