Disaster After Dealer Oil Change

Actually just this past year ASE has started offering a "Maintenance ASE certification". If does not have the stringent requirements of course, but is a good starting point for someone who is truly dedicated to the career.

I used to be a team leader of 2 lube techs, and 4 line techs. I was not one to stand over the lube techs and check their oil levels on each go around. I told them that "x, y, z" is the procedure I want them to follow. If a vehicle leaves their work area without those procedures completed and I find out, they would get 2 days off without pay, or vacation credit allowed on the first offense. 2nd offense was a week, with possible termination depending on the situation and severity. 3rd offense was termination. I only had one lube tech I ever let go. At some point you need to let them do their job. At 40-70 oil changes a day, it would take hiring another full time employee to go back and check every single one, and with oil changes not really a profitable job, I would LOSE money on oil changes. I expected my lube techs to do their job. If they can't, I would find someone else who would.

 

I would feel much more comfortable taking my vehicles to my dealer for service if bamatoy was the service manager.. (In all honesty)

To the op: I hope the GM didn't screw you over and give you a "useless" warranty.

 

I read through this thread last night and at first I was like "right on, he got a lifetime warranty". After thinking about it for a while, and reading the comments of former GM's, I think all you may have got was a potentially worthless "lifetime" warranty though that dealer.

If you summarize the costs the dealer has paid they are absolutely zero right now. Even if your engine was seriously hurt it would be my guess that it will crap out within the factory warranty period. In that case the dealer is out zero dollars. It costs them nothing to issue you this power train warranty too.

I don't know the details of this warranty but some questions that come to my mind are What happens if you move? What happens if you break down on the road in a far away place? What happens if the dealership is sold or closed for some reason? What happens if the dealership owners drop Toyota? Lots of what if kind of situations.

Looking back I would much rather have the genuine 125K Toyota warranty.

 

?

Even in the 1980s the cars I drove usually had over 100k on them. I was poor, that's how I got them.

Could you, perchance, elaborate a bit on this statement please? I'm not sure I'm following your logic.

 

So our trucks have a shut off point when oil pressure drops right?

I'd be pissed if these trucks could run themselves dry and seize up. You don't see that in anything these days. Shit most industrial equipment can't even run out of gas. (was on fuel truck duty today lol, lots of fun)

 

If the airline mechanics were doing as many oil changes as a dealership daily, I'd go out on a limb and say that there would be more errors.

Plus, it's not the oil change I'm worried about. I doubt the plan would make it off the ground if there wasn't sufficient oil. It's the damn birds I'm worried about. My buddy is a pilot, and the stories he has about birds makes me want to damn near shit my pants if I see one out the plane window.

 

*cough*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549

Sully is BADASS.

 

Part of the problem is that for many people, there's never a "good" trip to the dealer. They may get oil changes, but any other time they are there other than to buy the car, they aren't there because they want or plan to be there. So attitudes tend to be a bit sour pulling into the driveway.

But in fairness, there have been a number of people on TW sending props to local dealers who have done them well.

 

Agreed.
Just as you hire a licensed plumber or electrician, but you hire a handyman for $50 to change your front porch light fixture or install your ice maker.

 

pshhhhhh that's what youtube is for.

 

Since some people have said they rarely see a good dealer trip I'll post up my great experiences with a dealer.

I moved from Niceville, FL to Laramie, Wyoming for college. Well as you can imagine that is is pretty far drive. Arrived right as it was time for an oil change. Noe I had only been to Laramie once before and that was for orientation so I didn't get to "explore" the city that much. The one thing I did remember seeing is a Toyota dealership. So not knowing anything about the other shops in town I went there for oil change and tire rotation. I made an appointment to drop it off in the morning and pick it up later that day after classes. When I drop it off they do the usual check the VIN since it was the first time I had it at this dealer. Boom immediately ran the VIN to check for recalls. Low and Behold 3 recalls (Gas pedal trimming, Spiral cable, and one other I don't remember). So the dealer really impressed me with doing that.

