frustrated with dealer maintenance

Bummer. When you overpay for something it should at least be done right, right? Read your contract.

 

I think I would stay well clear of that dealer also.

What was the oil level on the dip stick before you drained it? If I put in 4.3 quarts it comes just below the full mark by a 1/4 inch or so.

 

Why are Toyota dealers *so* crap? why are (all) dealers *so* crap???

 

I tried to "establish a relationship" with my dealer since this is my first Toyota. I had the same experience with the overtorqued oil pan drain plug, filter housing and also tire lug nuts. I also found one of the push pins on my engine under cover missing, replaced it and then found one missing again the next time.

I finally gave up and have since been doing my own maintenance.

It is definitely not all dealers since I did the same thing with my wife's Honda Accord. I never had these kind of issues with the local Honda dealer.

I am sure it is like most companies in that a few bad apples spoil it for the whole barrel.

 

Despite the old excuse that dealers are independent businesses, I'm convinced that how a brand's dealers treat customers is is strongly influenced by what the car company will tolerate from it's franchisees.

 

+1

I agree completely with this statement. The Honda dealership in both Wilmington and my hometown had a much better customer care culture to it than the local Toyota dealership. So I agree that Honda seems to expect more from their dealerships.

With the local Toyota dealership I get the impression that we are No. 1 and it is either our way or the highway. This seems true for both the sales department and the service department. I guess with Honda it is true that No. 2 tries harder.

On the other hand, the Toyota dealership in Fayetteville, NC where I bought the car had one of the friendliest and most professional sales staffs that I have ever dealt with. Being 100 miles away I have not had the pleasure to work with their service department. I would expect the service department to be equal to the sales department due to management expectations.

 

In Germany, jdcollins5, you have the same situation you describe for Toyota US dealers ("either our way or the highway") with VW/Audi and BMW dealers. My experience with VW was terrible - the mechanics at 2 different dealers where really nice, but the service that they had to represent was, unfortunately for them, a disaster.

There are only 2 dealers in Munich selling Toyotas, and they sell Japanese cars in an overwhelmingly german car dominated market. So they better not be too much "smart asses". They are not selling Priuses like bread here - I mean, this is the land of the TDI...the BEST Engine in the world, right?

Nevertheless, and I might pretend too much, there are little (and not that little) things at my local Toyota dealer here (that sells and services Lexus as well) where you think that regardless of their slogan "nichts ist unmöglich" (nothing is impossible), and "Vollkommene Kundenzufriedenheit" (complete customer satisfaction), you still feel that you are not really getting the "Japanese service" I expect from a japanese company and they still treat you, sometimes (not always!) like as if you don't understand anything and their hidden agenda is not exactly your agenda as a customer, like it happened at VW - or better said - sometimes I feel there is no difference from VW (luckily not always!).

But then, the germans tell me that customer friendliness is not really their best quality and they have a lot of work to do. But then I add, even in Italy where I come from, there is a *lot* to learn as well.

But, I mean, if I wanted european customer service, I could have just stayed with VW or a Renault or a Fiat (and their "quality"...).

So clearly Toyota Japan is, unfortunately and this is my impression, not really paying too much attention of what its subsidiaries and franchise resellers/service do in their name and rely on the quality of their cars to keep the brand image high. If Toyota had not a good quality I think their dealers would give it a final blow to the brand image in the way they are treating customers not really in a "japanese" way.

But then I wonder - and maybe Ken@Japan could comment on this - what is the service of Toyota like in Japan??? How is Toyota considered in terms of quality and customer satisfaction compared to other brands?

 

I think both the company (Corporate Toyota, Honda, Nissan, etc) and the dealerships can drive customers to the competition. We've been buying Honda exclusively, for 30 years. The debacle over Civic Hybrid batteries, coupled with years of hassles with Honda service departments, pushed us over to Toyota this last time. That and the Prius reputation.

That said, the adage "the grass may look greener on the other side, but..." rings true: all dealerships are a mixed bag.

It is so obvious from the customer's perspective, it is amazing how the car companies can be so blind to this. If one of them were to break ranks and make a concerted effort to do right by their customers...

