Maintenance Slacker

OP...

My Prius is not warranteed so I haven't had it serviced at a dealer. But I bought a new Tacoma last year from Nalley Toyota in Roswell on the northside of ATL. Even though I live on the southside, I took it up there for the first service and had a great experience. I felt they were receptive to my concerns and tried to address all of them. Some - like Entune bugs - were apparently not repairable by them, but they listened to me and tried to resolve all the issues. Of course, the oil change/tire rotation went fine and there were no upcharges.

For the second service, I took it to Toyota of Union City nearby and had a poor experience and a ridiculously long wait. For the next free service, I'll take it back up to Roswell and let them do it. When my warranty runs out, I'll do most of the maintenance myself. I will NEVER take it to Toyota of Newnan due to the aggravating experience I had there with the sales staff.

In short, I'd recommend taking a trip up to Nalley in Roswell and try out their service center at least once while it's under warranty. I can't say I've developed a rapport with them yet, but they didn't screw me over either.

If you need a name there, try Corey McIntosh (who sold me my truck and treated me with respect). The General Manager is Robert Gagliardi.

All that said, if you feel like you're being pressured to buy some service that isn't adequately explained to you, hit us up here again and you'll get some good feedback.

Good luck...and take care of that Prius...and it will take care of you.

 

I can certainly understand losing faith in a dealership or any number of dealerships.

But, the way I would approach it, is that you have a new vehicle. That entitles you to "Toyota Care". The truth is the maintenance that Toyota Care entitles you to, is pretty basic. Inspections, Tire Rotations and Oil Changes.

But hey, it is free. And having the work done at a Toyota Dealership, would give you leverage if any warranty issue should happen to come up.

I won't go into details, but I actually had some issues that caused me to lose faith in the dealership I purchased my Prius from. I switched dealerships for maintenance. So this is my second Toyota Dealership.

If it was me? I'd do some internet research, and try to find the local dealership that does get the best reviews. Then I'd let them do the scheduled routine free maintenance.

If they tried to sneak in extra charges or upsell additional unneeded services? I'd hold tight to only authorizing the factory recommended, Toyota Care covered maintenance. When making the appointment I'd definitely tell the "service adviser" that is what you are bringing the vehicle in for, and that is all you expect to have done or need to have done.

It's a new car....if they find anything, they have to prove it isn't a warranty covered item. You shouldn't need any extra services for the next two years.

Once you're past this point of coverage? You can then either decide you like the dealership you are using, or going forward investigate other options that may exist in your area. But for now? Even if I thought I didn't particularly like any of the dealerships in my area, I think I'd try to pick the one with the best reputation, and let Toyota at least foot the bill for the first two years of regular maintenance.

 

I noticed you haven't mentioned or volunteered how many miles are on this car.

If the 'v' schedule is the same as the Liftback, then there is no oil change at the first scheduled maintenance at 5k miles. The 5k tire rotation is about keeping tire wear even, but is not a big deal if you skip it.

That first oil change is at the second scheduled maintenance, 10k miles. (Though some of us get it early.) So if you are not past 10k, you are not really late yet for the important part.

But if you haven't at least checked the oil level in a long time, or ever, then go do that yourself right now.

 

Consider marking the tires or wheels with some type of mark to distinguish the fronts and rears. This is to verify that the tires were rotated. Take a picture too, before dropping off.

Fronts: F, *, another symbol, clean the front wheels if dirty, and maybe armor the front wheels only to stick out.
Rears: R, 8, another symbol, or leave dirty and no armor all.​

Another PC member had a horrible experience w/ a stealership that said the tires were rotated. This member showed the service manager the before pictures, and the tires were in the same position as the picture. Service manager ate crow. PC member never returned to this stealership again.

 

Just received these coupons for Nalley Toyota (ATL) in an email.

The BOGO for oil changes looks like it might be valuable, but I don't know what they charge for that.

Fine print: Coupons expire on 1/31/2015

 

^^^
The guy gets free oil changes, I don't think a coupon applies.

 

Sorry...no comprende. Me, or some other guy?

UPDATE: OK...yeah...you're right...the OP is still under warranty...forgot that. Oh well...anyone else in ATL can use the coupon, I guess.