Toyota Dealership

[DThrash]

My wife bought her own little hunting / work truck about 2 yrs ago. It is a 2000 Tacoma with the 3.4 V6. She needed it for a little trip and I was not able to change the oil, so she took it by Tuscaloosa Toyota, she said it took them about 2 hrs and they came back and said it needed a timing belt, cam and crank shaft seals. It has 140,000 on the od. I ordered the kit and started on it this afternoon. The truck had 120,000 on it when she got it. I had no idea when the last belt was put on, but when I tore into it, the belt looks brand new and the cam and crank seals are not leaking. I am going to put the belt on since I'm in this for and I'm going to take the old one by there and get them to show me what is wrong with it. I had them to do a job for me about 10 yrs ago, I had to do it again about a year later and my fix has lasted about 8 yrs so for. I guess they saw a woman and tried to take advantage. Not to happy with them right now.

 

[Daren Todd]

Wife had the Mazda dealership try to do the same thing with her. She used to take her car there for service. It was down the road from her work and they sent her coupons so it cost less then it would to do it yourself.

Anyway. Dealership told her she needed a whole slew of things done costing a couple grand. One of the things they said that she needed was new brakes and tires. This immediately threw up a red flag for her and ticked her off instantly.

I had just replaced the brakes on her car a month prior. And had new tires installed on the car a week before. The tires still had the nubbies from being manufactured.

She dragged the store manager and the service writer out to her car when the valet brought it around. Asked them to show and explain how they determined she needed new brake and tires. Then pulled the receipt for the tires out of the glove box, as well as the O'rileys receipt where I purchased the brake pads.

She also explained to both of them how they just lost all of her business.

 

[D2Cat]

When you go back to get their opinion, I'd ask for one of the principle owners. Even look it up on the internet, so you know who to ask for. Let them know of your dissatisfaction and how they treated you wife with false information to get additional work. Let him know you will tell your friends to be aware of this dealer's sales tactics.

Many have weekly meetings to teach the techs how to do such crap to get additional work in the shop!

I have told my wife, if she ever takes her car to a shop for a particular service and they tell her she needs something else, to get it in writing with the person's name on the note. And to NEVER succumb to their screams of danger.

 

[DThrash]

What really threw me off in the first place was how could he even see the timing belt without taking the cover off. When I started today, I had to take the PS, AC and ALT belt off just to get the cover off to see it. What about the cam and crank seals, no oil coming out, how did he come up with that ?

 

[Daren Todd]

I doubt he could see the timing belt or those seals. Each manufacturer has a list of "Recommended" tasks to be done at a certain mileage from tranny fluid change to a timing belt replacement.

 

[Stmar]

Unfortunately vehicles have milage and time maintenance items. Our Subaru maintenance schedule has the timing belt replacement at 100000 miles or 100 months. I thought this was BS until I did some research, talked to other Subaru owners and found out it was a real thing. I had a local shop do the job, not a dealer, for what turned out to be a reasonable price. When I got the car back there was a sticker under the hood stating the procedure, date and milage. Maybe yours was replaced and was not documented. Might be interesting to contact the previous owner if possible and see if any of those components were replaced.

 

[Lil Foot]

I have two friends who had been in the car repair business in one form or another for about 40 years combined. They have both quit the business after working as service writers or technicians for large dealerships. They both tell virtually the same story- they were required to write a minimum of $500 of "needed" repairs for every car that came in, every visit, no matter the age or condition of that car, preferably on items that had been recently replaced, so the dealership could charge for the un-needed repairs without having to actually do them. (even higher profit) That sort of thing has also been my experience on the rare occasions when I have visited dealers.
The Lincoln dealer I just purchased our MKX from appears to be the exception so far, time will tell.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

The Toyota engine is "non-interference" so a timing belt failure just stops the motor without bending valves. The Toyota engineers recommend replacement intervals based upon hard usage and the harshest climatic conditions. I live in Arizona and usually go a year or two past recommendation because I take it easy on my engine and I raise the hood in summer, to cool it off, every time I park in the garage. Last belt change, the belt looked near new with zero cracking or deterioration.

