Unfortunately the LX and LC bring out the laziness in mechanics. It's pretty damn easy to do an oil change on the high volume camry or ES/RX. When they get a LX/LC it's actually a chore for them. Removing skid plates/etc. My lexus dealer didn't grease the drive shafts. When i had my LC i would have sworn on anything they didn't change the filter, rather did a drain and fill. I now do my own 100% of the time. If i didn't i'd mark the drain plugs and filters and take a pic before service to verify anything was done. Tire pressure is my short fuse. I was really tired of jumping in a car that had just been serviced and the pressures being all over the place with zero rhyme or reason.
Dealer screwed up the oil change - questions to have my ducks in a row
- Thread starter mooneywa
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PhuckItImDone
SILVER Star
Yea im fairly sure I got dinged for $100 some odd bucks and they didn't do anything. ****s didnt even vacuum the truck. As stated, ill handle it myself from now on.
bloc
SILVER Star
This reminds me I need to get my small moly gun working again.. been using regular lithium stuff in the meantime and it could probably go to 400k just fine that way but moly would be better, so that’s what I’ll do.
Any brand you recommend?
bloc
SILVER Star
The grease or the gun? I use Lucas X-Tra for the joints and when the gun works a small tube of Honda motor sports high moly grease I had lying around from prior motorcycle work.
For the gun I’m not sure of the brand but one with a 90 degree approx 6” straight nozzle is perfect to get to all the joints, including the tough rear joint on the front shaft. The moly gun is a whatever fits the tube. No access issues there.
This is what I use
My go-to test of a shop is to have them rotate the tires, and then I pull out a torque wrench and verify the lug nuts are set correctly - set to 97 ft/lb and see if it clicks and was at least the minimal amount, and if it does increase to 110 and try again to see if it's overtight.
My wife used a shop here (Heart Automotive... formerly Duxler's) and the truck left the shop with lugs set to about 50 ft/lb. Never using that place again.
My wife used a shop here (Heart Automotive... formerly Duxler's) and the truck left the shop with lugs set to about 50 ft/lb. Never using that place again.
CharlieS
GOLD Star
@linuxgod - related to that, I've yet to see a shop use a proper torque wrench on lug nuts. Most use those "torque sticks", which I'm sure are fine, but seem sketchy to me. I find it difficult to believe they can be accurate or consistent. The ones that scare me are the ones that use a big pneumatic air gun and a socket and just tighten. I cringe every time I see that.
afgman786
SILVER Star
I recently got new tires for winter at Discount Tire and asked them to please make sure they use a torque wrench and torque to spec. They did use a torque wrench and had it set to 100, but the way the guy was cranking on the torque wrench might as well not have used it. A few lugs were around 140 I'd say with how hard it was to loosen them.
In fairness if they tighten everything to 105-110#, I don't care. If they tighten to 50 or 150 then I do.
I've spent over 30 years in Ford and Chrysler dealerships working rear parts counter for techs. Boy do I have some stories to tell! It's true that most manufacturers have a Quick lane for oil changes and they are usually staffed by kids. Most of them do care about what they are doing but are pressured to move fast. Thats when mistakes are made. I've seen my share of techs forgetting to put oil in after oil change, to rags being left inside the engine after major repairs, to techs not tightening lug nuts and a wheel falls off while customer is leaving the lot, to racks being improperly set and a lift arm slips and the car falls from the rack nearly killing the tech and on and on. 99 percent of the time things go well and are done correctly. At the end of the day nobody will care for your car as well as you the owner. I have always performed all maintenance on my cars. Even when I could have things done at cost I still rather do my own work. I understand that most people dont have the time or space to do this but it really can save you tons of money. And nowadays you can find anything maintenance related online for anything you drive. Anyone can learn how to change their oil and do light maintenance.
TheRealDeal124
GOLD Star
I'll chime in with my dealer experience at Romeoville Toyota in Illinois... I have a very clean 1995 80 Series that I drive maybe 4,000 miles a year. Last summer I figured I'd try and get my oil changed just to see how good the service is there. I washed the truck as part of my Saturday off. Everyone at the dealer always gawks at my Land Cruiser since they hardly see any. I get a kick out of it. NEVER again. When I got the truck back there was a giant smudge of oil and someone's sad attempt at wiping it away. I know it's a fairly old vehicle but the paint is well taken care of. I saw it as them being careless. When I got home I saw underneath the vehicle had leaks from 4 different places. My 80 had NEVER leaked anywhere since I purchased it earlier last year. I crawl underneath and there's oil EVERYWHERE. It seems as if someone took oil from the disposable container and wiped the undercarriage with it. I was upset to say the least. As part of their inspection service they apparently checked my birfield joints and didn't tighten them back to specs so there was a slight leak on the drivers side. I later had it looked at and thought never again will I take my Land Cruiser there for anything. I can't imagine how it would be for a 200 series owner given the complexity of the vehicle. Those kids in Quick Lane don't care at all about what they do. I guess people don't take pride in their work anymore.
Ya, the cartridge gasket has to be double checked on a 5.7. I took the Tundra in for emissions at Midas, actually a good shop for lighter jobs, so I had them do an oil change. The tech rolled the filter gasket and I had a leak. They fixed it after I added oil and brought it back.
Cartridge filter is HORRIFIC.
If you're going to be in Ft Worth you will be extremely close to Tandem in Haltom City. They did fluid flushes and a CV replacement on my 4Runner and are generally known as the Toyota guru's of this area. Extremely knowledgeable and nice guys--I live just to the east of Richardson so it puts me about an hour away from them. I don't care, I'm going to take my '21 to them for anything that isn't done by the dealer anyway; they are worth the drive.
- Thread starter
- #57
Great rec. Always a good sign when you check their webpage and their banner is a 4Runner, GX, and sometime of older crawler all with various states of upgrade on their lifts and it's right on the way to DFW so I can drop it off for a few days before I have a trip.
@TheRealDeal124 - I have a very close friend in the truck service industry, but he said the issue isn't so much that techs don't take pride in their work but that they are under pressure to do stuff as fast as possible. I'd guess they're trying the odds that the few times something gets fouled up that it's not a big deal and they can reap the rewards in productivity. I can't imagine doing that in my industry.
Another benefit of moving to Fort Worth is being able to use JRB Fort Worth (military base) and their auto-hobby shop. Most decent size military bases have an "Auto Hobby/Auto Skills" shop that is DIY, has air tools, lifts, oil recycling, etc. and only cost a few bucks/hr. They also usually have an old-timer working the desk that for a few bucks can lend some sage advise and can probably rebuild an engine with his eyes closed. When I previously lived near a base I was able to do fluids, brakes, tire rotations, and they'd even do emissions checks. Great perk if you're active, reserve, or retired.
I am sorry to hear that, hope your Rig is still in good condition. Toyota/LX dealers in US only cares about profit, not your baby.
As an old word saying, if you want it done right, do it yourself. It’s not that hard to do all kinds of service yourself once you start doing it.
As an old word saying, if you want it done right, do it yourself. It’s not that hard to do all kinds of service yourself once you start doing it.
