Yeah, can you bring your car back in?
 

So, I haven't ever had a vehicle serviced by the dealership before...as i hit 4k miles I wanted my first dealership oil change...not only were they rude when I brought the car in, but it took 45 minutes (maybe this seems normal, but keep reading). I was talking to one of the employees in the parts department about TRD parts and the woman who took my keys and car in for the oil change (the rude one) was upset with me and asked 'excuse me, but where is the lock for your wheels' - I explained I only wanted an oil change, please don't rotate my tires as I just put my snow tires on like 50 miles ago...she rolled her eyes and left. Fast forward a few days, to today. 'Hi, can you bring your car back in, I don't think we changed the actual oil'


Are you kidding me? How is that possible? If this service wasn't free, I would never, ever bring the car back. Heck, I would go to Jiffy Lube and have much more faith in them.

FYI - this is Toyota of Portsmouth (New Hampshire) where I had a decent buying experience...so far, no great with the service team.

FYI #2 - talking to the service guy, if you want TRD springs installed, install time is 10 hours because, 'this is a sports car'

You need to find a new service department. Fast.

A lot of times what happens is that, since you haven't hit 7500 miles yet, your oil doesn't get changed. A service writer should have confirmed that you were willing to use one of your three free oil changes early. If they did, then the techs just got too lazy to read the writeup. Unfortunately, happens a lot. (this is from my experience talking with someone who works scheduling appts at a dealership, and then has to deal with the customer anger when techs/advisors screw stuff up).

If they still can't get it straight, run away from that dealership and find another. Don't look back.

That's ridiculous and you should write a review on yelp or at least bring it up w/ management. i had a similarly disappointing experience at my 1st service appointment aswell. Although not as incompetent as your experience but it convinced me to not bring my car at the dealership after the free "scion boost" maintenance plan runs out.

Here's the copy/pasted review from yelp that I wrote...

"This is a long read but i feel customers should be informed about my experience with the service department.

**Short version: only go to service department to take advantage of 2 years free maintenance plan. After that get routine maintainable done at your trusty local mechanic**

Had my first service done here for my '14 Scion FRS. We considered this dealership when we were shopping for the FRS and liked the non pushy sales approach. We dealt with the salesman Greg. No complains there. Now on to the service department...

Let me preface the review by saying that the only reason I brought the FRS to the dealership for service vs my trusty local mechanic is to maintain the manufacturers warranty (& because it's FREE for 2yrs/36 k miles). I made an appointment a week prior to coming in for the sole reason of avoiding long wait times. I didn't appreciate the fact that Keith casually strolled in 9 minutes after the appointment time with no apology or anything. Not a deal breaker but not a good first impression. There was a constant resistance from our service advisor, Keith Mitchell with every issue that I brought up with my car.He never took my claims of problems seriously and his usual response was "don't go looking for issues " , "just because there is a tsb (technical service bulletin) doesn't mean every FRS has the problem " or "i have never had someone complain about that" or "we don't do that". He never openly without judgment listened to my concerns. Younger owners beware of this treatment (for context I'm 24). If you are familiar with the FRS you know there is a annoying chirping/cricket noise that comes from the fuel pump(fix? replace HPFP), window weather striping makes a loud squeaky noise when window is opened in wet conditions(fix? replace driver/passenger rubber weather stripping), and a rough idle issue(fix? ECU flash). These issues are well documented and Toyota already has issued tsb's for these. On forums and from the tri-state GT86 owners club, these issues are fixed without any hiccups. It was frustrating to convince Keith that I wasn't simply mentioning these problems out of thin air or just because I read about them online; it was because I was EXPERIENCING them.

