Trip to the dealer today..... $4,164 later....

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C

Coastal

Joined
Sep 26, 2005
Threads
33
Messages
108
Location
Austin
2000 with 117k .... I about wet myself when he called.

Took it in to have the CV boots replaced.... They have both been split & leaking & running dry for about 60k miles - was expecting them to tell me i needed new joints, but surprisingly they said they are ok... were $642 to replace the boots. This seems about on par with what I have seen from others. I am a :banana::banana: mechanic and didnt feel like I could tackle this on my own.

They did their usual multi point inspection and 'the truck checks out great except for the following 4 things'....

1. I have noticed some oil that just started leaking from the valve cover gasket - they wanted $409 to reaplce. After searching the forum - I think I will just tighten and see if the leak stops - wasnt able to find a single thread with a true leaking gasket.

2. they said the rear main seal is starting to leak $975 to replace (I havent seen anything and just changed all the fluids - there isnt a drop of oil in the garage behind the block where the valve cover is dripping)

3. leaking high pressure power steering hose leaking and wanted $968 to replace! Sad the hose alone is almost $900 + about an hours labor - can this possibly be right? I can buy a lot of power steering fluid for $1k (and the level is fine).

4. Had a rattle coming from the front end and said my PS shock is completely shot and rattling around - want $328 to replace the front shocks. Its probably time for 4 new socks anyway...Can I do this on my own - I read where the rears are a PITA (particularly the PS), but the fronts seem fairly straight forward?

oh and you need all your fluids changed. For $433 we can do the transmission, both diffs & the coolant. I just did all of this on my own - and bought the coolant from them 2 months ago!

oh, and at 120k miles its time for a fuel system tune up for $409 - new plugs and clean the throttle body. Thats it thou - everything else looks great - for $4,164 (he did say since it was so much he could talk to his manager about knocking off 10%) we can get you out by EOD tomorrow. Needless to say I told them to get bent on 1,2,3 and the fluids and fuel system...but how difficult are the shocks?
 
don't walk, run. see if you can find a good independent or a fellow cruiserhead to help. that's insane and the fluid change is just icing on the proverbial cake. the sad thing is they do it (aggressive upselling) because most people are ignorant and it works.
 
Less than $60 for both front shocks. An hour of your time if you're a novice, and you're good to go. I drilled a hole in the floor for my rears. About the same deal there. That dealership is jacking you big time... Baby needs new shoes...
 
Wow, another interesting story from a dealer visit.

Go find yourself a good owner operated independent shop that isn't out to milk every penny. You can check google or yelp for online reviews for complaints..
Doesn't hurt to get a quote on the rattle by a different place to make sure the shocks are the root cause of the issue..
 
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Caveat emptor...and its not restricted to just the car repair biz boys ;)

Sorry to hear about it but most of us that work on our own junk have been driven to do so because of similar experiences.
 
1. Glad you're not falling for it.

2. Post the dealer name, and if possible, the service advisor that fed you that line of bull. When people google the dealer name or the service writer's name, this thread will then pop up. Google is your friend... when you're HONEST.

3. OEM shocks are $29 each, and take all of 20-min each to change. Most of that time is consumed by jacking up each side and removing the wheel so you can get in there to work. Fronts are cake and a half-banana job at most.

4. You should write a STERNLY worded letter to the manager/owner of the dealership how his service advisor was attempting to STEAL your money on the fluid changes, shock prices, etc and how you intend to file your letter with the BBB and Toyota corp. Make sure to include your phone number so he can call you and offer a bribe, er I mean "discount" for your next visit. Use the coupon he gives you for parts, then take them and put them on yourself or get another shop to do the labor.

5. Good luck in your search for a DECENT, HONEST shop.
 
People ask me why I chose the avatar that I did. Now you know.
 
About the shocks. You’re suspension should also be feeling very spongy on dips and speed bumps and if you have a broken shock somebody driving along side of you should be able to see you tire bouncing like a basketball on the highway.

We're blessed to have a great mechanic. He was on vacation once and his number one took over the shop and did an oil service for us but forgot to put the little vinyl sticker on the corner of the windshield that says how many miles/months till next service. We are like clockwork on our vehicles. When in for something unrelated to get fixed, and saw that we were overdue for service per the old vinyl sticker still on the windshield and went ahead and did the oil change without asking (knowing our history). As he was billing us, and saw our history on his computer, he noticed that we DID get an oil change recently by his shop. He did not charge us for anything relating to the oil change. I even offered to pay for the material, and he still refused.
Also, he never says anything is a MUST DO NOW OR ELSE, unless it truly is. Most of the time, if you are a regular customer, as he sees things come up he will start giving you a heads up, like you’ll be needing brakes in about six months, or maybe the disks need to be turned on your next brake job, etc.
I went to get tires (295/75/16 BFG A/T’s) put on my wife’s hundy (old 285/75/16 BFG A/T’s were also tracking a little to the right too) and get an alignment, at a tire shop. They said I needed all new ball joints. Car drives fine except pulling a little to the right! After the tires were mounted, went to Jay’s and had him look at it (with new tires, car tracked perfect!). He said there was nothing wrong with my front end. Everything was still nice and tight.
So the tire shop, trying to jack me for a bunch more money for front end work, lost out on an alignment for being too greedy.

Great shop!