You might ask why that impressed me. It impressed me because less than a week before I traveled to Wyoming I had my truck at the dealer that sold it to my parents for weird noise it started to make. Toyota place in Fort Walton Beach, Florida treated me like shit. They made it seem like it was a burden to diagnose a noise that shouldn't be there. Turns out the noise was a heat shield from the gas tank area touching the drive shaft. Anyways the Toyota place in Florida was terrible. They treated me like a dollar sign instead of a customer.

Back to the Laramie place, I have taken it to them a few times now (3 or 4 oil changes and one time to inspect it after a wreck). When they inspected it after a wreck I had they were awesome. Told me everything that was needed to fix it, break down of price, and everything else. I told them that I was contacting insurance about it and would talk to them soon. They understood and didn't charge me a thing when I told them the insurance comps. decision to use a different shop.

I just took it in a week ago for an oil change and tire rotation. Before I could even get home from dropping it off with them they called and just wanted to make sure they had my "order" right. Get the call that it is finished and he also explains that there are a few leaks that should be fixed soonish.

All in all I have had more good experiences with Toyota dealers than bad ones. I can't recommend Ken's Toyota in Laramie enough. They have treated me well and I will always bring my truck to them as long as I am in Laramie.


TL;DR I have had great service from the dealer in Laramie and have had more good experiences than the bad ones.

 

anyone deal and u can come work on a big diesel see what u got just bc your a ase master means nothing im not a ase master but we have a few at my job that ask me stuff all the time no one cares if its a ase guy or not just fix it right and be done and car fax knows all like when my friend jeff hit a tree and fixed it him self still a clean car fax or is it car fox? p/s im the lead tech at my job no ase its all about how dedicated you are i don't work at all bc i love what i do im the 1st one there and last one to leave

 

WUT!

Dude. Do you speak English at all?

 

Hit enter a couple times

 

no i speak text

 

Just had the 5000 mile oil and fluid service, and everything's good. Oil level's good (checked before I left) and engine bay is clear.

YMMV.

 

Uh, No.

That crap that you posted wasn't intelligible text either.

It was however a string of garbled letters, that didn't actually mean much of anything.

 

I would have taken the offer of a lifetime warranty as well. Good job, good deal.

 

Sorry my friend, 6s or 5s in any industry is merely as good as the management that of the location that is utilizing it. Yes I am an aircraft technician and have been involved in all sorts of "S" programs for decades. Ultimately, nothing beats a good technician, with current manuals, proper tools and minimal restrictions on accomplishing the work properly, then followed by a second set of eyes before sign off.

I now work as an instructor, teaching experienced technicians proper methods of structural repair of the airframes. If I had a dollar for each time a student explained how they did an improper repair yet it continued to fly...

Aviation like automotive or lawnmowers has good techs and bad techs. Typically though, when compared to a Doctor that kills one at a time, the car techs might be able to kill a few people with a mistake, an aviation person can kill possibly hundreds. Our industry, has new guys that know all, old guys both brilliant and dumb, dumb guys that are book smart with no common sense, and some very qualified core people that make it happen.

I was told before by a co-worker, I was only 50% productive...50% of the time I was billable and making profits, the other 50% was spent fixing stuff that other techs screwed up. In a maintenance shop with about 150 techs, there were about 4 or 5 of us that were constantly accomplishing repairs where engine guys would drive a fork lift into a cowl, fuselage, or wing. Other times it was easier stuff like a tech not properly removing a phillips screw with a stripped drive head. Kind of makes it sound like a POS shop, quite opposite, we were one of the best in the US and even in the world.

Yes I do my own oil changes on all my vehicles.

Consider the OP's situation, at least he found out and got some insight and satisfaction, consider how many times a day this happens and they just add oil and the customer never knows.

PK