I took delivery of my new box March 30, 2006. The "negotiations" with the dealer were a little 'contentious' at times, but for the most part the transaction went smoothly.
My brother is the service manager at a dealer(not scion), and has been for over 15 years. So he knows the business pretty well. He drag races weekly, and built an 11 second car, so he knows cars too. So do i, but have been working on my own cars less and less, as time and ambition(as in lack of both) discourage it. I have a few cars that i bought where my brother works, and service for those is not an issue. I drop it off, he gives me his company vehicle to use, he has the work done, and i pay a VERY reasonable rate for any labor charges i incur. I guess that kind of spoiled me.
I have learned a number of things from my brother. One thing is to develop a relationship with the dealer service department. So when i bought the box, i took it to the dealer for all of the work. Instead of changing the oil myself, i spent a bit more and spent a little more time and took it to the dealer. Ditto for inspections. I made sure to give them good marks on all the surveys. In other words, i did my part to be a "good" customer.
So, being that it was coming due for PA state inspection, i made an appt with the dealership. Told them i wanted an inspection, oil change, tire rotation, and also, since they would have the car on the lift and the tires off, to adjust the rear brakes because the handbrake was going up pretty far before it engaged fully. My wife was off on presidents day, so she took it there and waited.
So i get a call yesterday afternoon from my wife at the dealer. The car passed inspection (good, it should, it only has 27K miles on it) HOWEVER, they wanted $60 to "Clean and adjust the rear brakes". I told her that i was OK with the brakes being dirts, that i just wanted them to take the2 mins per wheel to adjust them out a little. No dice, 60 bucks, so i said "forget that"
But it gets better!! they also told her that the box needed the following:
Brake fluid flush and replace
Manual trans-flush and replace
Power steering fluid-flush and replace
Throttle body cleaning service
They would be happy to perform those service right away for only $481!!!!
Now, my wife knows enough about cars to know she was getting fed a pile of crap, she was mainly calling to see if i wanted to pay the 60 bucks for the brake adjustment. I told her to get the oil change, inspection,a nd tire rotation done and get the hell out of there! SHe told me they tried to charge her 19.95 for the tire rotation. When she complained that they have to take the tires off anyway for state inspection, they cut it in half!

Now, i understand a dealer has to make a profit. However, there is such a thing as rewarding loyalty and cutting someone a break. Because of the inspection process, adjusting those rear brakes would have taken no more than a total of 5 mins. if they had charged me 10 bucks for that, i would have been fine with that. 2 bucks a minute aint bad! That in itself ____ed me off. BUt the attempted screwing for all of that other nonsense was just insulting. the car has 27,000 friggin EASY miles on it. It doesn't need all of that crap.
IMO, that is NOT how you treat a good customer. Before this, i was willing to pay the $250 and let them do the 30K service when it comes due. Not now. The only reason i will set foot back into that dealership service department is for warranty work only. In fact, since i have a toyota extended warranty, i may even find another dealer to do the warranty work.
Stupid. Just plain stupid.

 

Man that sucks, yea I have done the same taken my car in to the same dealership for everything. But, they have been good to me. They adjusted my brakes without even asking me and didn't even charge me. Also when I got my state inspection they did it for free. I guess with the economy today they are trying to get whatever money they can. That sucks that they would try to charge you for all of that.

 

I don't know how often these threads come up.

Let me just say it this way.
You are not having a gun put to your head saying "do this or else" It's the cost of doing business. Don't like the price? Don't do it. If you take your car to oil express or whatever, and ask for a trans flush and fill, they're gonna charge you at least 80.

It just seems overly expensive because that they were offering several services. It's recommended maintenance, you don't NEED to do it.

Some people have money and they pay it. You don't wanna pay that? Then don't. It's not a RIPOFF, or some grand conspiracy.

 

check and verify then learn how to wherever possible....

 

Ah the heck with it. I had a whole response here, but in the end, it just isn't worth it. You are entitled to your opinion.

 

they gotta feed their family too. it doesn't hurt to do preventative maintenance. what if you were a person that did want all of that done? they just lost $500 by not asking.

you're blowing this out of proportion my man. they didn't just do it without your consent and then try to charge you or something. they asked if you wanted it. a simple no is all that's needed.

this is why i just do all of my maintenance myself. no dealership hassles whatsoever.

 

But my point was that a GOOD dealership, who wants a long term business relationship will NOT recommend work that is not needed. My box, at 27K miles, did not need that work done. Recommending unneeded work is no way to build trust. If i can't trust a dealer, then i don't want them working on my car. If my car NEEDS something, by all means tell me, but don't try to sell me throttle body cleaning on a clean throttle body(i looked), or power steering and brake fluid flushes on a 27K mile car.

