Why I hate taking my 200 to the Dealer (2 Viewers)

[kcjaz]

Just venting here. Getting ready for LCDC, I looked at my brakes, and while I could eek out some more miles on them, thinking about about the descent down to Telluride on BBP, now would be a good time for new pads and cleaning up the rotors. I don't have time this week or weekend (wife thinks my focus should be on my sons wedding not prepping for LCDC) so I take the 200 to the dealer. They call me to tell me that in addition to brakes, my coolant, PS fluid, and transmission fluid all need to be replaced because "they are dirty". I say, that's odd given that I have replaced the PS pump and flushed the fluid as well as replaced the radiator and changed the coolant within the last 5 months and the tranny was replaced two years ago and I have seen the tranny fluid when I pulled the radiator and collected the fluid that I lost from the cooler. It looked at smelled just like the new stuff in the bottle. Then he says , oh, well for the PS and coolant, we were basing that off service records but the the transmission fluid is dirty. I asked "so, you opened up a sealed system to inspect the fluid for a truck brought in for a break job?". At that point, he said, "I'm just reading the notes form the technician let me talk to him and call you back." He did and said "never mind, our computer system messed up and the recommendation to flush the transmission was based on service records only, not any actual inspection and for some reason the transmission replacement didn't show up in the system."

I don't have any issue with a dealer telling me "based on service records, you need to change whatever." They have no way to know what I have done or had done elsewhere. What I take issue with is telling me the reason is "the fluid is dirty" when they haven't looked at it. A lot of people, maybe even most who take cars to dealers for service, would have said OK to the unnecessary service which is why I believe they act this way. This doesn't shock me, but it is disappointing. I just never feel I can trust them and when they do work, I always end up doing my own inspection to make sure they actually did what I paid for and didn't screw anything else up.

 

[RET2]

Switch dealers?

 

[LX5708]

all the Toyota dealers here in Sacramento suck!!! I take my Sequoia to the Lexus dealer along with my LX.. IMO

 

[lx200inAR]

I think this is just part of many dealerships' business model. I definitely don't think its right. But I'm sure they've calculated that out of the 10 people they lie to (of any car that is in for service and out of warranty/"free" maintenance), 2 will just let them do whatever and pay the bill, 6 will say no because they weren't planning on spending that $1700 that week and the other 2 will know they are full of s*** and tell them to f off. They are okay looking like asses in front of the people that know because they want those 2 customers who will just let them do it and the dealership doesn't know which ones they are. Most dealerships already have a bad name, so they aren't worried about you spoiling their "good" name to the public. And only pissing off 2 out of 10 customers isn't too bad right?

 

[hdj8081]

Lexus is sacramento i bought my 200. I like their service.

 

[LX5708]

Lexus is sacramento i bought my 200

my family has been going there since early 2000's. my parents have been threw 2 LSs and 4 LX's. my dad has currently has a 2019 lx .I have had 2 LX's . I currently have a 08 . we have pretty much had the same mechanic and service advisor the life of all are vehicles. I would recommend that place to anyone

 

[bhsdriller]

Like that down here also. All you have to say is no thank you and move on

 

[kcjaz]

Switch dealers?

yes, could do that but the other two options are a hassle (distance) to get to. I just sort of accept that I need to watch what they do and call BS when they tell me BS. Well, apparently I don't quite accept it as I need the therapy of complaining on Mud...

 

[04UZJ100]

I think the most ironic part of this whole thread is you DIY’d all that work and took it to a dealer for something as simple as brakes. Why?

Literally make you bend over for dealership parts costs and inflated labor time. I did 4 rotors and fresh pads on the LX in 3 hours flat.

And yes, dealer service departments are generally horrific.

 

[kcjaz]

I think the most ironic part of this whole thread is you DIY’d all that work and took it to a dealer for something as simple as brakes. Why?

Literally make you bend over for dealership parts costs and inflated labor time. I did 4 rotors and fresh pads on the LX in 3 hours flat.

And yes, dealer service departments are generally horrific.

Yep agree. Bad planning on my part with sons wedding. Doing this myself just wasn’t in the cards.

I picked up the truck and they gave me the internet parts price and took 10% off the labor and said “sorry for the confusion”. Made me feel a little better.

 

[biphnest]

My local Toyota dealership service writer has flat out lied (and the lies were exposed) to me several times. He doesn’t even blink, just doing his job. Disgusting behavior. A trip to the Toyota dealership service center is a last resort option.

Remember, every time you take your car to the dealership for routine service you run the risk of them doing more harm than good.

 

[RAYJON]

Big problem when they are part of a big dealership chain.. Thompson's in placerville has always been good but the family keeps the same people for a long time. Most large chain companies go thru people so fast they don't care.. There are some good dealerships around but none near me,. Both Reno Toyota and Carson city are awful... 5 Toyotas in my driveway and I do it myself or take it to a private shop I trust if I'm busy.. George at cruiser brothers isn't that far from you and worth the drive...

