Toyota came to me..

You could buy a charger from harbor freight or Walmart and have it to use whenever for probably less than $60
If the vehicle started and ran into and out of the dealership that would be a no from me. Of course some drivers are totally hand off under the hood so they would maybe pay for it.

 

About 99% can be done by anyone mechanically inclined...

 

Just ignore their calls, keep a record of everything you do and screw the stealership!

 

My dealership called me when I'd owned my truck for six months or so telling me it was due for it's first service. I asked if that first service would include an oil and filter change and was told it didnt. I thanked them for contacting me but told them I would call them if/when I was ready for service. A month or so later when I hit 5K miles I changed the oil and filter myself. FWIW You can log any services you do yourself or pay an independent shop to do for you on the Toyota App so there is still a record of what has been completed and when.

 

It’s winter and with the pandemic, I’m 100% work from home and have been since March, so the truck sits more often than not. The dealer isn’t terribly far from my house, so it makes sense the battery may be showing a lesser charge. I wasn’t concerned at all about it, and I was going to be driving a few hours the next weekend, so I just told her the alternator would do what it was designed to do then. Battery savers are well under $50, and chargers aren’t terribly more than $60. Electricity must be expensive at the Yota dealerships.

 

@rolled93slc I agree, Dealership Tech's (along with some independent ones) get a bad rap. I used to frequent another automotive forum where there were almost daily threads dumping on Dealer Techs. I don't think that's fair as I know there is good and bad in every field however the dealership model does seem a bit out dated, both in-terms of pay (commission for Service Writers and Flat-Rate for Techs). In a perfect world all would be paid hourly, maybe with bonuses for meeting certain performance benchmarks or something like that.

Here's my personal experience with a Ford dealer near me. My work truck (Ford F-550 with a PTO and service body) is on a commercial lease (little bit different then a consumer lease). All services are paid-for as part of the lease payment (I told you it was different). However I choose to get all the services on my rig done by a local independent shop or a mobile mechanic because they can work around my crazy schedule and for regular services can get me in and out in less than an hour. Recently I had to take my work truck to a local dealer for a warranty repair and the Service Writer asked why I don't bring it there for Service. I asked him how long it would take to get an oil change (something which has to be done on this truck every 200 engine hours, which for me is roughly once a month) and he proudly said if I made an appointment ahead of time they could easily have it done in one day. For me if I don't have that truck I can't work so that means a day without pay or having to go rent a truck and hoping that I grab all the stuff I might need for whatever calls come in. I calmly explained that the shop I take it to can do the same service in less than an hour and that being without my truck for an entire day doesn't work for my schedule.

 

I just wanted to say that I, for one, appreciate you posting your perspective here. Thank you.

I don't refer to dealers as "stealerships." It is just not who I am.

Some folks, like me, don't have the skills, the tools or the time to do all of the service work. Some people love to do it. Some people don't. I will do some things and not others but I have to say I have not had any issues with the dealers that I go to for my Tacoma or my BMW. I treat them with respect and, in general, they do right by me. If I get a sense that they are not, I let them know and move dealerships. For me, with not great skills, I don't have access to a lot of good, local mechanics that I feel I can trust. Being in NY, we don't have tons of Tacoma shops that really do great things with these trucks, like they have in the West. The other benefit for me is have a record and paper trail with Toyota for future service needs and potential warranty claims.

Just wanted to throw that out there. I welcome more service techs, and especially Master Service Techs to contribute to the forum so we can all learn and benefit from their insight. We may not like what we hear, but it would be nice to get their perspective.

 

It’s generally not the tech that tries to sell me on stuff. In my experience, when there is a legitimate issue with the truck, that’s when you talk to the tech. They come over, explain the issue, and walk you through the solution. Otherwise, you talk to the person who schedules services and tries to sell parts. I tend to like the techs at my dealership, which is why I keep bringing the truck back to them.

