Dealer mistakes on oil change and new Nav DVD install

So many Toyota dealers are up to that standard. Very hit and miss. I have had numerous problems with my Camry - no car problems, problems caused BY the dealership. Like when they tore the leather, left the oil cap off (so Oil could be expunged all over the engine bay and many other things went wrong. Be careful which dealerships you trust. They are not all up to par.

 

I'm going in for my 10k and DVD update tomorrow. I didn't have any problems after the 5k oil change. Are there any noticeable symptoms when the oil is overfilled?

 

Toyota itself offers some guidance. See http://www.toyota.com/dealers/index2.html and check out the "Presidents", "Express Lube" and "Signature" links. It could all be marketing bulldada, but I went to the nearest "Presidents" dealer for the first service and they did manage to put in my requested amount of oil (3 quarts) instead of trying to top off the system.

Symptoms of overfill may not be immediately obvious. The oil can get whipped into a foam and reduce engine lubrication, or oil can get sucked into the incoming air stream and burned in the engine, causing pollution.

David, I'd call 1-800-TOYOTA and describe to them your experience at that hapless bozo dealer. More in sorrow than anger, of course, a spirit of constructive criticism motivated by the desire for constant improvement. Or minimum competence, anyway.

 

My Prius tech explained that the most seroius problem of overfilling is the oil gets backed up into the intake manifold causing a no start condition. He said it was VERY important not to overfill the oil and sofar, they never have.

 

Some things you should do yourself. (If you can)

 

Backed up into the Intake Manifold? How would that work? I understand the crank can foam the oil. Not sure I get the "sucked into the air stream" either, but honestly I haven't looked at the motor.
That sounds like the function of the PCV valve.

 

I'm not sure about that either, he just said because of all the pumps and valves it has if the oil is overfilled it could get into the intake manifold and cause a no start condition, unless I missunderstood him, he seemed very knowlagable, told me to keep the tires at 42/40 not what it says on the door ect.

 

That's cool, but doesn't make much sense to me. Willing to learn tho. Not sure where PCV vents to on the car, that's all I can think of.

Tire pressures would seem to be a trade off comfort vs mileage. I set mine to door specs. Mileage has been average and comfort fine.

Natch, YMMV....

 

La La La La, (hands over ears) I don't want to hear this I was going to take my car in and get the 10k and Nav. I already had the 5k done by my regular independent car guy because the local dealer did not seem to know that the car needed a tire rotation. I eventually talked to the Service Manager and his position is that it is a unnecessary expense and he "recommends" a rotation every 10k and a oil change every 5 or less he did not say how much less as I think he sensed a hostile audience. Maybe I should just get the Nav and let my indie service guy do the 10k.

 

You know, I never rotate tires. Well, been a looong time anyway. Stupid garage rotated them with out asking and now Ineed to put them back.

I may do it with the Prius, depends on what the tire wear looks like. FWD tends to be worse.

 

Why would you never rotate your tires? If done correctly, it's supposed to keep the wear pattern even and extend overall lifespan.

 

Well, I probably should have stated this, but 2 of the most recent cars I've owned, you can't.
Beyond that, I just tend to buy new tires. The Prius is the first front wheel drive car I've had in a really long time. I may end up needing to rotate due to it being FWD. Its just not as big a deal on RWD.

 

Richard,
I didn't find any links that showed WHICH dealers are Signature or Presidents. What am I missing?

 

Enter your zip code, find the dealers listed, and if they are President's and/or Signature dealers, it will indicate so in each entry.

 

I have never rotated tires on a front wheel drive car. It has been my experience the rear tires seem to last forever and the front tires wear much quicker.

So why replace 4 tires when you only have to replace 2 tires?

Same as an older Ford pickup with that God-forsaken Twin I Beam front axle. You can NOT expect front tires to last for long, so don't bother rotating.

Unless you have an unusual wear problem and want to spread this wear over all the tires, it makes little sense to rotate. Alignments and correct tire pressure are far more important.

 

>>So why replace 4 tires when you only have to replace 2 tires? <<

IMHO, having 4 tires not match sucks. Ride quality suffers. So, if I need to rotate to have wear be pretty much the same, I will. I always buy 4 tires at a time.

 

I purchased new one of the first front-drive cars I had seen, a Horizon. It was either a Dodge or a Plymouth product. It would go through front tires quickly, every 16 months or so.

At least the tires were very cheap for that cheap, nasty car.

So the rear tires were original and over half tread after 4 years, and the front tires had been changed 3 times. I was able to always get the same brand/model tires, so never noticed any traction or ride issues.

Now that I've got the all-season tires in my storage room, and the winter tires on, I should be able to get a LOT more life out of them. It seems around here you can leave winter tires on at least 5 months of the year.