 

[unclemat]

Remember, every time you take your car to the dealership for routine service you run the risk of them doing more harm than good.

Exactly. That's always my biggest fear. Them trying to sell me some bull**** would be least of my worries.

 

[JohnJB]

If you really want to freak yourself out, talk to some folks who’ve had to repair their 200s after the dealers got done with the fuel pump recall work.

 

[diablogt]

This is a typical behavior when someones income is directly based on how much they withdraw from your wallet. You can see it everywhere but car dealerships and dentists (!!!) are probably the most common. Both because they are regular services and because of the big buck involved.

In those people’s mind, they are NOT deceiving. They told themselves it is a win-win situation because the service is always good for the customer and they make money from it e.g. the fluid is not needed but a fresh fluid is always better than the 3 month one etc. This is sadly the world we are living in now and its the customers’ burden to actively avoid it.

I myself find it hard to say no so I usually agree the first time just to build relationship and avoid the headaches whatever but then after that it will be a hard no if its not justified. If they keep pushing then Ill switch.

 

[Sandroad]

There are so many threads and posts on Mud about bad Toyota dealership service. It’s really sad. I’ve been a victim too often and since it’s a sign of intelligence to realize you have to do something different if you expect different results, my Land Cruiser is my last Toyota. I have had good experiences with service departments of some other brands locally and they will get my future vehicle purchasing business. I know that means 0 to Toyota, so my decision is not a protest, just an intelligent response to bad service.

 

[mooneywa]

I hate that I'm always surprised by the bad service. You would think with two 200s that I would be prepared for the nonsense each time and each time it's a new adventure in what they can hose up. One of my best friends runs service for a very large Peterbilt dealer group and said the #1 rule is to never assume the customer is stupid. When I talk to a Toyota service writer it always seems like the #1 rule is that the customer IS stupid. And who can blame them? I overhear stuff when I'm standing there at other writers' desks that IS beyond stupid, so I guess why not capitalize on it?

I've found I have to treat every interaction like I do when I'm buying a car - come armed with every bit of knowledge on the subject, take zero b-s, and escalate immediately.

I have found overall dealership managers do NOT like when they are cc'd on an email detailing exactly what was wrong and how it violated the FSM. Usually corrects the problem very quickly.

 

[taccruiser97]

My local Toyota dealer does this stuff too. Every time one of my Toyotas goes in for service, they always take a run at the upsell. I have told my daughters when they take their Camrys in to call me before signing off on anything the service writer thinks should be done beyond what it was being serviced for, usually LOF. The time before the last time I had my Cruiser in, they did a front axle service. COVID hit, my Cruiser was driven sparingly due to work hours reduction. I noticed my RF hub was throwing grease on the wheel. I took it back in and they told me that the seal would be replaced and then they said since it was an Auto Zone seal it was warrantied for a year. I said Auto Zone? They said uh, uh,. To which I said, the only reason I bring my Cruiser out here is I expect Toyota parts to be used and if I wanted some half ass repair job by a local shop that uses crap parts I would have gone there instead. They went and got the service manager and they fixed it all, at no cost to me with Toyota parts. He told me the previous trip in for my Cruiser, they could not get the seals and substituted. I told him, they should have notified me of that before they did the repair. I think they tried to pull a fast one and got caught. Overall, I haven't had many problems with this Toyota dealer, they are the only one in town. On 1-10 scale I would give them a 7. Occasionally, I have taken my Toyotas to a town about 45 miles away for service. This dealer does not seem to try to upsell BS service like the local one does.

 

[Reckless]

I am surprised you guys service your land cruisers at the $tealer. The beauty of a 200 is going to a trustworthy indy. My indy is more knowledgeable than any chicago toyota/lexus dealer in my eyes. Pic for toyota/lexus dealers. I went once for some seat belt recall very excruciating dealing with their BS.

 

[LCtoLX]

Looking at the cartoon above got me to decide and chime in. Quite a few years ago, I took my LX470 to the local Lexus dealer for some service. When I picked it up, they informed me that they noticed that the engine was idling a bit rough so they replaced the injection system, including the manifold. And that as service to me, were able to charge Lexus for the “repair”, even though my LX was out of warranty coverage. That couldn’t have been a small charge.

What?!? The engine never idled roughly. I wondered if they’d even done the replacement so I took a look and sure enough, shiny new manifold with new gasket sealer visible in places. So basically they were screwing Lexus.

Fast forward to this month. We took my wife’s GX in for a speaker replacement (under CPO warranty) because the sound was distorted. When we picked the GX up the friendly service writer said that there was a problem getting the radio to communicate with the new speaker so they ordered a replacement radio. Oh, and by the way she said, the technician scratched your radio faceplate by accident but you’re getting a new radio anyway and a new faceplate will come with it.

This is that same Lexus dealer. They ended up charging the parts and labor to Lexus. Again, that couldn’t have been a small charge. Hey, but the scratch is gone! Oh, and the new front speaker was working just fine with the scratched radio. They do think that we are stupid.