Just a friendly reminder to not believe everything you hear. especially at the dealership.
Took my wife's 2005 tC to the local Toyota Dealer. They were offering a $5 oil change if you made an appointment. I had the day off, so I took her car up there. I typically have a good rapport with this dealer. Between my dad and I, we have gotten 10 vehicles from them.
Anyways, I got a call from the service writer and expected him to tell me I was ready. He told me that the found a few problems. First one was severe, my water pump was leaking badly, the overflow tank was empty and the radiator was not full. He also said I needed my throttle body cleaned and an induction service. I told him I would take care of all of it at home, please just change the oil and be done. He said, "well, its leaking like a sieve, the parts and labor are $44x.xx and we also recommend..." I repeated that I would handle it in the garage, just the oil change is all i need, and asked him how long? When he checked me out, I asked him if they topped off the coolant, he said probly because it looked like it was leaking.
When i left the dealer, I took it to the shop. Little did they know, I have a lift at my disposal, and I'm VERY handy behind a wrench. Only reason I took it up there is because $5 is less than the cost of the filter.
First thing I noticed was the overflow bottle was full, but it was water. They topped it off, but with water. I put the car on the lift and raised it. First thing i noticed while i was underneath it was oil all over the control arm, oil pan and filter. I cleaned up behind them. Next order of business was to verify the waterpump leaking. Quick check from underneath with the streamlight showed the waterpump was dry. No leak. Nothing wrong with the waterpump. I suspected this already because my garage floor was clean. Popped the radiator cap and bright red-pink fluid spilled out. once again, BS. The radiator was completely full, we already know they topped it off with water, this was antifreeze.
Now for the real, legitimate problems that they missed. If they would have been doing their jobs correctly, they would have found these two real problems. The battery is bad. I noticed it first thing this morning and planned on replacing it today, I scanned it with the snap-on tester to verify. The tires have less than 2/32" of tread left, They did not mention anything about it. I planned on replacing those today as well. They should have quoted me on both of these. Obviously, I went elsewhere for those quotes anyways, but thats not my point here. A good service writer knows what to suggest and what not to.
Just remember how these places try to make money. They make a problem sound serious so you can tell them to fix it. I guess they thought I would say ok, fix it. they would have easily made $500 off of somebody with water pump r&r, induction service (BS), and throttle body cleaning (BS). I am certain both of these "services" involve them spraying some carb cleaner down the car's throat, and that's about it.
Just remember to be careful. Learn as much as you can about your vehicles, and it helps to be able to do many maintenance and repair items at home. I taught my wife how to do oil changes, spark plugs, cabin filter, etc. The only reason we get oil changes at the dealer is because they are $5, which is less than the filter alone. Add a gasket, and oil and you are at $15.
Hope this saves somebody a few dollars down the line.
I'll step off here..
-Tim
__________________
2008 Tundra RCSB, Slate Metallic, Sport Appearance Package
5.7L, 6 Speed, 4.10s
McGaughy's 4"/5" drop
22" Boss 331s wrapped in Nitto 305/40
Custom true duals with X-pipe, 18" Magnaflow
Black headlights, Black taillights, anytime fogs
20% tint on stock privacy glass
Superflux LEDs custom installed in door handles
Homelink Auto-Dim mirror w/ compass and LED console light
Last edited by jeepnuts311; 11-02-2009 at 05:20 PM.
FUnny you mention this....I got my oil changed today and the service adviser said I needed a whole bunch of BS like my coolant replaced, tranny fluid replaced, rear diff fluid replaced, new injectors and new air intake. I said NO!!!! Told him what I knew and he was shocked I knew!! LoL, he then said it was just precautionary work....I said change my oil and wash my ****!!! I guess they try to stick you since business is slow....
I have always been offered stuff like "visual brake inspections" or "induction services" or other Bogus services where they do nothing and charge $70 bucks. But I've never been told somethin was broke that wasn't.
They saw the coolant was low and ran with it...
Glad i took her car in and not her. Of course, she would have had my ASE certified brother look at it on her way home.
