Good dealer in SLC for 5000 mile maintenance?

Hey everyone,
I am about 40 miles from breaking into the 5000 mile territory, and I was wondering if anyone who lives in Salt Lake City could recommend a good dealership to take my Taco to for its first warranty maintenance checkup thingy?

The online reviews of the local dealerships don't really inspire much confidence in any of the d(st)ealerships, and although I could do it myself, I would like to get it properly checked off, so as to avoid any potential warranty issues down the road.

Any advice is highly appreciated, thank you!

-Jan

 

The Toyota dealer in Draper (Karl Malone) hasn't been awful to me the few times I've taken my truck to them.

Customer service wise, the service writers have been great, taking me in with out appointments (although they do have problems writing down appointments over the phone, so they really dont have a choice), and doing minor things for no charge (like replacing the front diff fill hole bolt - I didn't want to risk stripping it due to it being goobered up by the previous owner). They even washed it once (if you call driving through a car wash, washing), but my truck really isn't car wash friendly after I put on my lights. I think they also fixed my hood even though I didn't mention it having a problem and they didn't mention fixing it (the latch just needed to be adjusted a tiny bit as it had to be slammed to get it to fully lock)

The estimates for work that they felt needed to be done were not outrageously high, although I ended up doing everything myself. I dont feel the estimates were that far off than my local mechanic would've charged for the same job. For a standard dealer 5k service, everyone will probably be pretty much equal in price anyway.

I've only gone in during the week days though, usually a bit before or after lunch.

I've never had anything major done with them. Just a trans flush, lower ball joint recall, and the front diff fill bolt.

I did notice that when they changed my trans fluid that they left it a little low (probably just put back in the amount the FSM says to which is on the low side), but its always a good idea to double check others work anyway, as everyone has bad days and distractions.

The waiting area isn't awful, as they have two tvs, popcorn, and coffee. I'm sure they have wifi as well, although I've never taken in my laptop to verify. They have a bunch of tables you can sit at as well.

Buying parts direct from the parts counter tends to be a bit higher than internet prices by about 10%, but thats kinda expected as well.


Just to look at reviews of other dealers, most of the reviews have just been about the sales people, which you really wont have to deal with anyway. (well, I guess the service writers are officially sales people, but they've never tried to upsell me, or even push a service on me.) Sales people are jerks pretty much everywhere, and the more expensive the product or the more successful they are, the worse they seem to be.

 

I went to Mark Miller Toyota at 730 S. West Temple last spring. I had no problem with them and garage and sitting area is really clean. I was in town to visit my friends there.
I always go to Tony Divino Toyota near my home in Ogden.

 

Thanks very much Manlaan for the great info, as usual!

Also thanks to 10silvertaco. I will have trouble choosing between the Karl Malone and Mark Miller dealership.. Mark Miller is close, but Manlaan was also quite convincing... both are probably mediocre at best, but I'm sure for a basic maintenance like this, either will do about the same.


One last question, I have done some mild offroading in the first 5k miles, should I request that they check the additional items mentioned in the Warranty and Maintenance book? (ball joints, shaft boots, air filter, re-torque prop shaft etc etc)

Thanks again!

 

I think you're right that any place will be just about as good as any other with something like routine maintenance. Stuff like this is usually given to the low man on the totem pole anyway, so it really doesn't matter where you take it.

A check shouldn't cost you anything, so why not? Most, if not all of it, can be done while waiting for the oil to drain anyway, so really no extra time involved either. Most places call it a courtesy check and do it if you like it or not.

For your air filter, I think I'd shake it out a bit before taking it in though, specially if you've been off road. No clue how the dealer is on upselling this since I have a cleanable air filter, but if it is dirty from dust, I'd shake out as much dirt as possible to help avoid the situation (and make your vehicle run better).

 

Alright, I will mention that I took it off road, and ask that they check the items listed in the maintenance book.

Good advice about the air filter, I just went out to the truck and gave it a shake and a blow, it wasn't too dusty, but there were plenty of leaf and small twig-like particles that I was able to remove, along with a little dust, of course. Looks good apart from that.

Thanks Manlaan!!

-Jan