Dealer Problems with oil Changes

I agree with Mendel Leisk. I would write a letter to the President of Toyota

 

Any update? This is crazy!

Do you really think he would read it?

 

Haven't heard from them since last Thursday.
I'll call tonight after supper (EDT).

 

I sure do. I bought 4 new Toyotas from a Toyota dealer. They changed the oil on my Prius. A couple of months after they changed it I looked under my car and the splash cover that covers the oil pan area was missing. The dealer would not even acknowledge my car was equipped with that part and would do nothing about it. I wrote to the President of Toyota. I got a call from a person in his office. I was told to take the car to a dealer of my choice, have it repaired, mail them a copy of the receipt and they would send me a check which they did. It was about $350.00. They were fantastic. I had been a good customer of that dealer. Needless to say I took my business elsewhere and bought a 2014 Avalon Hybrid XLE Touring. I sent an Email to that dealer and told him about the sale that he missed.

 

Not so hot for the dealer who is learning about the costs of upsetting customers.

 

Missing splash cover?

The more I read about these dealer experiences the more I fear going to the dealer. The first straw for me was over-filling in my TCH. So, the next time I told them to put only 4 qts and leave the 5th qt in the car, which they did but of the wrong weight and brand (Mobil 5W-40) instead of Toyota 0W-20. So, I started purchasing the oil all 5 qts with instructions to not put the 5th qt in. So far so good, but now I wonder if the oil filter and splash cover are in place? I guess I have to start pre-purchasing the filter and O-ring as well ...

 

I could not believe I was treated this way by that dealer. I had been a good customer there for a very long time. After I wrote to Toyota and turned him in to the Better Business Bureau his attitude changed. They then wanted to replace the part but there was no way that they would ever service my car again. I still have no idea why they treated me like they did. It just baffles me.

 

I can't say enough about the value of rating a dealer. If we just take their lousy service, or go away mad without doing anything, it gives them no incentive to improve, and practically rewards bad behavior. I'm sure that most bad dealers have learned to shrug off the negativity and reap the harvest of ripping off their customers. If the majority of customers let them know that our buying choices are based on customer reviews, they may change their tune.

Some companies are actually threatening legal action against people who post poor reviews about them online. The important thing to remember is that you can't libel anyone by telling the truth. In fact, calling their bluff can bring them much unwanted attention, which is exactly what they may need.

 

You sure can go broke, however, in proving your version.

Anyway, 'truth' is in the eye of the beholder. You are a lot safer from litigation by simply sticking to the facts.
Rather than posting "Dealer X tried to wreck my car!!!"
Post "My car ran out of oil after service at Dealer X, and my inspection revealed a missing oil filter."

 

You only go broke if you play their game. Any lawyer worth their salt wouldn't go to court against someone who is telling the truth about their lousy service, and running the risk of being embarrassed not only by the facts, but also by the bad PR that's created by going after a customer for telling the truth.

 

I tried posting a review on Yelp about the Toyota dealer I had the problem with. I told the truth about the situation. They posted my review but it was buried and could not be prominently seen. I think Yelp is pro business. They seem to like to post the good reviews. I reported the dealer to the Better Business Bureau. That action gives them publicity they do not like. I went right after their rear. I wrote a letter to the Illinois Attorney General as well. The letter to Toyota Corporate definitely got their attention. After I did all that the service manager called me every day wanting me to come in and have the part put on. No way was they ever going to work on my car again. One reason being is how do I know the mechanic would not do something to my car for revenge in the action I took. Most importantly, after they did that to me I wanted no further business with them.

 

Okinawa, if it's any consolation, at least your bad experience has no lasting impact on the car. Unlike the missing oil filter. But it's very frustrating when they're obviously being evasive.

There was similar but worse story here recently: after dealership service the car had complete oil loss, and was driven thus, at least a few miles. In that case the deAler admitted fault and installed a replacement, salvage engine.

 

You are right, I had no lasting impact on my car and I am over it. The instances you mentioned were far worse than mine. I just hate to get screwed by a car dealer, as we all do.

 

I've been told to expect contact from the service manager sometime soon.

 

I think that if I was in your position, I would inform him that this situation has gone viral and countless people are closely monitoring this nonsense,,

 

Css28, have you mentioned this thread to Toyota?

It would be a very good engineering revision, if possible, to make it impossible to screw in the filter housing without a filter installed. Say, with the filter in place, it depresses something, and if that doesn't happen, the housing can't screwed in, remains loose.

Effectively idiot-proof it. And I don't mean that derisively: it's just sound, safe engineering to design a mechanism to be foolproof.

 

Having heard nothing from Toyota or the dealer since last Tuesday I called Toyota this morning.
They put me on hold while they called the dealer group's customer satisfaction manager on her cell phone.
Her message was that they couldn't do anything more for me beyond a free oil and filter change for compensation--I had explicitly requested an extended power train warranty.
So I'm done.
I'll post a dedicated thread to call out the dealership on this and deal only with other organizations going forward. It's just not worth the hassle for what little it might get me.

 

Thanks for the update. What's the dealership's name/address again? Still, beside their screw-up, it's Toyota that should be doing the right thing. I think your request of extended power warranty is perfectly reasonable. It would likely not cost them a dime. Very telling. I really hope your efforts shine some light, both on the dealership and Toyota.

 

See A Dealer To Avoid: Prestige Warren Toyota, Warren Michigan | PriusChat

 

I agree with Mendel. Toyota is ultimately to blame for a bad design. Unfortunately, many cars have these type of filters (I had a Chevy Malibu Classic with one) and there was no way to tell if a filter was installed once the black plastic cap was screwed back onto the housing. I no longer have the car (TG!)

I hope your ICE didn't suffer any permanent damage as the result of this fiasco.