Disaster After Dealer Oil Change

LOLWUT?

Whole truck can be had (Access cab prerunner) for $25k.

 

That's not going to happen without going through arbitration and a lemon law hearing.
Doesn't apply in this case.

 

Seems like your happy with the outcome OP and that's all that counts as long as you feel like you've been righted.

 

Nonsense. Just buy this novelty item. Fits multiple Toyota models. No need to bend over at the dealer.

 

HAHAHAHA.... it says ASSTOY

 

I know those prices are crazy, Toyota doesn't let us do a long block under warranty,just short block and and heads that come bare.

 

There's a lot of good techs out there.
There are also a lot of dummies hiding behind an ASE cert.
I've never seen you pull the cert to support your statements, and that I respect. Your statements stand on their own. I don't have respect for the guy who throws the cert in my face as evidence that he knows what he's doing.
What do you call the guy who scooted in with a 71%? "ASE Tech"

Like I said... I had my '94 in at Claremont Toyota for a warped exhaust manifold. That repair was not the work of the oil change kid.
I found out after climbing a 5000ft grade that the radiator cap had not been reinstalled. Fortunately, it was tucked in next to the distributor, so all I had to do was refill and cap it. Could have been worse.

2nd story... Wife's brand new Rav4. Had it about a month, got a CEL and it died.
Got it to the nearest dealership. They had it for a month and couldn't figure out the problem. They ended up pulling the ECU from another Rav on the lot and putting it back together.
To this day, I'm STILL finding little crap that was missed/forgotten/overlooked.
The lower right engine cover (under the oil filter half of the engine) is missing.
Most of the hold-down pins for both the battery hatch and the full panel (cowl) were missing.
There is a wire that looks like it should be connected to something. It's short, bolted to the engine next to the alternator mount, and the other end has a female disconnect... there's nothing close by that it can plug into. Maybe it's just a ground for test equipment, but I've never seen anything similar on any of my other 4 Toyotas.

The car has 140k on it now and hasn't had a problem since about 6 months later when Carson Toyota replaced an O2 sensor (CEL, but it didn't die).
Interesting thing is, when I bring up the service record on the Toyota owner's site, the O2 sensor change appears, but the month sitting in pieces in San Bernardino does not show in the system.

ASE tech rebuilt the AC system in my '95 Suburban. Didn't work.
Took it back, they replaced the compressor again. This time when I got it back, it ran like shit. Gas mileage gradually dropped from 16 to 12 and I dumped the truck and bought the Tacoma.

I've got more stories from three different Ford dealerships, and a fuckup by Goodyear (ASE sign and shoulder tags) where the car burned 2 days after we got it back. It was in for CVs, and I asked them to "go over it and take care of anything it needed"

None of these jobs were done by the oil change kid.
So you'll have to forgive my cynicism and understand that it is conditional... There are very few certificates that I take at face value as meaning that someone knows what they are doing.

 

Lifetime unlimited power train warranty is badass, glad it worked out for you. now driv it in the ground then get it rebuilt for free then drive it in the ground again and again.

 

Hey, do you guys have these new phones with buttons on them?
We just got them here and they're way faster than the dials!

 

For a P2 parts certification yes it is but for any tech cert you have to have real automotive exp working at a shop. Go look on the ASE website and you'll see all the requirements to be able to take each test.

 

I'll put it to you this way.

Starting *two years ago*, the county started charging my dad $6 a year for garbage pickup service.

He's lived in that house since 1977, and he's *pissed*. $6 isn't much, but he's never used the service in the two years its been available.

and they didn't pave the road he lives off of until around 1992ish.

Backwoods would be a step up.

 

I can top those.
2002 VW Tdi, went for Turbo failure ,,,,,again. Picked up car, started driving first thing to get out the dealership is stop sign at the very busy street. I press brakes and nothing is there. Car blows through stop sign in front of pathfinder Nissan. Nissan avoided me barely. after i reversed to dealer I was ready to burn down dealership.

 

I can see your point now better. The thing that I hate is that you always read on here or hear about all the horror stories at the dealerships or shops, but all the GOOD times never get posted, so it seems like everything is biased because nobody talks about the GOOD visits.

