40,000 Service Questionable Charges

I'm no Prius expert. I'm due for my 40k mile service in a few months. I plan to have it done at the dealer. Every place I've gone to has always quoted me a cost prior to doing the job and if it costs significantly more, they will call me. There is a print out receipt that I walk out with when they take the car as proof.

Oil change, tire rotation, and whatever inspections are all I plan to do for $70.



iPhone ?

 

Sounds like they padded the bill to make money off you.

I would NOT go back there.

 

There's an old saying.
Pigs get fed....Hogs get butchered.
FWIW, this dealership smells more like a pig than a hog.

It sounds like they padded your bill by about 100 bucks with unwanted/unneeded service. Believe me....I've seen MUCH worse!
It's sleazy but you basically have three choices:

1. Let them do the maintenance and put the "giveacrap" switch in the "don't" position. The Prius is a pretty frugal car to own, and the maintenance schedule is pretty light. They'll take a nip at your wallet every now and then, but you'll be rewarded with not having to worry about it.

2. Educate yourself about the maintenance items, and demand a detailed explanation for requested work that's not on this list. If it's not on the maintenance list? Then it's not maintenance....it's a REPAIR.
Those require an explanation, prior approval, parts get a forensic exam...etc.
If you're going to use this dealer and stay with the Toyota brand then I would confront the maintenance manager and give them about 20-minutes of grief about the unwanted extras.
I would start off by insisting that they use more qualified technicians since the 2011 Prius, IIRC, is a 3rd Gen Prius. They don't have rear drums to service. If the technicians "looked" at the brakes while they already had the wheels off??? That's nice, but I don't recall a line item in the maintenance schedule @ 40K for disc brake cleaning.
The battery terminals are a little interesting as well, given the location of the Prius and the Aux battery (Georgia, and the interior of the car, respectively.) How much did the terminals corrode in 2y/40k???
Why did this happen?
The oil additive should be IMMEDIATELY removed.
Not because it will be bad for the motor (it won't) but because it was added without your permission.
If the OEM oil is so good that nothing else should be used in a Toyota, then why add anything to it?
This will put them on notice that you're at least paying attention, and you have another 10,000 miles to start boning up for the 50K service.

3. Buy about $100 bucks worth of tools (they don't need to be Snap-On) and learn to do as much of the maintenance/repair work as you can. It's not nearly as daunting a task as the wrench swingers will lead you to believe that it is. If you can spell and you have broadband?
You can maintain cars.
Rednecks do it drunk all the time.

That's basically it in a nutshell.
I did the 45,000 mile maintenance on my dear wife's mastodon yesterday.
It probably took an hour longer than the folks at the shop would take, but it cost me $30 in parts and $0 in labor, and I used about $50 worth of tools.
That may not work out for you, but if you can't afford option #1????
Hang out here on this forum and avail yourself of option #2.


Good Luck!

 

Over 40 years, ago, I took my first used car in for service.

After having that done, I was so disappointed in the quality of the work, having redid half the work, I started to learn and have done it ever since.

The free Toyota service for the first 2 years was NOT EVEN up to my standards. Oil was always overfilled and clips were loose on the oil change door.

So, if you are finicky, doing it yourself is the best option.

 

pic of the anti corrosive battery pads?

 

LOOK at what you signed.......if that is even possible now.....and see what was on it.
If those items were NOT on it, demand a refund and if they get snotty, mention that States Attorney.

If they WERE on there .......shame on you.

I would have no problem with the brake work. Experience tells me that drum brakes need to be cleaned.
(Does it REALLY have drums in the rear ??)

Item #2 is pure BS. I never put anything into my oil these days.

The battery terminal thing is good too .......IF they noticed corrosion.

I think you probably will be hard pressed to find ANY dealers shop that won't "recommend" things that
aren't really needed these days. The sleazy part is sneaking them in on you.

 

Anti-corrosive battery pads?

$1-2 and 10 minutes to install.

 

2011 Prius doesn't have drum brakes. They gave it too you. You should always just say EXACTLY what you want done. NEVER say do the whatever miles maintance.

 

i would definitely go back and demand a refund on the drum brake clean and adjust, or contact your states ag office for consumer affairs, that's outright thievery.

 

You should go back, demand you speak with the maintenance manager, and the the drum BS as a reason to refund your money on those other 2 BS services.

 

The time to have contested the charges was when you got the bill and went to pick up your car.

 

The owner's manual is very clear on what's part of a 40K service. There's no reason to let a dealer do anything more than what's on that list. But once you agree to those items, there's no reason to expect your money back. According to the OP, they DID ask first. ("I'm sure I signed something")

 

Yeah! It's readily apparent that he bought and paid for the pig.

 

I agree he definitely won't get his money back about the oil additives and battery terminal crap. But if they supposedly did a service on "drum" brakes, when his car has disk brakes, I still think he should hound them about it. Possibly it was a typo, or maybe the service adviser at that dealership knows nothing about the Prius model and wrote up the usual BS. But either way he should make it known to the manager that he's upset with this kind of crap and won't tolerate it again. It won't cost him anything but some time to make a complaint. Just my two cents.

 

Its also possible they they have some "40K service" package with a discounted price, in which case you didn't actually pay "extra" for those items. Its not always easy to tell from the invoice.

Perhaps a lesson learned? Ask first?

 

They ripped you off. If I were you I would find another dealer. Just an oil and oil filter change for me. I change the cabin filter and engine air filter myself when needed and that's it for me. I do rotate the tires about every 7,000 miles.

 

I think the rear disc may also contain a drum brake for the parking/emergency brake.


iPad ? HD

 

And I think that is absolutely WRONG.