First Toyota Care Service

As the title says, we had our first experience with Toyota Care yesterday. The dealer we use is Larry H Miller Toyota in Peoria AZ and our service manager is Amanda. She is very young, but very professional, and is the nicest service manager I have ever met. She had called early last week to see if we were ready for our 5,000 miles service. I had told her we missed that because we were on vacation, but we’d be ready for the 10,000 mile service the following week. So, we made an appointment for yesterday at 1:30. As it turned out, we hit 10,000 during a weekend trip to LA, so the schedule worked out great.

We dropped the car off 30 minutes early. She asked if we had any questions about Prius operation, if we wanted a complimentary exterior car wash and told us the service would take about an hour or so. We left and 55 minutes later she called saying it was ready for pickup. There was no attempt to sell us anything and I was surprised they didn’t try to sell me a cabin air filter considering it’s a bit discolored. I had already checked both air filters and set some indicators so I’d know if they performed everything they were supposed to, especially rotate the tires. They did that, topped off the washer fluid and even did a battery check, though I have no way of knowing what that involved other than it being listed on the invoice.

Speaking of the invoice, the bill would have been $86.05 ($36.05 parts/$55 labor). Considering a 5-qt container of Mobil One is about $30 at Walmart and about $40 on Amazon, I didn’t think that was too bad a price even though I know Discount will rotate tires for free. The invoice did show the parts prices were discounted from their list prices, but I don’t know if that means I could have bought the parts for that price without having them do the work. The only thing I forgot was to tell them what air pressure I run in the tires.

This morning, I checked everything and found the oil level is right on the mark. I filled the tires to 40/38 psi and we’re good for another 10,000 miles. Needless to say, it was a pleasant experience I need to check the schedule to see what’s needed at 15,000 miles because we’ll skip the tire rotation since we missed it at 5,000 miles. If that and checking filters is all that needed, then they’ll see us again at 20,000 miles. We have a 5,000 mile trip in February followed by a 7,500 miles trip in May, so chances are I’ll need to find a dealer in the Savannah area and we’ll get to compare.

Needless to say, I was very happy with the experience, especially after reading some of the stories here, and after dealing with GM service with our old Montana van, though that was many years ago.

 

I'm not that cynical. If they put 0w20 on the invoice, I believe that's what I got. I've changed the oil myself plenty of times in the past, but never because I mistrusted the shop, independent or dealer. I change oil in high school and part time after that at times and never was I or anyone I worked with even tempted to cut corners. But then I've never lived in LA.

 

My record already indicates synthetic, but I may ask about the air pressure at the next visit. As expected, they did reduce it, but I'm not overly concerned about the pressure because I have a compressor and check it fairly often. When we go to Cocoa Beach in February, I may try it higher going and then reduce it to recommended coming back just to see for myself if it really does impact mileage and affect the ride. I'll be taking the same route to/from, so doing so might yield some useful info before I buy my first set of replacement tires.

 

I know they do in the morning, but it was right after lunch and we dropped it off, so I didn't even go in the waiting room. I'm on a CKD diet (kidney disease), so it wouldn't matter to me one way or the other.

 

Funny how an innocent post about a positive experience with a dealer turns into a discussion about whether or not they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, sigh.....

 

I can't believe you people, you darned well know what I meant by that. $55 is not too bad considering it was a dealer and it wasn't just to drain the oil. Even independents around here charge $75/hour, not that I'd pay that unless I absolutely had to. And many others here have said they paid more, so I was just relaying my experience. After 4 months, I guess I should know better though. Fortunately, there are some helpful people here who don't just sit around waiting to criticize those who don't do their own maintenance.

And yes, had I done it myself, it would have cost $36.05, but it didn't cost me anything except 2 short trips, not even as far as Walmart. And why in the world would I do it myself when it's included? I'm not paranoid about dealers like so many folks here. Since 1970, I've only had one bad experience with a dealer, or even an independent, and that was partially my fault. I can no longer do my own maintenance, but when I did and could have someone do it for $14.95 plus tax while I spent some time talking cars at the local shop, why wouldn't I?

And I couldn't care less if they offered coffee or donuts, I don't drink coffee and I'm not supposed to eat donuts. Someone "sort of" asked the question, so I responded. However, if I need warranty work or just want to stop in to check out a new vehicle, I appreciate that I can get a bottled water, etc., just like at our credit union, our financial advisor's office, etc. Some dealers now have restaurants too, though I've never eaten at one. Heck, even Gas Monkey has a restaurant in Dallas now