Just like any other service based situation, it is the bad stuff that is talked about. I agree that sometimes people make mistakes. We are all human. What sucks is that everyone wants to blast every dealership and tech out there because of the bad experience they had. (Granted you have had more than one, so that just sucks) If you look at the numbers, the average dealership does anywhere from 40-70 oil changes a day. If you say even twice a month there is a small mix up (oil cap, or something NOT detrimental to the engine) that is still a good track record of less than 0.1% failure. Hell, how many times does a fast food place screw up an order? But people go back to the same place time and time again. So I guess it just bothers me to see the responses. Everyone knows I have no problem saying that they screwed up on all of the mistakes that are truly their fault. I just know from personal experience that dealership techs are a lot better and smarter than most people think. Everyone thinks we are just a bunch of morons with wrenches and that anyone can do this job. I would challenge ANYONE to come to my shop for a SINGLE DAY and try to do my job. I have respect for every person in their job, no matter how small or menial that job may be. I know that mistakes happen. It is part of life. I am willing to bet that over 95% of the people here on TW have made a mistake in their job that could, or did cost SOMEONE some money, during some part of their careers.

 

This is why I went out of my way to post a GOOD review in the recall/spiral cable thread. Its a common starter for people to google and find TW, and I wanted someone making a first visit for that issue to see at least SOME positive.

I totally agree we dont' post enough praise, although to be honest there's a lot more bad to go around than good nowadays.

 

Even on my brand new leased vehicles I do my oil changes i dont trust the kid doing dealer oil changes. My Tacoma gets serviced by my hands and if its something I can't do my buddy is a certified Tech, and I will pay him to do the work, worst case.

 

I fly to work, twice a week, so I have to trust the techs that work on planes. They work on a better level than six sigma in which 99.99966% of the work is expected to be free of defects, now I'm not saying they don't lose luggage, but when it comes to critical parts they do a pretty good job.
If 1 out of 1000 (0.1%) planes would go down, we would have muliple crashed in the US on a daily level - I would look for a different job!

Now if my car goes into service, and I get burned because it was not performed right on something as simple as an oil change they don't have to right measures and QC in place! If some guy can not follow a simple procedure (like an oil change) and do a quality control check by pulling out a dip stick, making sure the cap is on and filter, drain plug is tight - he should not be working there.

I've seen it so many times, even the simple task get messed up because guys don't follow the procedure or there is no procedure in place or there is no consequence to not follow the procedure. You need the right people in the right place...that's sometimes missing because the dealership wan't to make a $ more...kinda sad.

 

I don't disagree with you on that even the lube guys should go back and check their work EVERY time. Of course when it comes to aircraft, there are a LOT more checks and balances. You don't have a low $10 per hour lube tech doing services on an aircraft. lol. If you did, I would NEVER fly.

Part of the point I have always been trying to make is this:

You would never let an unlicensed electrician do electrical work on the wiring of your home, or an unlicensed plumber work on your plumbing. These days almost EVERY state has some sort of MANDATORY licensing to do those jobs. Why then, in today's technical world, do we not have a MANDATORY licensing for working on your vehicles? Many people spend more time in their vehicle than they do using the plumbing or electrical in their houses. ASE is a VOLUNTARY licensing system that SHOULD become MANDATORY for anyone wanting to turn wrenches for a living.

An interesting point there as well. Unless I have heard differently, once you HAVE your electricians license, you only have to pay a fee every now and again to maintain that license. ASE requires that you pay the testing fee and take the test every 4 years. Otherwise you lose your certification.

 

Hey OP...

Is the warranty from that dealer or through Toyota, if you move to another state who do you contact for the warranty?

 

I enjoy reading your input on the threads as they are not rude or arrogant like some, and they are very informative and I agree with you in part on this, but there is no reason for a lube guy to be ASE certified. Properly trained with safeties, such as someone to follow up with an inspection before starting the vehicle, but not ASE certified.

While I agree that the lube person should have been more careful I see this as a poor management issue. Many managers push their people past a reasonable limit on time. They birddog them which is just wrong. Also a good manager should have checked the dip stick himself before any vehicle is ever re-started or designated someone to do so on every lube job before the engine is allowed to be re-started. It is just common sense and a great safety practice. I was in management in the machining area in the oil field for years and we had someone verify even the smallest job before it was released.
Too many companies are cutting too many corners to save money and the prices that the dealers charge there is simply no reason for it except greed and lazy managers. The latter being the biggest reason.

 

However, this "warranty" excludes normal wear and tear. So if you come in at 150,000 and its making noise. They could say Its just normal wear and tear and due for a rebuild.