Stealership Ripoffs...

Ironic - Just picked up my truck from the dealership for 60K mile spark plug replacement. Grand total $95.

I was expecting to pay around $140-$160 and asked "why only $95"..... service writer said " it only took an hour".

I'll take that any day!

 

Holy shit!! $60K for a spark plug replacement?

 

Oops...edited.

 

Fun reading. always leery of taking my rigs to anyone for a fix but how much is a busted knuckle worth?
took my Rav4 in to rig it of mice. I'd spent more than an hour figuring out I'm to large to fit under the dash. With pride bruised, smirking wife and check book in hand off to the dealer i go. Seems to be a common occurrence here in rural east Idaho and they quoted me $300 and assured me (and my wife) all trace of the foul critters would be gone. I had my doubts but was happy to get it promptly back clean and oder free with all access for future entry (and exit) blocked.
Now things get messy. Mind you, most of this happened during winter with -10F days & nights common. Seems a large family of furry creatures had escaped detection and became trapped, died and promptly froze. The week long trip to Vegas, and heat, ripened the stowaways
and believe me, what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. It was along 12 hour trip home.
The good news! Back at the Dealer i got another quote, $800, full dash, console, whole heating system cleaned of a dozen mice. I went in to see progress, dash, seats, carpet, everything from the back seats to the windshield out on the shop floor.
BUT because the manager believes in standing behind their original quote, remember the $300 assurance, NO ADDED CHARGE! Ever heard a dealer doing that?
Got it back and best of all the wife is all smiles!
Not exactly what you were looking for but Im so surprised at the no hassle great service I had to share. So if your on your way to Yellowstone Park, just hope you break down in Rexburg ID.

no oh nooo from this mr.bill

 

Let me guess...you're in sales or mgt. which immediately give YOU zero credibility

 

I see. I stand corrected. I was thinking labor times.

 

I see. I stand corrected. I was thinking labor times.

 

You would be incorrect.

 

You just went from zero credibility to sub-zero credibility

 

Little bitter about how the man has been holding you down?

 

haha....i have a feeling you'd be a barrel of laughs telling stories on the bar stool. well done!

 

Chill man. I've made no posts that are w/o credibility. I've also made no assumptions.
There's still time for you though
#credibilitymatters

 

That would be your opinion.

I made a comment that basically states that techs don't get their fair share of the pie. I stand by it. From all of the comments you've made, I suspect you're a "white shirt" standing on the other side of the fence - a never-ending argument.

Yeah...we can let this one go.

Hope you enjoyed your fishing trip. I'll bet that was fun.

Have a good day.

 

Easy on a Tacoma. Less than an hour. I would spend way more than an hour going to the dealer. I earn pretty good money but not $170/hour. I look at these things in reverse. I figure that I am getting paid $170/hour to change my plugs.

 

Bottom line guys buyer beware. i was looking for xtended warranty for my taco friendly dealership quoted me 2200 at time of purchase i declined found same factory with same coverage toyota warranty for from toby rivers $ 765 there not all thieves

 

Dealerships get bullied by factory all the time by cutting warranty labor times the difference is made up by bumping up customer pay times.

 

thats not true.

 

I don't like paying high labor costs but they charge what they are worth/what people are willing to pay. Most business' will have a standard rate that's fairly high in order to have room to negotiate. As a business owner, I can't raise the price while you're standing in front of me, but I can lower it. Which generally makes the customer happy. It's called under promise, over deliver. It's a common practice among SUCCESSFUL business'.

What bothers me is, when you pay the high labor rate for a 'professional' job and get shit. I generally do better work than most "professionals". But, I take twice, or more, as long. So for me it's not about the high rates but shitty results that I paid top dollar for and I get to go back and fix after I learn/teach myself how to do it. What sucks about that, is that most skills are refined through repetition and I usually only need to perform it once or twice in my lifetime. Hence the reason to hire a 'professional'. And as you see, it's a vicious circle that causes lots of drama in my life.

 

And you can say this how?
I've worked at dealers, and watched the service dept. secy pulling pages from the warranty time manuals, and replacing them with new pages that almost always cut the warranty labor time back. The result less paid time for the repair!
Seen it to many times when I worked at the dealer...