A simple is all they got, my wife told them "no thanks". But i will not return to that service department, and in all likelyhood i will start doing my own mtse again. They recommended totally unneeded service, and i can no longer trust anything they tell me.

 

It has nothing to do with NEEDS.
Those are RECOMMENDED services, meaning, we can do this, if you want. They never said you NEEDED to do it.

Any other Scion/Toyota dealership will offer these RECOMMENDED services.

You'd have a point if they just did it and charged you for it, that would be bogus. Any mechanic will try and sell you additional services. Go get an oil change at a quick lube and I guarantee they will try to sell you a trans flush and a new air filter.

 

Recommended by WHO? For what purpose? They are not recommended by Scion. The only thing close to being recommended by Scion is a sever duty 30K manual tranny flush and fill. My box hardly qualifies for severe duty.
The service advisors words were "You NEED these services". I heard the words spoken very clearly to me over the phone.
Using your rationale, they could have recommended i replace my front pads, soince after 27K miles, they showed some wear. They could have recommended i replace my battery, becasue after all it is nearly 3 years old.
Like i said in my previous post, i asked my brother, who is a dealer service manager, and he was blunt. "They were trying hose you". Maybe after 50-60-70K miles, a PS fluid flush, brake fluid flush, or TB cleaning might make sense. He told me they usually start recommending them around 60K. But not after 27K miles. While the service they told me i NEEDED would not have hurt the car, they were not necessary and would only have served to lighten my wallet by over $400.
I want to be able to trust someone who works on my car. Part of that trust is not 'recommending' things unless they are TRULY needed. That wasn't the case here. Now, i can't speak for other Scion dealers, but i know that the domestic dealer my brother runs service does not do that, and the smart dealer also does not do that. Perhaps it's OK for you to have a dealer 'recommend' all sorts of unneeded services, but i think it unethical, and won't do business with them because of that

In fact, i took the smart to the dealer becasue the side mirror glass had cracked and needed replaced. Dealer only item. I went there and i had my car back in 15 minutes. The advisor told me"replacing the mirror only took the tech a few minutes, there won't be any labot charge for that". Unexpected but appreciated.

 

Times are tough. They need money to stay open. Say no and move on with life. Its not like they'll void your warranty if you don't do it. Plus your at 27K. The recommendation of changing your tranny fluid is not outrageous. Their only changing it 3,000 miles early.

Like Burst said. If they did it without you knowing, Ripoff. They just recommended it.

 

They tried to rape u


BUT

Training a toyota tech is significantly higher than some kid at quicky lube that
Worked at auntie annies pretzels last week

 

So then it's OK to tell your customers they need services that they really don't need, because times are tough. mmmmmmmkay
I said that the tranny flush and fill WAS the only borderline honest recommendation.
Maybe it's a generational thing, to me what they did was unethical. How many people who DON'T know that much about cars would do it just because the dealer says to?
Yea, i know, shame on them for being stupid.

 

I agree 100%, that's why i stay away from those places. The dealer charges $74/hour, and i have no issue with their hourly rate, only with their ethics and customer relations.
My sons brother in law is a tech at a toyota dealer, he also says they were trying to screw me..LOL

Agree or disagree with me, it still feels good to vent!

 

Now if you were the one taking your box in and having the work done do you think they would have offered so much? Or were they offering all of those "needed" services because your wife was there? Something to consider at least... since YOU are the one who has been trying to build this relationship with them... not your wife.

And like others have said, I think you're blowing this up a bit much. Like I said, it was your wife that was there, not you. She likely doesn't have much of a rep with them. And they're just being like EVERY other service department and auto shop out there in offering services they think you might need or want to sell you.

Sure, you expect it more from a Monroe or something like that... but "stealerships" (I REALLY hate that word - like when people use M$ for Microsoft) do it too - and they all vary. I get treated well at my dealership but I never EXPECT it or think I deserve it. If it works out that way, it makes my day better.

I go to the dealer expecting to be screwed. It's a nice change when it doesn't happen but meets expectations when it does.

 

Thats an interesting point. The service receipt had my name on it, but it's possible they would have behaved differently had they actually seen me bring the car in.
Thanks for that insight.

 

Good dealership?? trust a dealer?? that's just funny to me.

 

At 27k this stuff is completely unnecessary. They tried to rip you off and anybody who thinks theses items should be done at 27k has either got too much time or too much money or both.

 

i thought you are NOT supposed to flush your tranny at all. only drain and refill.

 

And some people who do not really have the money AND are not as knowledgeable get RIPPED OFF.

Robert

 

ive worked im a # of auto shops as a tech.
ill tell you this, i don't trust meny of them.
thats why i do ALL my own work.
go to a cheep place if you want, i would never.
and sometimes crap happens.