Dealers are no longer making money on car sales. They have to pay for the marble floors and leather seats in the waiting room. I don't mind paying them for their effort but I make sure they only do what is necessary or prudent.

Last timing belt change, I waited for a special ($189) and then carried in a box of OEM parts I bought previously on sale. For an additional $200, they replaced the then 14 year-old water pump (not leaking), the thermostat (working fine), and the belts and hoses while they were there. I thought that was a very fair deal when you consider the huge effort to go back in and replace any of those items later. For $400, I zero-timed the engine from the block forward. My wife likes reliability. Now its my truck and I enjoy reliability too.

 

[D2Cat]

CaveCreekRay, keep participating in our mechanical hoop la stories. You don't need to be so busy with other projects all the oil drips off and you get rusty!!

 

[PHPaul]

There's a reason they're called "stealerships".

I have two local shops I trust. The only time I've taken a vehicle back to the dealer is for warranty service or a recall. Both of my new Toyotas ('12 Corolla, '13 Tundra) came with "free" oil and filter changes for the first 2 years or 25,000 miles. Problem there was the dealer is 60 miles away. 120 mile round trip, gas, wear and tear and a whole day shot in the butt for a "free" oil change...

 

[DaTow'd]

Our daughter took her '01 Volvo V70 XC to a indy mechanic who told her that her turbo was damaged and would cost $1500+ to fix it. So in tears she called me.
My son put it on a trailer and towed it 1,000kms to me, after scanning for the trouble codes the only problem was the Oxygen sensor- $200 later and it has been running prefect.
bad actors
Hank

 

[100 td]

so she took it by Tuscaloosa Toyota, she said it took them about 2 hrs and they came back and said it needed a timing belt, cam and crank shaft seals. ........... but when I tore into it, the belt looks brand new and the cam and crank seals are not leaking. I am going to put the belt on since I'm in this for and I'm going to take the old one by there and get them to show me what is wrong with it.

I can understand the offer and fix, if they just change the belt then the seal leaks and they have been in there, then it's their fault. Or it's their fault because they should have changed the seal when they were in there, anyone knows that!
I changed my belt on a toyota at 130000 miles and it looked as new. I have a friend who is a mechanic and he said they look brand new today and tear to bits tomorrow, you can't go by looking at the belt if it looks new.
There was a company who was doing the ripoff jobs, so a tv mob hid some cameras on a car and from outside, they took it to them, the shop pulled out the brake pads, painted them black and shoved them back in and charged the customer. Then they showed the footage of them painting the pads.
No matter what industry, there are crooks always wanting to scam or con or ripoff customers.

 

[DThrash]

I can understand the offer and fix, if they just change the belt then the seal leaks and they have been in there, then it's their fault. Or it's their fault because they should have changed the seal when they were in there, anyone knows that!
I changed my belt on a toyota at 130000 miles and it looked as new. I have a friend who is a mechanic and he said they look brand new today and tear to bits tomorrow, you can't go by looking at the belt if it looks new.
There was a company who was doing the ripoff jobs, so a tv mob hid some cameras on a car and from outside, they took it to them, the shop pulled out the brake pads, painted them black and shoved them back in and charged the customer. Then they showed the footage of them painting the pads.
No matter what industry, there are crooks always wanting to scam or con or ripoff customers.

I just got through with the job, the belt on it was a after market belt, i could not find anywhere it said when it was last done. did not hurt to do it and now I know, but for a mech. to come out of the blue and say it needs to be done, he don't know when it was done last either.

 

[Lil Foot]

I have to relate a tale that happened to one of the scientists I used to work with.
He was very intelligent, except when it came to money. He then became incredibly CHEAP, even though he made great money.
He had a relatively new Honda (interference engine) with high miles, and we pointed out that he was overdue for a timing belt change by about 10K miles.
He said that was all BS, belts would last twice as long as they were rated, the dealer just wants to make money. At about another 10K, the belt failed, destroying the valve train & head. (big bucks)
When he had it repaired, they told him that the front seal was leaking badly, and should be changed, as that would shorten the life of the belt. Again he cheaped out, said they were trying to rip him off. Another 20K miles, and the belt failed again, destroying the valve train & head. (big bucks again) He had the car repaired & sold it soon after.
Out here, in this heat, I change timing belts & such at recommended intervals religiously.