-Tim
__________________
2008 Tundra RCSB, Slate Metallic, Sport Appearance Package
5.7L, 6 Speed, 4.10s
McGaughy's 4"/5" drop
22" Boss 331s wrapped in Nitto 305/40
Custom true duals with X-pipe, 18" Magnaflow
Black headlights, Black taillights, anytime fogs
20% tint on stock privacy glass
Superflux LEDs custom installed in door handles
Homelink Auto-Dim mirror w/ compass and LED console light
Last edited by jeepnuts311; 11-02-2009 at 05:31 PM.
Nothing like trying to sell you something you don't need and not mentioning the stuff you really needed!...typical.I work for a independent shop and have seen this many times.
My deal included "free" oil changes every 5,000 miles. I've always done that kinda' stuff myself. The last 4 vehicles had Fumoto oilpan valves waiting to go on by the first oilchange "Free" or not, if they don't do it to my standards,they don't do it.My sales-rep has been great so far as has the service manager, so maybe we can do business.......we'll see
That "induction" service word is a fancy way of saying that all they are going to do is run some fuel injection cleaner through you fuel injectors. WOW, big deal, honestly, unless there is a real problem with your fuel injectors being clogged you can by a can of cleaner from your auto parts store to do the same thing. I recommend a product called Greased Lightning. This product is the exact same formula that the dealers use sold over the counter, no joke. The guys who started selling this stuff simply went to the manufacturer who supplied the dealers and asked for exclusive permission to sell the same product to the consumer and they said yes, why didn't I think of that right. I have used this product since it has come out with no issues in turbos and in natural aspirated engines with out any O2 issues of any kind. The product has been around probably going on 15 plus years, something like that.
That's a real shame, when I used to write service I let all my techs know that if they ever embarassed me by lieing, I'd make sure they'd have a bad month ($$).
All I ever asked the techs to do was to write up the repair with mandatory repair/service and suggested services seperate. I would present the ticket and let the customer decide. I had customers go for it all, others that kept coming back every 2 weeks and others that did nothing.
The only complaint I ever had was a customer that didn't agree that if the book called for 8 hours and the job only took 5 hours that all she should pay is for 5 hours.
all those stupid services like the "induction" service etc are all bs. like when people insisit on tranny services and flushes...its a freaking sealed unit guys..per toyota!!...
all i ever do is change oil and filter and occasionally lube stuff when needed and thats it. none of that other crap.
but back on this type of topic, back when dating my wife had an 01 dodge ram and had a coupon for an oil change at firestone...she took it there for the coupon and she called me all panicky...she says "the shop is saying i need a ton of work done, air filter, wiper blades, brake fluid flush, trans service, differential service, AC service etc"....and it was quite expensive. i told her yeah, i expected that....tell them to just change the oil. they did and werent happy and kept pressuring her to do all that unneccessary stuff that just costs money that doesnt do anything and serves no purpose in todays cars/trucks.
the funny thing is though, she left, and came over and i heard her brakes when she pulled in...her left front caliper was metal to metal on the rotor tearing it up...she said it was doing in for a couple of days...hwo they miss that when they supposedly do their inspections???? u cant pull it forward w/o hearing it....muich less if u check the tires u can see it....
When I was a service writer at a BMW dealer, there was this son of a biotch mechanic I had to deal with that would always pull this kind of bull. One time, a good customer of mine brought her M5 in for servicing and the mechanic told me she only had 5% front brakes left. When I went to tell her this she said "funny, I replaced the brakes a couple of months ago." I then went to confirm the number with the mechanic who again repeated the 5% number. I then confronted him about it and he laughed, saying "5%... oops... I meant 50%, what's the difference!" We were union then and I watched as the Service Mgr fired him on the spot. He went from getting paid $25/hr to unemployed in the blink of an eye. Sucks for him but it was his own greed that did him in.
