I took my car for oil change at the dealership. I decided on doing every 3 months not 5k cause I drive too much. And I would have to change the oil every month if I did so. They saw the mileage and saw the maintenance light turned off. So they tried selling me 30k maintenance check up; I declined cause it's 480.00 and I have my car payment to worry about and said I will do it in early June.

All of sudden; they were treating with very rude and became unhelpful. They had the tech come to me and complain to me "You need to take better care of your car. Your tires are bald in the front cause you didn't rotate your tires so you need new tires. If you don't keep up with your maintenance your engine will clog up and cost you 14,000 to fix. And if you don't keep up with 5k oil changes you will void your warranty" Then they also stated my clutch will get damage also....when did automatic's have clutches???

I know I need new tires; I knew that for day one...cause those OEM tires suck in the winter and slide in the rain. My plan is to buy summer tires for the OEM alloy wheels and buy cheapie alloy or steel wheels with winter tires for winter. I was going to do that within a month. Everyone here know how much OEM tires suck!

When I had my xA; I never did the 5k oil changes and only did one maintenance check up. They never told me my warranty was going to get voided.

I decided on taking my car to another Toyota dealership in Illinois cause my co-worker's little brother works there and he's good friends with all the Techs. I know he's very close on becoming Toyota Tech; he might even be tech now. So he will help me out getting deals and better service.

I told everyone who knows some knowledge with cars about this...They all said it was BS and they tried banking it because I'm girl. They should of watch out for any car owners with TRD or aftermarket parts in their cars cause they do have some basic knowledge about cars. I knew they were trying to take advanage of me and I saw right through them. I can't wait for the service department's survey phone call: I'm going to tell my true feelings about the service department

I think they might be ____ed off at the fact I bought 1,800 or more on TRD parts and only one: Sport muffler was installed at the dealer. I installed the rest. They would of ripped me off for installation and made huge killing.

I hate Carmax of Kenosha, Wis I take back all the nice things I said about you guys and for now on I will say "You guys suck!"

 

I've been in the auto repair/modification trade for a few years and know enough to know that if you drive 5K miles+ on each oil change you REALLY need to change your oil, plain and simple. If you're taking it over 5K miles between oil changes you are putting excessive wear on you engine. Also, if you're at the point that you need to service an automatic transmission, you should or it'll end up costing you a whole new transmission because, yes, automatic transmissions DO have clutches and if the transmission is not serviced you'll end up with a slushbox piece of crap transmission. There's a set of clutches and steels for each gear in the auto and the electronics/hydraulic controls in the transmission control which ones engage at what time. Dirty trans fluid will screw you if you let it go too far, especially if it is the first trans fluid change). If it is at that mileage that a trans service, coolant flush, timing belt, belts, hoses, etc. is due to be changed.....DO IT. Mileage = Wear]. Time doesn't (unless you don't drive your car much). Money spent on maintenence and upkeep will save you a lot of money in the long run for having to replace an engine or transmission, (or a car if your tires let you down). Not to say you should let the dealer take you for everything in the book they might be trying to throw at you but seriously.....the tC is cheap to buy. If that's the case it shouldn't be that hard to keep up with the cost of taking care of it. Sorry if this sounds objective to your post but I really believe that a well maintained car will take care of you for a long time without major problems unless there is some sort of manufacturer's defect. Defects are covered by the warranty. Wear and tear or hard use is not. I think anyone that is serious about taking care of their car would agree with me.

 

yea the mileage portion of oil changes are not optional....as far as the service it is not required to keep your warranty to have them do a 30k check. ive found out from experience, this is just a very dirty trick dealerships try and pull...the bald tire thing cannot impact your warranty however it is a very dangerous situation and should be taken care of immediately...realistically if you have a mechanic watch your gear oil check the suspension and brakes all the major fluids and make sure your belts are moving and air filter is clean youll be ok

 

I'm not going back to the mechanic; he didn't have to be a d!ck about it...this whole situration got me so upset and made me think of other things at the same time that I actually went to Mitsubishi lot and test drove a '08 Lancer. They actually want to buy the tC for 16,700 from me with 28,xxx miles.

Even if I keep my car; I'm not going back to the dealership. I'm going to another dealer and start fresh. Tires situration; I'm going to shop around and get better deal.

 

The only maintenance i would do at 30k is

Oil Change
Auto tranny fluid flush
Check all fluids, brakes, and tires.

 

Yes, the OEM tires are pretty bad. If you buy a good set of all season tires, you won't need steelies and winter tires for winter. Lastly, be sure to rotate your tires. I rotate mine every 3,500-4K. (Just to be safe.) If you know somebody with a jack, they can rotate them in about 15 mins. for you.

BTW-It sounds like that particular dealership was trying to take advantage of you. It doesn't make sense for them to go off on you just because you do the maintenance at 3 months instead of 5K miles. Good for you for taking it to another dealership for maintenance! Just be sure to tell them what happened at the previous dealership so they don't get any ideas of trying to take advantage of you.

 

ok on the oil change part. I don't change my oil with the light comes on. I change it when it starts changing color. I have gone 1k and need to change my oil, I have also gone 7k with out having to change it. Depends on the oil you use and how you drive. As for the tech coming out that is a BIG NO NO.. at dealership the techs should not becoming out and talking to the the customer like that tech did to you. I would go and called Toyota/Scion Corp. and make a complaint. and as for the 30k Check up. You can do that your self. Its really simple to do and and you will one end up spending about 200 on parts if they are needed...

 

I went to see how much a 20k maintenance was at the dealership, and they quoted me $250!!! I just laughed and walked away. Now the synthetic blend was only $30, so I went ahead and had that done last month, but nothing else at the dealership. DO NOT LET THEM WASH YOUR CAR!...I learned the hard way

 

Absolutely... they don't know how to wash cars... but they get away with it because most people can't tell the difference.

My policy is: never let the dealership touch the car unless it is *absolutely* necessary. Luckily, I think my dealer got the point from just seeing my car (or maybe just the clean engine bay). They didn't do anything except what they were supposed to. Good people.

 

^Yeah, check it. This is what they did. I didn't notice it until I posted these pics up and they made me look stoopid! ...but I fixed it all the next day, yay!

 

OUCH!!! What did they wash the car with... a scouring pad??? Nice drop by the way!!

 

When I was coming back from a walk, they were using brushes and then dried it. I figured the damage was already done.

 

Thanks guys and gals!! :D

I will do the 30k in first week of June and look into tires sometime soon. I know they are both important and I'm going to let the Illinois dealer do the 30k. Take my brother in law with me to the tire shop in Illinois. He knows some people at an customize tire shop that usually gives him deal. They gave my brother deal for single 16 in. tire for 103 bucks including labor. And if I choose to do oil changes every month; I would take the car to 10 minute oil change shop cause I can choose to take the car when I WANT TO and not be told when to bring it in. That's another issue why I haven't kept up with maintenance since I work nights.

The reason why I was interested in winter tires with steelies was the fact they would protect rotors and the OEM alloys easily scrape in snow and ice. All the wheels look like I ran the car into curbs and scrape the hell out of them when I actually driven the car in snow that happened to turn into ice.