 

[100 td]

for a mech. to come out of the blue and say it needs to be done, he don't know when it was done last either.

Therefore, he has to recommend it to be changed, as there is no sticker on the engine (there should be) otherwise he's not doing his job protecting your engine from failure. As I said, I don't like to be taken, but if there was no sticker then I can see where they're coming from in recommending belt and seals. I'm not sticking up for them, just can see the logic they are using. Did you get a sticker with your belt? I did with mine. Anybody can reset the light on the dash, so no light doesn't mean the belt has been changed, as the last person may have got rid of the light to sell the vehicle without spending the money. Don't forget to program the light to come on again at the correct interval after your change, if your dash has that function available. YMMV

 

[CaveCreekRay]

While the dealers I use are reputable, I ALWAYS ask for my removed parts for inspection. That way, there is no question the work was done.

When my daughter was in high school, we bought he a used RAV4 with an extended warranty to take to college. She not only sat in on the negotiations (she is now a car dealers toughest customer) I told her she was going to be responsible for the routine maintenance. She learned to do brake work and oil changes and later tackled jobs like failed window regulators in her husband's car.

Months before the warranty was to expire, she said it was starting to smoke unusually after start up. She ran it by the dealer in Flagstaff and the said the valve guides were gone -a known issue with that year. The warranty guy was notified and he called me smugly telling me that without receipts for oil changes, we'd be responsible for the head job if they found ANY oil accretions. I told him the head would be clean.

I called the dealer later after the head was removed and the service guy started laughing. Evidently, the head was the cleanest one they ever saw ("Spotless") and the warranty guy stormed out of the dealership realizing his company bought the overhaul.

A little knowledge about how cars work and what they require in routine service goes a long way. Just because you are a cute blonde doesn't mean they tell you how its going to go. A brake shop wanted $40 apiece to turn her rotors. She said, "Nope... I can buy new ones for that!" and they dropped the price to ten apiece. Knowledge is power. Sad more people don't get more involved with their vehicles.

 

[D2Cat]

Ray, you taught her well...and she retained it to her advantage! My guess is it probably lead to a pretty sharp husband.

Life is easier when you know the answer to the question before you ask it.

 

[armylifer]

After reading all of the horror stories that are in this thread, I thought I would add my own.

I recently got a recall notice about a Takata airbag replacement required for my 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 2500. I took it to the local dealership to get the airbag replaced. It took about 15 minutes for it to get done.

The bad part about this is that sometime shortly after the airbag replacement all of the speakers for my radio stopped working. The only ones that are still working are the tweeters in the A pillar.

I took the truck back to the dealer and asked them if they could have maybe knocked a connection loose from the radio when they replaced the air bag. Of course they said that was not possible. The radio is in the dash right next to the air bag but they said no connectors are near the air bag and it was not possible that they knocked anything loose that would affect the radio speakers.

I ended up leaving the dealership without resolution to the radio speaker problem because they wanted to charge me $100.00 just to look at it. I don't have that kind of money so I will have to try to fix it myself when I get some time later this spring.

This may not be as bad as some of the cases related in earlier posts but it is something that I think is symptomatic with many car dealerships out there. That is, you take the car in for one thing and when you get it back, something new is broken that was not broken before.

 

[skeets]

The one grand daughter had a mazda,, 20 some thousand miles and the exhaust pipe went right in front of the cat. She took it back to the dealer and they told her it was not under warranty because it was a,,, WEAR ,,, item. I took it back and asked them to show me where the exhaust was listed a wear item. They himmed and hawed around, until I asked to see the store manager,, they also sell another high dollar brand. He said oh yes this is a wear item because the pipes rust out, and then I asked about the air pollution part of the warranty as covered by the EPA, when he asked me what I was talking about i told him it is in front of the cat right off the header pipe which I think is all one piece. OH says he ,,,,, fix it no charge. As it turned out the person that looked at it never put it on the rack and just told the service guy it was a muffler