My dealer quoted me $91 to make the change. I just picked the vehicle up yesterday (Sunday, service was closed). At the time I asked the sales guy and he said they could make the change no problem. I suggested to the service guy today that this should be part of "dealer prep" but he said "it's $91 any time they hook up the laptop." Does anyone think it's reasonable to pay for this service on a new vehicle?
I sent my dealer the list of settings I want. When I take delivery I will make sure they were performed. Once you take delivery you lose a lot of mojo. (one of the problems of Sunday delivery) My suggestion is to call the sales manager (might not be easy to get to, but keep trying) and ask him to intervene. May work. If not, there is always small claims court.
I don't think it's reasonable to be charged for this. I gave my dealer a list of customization setting I wanted performed before I took delivery, and they did it gratis. When I couldn't change the auto door unlock/lock settings using the owners manual instructions, they changed them using their system--again gratis. They told me their policy is to make any changes for no charge, but if you wanted it changed back, there's a charge.
Thanks folks– I'm first going to try the sales guy then, if necessary, the sales manager and toyota usa.
If your call to the sales manager or general manager of the dealership and Toyota fail to produce results small claims court may be a good option if you have the time. You should also find out what the law in your state is concerning returning the vehicle, some states give you 3 days, or maybe 3 business days, to change your mind. I'm not suggesting you actually return it but if your state has such a law it might be good to let this dealership know you are aware of it. Your state Attorney General's web site might be a good place to look. If dealerships are going to charge for setting up predelivery customization options they need to tell people in advance. This is a ridiculous rip off, I don't think they could come up with a better plan to anger good customers if they tried.
Toyota dealers should do what Lexus dealers do. Lexus used to have a free 1000 mile checkup that was just a way to get you in to the service department, in hopes that you'd return as a paying customer in the future. Eventually they did away with the 1000 mile checkup in favor of "Lexus Personalized Settings." The owner would fill out a checklist of settings they wanted changed, go to the dealer, and the first change of the settings is a freebie. Get them in, treat them nice, get them coming back as paying customers. The nice thing about Lexus Personalized Settings, though, is the Dove Bars and Starbucks coffee free in the customer lounge.
My dealer changed the beeps and the headlight delay for Free. The car had about 300 miles on it, I just made and appointment and told them what I wanted changed.
Well the sales guy was no help- I'm going to try the sales manger tomorrow. I suspect they will resolve this based on other folks' experience. Also, we've been very good customers– this is our second vehicle and we use the dealer for service as well. It would be very short-sighted to charge us $91 for a few mins. with the laptop!
When I was doing the deal for my 2010 III I asked that they have the reverse beep set to one beep instead of repeated beeping before I take delivery and was given the same "service manager says we can't because it is a liability issue poop." Thanks to these forums I was able to point out that it is listed as customizable in chapter 6 section 2 of the manual. The sales guy said to remind him when he calls me to let me know the car is ready and he'll take it up with the service manager then. Instead of waiting I emailed him a PDF of 6.2 from the manual which I downloaded from toyotaownersonline dot com (sorry, not allowed to post actual links yet because I still suffer from noob status here.) I've attached the PDF so others can easily grab it and send it to their dealers. This'll save you the trouble of creating a toyotaownersonline dot com and searching for the PDF there, but I recommend creating an account there anyway. There is some good stuff available there despite a few technical deficiencies in the site itself.
Thanks much for that! And thanks also for the nudge to get over to the owner's website. Any idea how to get the whole manual from that site though? All I can see to find is the search function which only brings me a few pieces at a time. I'd just like to see the whole thing (preferably in one file) so I can download and save it for future reference. Thanks!
You can also access the manual through a paid subscription to the Toyota Technical Info. site, but it's still chopped into small pdf pieces. https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInf...Oc%3d&TARGET=$SM$https://techinfo.toyota.com/
Stuck in 2009 soak them for every dollar thinking. With it cut into pieces, and at $10 a day or $350 a year for a subscription, they're making some money, and making it harder for us to violate their copyright.
Yes but not their service manuals. But of course no automaker that I know of offers them for free. Peter
I'm so confused. So you *can* get it as one big honking file through a paid site? I thought you were saying they kept it as separate files because it somehow makes them more money that way via a paid site, so I pointed out that you can get them via a free site to say that I doubt $ as the reason for not providing one big file. *scratches head. looks confused.*
You can't get it as one big pdf file even on the pay site. But at $10 a day it may take you a lot of days to download all the little pieces. And then you have a bunch of pieces that can't easily be shared around. You're way over-thinking this. His comment - no big file is so 1997. My comment - all the little pieces make them money on the subscription and create a roadblock to copyright violations. Nothing more than that. And sure, you can still get all the little pieces for free, if you come up with enough different search terms that cause a link to every piece to appear.