3rd gens BEWARE of your dealer mechanic/technician!!

it could of been your "independent, well-certified Toyota/Lexus only mechanic" that rounded it off and putting the blame on someone else.

Not all dealership service departments are bad.

 

Some dealerships are actually pretty great. I know if one of my technicians messes up we make sure we fix it on our dime.

 

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Congratulations Dale Hanks for winning a Chicago Region Toyota "Tech Excellence" award. The Technician Excellence Award recognizes technicians who have a Fix it Right the First Time and Multi-Point Inspection Score above the region average. The technician's dealership must also maintain a SPSI score above average and the technician must attain certification to qualify. Way to go Dale!!





I'm thinking about driving the 96 miles one way to have him take a look at my front end clunk. My dealership said, "Drive it." (After trying to locate the clunk for 2 hours.) So I have been driving it.

 

The only thing I can say about service and warranty work is "it's only as good as the mechanic doing the service".

 

that could very well be, but I read his story about why he left the dealer after they changed owners and started his own independent shop, it seemed very convincing. He took a genuine interest in helping me figure out what maintenance is needed and a small gasket leak starting to develop around the shifters that I would have no idea because its not a bad leak yet and not noticeable unless you have you head crammed up underneath

Dale looks like a guy that would know where my front turn signal actually is!
but that is a whole 'nother story about the service advisor and my front side marker light and telling me my 3rd top brake light was out one time, thank goodness I caught them on that one!

 

i have heard and seen pics of 'chinese' brake parts!

 

I would just ignore the flush your wallet services at the dealer. You're not obligated to do them.

 

the dealer wants nearly $200 to flush my cooling system! Had I not found the local independent I would probably be paying this $200. The independent master mech says when he does my timing belt the lower radiator hose comes off and just needs to fill the radiator back up with new coolant and I am good to go!
when the dealer did a VCG job they shoulda cleaned out all the intakes and throttle body while they had it apart! not sure how much dealer wants to take it all back off to clean throttle body but my upcoming sparkplug/tuneup at the non-dealer shop is going to include all of that

 

Good to know

 

Hey! News flash everybody!

It turns out that dealerships are more expensive than independent shops!

 

yes, same 'vintage' Tacoma I am referring to.
Out of curiosity I asked the local dealer's service advisor (where I bot this long ago) approximately how many older trucks like mine they see coming in for service still and he said maybe 4 or 5 all year! I took it to the other dealer in the more affluent part of town to check on getting some replacement interior parts and also for advice on my valve covers leaking for the first time. I had a feeling these guys have never seen a late 90s Tacoma in their shop that had not a lick of body panel rot (very common in my area for all makes of trucks not even 10yrs old!)

I just supposed that some in the 1st gen section are 2nd or 3rd hand owners and some trying to fix stuff up that had been neglected by previous owners (not all but some) and they probably don't use dealer services like I do (but not sure) ... just thought those with the newer trucks are the 'most likely' to use a dealer mechanic/technician and maybe somebody might be like me and think the dealer shop has them in good hands only to find out much later it might not necessarily be so.

I probably have had the mindset over these past two decades it would be best for me to get all services done at the dealer just so there is good hard evidence of service history just in case a new Tacoma pops up on the lot that I want to consider trading my 1st gen in for. Then I can deal with the trade-in specialist to get the top dollar possible for my years of TLC without any hesitation of un-proved service records. Unless they have a problem with my battery and Tires not being purchased/installed from them I foresee no issues when the right looking new Tacoma comes along!

 

VW has got to have some of the worst mechanics. My 2017 golf r was totalled by them during a test drive after warranty work back in November. Hence the new truck. Will be taking it in soon for 5k miles...fingers crossed

 

I was a mechanic for 6+ years. I got out because 99% of those guys were straight-up sword-weildin', village-pillagin'... PIRATES!!!!!

 

A lot of the guys in the dealer service field are high school age and young age. It doesnt necessarily mean theyre incompetent, but they are young, so they dont have as much skill. I can say, as a tech. that education has a marginal affect on your ability. The schools help to teach skill and familiarity, but so does the job itself. We have people with educations in my group and some without. I cant tell the difference at the end of the day just based off that variable. I can say that some of us are known to be under performers and others are exceptional, the educated only making up for 50% of the exceptional though.

Basically, its just a job and theyre just people. If you want it done right learn and do it yourself or find a person you trust. Leaving it up to a group leaves it up to chance.

 

Plus one!

I can say after having been a mechanic for 16+ years it's often times a bad shop or service mgr calling the shots behind the scene. Pressure to meet factory flat rate times sometimes gets in the way.

Bad customer service does in more shops than not and mgmt does not want to pay out when presented with a bad situation.

 

At my 2nd "FREE" service before the 24K miles, they torqued down my plastic oil filter to farmer tight. Nothing was getting it off without breaking, and nobody had ever put a wrench on it but the dealer.

When I went back to them, they basically told me to pound sand, even though we had documented exactly who did the oil change @ 24K miles. Last time I'm ever taking a vehicle to this dealer for service.

 

When someone welds on any type of gearbox with bearings and oil , there’s a risk of pitting . Welding is sending an electrical charge through whatever piece of metal your working on back to ground . If there happens to be a gear or bearing with any type of gap the electrical current will arc the gap . Not good . I’m a certified mechanic . Seen it more than once on a multitude of vehicle types . Most from welding a bead of weld to shrink axle bearings so they come out easier .

 

We shall see. I just got the millimeter wave radome recall.
The worst part of it is, I now have to vacuum out all the labrador hair, granite rubble, empty shotgun shells, hand tools, axes, shovels and communist rifle.
Probably should also get all the dried lab drool off all the doors and windows.
damn hillbilly owners

 

I clean my truck up real nice before I take it in to the service dept. then when I get home I have to clean the shoe skid marks off the door sill. Poor guys work so hard they do not have the leg strength to pick their feet up when they get into my nice clean truck.

Probably ought to call in tomorrow to make a appointment for my 6 month check-up and for the recall.

 

L

This can't be right. You waited 24,000 miles before an oil change?