[!!!] Do not bring our precious cars to Hudson Toyota, NJ for service.

[jtaeric]

The reason I am writing this is because my terrible experience at Hudson Toyota. I highly recommend everyone do not do service there. I think I wrote this too long, sorry about that.

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Now, the story.
I went Hudson Toyota today for an oil change and routine check since my last service was 7 month ago and have been running 5000 miles. Since the Toyota oil is not the best on the market, it is reasonable to bring our own oil and filter which I did.

Everything was fine until I got the call said my car is ready.

When the representative reviewing my service record, she found a issue. The technician used the factory oil but she noted on the work list that I am providing my own oil and filter. She called the technician and the reply was he did not look the note. The manager give me two solutions. 1st, don't charge me oil and filter and leave the car with the factory oil and return my oil and filter. 2nd, drain the oil again and fill in my oil and filter as the same charge as 1st option. Clearly I choose the 2nd option. So, they took in the car again.

Here's the fun part.

I brought 6 quarts of oil which is more than our car required and they did not return me the spare oil and I didn't ask for it. I then went to IKEA for shopping and let the car cool down a little bit. When I leaving IKEA for coming home, I checked the oil level and it is way more then full. Now I know where those spare oil is. IT'S ALL IN MY CAR. I went back to the dealership and tell them it is overfilled. They took it in. A few minutes later, it comes back with the technician. I thought take take out oil is a little bit more complicated than fill. So I asked him how he did it. The answer is 'I open the drain plug and let it drain a little'. WTF! There is a huge difference between this method and the one I know which is sucking it out.

Next fun part. The oil is still a little bit more and the manager ashore me that it will not be a problem. (I am not sure about this, but I choose to trust him.) He then explain me why it has been overfilled. 'We use digital pump to fill in oil, so it will stop at precise amount. We can't control that when using bottle.' (It is not the exact word but have same meaning. ) PARDON ME. I brought in 5+1 quarts bottle! There has to be marks on the 1 quart bottle! And you tell me you can't control it precisely? Either you didn't check how many oil this car need or you don't know there are marks on the side. BOTH ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR A TECHNICIAN.

It took me the whole afternoon on this thing. And the reason I am posting this is not to complain. But to warn everyone to keep this in mind. I will not go to that dealership again. How can I expect their work if they even can't do the easiest job right.

Thank you for reading this. Can anyone give me a dealership that is trustworthy near Jersey City NJ? And do I need to take out more oil and is there any tool can make it easier? There is about 5mm or 0.2 inch higher than FULL mark.

I apologize for any wrong words or use of grammar.
Thanks.


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[osidak]

don't know how much over your oil level is but.....

Over filling an engine with oil can and will poison the O2 sensors and the cat. Remember if you are over the max line on a cold engine it is way over on a hot engine

Ignoring the sensors and cat - too much oil will also decrease available power and fuel economy due to parasitic drag of the to much oil hitting the crankshaft. It can also cause there to be too much oil pressure which can lead to oil leaks down the road.

[Sapphireho]

Unless you are FI, tracking, or Some serious racing, why would the oil the dealer has not work for you? I'm sure they even have synthetic if you pitch in? Oil is oil, and even brands people perceive as lower grade are over kill good for 5k miles.

[Tcoat]

I promise I won't take my car there.

[ToySub1946]

You will find similar results at just about any dealership.
When you talk with the service writer in the service drive, you are not talking directly with the technician who will be working on your car.
In some dealerships it is possible to talk directly with a technician before they work on your car...you just have to ask in advance. That's about the only way you have a chance of getting just what you expect.


Suggest you change your own oil and filter in the future. Takes a good floor jack, an oil filter wrench, a wrench for the oil drain plug, a shop rag, a funnel, an empty plastic gallon jug, and an oil drain pan. Any mistakes made you can then blame only on self. Works for me.

[Si_Chris]

That's an unfortunate experience. The reality is that the majority of dealership technicians don't give a damn about the cars they work on. It's just a paycheck to most so they will never care about your car the way that you would. I am not saying all are like this, but the majority are, especially if they are lube technicians. I personally avoid dealers at all cost.

If the oil you see on the dipstick is only 5mm over the top dot, it is fine and won't harm the engine.

[jtaeric]

Originally Posted by ToySub1946

You will find similar results at just about any dealership.
When you talk with the service writer in the service drive, you are not talking directly with the technician who will be working on your car.
In some dealerships it is possible to talk directly with a technician before they work on your car. That's about the only way you have a chance to get just what you expect.

Suggest you change your own oil and filter in the future. Takes a good floor jack, an oil filter wrench, a wrench for the oil drain plug, a shop rag, a funnel, an empty plastic gallon jug, and an oil drain pan. Any mistakes made you can then blame only on self. Works for me.