__________________
2008 Sequoia 5.7L 4x4 Black
FE EJ CK LA LF MR RB RF RL TO WL Z1
No disrespect JMS but if I understand you correctly, expecting people to pay 8 hours for job that got done in five is total BS. If that is not how you meant what you are trying to say then I apologize up front but if you think it is o.k. for people to pay 8 hours for 5 hours of work, well then that is the problem and whether you admit it then you are wrong for charging people for time not given to them. Do you pay for gas you don't buy? Do you get paid for time you don't work, probably the opposite right? Those kind of books are a guide and while in many cases they are close to accurate if they overestimate a job on time or someone is familiar enough with a procedure that helps the customer then so be it; other wise, you are double dipping.
Don't know how you are double dipping/cheating/stealing? Let me explain. A tech is done with a job in 5 hrs. but you charge a lady for 8 hrs. what did that tech do for the next 3 hrs.? Probably work, right so you just got paid twice for that 3 hours. Bottom line, no matter what some book a corporate CEO published to improve profits says to charge people for time and work they did not receive is wrong and its the same as stealing.
We wonder what's wrong in this country and how far people in the country and our government has fallen off the turnip truck, gee, no wonder people with this mentality have been writing these books and been elected to office, now look where we are. Do we really need more evidence?
Remember INTEGRITY is what you do when you don't think any one is looking! If this hurt your feeling because it is true and right then remember "faithful are the wounds of a friend" Maybe it's time you looked in the mirror if this hit close to home! It takes more strength to be honest even if it hurts.
I'm like a duck, don't give a quack and rolls of my back!
You don't set labor based on how long it takes the mechanic. When you call around for service they are giving you labor based on book time. If the mechanic takes 10 hours for a job that is quoted at 5, the mechanic gets paid for 5 and the customer pays for that 5 (irrelevant of how long it takes).
If a mechanic is strong (quick and good work) and they get the job done in 4 hours, they still get paid for 5. That is how flat rate works, if they don't work, they don't get paid. I had some customers come back when the work wasn't done right and the mechanic had to correct their work and they got paid $0.
You can dream and be as idealistic as you want but that doesn't change the reality of things. BTW the quote is given before the job is done, so if I quoted 5 hours and it takes 6 hours or 4 hours, the customer doesn't pay any more or any less (as previously mentioned).
No disrespect JMS but if I understand you correctly, expecting people to pay 8 hours for job that got done in five is total BS. If that is not how you meant what you are trying to say then I apologize up front but if you think it is o.k. for people to pay 8 hours for 5 hours of work, well then that is the problem and whether you admit it then you are wrong for charging people for time not given to them. Do you pay for gas you don't buy? Do you get paid for time you don't work, probably the opposite right? Those kind of books are a guide and while in many cases they are close to accurate if they overestimate a job on time or someone is familiar enough with a procedure that helps the customer then so be it; other wise, you are double dipping.
Don't know how you are double dipping/cheating/stealing? Let me explain. A tech is done with a job in 5 hrs. but you charge a lady for 8 hrs. what did that tech do for the next 3 hrs.? Probably work, right so you just got paid twice for that 3 hours. Bottom line, no matter what some book a corporate CEO published to improve profits says to charge people for time and work they did not receive is wrong and its the same as stealing.
We wonder what's wrong in this country and how far people in the country and our government has fallen off the turnip truck, gee, no wonder people with this mentality have been writing these books and been elected to office, now look where we are. Do we really need more evidence?
Remember INTEGRITY is what you do when you don't think any one is looking! If this hurt your feeling because it is true and right then remember "faithful are the wounds of a friend" Maybe it's time you looked in the mirror if this hit close to home! It takes more strength to be honest even if it hurts.
I'm like a duck, don't give a quack and rolls of my back!
Dude you have no clue what the heck you are talking about.
__________________
07 Tundra, White
Regular cab, short bed
TRD
Just be careful
oil changes every 5,000 miles. I've always done that kinda' stuff myself. The last 4 vehicles had Fumoto oilpan valves waiting to go on by the first oilchange
"Free" or not, if they don't do it to my standards,they don't do it.My sales-rep has been great so far as has the service manager, so maybe we can do business.......we'll see
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