Frustrated with the dealer

This sort of treatment is one of the reasons why, when I bought a new replacement for my then-gf's continually very troublesome used car, I also made her quit getting service and repairs at whatever place had the best coupon that week, and stick with a single dependable shop.

That was over 30 years ago. She is now my spouse, that car is still her daily driver, and she has had less car trouble in that 30 years than she had in the prior 3 years. Though we did change shops half way through.

Shops handing out those coupons, simply cannot keep the doors open at those prices, let alone pay the mortgages on their vacation homes and boats. They must make up for it by talking you into many services you don't need. If you don't bite, then don't expect acceptable service on the coupon item either, because they simply can't afford to spend the time to do it right.

Go back to your usual shop.

 

I have had trouble at several dealerships. Toyota needs to do a better job policing this kind of thing.

I was told I needed new wipers and they just happened to have them on sale. I had replaced the wipers prior to taking it to the dealer. Later I heard them tell another customer they needed new wipers. Wipers must have been an up-sale item that month.

On another visit I was told I needed a new cabin air filter. I was even shown a filthy cabin air filter. I asked to see the side of the filter and said I just replaced my engine and cabin air filter. I also mark mine on the side with the date and my initials. The one I was shown did not have these markings. I was told they must have grabbed the wrong filter.

The last thing was being told that my car was leaking fluid and they could fix it for $300.00. I asked to see the car as I did not have any fluids on my garage floor and all my fluids were at the proper level. The service tech said I was not allowed in the service area, but he would bring the car up. He came back without my car. I was told they made a mistake on cars. They just happened to have another ten-year-old white Prius level 2 in the shop at the same time and that was the one with the issues. Possible yes. probable ...?

I used to have a dealership and local mechanic that I trusted. Now that we have moved, I am having trouble finding either.

 

The dealerships are independently owned businesses, Toyota has very limited power over them. In a couple regions, the dealerships don't even get their cars directly from Toyota, but instead from an independent distributor with a regional monopoly, such as Gulf States Toyota or Southeast Toyota.

 

No you were not reading this right. First its "brake pads" not "break pads". You don't want them broken or you will pay twice.

One is aftermarket front brake pads and machined rotors, the other is "oem" front pads and machined rotors. Your choice.

No need to get upset with them. They are on commission and offering you services. You are smart enough to say no. You should just smile knowingly and get your $9.95 oil change. Undoubtedly with the cheapest dinosaur oil out of their 55 gallon drum. Ten to one if you mark the oil filter you will still have it when you leave since they often just suck the oil out from the dipstick.

100,000 miles is the standard coolant service interval and some think a brake fluid change could prolong the brake booster life.

 

Yep I think we've all experienced this. You'd actually be surprised by the number of folks who will say, "Sure, fix all that!" when they are given the list! YIKES! But for many their cars go for years neglected with old fluids tearing stuff apart and, in the end, they get estimates for many thousands of dollars to just keep it operational...so there's that.
But nobody knows or love your vehicles like you so it's best to do as much yourself as you are able. When in doubt, say nope and then ask someone who knows cars more than you to have a look.
We had a kid at work, years ago, who had bought a new Dodge truck but didn't know anything about maintenance. He heard us talking about our weekend plans and mine was an oil and oil filter change in my car. He asked why I was doing that so I told him it was due, every 6-months or 5,000 miles...whichever come first. He thought about for a few minutes and then asked what would happen if it was never done. He had over 30,000 miles on his truck and he'd, only, added oil if it was low. (So, at least, he did that.) We taught him how to change the oil (it was some nasty oil) and a few months later the truck was running so bad he got rid of it.
We really need to teach young folks how to take care of their vehicles...it's the 2nd largest expense most of us have in our lifetimes, behind a home mortgage!

 

It's a lose leader.... It's meants to get in into the shop. It worked.
Sadly, most people will pay for the other stuff. NOT all shops will rip you off.
Not all mechanics will rip you off, even if the shop will.

Whenever I did an oil change, or any other service on a car, I would check the car over
and make a note of any potental problems.
Sometimes the service writer would bring the customer back, insurance allows this, so we
could show them. Sometimes they would do it, sometimes not. 98% of the time when they
came back they would ask for me because they felt that I was not trying to steal from them.

I never made them feel they HAD to do it. The choice was completely up to them.

If possible, try to find a position outside of the bay where you can watch them work on your car.
And "IF" you decide to do a coupon thing, just tell the service writer you ONLY want the oil change.
You don't need anything else and the tech doesn't need to waste his time looking at anything else.

 

wallet flush/boat payment

 

i think you're on to something...

 

it should bother everyone, but some people just shrug their shoulders and move on

 

there are a million threads here just like yours. most dealerships are dishonest, or at best unethical.

i have heard there are a few unicorns though...

 

Do you really think there is a difference between the car salesman in the showroom and the service advisor next to the drive through? No. Both are your instant best friend, both barely make a living, both are pressured by management to meet their goals, both are on commission, both will tell you anything you want to hear. But they are not your friend, they need sales to make a living and meet their goals and both will later talk about the customers who bought everything they offered.

You have to know their game, you need to know your factory maintenance schedule and you have to be able to resolve the differences.

You do need a coolant service and the brakes are close to the limit. Brake fluid is not on the schedule and oil changes should be done twice as often as they recommend with quality oils.

 

Toyota USA has the strangest way of expressing when the engine and inverter coolant should be changed. The circled text plainly states to change both. But: if you go to the footnote #3, you find this:



Attached is a spreadsheet summary of the US schedule I made, mainly out of frustration with the event-by-event presentation, and the aforementioned footnotes.

 

I am surprised Sheet 2 is not the Canadian schedule and Sheet 3 the Mendel with Egr and Brake Fluid services.

 

just trying to summarize what’s in the official US schedule. FWIW: EGR cleanout could follow the engine coolant interval.

I should have added: Toyota Canada says do both coolant changes at 10 years or 160k kms )100k miles), whichever comes first