Thanks. I'll definitely do it myself in the future.


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[Yardjass]

First problem: That thing has a Subaru motor. You took it to a Toyota dealership where they spend all day doing oil changes on camrys and corollas. This doesn't make it okay that they messed it up but most of them don't know the first thing about these cars because they almost never see them.


Secondly, this is why I do as much work as I can on my car, myself. Dealerships charge a premium for their "exceptional service" and yet, they're too fucking stupid to even avoid doing things like over-torqueing the oil drain bolt and stripping out the pan, overfilling the oil, etc. The sad truth is that way too many people simply don't care and/or aren't any good at their jobs anymore.

[Cole]

Originally Posted by Yardjass

First problem: That thing has a Subaru motor. You took it to a Toyota dealership where they spend all day doing oil changes on camrys and corollas. This doesn't make it okay that they messed it up but most of them don't know the first thing about these cars because they almost never see them.


Secondly, this is why I do as much work as I can on my car, myself. Dealerships charge a premium for their "exceptional service" and yet, they're too fucking stupid to even avoid doing things like over-torqueing the oil drain bolt and stripping out the pan, overfilling the oil, etc. The sad truth is that way too many people simply don't care and/or aren't any good at their jobs anymore.

I'm going to disagree there. Having a Subaru engine isn't part of the equation when it comes to draining the oil, taking off the filter, putting a new filter on, then filling the oil back up. It comes down to the competency of the tech.

Also, not everyone has the ability, time, space, desire, etc to change their own oil. At least if a shop does it and messes something up, you have the ability to go after them to make it right.

[Summerwolf]

I doubt most technicians would use a vacuum pump to drain a little oil.

Also the toyota 0w20 is supposed to be idemitsu which is top rated oil. Not sure what you took in, but I wouldn't have made them drain that out. Toyota filter / oil wouldn't be bad at all.

[zc06_kisstherain]

sorry to hear that terrible experience there. do they have hudson honda next to toyota? i hate that location. draining oil from drain plug is fine. i dont see any problem there.

if you need oil change for future, PM me.. i will charge you and change it for you and you can watch me doing it right next to me. just supply your own oil and filter + crush washer.
I will even torque drain plug like 40 ft / lb if you want that. (joking)

just dont come when 20 degree outside. lol

[justatroll]

Originally Posted by osidak

don't know how much over your oil level is but.....

Over filling an engine with oil can and will poison the O2 sensors and the cat. Remember if you are over the max line on a cold engine it is way over on a hot engine.

Please explain how oil (which is in the crankcase and not in the cylinders) can affect the O2 sensors and the cat. If you are getting oil on your O2 sensor and catalytic converter, your rings are shot and you are going through a LOT of oil. There should be close to zero oil in the combustion chambers on a relatively new car.

Originally Posted by Yardjass

First problem: That thing has a Subaru motor. You took it to a Toyota dealership where they spend all day doing oil changes on camrys and corollas. This doesn't make it okay that they messed it up but most of them don't know the first thing about these cars because they almost never see them..

That's funny - My Subaru has an engine in it that says TOYOTA right across the top of it.
And regardless what does toyota do when they get a GT86 or FRS in for service??? Send it to the Subaru dealer?? Give me a fucking break

[lizbrayan]

If you think thats bad, avoid toyota universe in little falls nj. I stopped going there after they made me go through 2 oil pans, first one was cross threaded and the second one was put in crooked and they couldnt get the plug out the next time i went for service. Its a little of a far drive from jersey city but toyota of hackensack does an amazing job.

[Yardjass]

Originally Posted by justatroll

That's funny - My Subaru has an engine in it that says TOYOTA right across the top of it.
And regardless what does toyota do when they get a GT86 or FRS in for service??? Send it to the Subaru dealer?? Give me a fucking break

I'm not really sure how people are finding this hard to understand but let's try one more time. The Subaru dealer is used to working on very similar engines, some of which, including the FA20DIT in the WRX, have similar oil capacities. They're more likely to know what they're looking at and be able to perform routine maintenance on it properly because it is literally what they do all day, every day.


When you bring it into a Toyota dealership, it is "that Subaru thing". One rarely ever rolls into service and not only that, the usual vehicles that roll through there are nothing like it. Many dealerships just plug their nose and do the work so they can get it back out the door. Does this excuse the fact that a first grader should be able to look up the oil capacity and properly verify it after filling it? No, not really, but sadly, that's where we are right now in a lot of cases, as evidenced by the OP.


It's all about risk mitigation. I'm sure there are Toyota dealerships that can do an A+ job on these but I'd be willing to bet as a whole, your quality of service is better from Subaru.