To be sure, the tech didn’t come over and tell me that I needed a battery charge, the salesperson did. I’m guessing that when the truck threw the code, the tech probably had the same thought process I did: winter and low miles = truck probably not driven a lot, so the battery is showing a lower charge; nothing to worry about. And I get that if the truck throws a code, for liability purposes, they probably have to offer the corporate-recommended solution. IMHO, the salesperson should’ve said, “Your truck is showing a little bit of a low battery, that’s common in the winter, and is probably nothing to worry about. If you want, we can throw it on a charger for $60, but that’s probably not necessary. Just drive it a bit.” But that’s not what happened. I didn’t the “it’s common and probably nothing to worry about” until I started asking her questions about the code, and because that’s what happens, sometimes you have to take what you’re told with the same grain of salt that you take the cell phone guy trying to sell you on the care plan.

 

Agreed. It bugs me to see people badmouthing techs who have no idea how things work at a dealership.

I worked in dealership service departments as a consultant from 2006-2020, I have met literally thousands of dealer techs. The dealer techs do their jobs and do them to the best of their abilities. I never met one who was out to screw someone over or do additional work that wasn’t required. There were times where I saw them replace a complete assembly at a higher cost rather than a small part for cheaper, but that was usually stemming from concerns about comebacks. Most techs are flat rate and are required to fix it right the first time or they end up redoing the repair for zero pay. There are plenty of times that the repair takes longer than the book time and the tech eats the difference, especially the first time on a complex recall. Multipoint inspections are required as an upsell tool at every dealer. Some techs do a thorough job, others pencil whip it because they don’t get paid for them. Often they catch major problems early before the customer would be left on the side of the road. It’s up to you if you want to decline recommended repairs. I think if the tech found something significant I was unaware of they potentially saved me a break down and earned their money on the repair costs.

Dealership labor rates are high, but so are their overhead. Dealers have to maintain better equipment, expensive diagnostic systems, extensive parts inventories, and all the extra people to get things done. Techs have to buy all their own tools ($50-100K in the average master tech’s box) and many end up buying their own specialty tools and diagnostic equipment so they can do the job faster. The dealer tech’s scan tool is about $6K with a $1500 update required for the new models annually.

I think the service writers are the guilty parties on recommending services that aren’t required. Service writers are usually on commission and have a direct incentive to upsell. I don’t think service writers are generally bad, just motivated to push for additional revenue. There are times where they recommend a service based on time or mileage without talking to the tech who did the multi point inspection, or the multipoint wasn’t done well and they end up guessing.

I now work as a fleet manager for a construction company with 150 vehicles and plenty of other equipment. I am seeing a new side of things as a fleet customer. The service writers see the Enterprise fleet card and know that anything they do below $600 is automatically approved. I see many repair invoices that are around $550 with things like a cabin air filter for $130, engine air filter for $130, alignment for $130, wiper blades on a Chevy for $90, etc. I have my own field mechanics that carry the filters and wiper blades on their trucks and can do that works for far less money. I am going to lower the threshold for approvals to $200 to try and put a stop to the excess services. I declined a set of tires yesterday because in addition to being overpriced on the tires the dealer was trying to charge $45 each to mount and balance 16” rims, most places charge $15 each.

 

I just got my fuel pump recall done on my highlander and surprisingly......no recommended service list. Kudos to Lake Charles Toyota!

 

LOL...glad to hear it's not just my local Toyota dealer. When I took the wife's '18 in for the Fuel Pump recall, it was just shy of 30K so I told them to go ahead and do the 30K service. Here is the list of "suggested" work they came back with that I politely declined:
- Fuel Injector Service
- Front Brake Pads (they were at 5MM...)
- Cabin Air Filter (It was marginal so I replaced myself for $15, they wanted $45).
- Engine Air Filter (It looked brand new).

 

Well, I am afraid I am going to crush their up sell dreams..just do the recall . Thanks

 

Who better to perform your recall than the dealership?!