He was unable to reproduce the window squeak and refused to watch a video of the symptom (recorded ~45 minutes before my appointment). Any questions were met with an agitated look and honestly he seemed inconvenienced to even be there. Initially he refused to replace the HPFP (high pressure fuel pump) saying "we are not doing that right now" followed by some excuse of how toyota is in process of coming up with a new design. But somehow he changed his mind 2 hours into my appointment (1st service entails oil change, tire rotation & multi point inspection). I didn't even bother mentioning the rough idle issue to Keith b/c honestly I didn't want to agitate him further and risk not getting my fuel pump issue replaced.

Whats good about this place?
I gave 1 star for partly fixing my issues (fuel pump replacement) and a 2nd star for their very convenient shuttle service that drops you off AND picks you back up if your appointment is running longer. btw total appointment time was ~ 6 hours. Also, their wait room is very nice aswell. They have a Keurig coffee machine which I happily enjoyed. My shuttle driver was great as well and it was a pleasant convenience to be dropped off and picked up when my car was finally done.

I have 2-3 (i believe 15k and 25k miles) more service appointments under my free toyota maintenance plan and after that I will NEVER return to this service location. This is really unfortunate and honestly the opposite of our initial impressions when we were price matching our FRS with this dealership. I still remember how Greg (original salesmen) introduced us to the service department and they helped answer all my concerns about the car [interestingly the service tech even mentioned how toyota has undergone 4 revisions of the fuel pump]. Which offcourse Keith Mitchell (current tech) didn't have any clue about. Anyone in management reading this, please educate your service "advisers" on the current developments of the vehicles you are selling. We were initially impressed with Holman's upfront and knowledgeable staff (namely our salesman Greg). Unfortunately this did not hold true in my most recent experience.

Also I don't recommend dealing with Keith Mitchell if you value your time and expect to be treated fairly.

Special shout out to salesman David Rebstock who educated me on some options on how to get out of my lease early. I will definitely be contact him when my lease is up and if I decide to go for another Toyota/Scion."

Great idea, I will post on Yelp.

I agree.

I think 7500mi is the magic number here.

Like a child, I had called service several times after I hit 5000mi, hoping for a different answer. Each time I called though, I had the sense that I would annoy someone if I insisted on an early first oil change. Finally at 6500mi I had a service guy say: "Oh yeah, bring that thing down and we'll get you taken car of."

My oil still looked like new honey at 6500mi. :-)

Yeah, they never even asked for the mileage until I got there....however they didn't mention anything AND they did put the new oil change sticker on my car. Absurd.

Could be worse. They could be your surgical team. "Uhhh, could you come back in? I think we left a scalpel in there..."

Took mine it at 7542 miles and got reamed by the Service Advisor for being late!!!!!

The examples above are the exact opposite experience I have had at my Subaru Dealer in Longmont CO (Valley Subaru)
They have done absolutely everything I have asked them to do without questions.
They even left my car UNWASHED after I asked them to GASP!!!
They give me a loaner car instead of a shuttle service.

I went in one day after a service call for my Drv side CV joint replacement and asked them how much a gallon of coolant was because my overflow was a little low.
The guy at the desk just handed me a brand new gallon free of charge (normally like $35)

Remember, it's not just the magical 7,500 mile # that counts. The other is time. At the 6 month mark, my dealership actually called me to schedule my first oil change. They were shocked when I brought it in and only had 3,000 miles on the clock. I had to explain to them that I have (I should say had) 3 vehicles and that the FR-S was my "fun" vehicle. They did the complete 7,500 mile/6 month service on it and the service manager even "reminded" me to not worry about the miles since I wasn't driving the vehicle much. He said "just make sure you bring it in every 6 months so we can do the full service on it that way you get all your FREE services before you hit the 2 year free service window". This is why I have bought 3 vehicles from them.

Yes, and I should clarify that when I took mine in for service at 7542 miles I had owned it for just under 2 months! So I am at the opposite end of the mileage spectrum.

That's awesome man, wish I had a dealership like that around here.

