Morons that work at the dealership !!

Damn that's just fucked up!

This is why I've always said this all along. This is why I am a firm believer to never, never take your vehicle to the dealer (unless it's still under warranty) or to a quick lube service place to have shit like this done. Not even for a basic oil change. Because you just never know what idiot is going to work on your vehicle and fuck it up bad! Then your fucked!
That's why I do all the oil, filters, trans, etc., etc. anything that I can do or perform myself so that I know that it's done the correct way and by a competent individual.
Reading this reminds me of a guy at work, who owns a Tundra, told me a horror story about when he took his truck in for an oil change. Says that when they called him that his truck was ready, says that he hopped in and drove off, then noticed in his rear view mirror a trail of oil! Pulls over checks under the truck, oils just coming out! Quickly drives back and tells the manager what just happened. Come to find out the mechanic did not screw the oil drain plug back on securly and fell off! WTF!
This is just one of many horror stories that I've heard about, not actually changing the oil, leaving the original oil filter, etc., etc.

 

While I am a firm supporter in people doing their own work, not every person can, or is willing to do their own services. Some people live in apartment complexes that do not allow you to work on your own car in the lot, and are VERY vigilant about it. Other people are either too old, or just plain not desiring to deal with getting the parts, going under their vehicle and getting dirty, then having to dispose of the waste oil properly. Sure, there are some horror stories out there, but the reality is that they are far and in between. You don't hear many people brag about how they got a great oil change. It's part of life to take your vehicle in to get serviced, and get it back with everything normal. So people don't talk about it.

If you figure that dealerships alone average 15-20 oil changes each day at a minimum, and there are approximately 17,000 dealerships in the US alone, you are talking an average of 90 MILLION oil changes a year. That's just at the dealerships! So if out of that 90 Million you have 500 or even 1000 bad oil changes, you are looking at a failure rate of less than .01%! (i.e. .0001) Not many industries can boast even THAT kind of success overall.

 

Now apply everything you said to commercial aviation. Imagine getting paid $10 an hour changing out an elevator actuator outdoors in freezing drizzle, 30 ft up on a scissor lift, at 2 am in the morning. When you are really stuck and call the OEM support line, you find out the company rep knows less than you do, working from a manual outsourced to a 3rd party in India.

 

I see and respect your point of view and yes not everyone is cut out to do these things by themself's for whatever the reasoning behind it maybe. But the fact is no matter how you look at it. Compare it. Work numbers on it, etc., etc.

Bottom line is...."it's still fucked up!"

Keep this in mind, everytime an individual (or yourself for that matter) takes their vehicle to the dealership, lube place, or whatever shop they are entrusting that place to do the job correctly and the right way with their "competent technicians" but as we all know that's not always true.
So really, each time you take your vehicle there it is "always" at your own risk.

 

Mines in the shop now for the spiral cable replacement recall and now the horn doesn't work. No air bag light on before and the horn was working just fine. They do the recall now the horn doesn't work and they say I have a code for the passenger airbag lol. I have yet to tell them I am a Ford service tech let's see how far we go with this. Only thing I've signed for was the recall no other diag.

 

It's a catch 22. People are cheapskates, thanks in part due to the internet. They want to pay as little as possible for something then get treated like royalty. Back in the day dealerships were mom & pops and were able to pay employees well. These days, most dealerships are big box, unless you live in the sticks. In order to be competitive, dealerships have to cut costs to keep the investors happy.

My Mazda dealership is still mom & pop. Service department is top notch. I see the sames faces every time and have gotten to know many of them pretty well. I'm always treated with respect.

In dealing with Toyota it's different. All the dealerships are big box. I didn't buy from a Toyota dealership, but I shopped for six months at all of the Salt Lake City dealers and they are in my opinion too big to care. My 3year/36K warranty is up in December and I will be taking the Tacoma to my local mechanic.

 

Lots of DIY'ers screw up royally too, though most would not post about it like Krazie did here a few years back.

 

Very true.

That's why, IMO, one should at least take the time to research as much as possible on the type of job that they will attempt to perform prior to actually performing it. Even if it's just a basic oil change. But yes, not everyone is willing to do so or are just too damn lazy to want to deal with it. Why mess with it when an individual can take it down the street and pay someone else to do it. But again, take it there at your own risk.
Are you getting what you actually paid for? Remember you get what you pay for. You pay cheap you get cheap.

 

i used to do my own oil changes all the time on my old truck. back then you could save alot of money though. you could do an oil change yourself for $11 total for oil and filter. this was back before synthetic oil was around and everything. 1988 toyota pickup used 4.5qts of oil.

these days it costs just about as much to do it yourself as taking it somewhere to get it done so there is no benefit. i let the dealer do it. also they make it harder to change the oil on vehicles these days. my guess is so you will have to take it in to the dealer so they can make more money. i've had a few cars where a special tool was necessary just to get to the oil filter way up under the engine. the 2.7L oil filter is way up there hard to reach. it can be done but it's just easier if you have a lift or something like the dealer does. basically they've made something simple into a hassle just so people will say screw it and take it in to let them do it.


i always wash the top of my engine when i wash my truck. i like it to look clean and not dusty and so forth.

the only issue i've had from a dealer is they might spill a little oil on the top of the engine sometimes. i don't see how that's even possible if using a funnel and everything???

but i just wash it off and all is good again. i just wish they would be more careful with the simple stuff and not be in a hurry all the time.

i think that is a huge problem in america these days. every job out there puts alot of pressure on the workers and it's go go go hurry up and get more done and make more money and blah blah blah.

that's why you have issues these days. not many people can just take their time and do a good job anymore.

