Can't trust anyone but myself for maint.

Sorry to hear about that... it really is a shame and too bad Toyota doesn't come down harder to the flippen stealerships.

The good news is, the maintenance is generally pretty easy to do.

 

Please report this dealer to the Toyota Customer Experience phone line. They need to be slammed hard. Toyota should replace the entire cover free of charge.

I've always done most of my own maintenance, partially for cost but mostly for quality.

 

I had a similar experience with my dealership. I tried to "develop a relationship" since this was my first Toyota. Each time they service the car I had to put it up on ramps and check behind them. Each time they were plastic pins missing from the oil and filter access door, the tire pressure was way off of where I had requested, the tire lug nuts were way too tight and the oil filter was way overtightened.

I have now taken over the maintenance and will not go back to the dealer except for warranty type issues.

Toyota really does need to get control of their dealerships. I do not have any of these issues with the local Honda dealership and my wife's car.

 

Every oil change in my RAV4 was overfilled. A few times they put incorrect oil in. Every time I talked to them they denied anything was done wrong. The only oil change I had in Prius seems fine except oil is surprisingly dark at 4000 miles. Not sure if synthetic was used, I was told they use Mobil 1 0W20. I plan to do my own oil changes after the free ones.

 

Synthetic shouldn't be dark at 4000 miles. They probably put in 5W30 conventional. It might be interesting if you pulled a few oil samples for analysis out of the free changes.

 

Taylor's Auto in Sanford NC is a reliable Prius repair shop.

JeffD

 

Can't blame capitalism on the face of it...greed, yes, but not every dealer operates in this manner. I have little doubt the one near me does, however, and its these types that are ruining it for the rest. They should be ostracized.

 

Seems like southeast is a trouble area. I think if you plastered your Prius with NASCAR stickers and wore some Camo when you took it in....you'd get some respect....maybe have a tin of Copenhagen bulging in your rear pocket!!!

 

Lucky for you that you only have to make that trip once or twice a year!

 

They will gladly do this at $4 per pin at the one near me. That said, the local Napa just ordered (none in the area had them stocked) the small and large push pins. I believe they came out to roughly $1 each, retail price, in a 4 pack. It's inevitable that I'm going to bust a few of those dadgum things each time I'm under the car doing something.

 

Interestingly, the 2 times I've been at my dealer for warranty work, they never tried to sell me on anything else. They asked if there was anything I needed done, but never tried to push anything. I was actually pretty impressed by that, and the one writer even claimed they sell and work on a lot of Prius. Even the sales guy when I got my car wasn't pushy, which was a shock. Maybe I've just been lucky.

 

BTW, my dealer is rated #1 in customer satisfaction locally. I guess know why, after my first complaint, they put me on a black list of sort and I'm not getting any requests anymore to provide feedback about service done.

 

Interesting this issue came up.

After hearing multiple horror stories committed by inept/dishonest dealerships- I decided even before I took delivery of my 2012 Pirus last weekend that I will be doing all the routine maintenance on it- not the stealership. A week before I had the car- I had a jug of 0W-20 Mobile One, the special filter removal tool, three TRD filter cartridges, ten crush washers and a magnetic drain plug on hand.
First and foremost in my decision process- I could easily imagine them filling it with conventional oil rather than synthetic and making a sweet profit on the difference. Then I read about broken panels, missing fasteners, dirty floor mats, dirty seats, etc.. No thank you!

If I can afford spend $30K on a new car- I can afford $27 for a jug of Mobile One at Walmart and $8 for a Toyota TRD filter every 10K mi. At a bare minimum- I'll at least know I'm running with the correct type of oil.

FWIW- it's not just limited to Toyota dealerships- a work associate drove his Honda .5mi to his house after his "free" oil change from the dealership. When he got home and checked the level- the new oil didn't even reach the bottom of the dipstick! Later on he told me he added a full four quarts....

 

i had my car serviced at johnstons toyota, everything seemed ok until i got home and checked the work they did, my tires on the service sheet said they aired them up to 32lbs all around which is incorrect to begin with,the fact is they were 44 rear and 42 front,they tightened the lugs past 125ft lbs,i checked with a torque wrench, then the real kicker,they never changed the oil as they said they did,what the hell, i called toyota customer service, i will never call them for any issue again,they were totally useless, so as other people i will never allow my car in the dealership, for any service free or not,if it wasnt that my wife loves this car as much as she does it would be gone, because now im at the point i do not trust so called toyota techs to go any were near my car, they seem to hire what i call street mechanics,with very little knowlege on how to service or make repairs

 

I have my share of bad dealings with dealerships and garages over the years. And not happy with the idea of dealing with any of the Toyota dealers in Northern Virginia for my free or paid service. Profit motive seems as another poster mentioned trumps customer service.

I am in the situation that I bought my car from a dealer 50 miles away that I think I can trust; but too far for service for me. I am thinking of asking the local dealer i choose for service to show me the undercarriage before and after the oil change. To show me the inflation level of the tires, and show the torquing of the wheels before I leave the dealership. I have already learned from the past to discretely mark my wheels to be sure they have been rotated - learned this after one dealer on a Honda did not, and the only way I knew was due to a scratch on the front rim.

Wish I knew where a mechanic that I onced used went off to after the gas station he worked at was torn down for urban renewal in the Merrifield area. He encouraged folks to care about the work he did.

 

Moping about capitalism isn't going to fix it, though, since people are inherently greedy. This is just base human nature (only few people manage to rise above it). Toyota needs to implement a public merit/rating system for their dealers that they themselves maintain (they already have a dealer section at http://www.toyota.com/dealers/ so most of the work is done) ...this would get them into shape real quick methinks.

 

You are right that Toyota needs to maintain the rating system. The only time that I have received an email survey for service has been after a visit where nothing went wrong. On the ones that I have had to go back to the Service Advisor and had anything done again I have interestingly not received a survey request