OP: I would have brought your concerns to the service manager. 45 minutes does not seem out of the ordinary. Sounds like you caught someone struggling with a monthly hormonal issue (shouldn't be an excuse though). She definately effed up.

Maybe I've been lucky, but my free oil changes have been perfect. No issues whatsoever.

As for yelp reviews: I don't agree with the concept. A poor yelp review will potentially hurt the ENTIRE business thereby hurting all the GOOD employees. Again ... the issues are ONE bad employee. Talk to the service manager.

This is ridiculous. It took my guy 1 1/2 hour on the lift at the dealership to change mine.

That's horrible service.

The dealership I got my quote for the TRD springs said it will take 6 hours :/

Guys, for real.. rent or buy the tools necessary to change out these springs yourselves and have at it. It's not hard- just difficult enough to teach you a thing or two about how vehicles are assembled and the forces required to get them to 'stick'. There's an excellent DIY here, and if not here, any McPherson strut DIY will suffice.

Don't pay $300+ to install $200-300 dollar springs!

There is no requirement to bring your car to the dealer for service - to maintain your warranty or otherwise. The stories posted are the exact reason I avoid any dealer, whether the car is new or not.

Jesus. At least they called you back I guess. I'd be furious, make sure they get a reaming. The shitty thing now is, you're never going to trust the service department again.

My dealer talks about my service plan like they are concerned for my car not like I am doing something for them. When I asked them about doing my oil changes because I wanted to use a specific oil they said they would use the oil I bring in if I want them too.

Your experience sounds like so many other dealership horror stories and it's pathetic. It doesn't take much effort to care about your customers and their large monetary investment, but dealers seem to treat their customers like you were one night stands who won't stop calling them back. Ridiculous.

I go out of my way to talk to the service techs and writers at the dealer for every car I have ever had. We talk about the weather, cars, how awesome I think my little FR-S is, how one of the techs was thinking about getting one, how totally anal I am about certain aspects of a service visit, things that might need attention, note that I have a filter magnet, yada yada yada. In short, I put a face to car. I have yet to have a bad dealer service experience. You need to be active and involved. And I will always give someone involved in customer service a pass once or twice, since my idea of "customer service" would involve multiple stab wounds.

I keep reading about these shitshow dealerships, and while I believe, all I can say is that my several experiences with my dealership's service department have been above and beyond what I have expected. Maybe things are different in California!

Nobody has mentioned the guy who got his car accidentally filled with autotrans fluid in stead of oil.....

They called him back to bring the car in (on a tow truck IIRC) and then they told him what they did.

For every service horror story there are probably a 1000 good stories and 10,000 neutral stories.
Nobody ever posts "went in for an oil change and everything went smooth. Didn't even have time to finish my coffee and doughnut and wasn't done with talking to the salesperson in the tight sweater and short skirt"

I keep waiting for some reporter to ask me about the VA. Probably would not make the news, since I would have nothing but praise.

hey I posted a nice story in the crickets thread a while ago ;]

Yes, yes you did!
And it was immediately overwhelmed by the bad stories if I recall.

I brought mine in for service at the 1 year mark for its first oil change - 3k miles. I made sure to schedule another before the 2 year mark, so I'd at least get that free too. I called the following year and the service guy said not to worry about the years, and that I still get 4 free oil changes. I brought it in a couple months after my 2 years at 6k miles. I'll bring it back next summer at 9k miles. :)

Thats terrible man I'm sorry. I just got my FRS a few months ago and hopefully I don't have to deal with a similar situation here in Orlando when I go for my first service.

Wow. I hit 3,000 miles on my 51st day of ownership, and 6000 at 110 days. I was at 18K miles on day 365 and 39.4K on day around the two year mark. Guess I need to slow down!

Amateur!
I am usually pushing 50K a year.
There is nothing more entertaining than the look on a car salesman's face when you take a 3 year old car in for trade, they ask the mileage and you say "Oh around 134,000". Thought the guy with my last Lancer was gonna have a stroke right on the spot.

