Is Toyota dealer abusing me regarding service and maintenance?

The maintenance schedule is in the back of the owner’s manual, hopefully in your glove compartment. You should refer to that and question anything above and beyond.

 

They (dealer) is running on the quick lube business model.

$50 basic service is only there to get you in the door. They will do an inspection generally resulting in "needed work" or dire results will happen.

Your best defense is to know your service requirements. When they recommend "needed work", you must insist on proof of the need. Either by Toyota service procedures or seeing evidence of the "need". Get a firm quote of the work with everything itemized, parts, labor, disposal, recycle fees...... ONLY then, authorize service work. When they finish, you have a right to request all parts removed from your ride.

Frankly, I'd find another place to service the truck. Possible places; another dealer, independent shop with Toyota experience, your garage.......



Once upon a lifetime ago when the kids were young and we had a ninnivan. It needed an oil change and I was out of town on business. The wife stopped at a quick lube shop chasing a $19.99 10 minute oil change. They did the "inspection" then recommended another $300 in service "needs".
She called me to ask about the "needs'. The most interesting was an engine oil flush for $100. I told her no. Just oil change, then leave. When I return home, I take the van to the same quick lube shop about 10 days later. They were consistent to suggest the engine oil flush. I asked for proof of the "need". They showed me the underside of the oil fill cap had a funky waxy deposit, I was using dino Pennzoil at the time (known for paraffin deposits). Interesting was my reply. Then I asked to see the Chevy service procedure for the engine oil flush. At this point the tech called in the Manager. Of course, they couldn't produce a procedure. So, I asked for any GM procedure for the engine oil flush. Anyhow, after about 30 minutes of this crap, I asked them to back the ninnivan out of the bay. Many customers were in the lobby watching the exchange. I left. Told the LOML to never visit a quick lube shop.

Ironically, about 2 months later, the van began consuming coolant. Never did locate the leak. Asked Chevy, turned out there was a TSB on the problem, we were 1800 miles out of warranty. Cost $600 to replace head gasket. Cause: Dexcool was corrosive to the gasket material. The fix was a thicker gasket of the same material. Drove it around to the front of the dealer and traded it for a 2002 Trailblazer. We still have the TB. No major issues in the last 18 years with 119 kmiles.

 

If you insist on owning a vehicle outside of the warranty/loan period you should learn to do your own maintenance.

Further - if you go into a dealer without bothering to look at your manuals maintenance schedule - you shouldn’t be surprised when you get taken to the cleaners.

People just seem to just roll over to service advisors- why? They only know what the computer screen spits out or what their manager is telling them to push. They are parrots with name tags. Trying to get warranty or TSB work done was akin to teaching kindergarteners to sit still.

Take 5 minutes to read your manual, understand what needs to be done, and verify that those items are being completed. If something else is recommended then decline and do a little research. You can always get it done later.

 

The dealer and I have recently parted ways over two incidents:

1) I brought it in asking them to diagnose the 4wd system as it wouldn’t engage. After four days of having my truck they recommended I purchase both actuators and the transfer case and have them install for a total of almost 3k. I asked them to specifically diagnose each component and was unimpressed with the amount of investigation they had done and deeply confused as to why they would include the transfer case. I put in a used front actuator for $60 myself and it works flawlessly. Not a damn thing ever wrong with the transfer case. Taken at face value, I would owe the dealer a lot of money.

2) we take my wife’s 2020 rav4 hybrid there under warranty. The dealer has a new system that uses laser measuring to check your alignment as you roll through the service bay. They told my wife that on her car with 15k miles that she should have an alignment done every year per the factory recommendations. Car was never looked at by a person, was never on a rack and they want $200 to align. I took it to my trusted neighborhood guy and he said that under no circumstances would he pay to align this car- the front right was a hair different in toe, but wouldn’t cause any tire wear, no impact on how it drives. He said I would wear out the tires from normal driving on my current alignment specs before that adjustment caused any irregular tire wear.

I told this to the dealer and they offered me a free alignment to make up for it. Totally missed the point of my objection: you are suggesting unnecessary services and implying they are necessary to wife and I am looking for someone who will distinguish between “we might have found something” and “a his really needs to be done”. On my truck they refunded me 250 dollars out of the 400 bill.

I don’t want a mechanic who thinks that they fuck me over and they give me a gift certificate for free coffee like when they mess up your order at Starbucks. I would rather pay the same money (even though it will always be less) to my neighborhood guy who I trust and have the same values as.

Nothing the dealer tells you should be take at face value. They are not there to maintain your car the way you would. If you can’t or won’t do it yourself, find someone you trust.

 

Lots of people taught themselves basic things like oil changes and spark plugs. Your dads handicap doesn’t effect your decisions.

Buy some basic tools, watch YouTube DIY walkthroughs and learn.

 

i has a TSB thing done. they told me i was way overdue for the Injector cleaning, and that they had it on special for $299!! what a deal!!

i asked them if they pulled out the injectors and did some type of ultrasonic cleaning..or do they pour in an injector cleaner. hahhaha..the long awkward pause was worth the time spent on the phone. he mumbled, "yea, we pour in a cleaner.."...hahhahahahhahhaha. i would buy a bottle of Pappy's Bourbon for that kinda money and pour it in ME!! before i let them do that do me..hahahha

 

Bought my truck, changed all the filters and spark plugs then took it to the dealer for leaf spring recall. same dealer as above recommended $85 cabin air filter. I didn’t say much but pulled it to show the service writer how brand spanking new it was. Awkward moment. I imagine he had a talk with the tech. Not surprising.