Jay’s Car Repair
1504 Avenida De La Estrella # E
San Clemente, CA 92672
(949) 492-7990
 
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Sorry for presuming upon leaving my mechanics name and contact info, is it OK to promote a good vendor?
 
bamachem said:
and how you intend to file your letter with the BBB and Toyota corp.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the BBB is no longer credible. They now have "Accredited" memberships that companies can pay to join into the BBB. Guess what happens with a company that has a bad rating on BBB after they pay for accreditation, overnight they go from "F" to "A".

20/20 just did a whole story on it, huge scam.

Here's a good place to go and post your complaint.
http://www.dealerrater.com/

Definitely post the name of the dearership and sales rep on here, it's amazing the random things I have Googled related to cars that have brought me back to the MUD.
 
r2m said:
Sorry for presuming upon leaving my mechanics name and contact info, is it OK to promote a good vendor?
Click to expand...

What would be nice is a trusted repair facility sticky list. Lets get the word out on the good ones and squash the crooks.
 
He did say none of this was urgent to get done, and did not pressure me with your truck is going to fall apart if you dont... I am not really that shocked at their prices- I called another local dealer and they quoted within a few $ the same price for the CV boots - they are just reading off their software. I just took this for a dealer, being a dealer - thought it was entertaining that they actually have people pay this. I do want to look at the high pressure power steering hose.. and get a quote from CDAN when I order my shocks from him (I am going to give it a go myself - I know I can do the fronts)... I am just curious on this. I cant say I have ever held a foot long $900 hose (the pun is not lost on me here!).

The dealer mentality is just strange to me. I needed a trim piece and I walked into my local dealership and they quoted me a price of $100 which is (I believe) over MSRP from Toyota and had it in stock . CDAN wanted $65 + shipping. Instead of waiting 3 days I figured I would just go ahead and get and install it that day. I told him I knew I could get it online for about $75 including shipping and would he sell it for $80 and he told me no, the price is the price... so he lost the sale. If another dealership can make money at $65 - why wouldn't this joker sell it at $80? Is 50% profit margin not enough and he needs to shoot for 120%? I just don't get it.
 
bamachem said:
1. Glad you're not falling for it.

2. Post the dealer name, and if possible, the service advisor that fed you that line of bull. When people google the dealer name or the service writer's name, this thread will then pop up. Google is your friend... when you're HONEST.

3. OEM shocks are $29 each, and take all of 20-min each to change. Most of that time is consumed by jacking up each side and removing the wheel so you can get in there to work. Fronts are cake and a half-banana job at most.

4. You should write a STERNLY worded letter to the manager/owner of the dealership how his service advisor was attempting to STEAL your money on the fluid changes, shock prices, etc and how you intend to file your letter with the BBB and Toyota corp. Make sure to include your phone number so he can call you and offer a bribe, er I mean "discount" for your next visit. Use the coupon he gives you for parts, then take them and put them on yourself or get another shop to do the labor.

5. Good luck in your search for a DECENT, HONEST shop.
Click to expand...

OEM shocks are $29 ea when you know a place that gives a great discount. At that dealership they are likely full retail. And while they make take you 20 minutes to replace, according to the hour book they may bill out at 2 hours of labor.

You do understand that it's a business's job to make money and it's a service department's job to point out things that could need repair? They're not forcing you to do it. They advise you. I think it's even in their job title. They don't know when it's going to fail, if it even is. But you can sure as hell bet if they didn't mention the problem and it did fail, it's their fault for not catching it.

What exactly is your sternly worded letter going to say? "Your dealership tried to point out problems for repair that could case me bigger problems later. Then they had the audacity not to read my mind or check the thousands of parts they sell to see if I'd purchased coolant from them. Furthermore, they want to charge me a normal price for shocks and they don't know that I know Dan. How dare they."
 
Coastal I think you have a case of Stockholm syndrome.:) That service rep is a crook working for crooks, hands down.

Unfortunately that's the way of the dealerships, with reliable modern engines the only way the shops can make any money these days is to perform unnecessary fluid changes and fix leaks that don't really exist. It's quick, high profit service. All they can do is "preventative care" and use fear to convince you to pay for it.

The sad part is that we don't become outraged by this, we've come to accept it.
 
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Keep in mind that the Stealer's (I mean Dealers) computer spits out maintenance needed based on miles. Unless you tell them what service has been done, they don't have record of fluid & plug changes and will recommend such items. leaks can be confusing, that is where and experienced mechanics' worth really shins.

Strange your not seeing oil on the garage floor. Perhaps they all started while at the Dealer... LOL
 
Trunk Monkey said:
What exactly is your sternly worded letter going to say? "Your dealership tried to point out problems for repair that could case me bigger problems later. Then they had the audacity not to read my mind or check the thousands of parts they sell to see if I'd purchased coolant from them. Furthermore, they want to charge me a normal price for shocks and they don't know that I know Dan. How dare they."
Click to expand...

I would hope that checking the fluids, that the tech would know what to look for to be able to tell if the fluids need to be changed, e.g. dirty coolant or oil etc. They don’t have to check the customers purchase log figure that out. Although, this brings up a point, if they did check you fluids and they are dirty, and you did just change them, perhaps, there is a bigger issue than that going on. I truly hope not for your sake (read: wallet).
 
That's really a bummer and sorry to hear about all that. I would still write a letter to the manager and perhaps even Toyota directly, if you want it documented.


Trunk Monkey said:
But you can sure as hell bet if they didn't mention the problem and it did fail, it's their fault for not catching it.
Click to expand...

Is this in their job title as well?

I'm not trying to stir things up but I had a bad experience where this was the case (drive shaft u-joint), and it was back and forth with BBB and credit card companies from there.
 
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