This is why I either do the oil change myself or have my trusted local mechanic/family friend do it for me.

So much more reliable and worth it.

I have 3 cars and work from home, so I'm a bit shocked I drive that much! (I drive my WRX about 5k/yr and BMW about another 3k.)

Worst dealer I ever dealt with was the BMW dealer where I got my 335. That car was at the dealer more than my garage and most of that time was fixing shit they broke the last time it was there. They even managed to crash it once.

Oddly enough that's where I bought my FRS :D

I have nothing good to say about the service dept at the dalership we got our Subies from :(

I run about 32k/yr and yeah, that's the same look as I get. When I brought my XV in 23 months after getting it with 63 the salesman was compelled to call over a few of his buddies :iono:

Find a dealer/service shop that goes out of their way to assist you in your needs and do not mind taking the time to explain what's wrong and why you should have it replaced is difficult to come by and all the more, if you know that they are experienced in your vehicle of choice then that is a golden shop even if I am required to drive an extra 40 minutes to reach. I do believe in the quote "If you want something done right, do it yourself." but there are occasions where I'm unable to work around it, plus, free oil changes that come with this car will give you enough incentive to not do the work yourself. At the end of the day, you will be able to sleep well knowing the car was in good hands.

First off, I would speak to Keith's manager and tell him why I will bring my business to someplace else. His push back and the time wasted by NOT performing the oil change are deal breakers for me. The only thing in the Keith's favor I can say (as per what I see on the posts here) a lot of FR-S owners are hypochondriacs and he may not have been in the mood. But regardless of that, you are a customer (-the lifeblood of the dealership generating future revenue through good customer service AND the thing that allows Keith to "earn" a paycheck) and he should have been more receptive to your vehicle's issues for remediation.


I have the opposite problem, my dealership (Atlantic Toyota) is full of stereotypical incompetent and slimy salesmen and managers but the service center is good (provided you keep an eye on them so they don't redline your FR-S in the parking lot). I addressed the sales dept in Yelp and at the dealership but it made no difference as they've gotten paid (hopefully I helped somebody). As for the service center that's the dealerships on going concern -their steady bread and butter. Hopefully complaining can yield positive results in your favor.

Good luck!

How about mail ordering the TRD springs (mail order is cheaper because dealership parts departments are mandated to sell them locally for list). Then have your trusted local mechanic perform the installation? The only difference is when you have an outsider do the work the labor is on you if there's a problem and the warranty is 1 year instead of being rolled up into the 3yr/36K mi warranty (if there's a year or more remaining). If it took 10 hours to install struts you could put them in yourself.


The day after I bought my tC I had the OEM LED tail lights installed, I called the dealership and they quoted 1 hour labor. It took barely a little more than half an hour to remove the bumper skin, swap the lights and reinstall the bumper skin. They wanted to charge me a couple of hours labor as per their shop manual. I argued I watched the tech do it from beginning to end and it was way less than an hour and the service desk quoted 1 hour (though he tried to lie to his manager at first). They argued the shop manual says 2 (I think) hours and that's what they charge against (not actual time) -eventually they relented realizing they were not clear on the charges BEFORE the work commenced and they were leaving a potential customer with a very bad impression.

Wow. Since I have a desk job and really only put miles on my car twice a day, plus weekends, I don't think I can keep up with you.

I do win on the trade-in side though because I tend to keep a car 8 to 10 years. Last two cars had 245,000 and 289,000 miles on them at "trade in".

Technically I have a desk job as well but I take care of two plants that are two hours apart and 45 minutes and an 1 1/2 from home respectively, so it is just a long drive to both my desks! I also make frequent trips to our plants in the States so that also adds to the miles.
On the upside I get paid mileage for my twice a week trips to the furthest plant and that is more then enough to cover the operating costs and depreciation on the car. I pretty much get to drive it for free when everything is added up.