 

I've noticed an interesting thing here with the 2 local Toyota dealers. In fact, both are owned by the same people but the sales staff are total opposites. At least, that's how I interpreted it from the ones I've dealt with at each location. My guess, the car manufacturers mostly care about sales numbers, and less so about the rest. That falls onto the franchises and their owners/management more than anything.

I've had mixed experiences at the one dealership I go to. The first visit, the tech reprogrammed my TPMS for my winter tires for free as a courtesy. The advisor was going to charge me $50 for this. I think the tech figured it wasn't worth the paperwork hassle for a 10 minute task, esp since I had the IDs in hand. When I went in for the ABS software update, and asked about those stupid push pins underneath, the advisor told me they were designed to break. I bet Toyota USA would love to hear me repeat that one! The advisor also didn't really seem to know what the ABS update actually did, either.

 

I've not had a problem with my dealer's service but in truth, I haven't checked their work! Ignorance is bliss, until I'm left stranded on the side of the road...

 

Too true: I let our Honda HCHII dealership overfill the motor oil by .8 liters, for the first 3 years of ownership. Finally woke up, and got back to DIY.

 

You just have to find the good dealers. There are good and bad ones.

I'm still ticked off they didn't tell me to rotate my tires more frequently, or else the noise would be a pain in the *ss. Much worse in a quiet car like the Prius.

 

The closer you check a dealers work, the less blissful you will be.

 

At my second 'free' 10K service, my dealership over filled my oil by about 3/4 inch on the dipstick. I called them about 20 minutes later and told them. They fell all over themselves apologizing and told me to bring it right back. They corrected it to perfection, but I was still pretty disappointed with them. I WILL use all the freebie services and I have a free oil change certificate for the 30K oil change service as well. I just check up on their work (which I shouldn't have to do), and live with getting a few freebies for a change. Once the freebies end, so does my use of the dealership.

REV

 

I have 2 GMs and 2 motorcycles. (The G3 is a fleet vehicle.)

I haven't willingly let a dealer's wrench near a vehicle that I own in over 10 years....especially for something as simple and relatively cheap as fluids and filters.
Not all dealerships are jerks (just most of them) but there's no way that even a very competent mechanic will care as much as you do (or should) about how your vehicle is maintained.
You guys have it easy! Go to some of the motorcycle forums and read about what they're charging for routine maintenance for Kawis and HDs!!!

If you just "gas and go" then yeah.....ignorance really is bliss and most of the items we're talking about (over-torquing, over filling) aren't what you would call life changing events, however (comma!) I tend to be a little more anal about maintenance for vehicles that I own.
YMMV

 

Not only is the service rediculous for HDs, they don't give a "discount" for bundled items. They also jacked up the cost for materials (almost 75% for) when I just had them do the main 1k service. But, I had some issues shifting into neutral and having them fix that while doing some other routing items was easier at the time. I'll be doing most of it myself going forward.

That said, do you have any clue on how to do a clutch adjustment for what feels like a slightly stretched cable? Feel free to PM me, as I'm still new and learning with the motorcycle maintenance!

 

In my first oil change, which I did early at 5000 miles, I specifically asked the service manager if he used genuine Toyota Oil, to which he replied yes. I specifically asked he not wash my car. I also asked if the service guys knew how to power down the car down since the engine does not run.

Upon waiting 2 hours for my oil change, my car was washed, battery was run down, settings changed to km/h. On top of this, they did not use Genuine Toyota oil, and they overfilled it.

I discovered this after leaving the dealer. I called the service manager to complain and explained that he had promised me genuine Toyota oil. He explained that he merely meant he would use a genuine Toyota filter. I told him that the words out of his mouth was that he would use genuine Toyota oil. Finally after 10 minutes of arguing he agreed that he should have provided me the genuine Toyota oil.

I was not in a position to go back to the dealership immediately, so I brought my car back several hours later and specifically asked to see the bottles beforehand. I specifically asked for 4 and 1/2 bottles to go in and no more. I insisted on watching them perform the oil change, but he would not allow me to be in the shop while they did so. I also asked him to give me the empty bottles afterwards.

After another hour and a half, they returned my car with a bag containing 1 genuine Toyota 0W20 bottle that was cut in half (I assume they used it as the funnel), and 3 empty bottles.

The battery was run down again.

Lesson learned. I am going to see about going to another dealership next time.

 

No, no, no: the lesson will be learned when you start DIY