7500 mile oil change ends in scratched bumper

[Craig]

I brought my car in for my 7500 oil change at 8440. I did a 1500 oil change to get the break in oil out. The service guy made it a point to let me know i was putting my engine at risk doing oil changes myself. I shrugged it off as typical salesmanship (hoping I come back for services after my free one?).

Service manager popped in to let me know it would be done soon and surprisingly only approximately 30 minutes had passed. Thought they would earn their way onto the whitelist. Thought too soon however.

Car pulled out of the shop, figured they were bringing it out to me. Around 5 minutes pass and I see it pull back into the shop cleaned. This hadn't thrilled me as I'm not a fan of drive though car washes, let alone ones at dealerships. I chalked that up to my own fault as I hadn't told them not to wash it.

Then I see two of the shop boys standing admiring my car, or so I though. Then I see them bend down to my bumper where my license plate (thanks to @GrimmSpeed), once again I figure they're just looking. Then I see them spin it, not once, but three times. At this point I realize they're driving the metal frame which holds my license plate on into the paint on my bumper putting circular scratches into it. When the bring me out to the car I inquire as to why they were touching the plate at all. He says it's probably nothing and we walk around to see what they had done. As I suspected there were 3 circular shaped scratches on my paint from the imbeciles rotating my license plate.

The shop manager (or whatever) then bent down to look at the scratches to see if they were easily buffed out. He stated they would 'detail' that section of the car for me to fix their mistake. Needless to say he wasn't thrilled with whomever had done it. He actually snapped back at me when I had questioned the need for it at all to which I felt the need to raise my voice and let him know "this was no fault of my own and I expect you to fix it". That got a couple of customers looking our way.

They did a half ass job of fixing the scratch, I'm not the least bit satisfied with their work. I'm probably bringing the car back in a day or two to have it properly done, I'll take off the license plate for them in the parking lot so nothing can go wrong on that front.

When 'detailing' the section of the bumper which they destroyed, the idiot removing the plate stripped the heads on one of the screws holding the bumper on, I'm sure it'll be a blast to find a replacement.

I'm refraining from posting the name of the dealership, if there is a blacklist I'll post my story there but I'm not clear on the rules for that and I'd rather not upset anyone.

Edit : I'm over being an adult, it was Dayton Toyota on Route One Thirty in South Brunswick NJ.

/end rant

[marky]

This is why I don't do dealers...... Only if it needs major things done.. My dealer already pissed me off and I'm hesitant to go back there again... I'll take my business elsewhere

Dealers/salesman/employees just treats you/car as another customer they don't care about your car/you... They just care about the money..

I'll be doing my own oil change when its time..

[DarkSunrise]

Yeah I'm questioning whether a free oil change is worth the risk of the dealership damaging something.

[Clipdat]

It's unfortunate, but I agree with the other replies so far. The dealerships have set a precedent for you getting your car back in worse shape than when you dropped it off. I really don't understand their astounding lack of professionalism when it comes to not damaging someone's property.

As a side note, there must be some extra special fascination with tow hook mounts, because two two times I took my 07 tC in for service they bent the plate/bracket toward the bumper and I had to bend it back into the position it was in before. The first time I thought it was just a fluke, but the second time when the exact same thing happened I knew it was deliberate.

No surprise that they couldn't fix the scratches. If you wanted to, a strongly worded call/letter to corporate might be able to get you a new front bumper. Which honestly is what they should be giving you for their gross ineptitude anyway.

[B L U E S L A T E]

Idiots...

[Lonewolf]

If they don't fix it to your liking put them on blast on here, then shoot a quick email/phone call to the general manager of the dealership and Scion corporate...don't let douchey behavior go unnoticed.

[ftc~brz]

I feel you!

went in for my buzzer "beep beep when u lock doors" to get fixed and my fuel pump swap, got mine back with a chip in the paint down to metal and a dent around it. Not the biggest thing but not how I gave it to them...
They fixed mine but it looks like a slapped some touch up on it the waxed it. I'm about to cancel my service plan and just take it to someone I trust.
I feel like when ever I show up they are like, "oh god, here she comes." and I'm not super picky and I am always pleasant. I spent a few years in my 20's in the car business so I've been in their shoes. Screw em! Screw em all.

[vtmike]

Just finished my first oil change in my garage tonight because of stuff like that. Although it ended up costing nearly $75 for 6 quarts of Motul oil and a subaru filter and crush washer. It's worth it to avoid people taking joy rides and damaging the car, not to mention much better quality oil.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

[Craig]

I'm doing all my own oil changes now. Gonna spend the afternoon tomorrow contacting scion of america. Every time I go to the dealership I end up being pissed about something. I figured free oil changes couldn't be fucked up yet here I am.

Just extremely frustrating, there's no reason why this should have happened. A free bumper might be a bit much but I expect more than 5 minutes with some idiot buffing it out probably creating more of a problem with the clearcoat.

[Nothing]

Dude, that sucks. I too have learned to be absolutely specific about shops and what they can do. I'm very lucky that my local dealer humors my OCD.

[Mandy]

I already got the DISO; terrified of anything else happening to it.

[Clembo]

Having done the service on my numerous Toyotas over the years, my dealer knows me pretty well. So far they have been careful but there are new techs in the shop all the time. And oil change techs are at the bottom of the tech food chain so I know there is always the potential for trouble. Still, being cheap, I'll grab as much as I can get for free!

But I'll do the first one myself as they would charge me for being too early anyway.

[FR-Shadow]

Yeah I am sorry to hear this, infact I am sorry to hear this from a lot of people and their dealership problems.

If i get a car wash from the dealer I only ask for a hand wash. They all know and admire my OCD as well and respect it.

[Nevermore]

My dealership broke a clip on my engine cover when they replaced my fuel pump.