I find many issues at dealerships can be the same issues when going to any mechanic, or getting any kind of services done for you for that matter.. it generally costs more money than doing it yourself! Dealers and general mechanics, plumbers, contractors, etc get a bad rap because there are folks out there that are indeed trying to maximize service and bucks while they have you there, not necessarily trying to do the least work possible to get the job done. Heck, even doing good work seems scarce nowadays too. Dont forget you can also actually haggle prices and then say no thanks if you dont like what you hear!

If I am considering to pay someone to do some work for me I call around and then haggle to determine if it may be worth it to pay or just do myself. I figure if I am going to pay someone to work on my truck I want it done right with oem parts and personally would likely go to the dealer if things aren't too pricey or I can do it myself. This just has not been the case with my old 2002 however which most jobs I have done have been surprisingly simple yet quite expensive according to the dealer so far.

Example: The last job I did, my airbag light was on so after checking my voltage (per a dash of googling) I called the local dealer to ask how much they would charge to replace the airbag module. They quoted me over $900 for the part and 4 hours labor at $185 per hour (rates vary by location). So when I heard roughly $1700 over the phone I tried to haggle and they did a price match for online wholesale dealer parts for $600+ for the module telling me this was "all they could do". I know they likely could have done more if they wanted to but this did not upset me since this was already out of my range and I thanked him for his time.

Then I bought a used module off the bay for $85 shipped (ensuring the free return policy in place!) and popped it in well under an hour, and the light simply turned itself off without any fancy dealer code readers, etc. I thought all mechanics need to charge a standard set of time for any job per vehicle but honestly I was and am still stunned at the 4 hour estimate for this job that I did myself in minutes... is this right tech guys or should I avoid this dealership from now on?!

Easy peasy as they say!


I would add my method of calling dealers for every job I do is so much fun just to see how much money you are "saving" doing the job yourself!

 

i understand everything you guys are saying but the last time i got a service i was told i needed brake pads and the rotors needed to be cut, the quote was $675.00. i but new oem from toyota pads and rotors for $230.00. and the whole job took about 30 min. so explain again how the dealership is not trying to rob us.

 

@2Runner, not sure what book time is on that airbag module. But for the most part that's what the time was quoted from. Some jobs like that you can "sneak" the part in and out without ripping the entire console out.

@Rik808 you need to take in account for the labor time. Your labor is free, Tech's labor isn't. At my dealer we charge 2 hours to cut rotors and replace pads.

 

Car dealers make the vast majority of their profits in the Service Bays and F&I office. Selling new cars is not a profit center. I have always been told the best salesmen get to work the Used Car Lot as that is where they can make real money.

 

Just get the Toyota app on your phone and enter all the service that is performed on your own. It links to the Toyota service as well, so it is all recorded in one place that the dealers can see and that you can see. Save the $$ on the dealer costs, get the convenience of doing it all yourself, and still keep a record.

 

Just came from the dentist...now needing 3 new crowns. I swear they pick and pick till they pull your fillings out. This new dentist is the queen of pain.

 

The dealership perhaps is trying to rob you but not the techs who do the work. I think recommended services are different than needed services. Its good to "know" you have 5mm left on your pads etc then you can determine when you should actually do the job. And techs aren't the ones saying how long it takes. The time per hour for a project is already determined by some software, then that gets multiplied by the hourly rate. Even a lot of independent shops will go by this(but will have more wiggle room to negotiate). Service departments is how the dealerships make their money.

I have a few friends that work at dealerships. One has had multiple cars in magazines back in the day. He obviously tackles more than just an oil change tasks. While dealerships are usually the bad guy and pry has a lot of turnover for techs, I think more now actually good techs are at dealerships because its a stable job and security. I am not sure most pay models in the dealerships but one friend has always said the more vehicles he services the more he gets paid(most likely because its a flat rate for the job?). However that can be bad if things are missed.

Brake jobs are one of the most up priced items out there. Something I will always do myself. It's probably because it's in between an oil change and a large job and typically needed every 30-60k depending on vehicle and driving style. Most brakes jobs I assume include a brake bleed, which costs just as much as the brake job itself but not necessarily needed the first time but is probably something mechanics have to include to cover their asses.