 

Only abusing you if they didn't ask if you wanted the service done. If they didn't ask and did it then I would say taking advantage of you.

 

Ah, the cabin air filter. That is a lot of moolah for a small air filter that costs between $5 and $20. [OEM Toyota]

 

Sounds more like you have never changed the spark plugs on a 4.0L Tacoma, I've done it twice, not a lot of fun. I'll continue to do it myself as I have access to a garage, a full tool kit and I usually enjoy doing the work. I'd like to watch you change your spark plugs in 30 minutes, I'll watch and drink a beer as I time you.

 

I’d say you abused yourself for not knowing what’s due and when based on your driving habits. It all in the owners manual just read it, not very hard.

 

Changing the spark plugs on a 4.0L isn't a difficult task. You do have to remove more pieces than older vehicles to access the plugs, but it's not difficult. I could install iridium plugs to push this out to 100K miles, but I don't mind sticking with standard plugs and doing it every 30K miles.

If you want to see a difficult plug job, just watch a video on FWD Toyota V6 engines. They recommend you remove the intake manifold to reach the rear three plugs. That's what I consider insane! Compared to that, our spark plug change is a piece of cake!

 

yes rat out the dealership here in this thread.

air filter is 30 dollar part (at most) and takes 60 seconds to change, so they charged you 150 bucks for one minute of work. not even justifiable by any billing schedule. leaves get sucked up into that vent even with new filter it has nothing to do with it needing to be changed. fact he "showed you" leaves is so suspect. like saying look there is mud on tires you need new ones.

fuck them and call out the mechanic too

 

I bought my 2007 new and have 209,000 miles on it. I use an independent mechanic and haven't spent as much on mine as you have. Of course I do oil and filter changes myself.

 

I got my '15 in Feb of '16 and have brought it in to my dealer for every scheduled service. Only a few times has it been over $80 and that's when they replace the cabin air filter, which I eventually told them to stop doing as I could handle that myself. So I'm not sure what's happening at your place but it seems a little extreme.

 

Sounds like I hit a nerve, huh......

Imagine thinking you need a full tool kit to change spark plugs....lol. I’m pretty sure one of us has never changed spark plugs in a 4.0L .......

 

He's right you know. Time me and I'll get it done for you in 20 minutes or less. I do supercharged Tacoma plugs in 45 minutes now because they have to be so frequently changed. Normally you have to pull the blower off to do them but not for me.



As for folks talking about talking about the dealers recommending items not needed which addresses a potential cause of concern. I have an example for you:

Good reputable shops (yes even some dealers which are not scam masters) like to recommend items known to fail or preventative maintenance items alongside your original concern.

Let's say you come in for a misfire on a 4 banger engine and they determine you have a cylinder 3 misfire on a car with 100,000+ miles. More often than not they will recommend the immediate item which addresses your cause of concern. Let's say in this case it was determined number 3 coil was intermittently going dead. Cool, let's recommend that, but since they are in there, unless your plugs are new they will recommend them as well so you have a clean spark slate to start on. The most knowledgeable shops will ALSO recommend the remaining 3 other coils because all ignition items wear at the same rate and replacing one alone will show failure shortly thereafter down the road.

You decline doing all the coils, but approve the one coil and the plugs because your budget is tight. Hey I can understand that and respect that as well. Who doesn't love on a budget these days right?

Flash forward 4,000 miles later. Your check engine light comes back on, you are back at the same shop you just got the other work done on and it's determined to be a cylinder 1 misfire. You are mad because you feel a misfire and are experiencing the EXACT same thing you JUST fixed. Well now you just spent X amount more time on this visit and that much more time without your vehicle because you declined the original work recommended. This is a lose lose situation because now you are not only wasting the shops time rechecking everything that could had been addressed the first time, but also yours. The other "preventative maintenance recommendations" not only saves the shop from comeback work, but it also saves you from having a bad taste in your mouth from the very work which has been recommended to you on the first go around.

My point is sometimes not all excess work recommended is scam work and is there for a reason.

 

I bought a new 2021 tacoma and ordered online a set of TRD off road wheels. The dealer wanted $385 to dismount tires from OEM rims and remount and balance on the TRD rims. The service writer said the TPMs on the steel wheels would not work on the TRD wheels. He wanted to sell me new TPMs and charge $200 for programming them. I took it in to a local tire shop and they dismounted my tires, mounted them and balanced them on the TPM rims, did a 180 degree rotation on the TPMs and charged me $100. I can spend $285 in a better way than give it to a dealer.

 

Smaller hands help.

Spark plugs are a 45 minute or 2-3 beer job. With a helper I’ve knocked them out in less.

the only one remotely difficult is the front drivers side, and even that isn’t bad.

It all depends on how quickLy you work. There is a little bit of stuff to take off but even then, my first time with instructions only took 1 1/2 hours.

 

Try doing the rear two plugs on an inline 6 in a Chevy Trailblazer. They are way back under the cowl.

30 minutes belly womping on top of the engine with the hood latch in my groin. I could sing High C for the next 3 days.

4.0 V6 Tacoma is a cake walk.