Valve spring repair dealer hub

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by DarkPira7e

A half hour of work while they're doing the recall? They take the plugs out anyway, there's no way there should be any more labor to put in different plugs than what they took out

Uhhh. You have to open the box.
Times 4.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

Uhhh. You have to open the box.
Times 4.

And go get the boxes from the parts department. Only once.


I don't see the problem with the dealer charging a minimal fee for doing the extra work. Sure they are in there anyway but they just lost income from doing the job from scratch so why not make at least a little back? The dealership is a business just like any other so I truly do not get why everybody seems to think they should do free work. Greatly discounted is fair for everybody involved.

[aeschwartz]

I had the recall work done on my 2013 FRS before I received the notice. The repair was done at Parkway Toyota in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. They gave me a loaner 2019 Corrolla for 2 weeks. They put in new spark plugs and only charged for parts, no labor. I have the car now for 1 week - no problems.

[rice_classic]

I called the Toyota dealer in Tacoma. Service writer was knowledgeable, even knew the book time for both manual and automatic. Said it would only take 2 days to complete, scheduled for the 28th.

[gravitylover]

Called and was quoted $325 to change the plugs and over $400 to change the serpentine belt while the motor is out for the recall work. Same price as if they weren't already removing and reinstalling those parts. They also won't let me bring in my own oil and they use either Mobil1 or Valvoline, whatever happens to be in their system at the time, I really dislike both of those. I have ~1k miles on the Toyota oil in there now and it has been fantastic compared to everything else I've used in the last 100k miles. Looking for a dealer that will be more reasonable.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by gravitylover

Called and was quoted $325 to change the plugs and over $400 to change the serpentine belt while the motor is out for the recall work. Same price as if they weren't already removing and reinstalling those parts. They also won't let me bring in my own oil and they use either Mobil1 or Valvoline, whatever happens to be in their system at the time, I really dislike both of those. I have ~1k miles on the Toyota oil in there now and it has been fantastic compared to everything else I've used in the last 100k miles. Looking for a dealer that will be more reasonable.

Good call. As I have said I could understand them charging a minimal fee for the extra task but charging full book value is robbery. They are obviously busy enough that they just don't give a shit about satisfying a customer.

[ka-t_240]

Originally Posted by gravitylover

Called and was quoted $325 to change the plugs and over $400 to change the serpentine belt while the motor is out for the recall work. Same price as if they weren't already removing and reinstalling those parts. They also won't let me bring in my own oil and they use either Mobil1 or Valvoline, whatever happens to be in their system at the time, I really dislike both of those. I have ~1k miles on the Toyota oil in there now and it has been fantastic compared to everything else I've used in the last 100k miles. Looking for a dealer that will be more reasonable.

Just tell them to reuse and you'll bring it back next week to get your moneys worth for the billed labor.


If that is book rate for belts and plugs, I am going to quit my day job.

[gravitylover]

Yeah right.

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Good call. As I have said I could understand them charging a minimal fee for the extra task but charging full book value is robbery. They are obviously busy enough that they just don't give a shit about satisfying a customer.

You'd think that since it was the 4th car we've purchased at that dealer they'd want to work with me. Nah, you're right they are that busy and have never really done anything nice when I've had the cars there for service. Oh wait they changed a burned out brake light bulb for $4 last time I had it in.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by gravitylover

Yeah right.



You'd think that since it was the 4th car we've purchased at that dealer they'd want to work with me. Nah, you're right they are that busy and have never really done anything nice when I've had the cars there for service. Oh wait they changed a burned out brake light bulb for $4 last time I had it in.

What you just described is how the people at the Mitsubishi dealership started treating us after it changed hands. We had bought 7 cars there with two being directly from the new owners. In fact it was exactly that treatment that put me in the FRS and my wife in the Impreza after 15 years of brand loyalty.
I am very lucky in that my Toyota sealer will bend over backwards to please me and the Subaru dealer treats my wife like a queen. She has had to go in about 5 times for head unit upgrades and each time she got a free interior cleaning and car wash (a nice modern touch-less system not some teenager with a dirty rag). They even replaced her damaged side skirt at no charge and with no questions asked. I have no doubt that either dealer would happily deal with a recall and any extras I asked for with zero issues. They will get repeat business and know it!

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

I called the Toyota dealer in Tacoma. Service writer was knowledgeable, even knew the book time for both manual and automatic. Said it would only take 2 days to complete, scheduled for the 28th.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep them in mind. Please PM me after the recall work is done and let me know how it went.

TIA


humfrz

[KDad2]

Got my recall notice. I've scheduled my repair at Round Rock Toyota. I'm in San Antonio and it's worth the 1-1/2 hour drive. Scott and his team know this car and I wouldn't trust anyone else in the area. They are also giving me a loaner for the two days.