 

Trust me, I know the feeling. I spent 8 years in the Marines, where we were in ice-mud up to our chest, hooking up tanks stuck in the mud so that we could winch them out, then do field repairs with flashlights and whatever tools we had available in the field. I know it can get bad.

You could say the same thing with a lot of industries. You go to the grocery store, where you expect them to have properly packaged food, and that the meat and vegetables, as well as frozen foods have been packaged properly and safely. You don't go into the local meat market and ask to do your own cutting and packaging, but you entrust THEM to do it right. You go to restaurants where 90% of the staff gets paid worse than a lube tech, but you eat the food, entrusting that they did THEIR job correctly, and you are safe from food poisoning. You do a lot of things at your own risk, entrusting others to keep your life safe. It's the world we live in.

 

The main reason it is so hard to get good techs that take pride in their work is that honestly most are very underpaid. I was a toyota line tech for 5 years and am now a lexus senior line tech for 2. I havery tens of thousands of dollars in tools, have to constantly keep my lexus and ASE certifications up to date, work 50-60 hours weeks and I barely clear $45k/year. Dealers treat us younger guys like crap and really end up making a lot of us just leave the field all together. Dealers are always trying to compete with smallet shops and the first thing to get cut is always the amount that the tech gets paid to do the job. I don't know hardly any tech my age that intends on staying in the field long term for this reason.

 

I've been a Ford tech for 12 years now only reason I'm still there is because I moved to the used car department but yeah all of our senior master techs make 25-30/hour but only make 20-30 hours a week and are there 40-50. When's there's am issue with a car first thing cut is a techs pay

 

UPDATE : my front diff is leaking again not heavily , but there is a noticeable film of gear oil all over it....Called the HEAD MORON , he said bring it in again today...now I AM PISSED !!!! I'll keep this updated stay tuned.....

 

I also had a bad experience at dealership where I bought my '13 4.0 Prerunner. I took it in for the first oil change and when I got it home, oil was dripping from under the engine. When I looked under the hood, the idiot who changed the filter left the empty oil container he had left attached to to drain nipple and the belt rubbed a hole in the container. Oil was all over the engine, top and bottom. It took them 3 tries to detail the engine compartment correctly. Where do they get these morons that work for them?

 

I haven't come across a bad tech at a dealer in YEARS...but they always seem to sell us a $25 air filter every time it goes in for warrenty work. I used to wrench and run a small bus garage, and I know how much rework happens. Now I am in the habit of putting a $5 air filter on before the dealer sees it...

I also happen to be 53, and it has only been a few days since I was last under a truck, the 68 dodge utiline has gotten a complete brake job this summer, with mulitple shoe adjustments since the shoes and the drums has slightly different curves My 60k service is coming up on the '11 AC in 3k miles. Spark plugs are in stock and I just ordered a CASE of 1lb cans of anti-seize and a 1lb can of dielectric grease for $65 including shipping. That should last a few years of use.

We should all be familar with basic repairs and maintenance to our vehicles...it is not the lube tech who will be on the side of the road, in the rain, at 2 am, wondering why they vehicle no longer moves under it's own power.

In my opinion, the best mechanics are the ones who are not hurting for work or income

Howard

 

If you get paid hourly, how is it legal for them to pay you for 20 -30hours of work when you actually worked 40 - 50 hours?

I thought that was only legal for salary paid employees

 

I hear what you are saying, and mostly agree. I used to be a tow truck driver and the dealership (not just toyota) techs were my #1 customer far and away, followed by walmart lube techs, the local PD, then blue hairs who lock their keys in the car. I can't count the number of times I went on a call and saw a streak of oil followed by a dead car a mile later. It's funny to me that so many people keep driving when the drain plug falls out till the engine squeeks and will no longer move. Having also been a professional wrench turner, most jobs turn out good, but I bet even you have a story or two. Here's mine. I was working at a boat shop as a marine mechanic and de-winterized a very nice high dollar ski boat. Apparently I got in a hurry and forgot to check a single hose clamp on a cooling hose that ran to an exhaust header. The customer had a boat full of bikini's out for a cruise and noticed water on the floor. If he had popped the engine cover he would have seen the loose hose and been able to idle to shore, or even flag down some help. Instead, he pins the throttle wide open and heads back to the boat dock, pumping the boat full of water and sinking it. Nobody had life jackets on, and the girls took turns using a cooler full of beer as a flotation device. Everyone was ok, but they had a long night and I no longer had a job. Everyone makes mistakes.

 

UPDATE : The head moron, the service manager and I - put it up on the lift and looked around...prognosis so far : LEAKING AXLE SEAL...and who knows what else..they are tearing off everything in an effort to nail down the EXACT problem...
The service manager tried to toss out the idea that the AMSOIL might have caused the seal to leake since its "so thin" I told him that was BS !! and told him I would be glad to show him links on THIS site where THOUSANDS of people have done this over the years and used AMSOIL or other synthetics with ZERO problems!!!
Then he backed off and put me in a rental for the weekend...assured me that this would be 100% resolved at NO cost to me....
What do my tacomaworld Bretheren on here think ?????

 

Technicians are not paid hourly. We are paid "piece" work AKA flat rate. So we get paid by the job, not the time we spend on it.

 

Yeah...we are kinda like automotive prostitutes