Dealership Service Dept - Good or Bad?

Yeah same here, no problems with Michael's Toyota!!

 

For sure, and that is part of what the poll may reveal. There will be good dealers experiences and bad dealer experiences, and great shops and terrible ones. If the overall trend is unhappy customers, Toyota does have the power, and should do something about it. I know they cannot control every single shop, but they have the ability to weigh in if the brand is being harmed by poor after-sale support.

 

Truck was 1 week old. Check engine light. Major evap leak code.
First visit to dealer: "It's your GPS tracker. We reset the code and don't use that thing" I call BS but whatever.

One day later, light is back, didn't use GPS.
Second visit to dealer: "We dug deeper in the system and your canister is bad. We'll swap it". Four days later, I get the truck back.

One day later, light is back on.
Visiting them yet again on Saturday. I'm about to start lemon law discussions if they can't get it right this time. Gearing up for a "your mods caused the error and voids the warranty" fight.

After the last visit, they finally discovered a bad seal in the fuel neck. Replaced (1 week down time). Been ok since.

 

it helps to know the owner of the dealership. If confronted with a questionable service or charge, I can always say "Well I sit on the same church pew with ____. Do you think he'd agree with this charge? I can ask him at breakfast tomorrow morning."

 

If your Toyota is out of its basic warranty, and just needs maintenance or repairs call the dealer of your choice and ask your Service adviser " what is your effective labor rate" you will be surprised at the answer. It could be $ 150.00 Hr. or more. Ask your Parts Department if they use" Matrics Pricing " if they are willing to admit they do , it means they mark up most commonly used parts ( filters, spark plugs and maintenance items ) far above Toyota suggested retail price. this is seen as a profit builder for the Parts Department. it is a common Practice.
The smart thing to do is find a convenient Local shop you can trust. do the maintenance your self if you can, and remember to keep your receipts.

 

I cannot honestly make a claim like that, so I cannot use it, there are people who find it necessary to use " threats and intimidation" in there daily lives

 

Keep al your recepts and run to another Dealership if at all possible.

 

Can anyone in the Phoenix area suggest a dealer with a reasonable service department? Bell Road toyota is just full of BS excuses not to do warranty work, making me sorry that I bought a 2017 tacoma.

 

Lol, so you're one of the "VIP's" that everyone at a dealership dreads dealing with...

Matt

 

I've run into a serious problem with this at my closest dealer as well.

 

Jan 2018 took truck to Local Dealer to look at brakes and give the truck a look over as I was going to drive to Montana for a funeral. They said i needed the cabin and the engine air filter's replaced, I said no thanks i will do that. The invoice stated that I refused to have mandatory maintenance done. Spoke with service manager who said we told you it needed those items done and you said not for us to do it.

 

Oh-in no way is it intended as a threat or intimidation tactic. That would be counter to my character. It's an internal second opinion before going to another shop. Having the relationship I have with the owner means he'll most likely shoot straight with me.

 

This is a BS tool some dealers use to get you to Buy there parts and Labor......... by all means do it your self and keep your receipts.

 

Good luck with that

 

Mines decent.

I brought my truck in on Saturday for some issues, particularly brake related, and this go around I finally got to meet the tech. He was very patient with me, let me check out other Tacoma's on the lot to see if I could replicate my issue. He test drove my vehicle three times and each time he was only focusing on one problem which I thought was cool. He explained what he was looking for when the truck was on the lift .

He did adjust my rear drums, and when we pulled out for a test drive my truck wouldn't move on drive, as he overadjusted them. He apologized profusely, and then discovered my axle flange diameter was out of spec by looking up some brake vibration via a TSB. Truck is being repaired this week. I think my truck still has a little drag so when I bring it back in for repair I am probably going to mention them potentially being overadjusted, though the repairs are for the axle itself. I'm confident if he wasn't hearing my complaints, he never would have looked up a TSB.

My point is, while I do not trust dealership service centers at all for some reason, I always try my best to be polite and patient with people. In the end they were very polite and patient with me, so I'm happy. That's how positive relationships are made .

 

Not at all. I just expect the service I’m paying for, not perfection.

And, I try to make sure I don’t have to bother them any except what service I’m needing at the moment. Besides, the boss told me to call him directly when bringing my car in and gave me his direct number.

 

He's just chasing good survey scores

Matt

 

Haha, you’re probably right!!

 

Ever tried a dealer outside of Alabama? Cuz that might just be the problem

 

Coming from experience, that's what all dealership actions are based on

Matt