[Endless Mike]

I posted this in the other thread:

Originally Posted by Endless Mike

Hey guys, I took my 2013 FR-S manual with 26k miles into my local dealer for the valve spring recall. With the engine out, they have also suggested the following:

-Replace the clutch: $300 parts, $295 labor (2-3 hours?) as they claim it has unusual wear. Here's the picture they sent with it already out? I don't know what "unusual wear" should look like. The disk is $91 on the Toyota site, though they may be replacing other things too (plus markup of course)?

-Replace spark plugs $100 parts, $130 labor (1 hour?) - seems like typical dealer markup on the plugs, and an hour of labor is probably excessive, but also not that much a concern. I know these aren't supposed to be replaced until 60k miles, but it's also six years old at this point.

-Clean mass air flow meter of deposits - $91 - this seems like BS

-Induction service to clean fuel delivery system - $218 - this really seems like BS

-Four wheel alignment as he says they had to remove suspension parts which seems like they should have to pay for it themself as part of the recall - $130

Does this make sense?

I ultimately told them I would agree to the spark plugs but only parts, which they charged me $118 with tax which is a bit of a markup, but not a ton (they're $20ish each according to the Toyota website).

Anyway, this was at Koons Toyota in Arlington, VA and I would recommend going elsewhere.

[ottawafrs]

Originally Posted by Endless Mike

I posted this in the other thread:

I ultimately told them I would agree to the spark plugs but only parts, which they charged me $118 with tax which is a bit of a markup, but not a ton (they're $20ish each according to the Toyota website).

Anyway, this was at Koons Toyota in Arlington, VA and I would recommend going elsewhere.

that's what I'm paying, but in Canadian dollars.

[maslin]

Originally Posted by Endless Mike

Hey guys, I took my 2013 FR-S manual with 26k miles into my local dealer for the valve spring recall. With the engine out, they have also suggested the following:

-Replace the clutch: $300 parts, $295 labor (2-3 hours?) as they claim it has unusual wear. Here's the picture they sent with it already out? I don't know what "unusual wear" should look like. The disk is $91 on the Toyota site, though they may be replacing other things too (plus markup of course)?

-Replace spark plugs $100 parts, $130 labor (1 hour?) - seems like typical dealer markup on the plugs, and an hour of labor is probably excessive, but also not that much a concern. I know these aren't supposed to be replaced until 60k miles, but it's also six years old at this point.

-Clean mass air flow meter of deposits - $91 - this seems like BS

-Induction service to clean fuel delivery system - $218 - this really seems like BS

-Four wheel alignment as he says they had to remove suspension parts which seems like they should have to pay for it themself as part of the recall - $130

Does this make sense?

They're trying to charge you for things they're already doing so they can at least break even.

If the recall pays 12 hours (I believe that's what I've seen?), they get paid 12 hours to do the job. If it takes the tech 20 hours, they get paid 12 hours. If it takes 20 hours, he only gets paid 12. Sometimes you lose on flat rate, this is probably one of those times.

They are trying to make a few extra hours back on work they're already doing. Look at the pictures in other threads, engine out, clutch on the ground. It takes exactly the same time to install new parts or old ones.

Throwout bearing? I guess 0.5 is fair, that's a scam though.

Plugs? Maybe 0.5 labor. Maybe.

Alignment should be covered if they touched it. Looks like the engine comes out the top though, shouldn't be any suspension work involved. Again, trying to get a few hours back that they're losing.

Especially in the beginning, they're going to lose on this one. Anything they can charge you for to break even they will. It's a recall, it will cost you $0. If you want extra stuff, that's on you.


Just looking at labor dollars... Let's say the tech who would be doing to job normally turns 12 hours a day. $150ish an hour customer pay, $110 an hour warranty? At a 50/50 split cash pay and warranty he's bringing in $1560 a day in labor.

If the recall takes an honest 2 days of work and only pays 12 hours he will bring in $1320 for those 2 days. The shop is losing $1800 just in labor for the 2 days that tech is doing the recall. Also the parts sales being lost. The parts for the recall probably don't add up to a lot, maybe $200-300? All those jobs that didn;t get done would have also had parts to go with them.

So what do you do? Throw an involved job at the inexperienced hourly guys and hope for the best? That rarely turns out well.

I've never upsold work and tried to tie in to a recall. We've also never had a recall of this size (hour wise). Sure they "should" cut you a break on labor, after all the clutch is on the ground and the throwout bearing is sitting right there, but that isn't part of the recall. There's no obligation for them to cut the labor or do any extra work at all.