Learn from My Experience at a Dealership

Folks:

Wanted to share a dealer story from last weekend. I have a 2008 Toyota Prius with 47,000 miles on it, and it has been a great car for the past three years. I was bringing it in for the following service items:

1. Oil Change (standard)
2. Draining and filling ATF. I was bringing in my own ATF that I purchased on sale at Toyota Parts online.
3. Replacing melted latch hatch. Toyota USA had offered to cover a certain sum to replace this item

I've gone to this dealership for the past three years, and I've been pretty pleased with the service techs. While the dealers charge a higher amount for labor, that is to be understood.

I bought the car in, and I noted my old Toyota Tech had left, as had the service manager. After waiting for an hour, I was told that my engine water pump had cracked, and needed to be replaced. Also, that my rear brakes needed to be cleaned, and that my latch replacement would cost $150 more than quoted by Toyota international. I was able to argue for the Water Pump part to be covered by the power-train warranty (which ended last December), and I would pay for the labor. The repairs took six hours, but I had a coupon which helped reduce the total costs.

As requested by Toyota USA, I sent my receipt in to get partial reimbursement for latch replacement. I received a response a few days later, saying that the Toyota dealer had overcharged for the latch replacement, and that the dealer would be refunding the charge for this work. Also, Toyota USA said that the dealer had overcharged for the labor for all the work, and would be refunding me for half of the labor costs.

While I'm happy to have the money back, I'm also really skeptical of this dealer, and will likely not go back. When Toyota USA reprimands a dealer, that isn't a good sign. I've begun to do some service work myself, and I'm going to bring my car to another dealer for the next big bit of service at 60,000 (replacing the PCV valve). Learn from my experience!