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Help! Dealer price gouging servicing ($650 for oil and filters).

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by uart, Mar 28, 2010.

  1. drew_flux

    drew_flux Junior Member

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    Just i guess on the labour rate 1 hour= $110au.so approx 2.5 hours.all other prices seem normal for a dealer
    The fuel filter on au delivered vehicles is a replaceable item at 80k service.same as jap spec. one of the items w603 is sub assembly filter.this is most likely fuel pump sock filter,this is Not a service item,no listing for when it is replaced. however if it was cloged up your permission Should have been asked before replacement.
    On the subject of your warrenty, sounds like you have a dealer based extended warrenty.it will most likely only be warrented at that dealer.part of the contract is that you Will have the vehicle serviced at the dealer. Their maybe some room to move on this depending on how its worded. Just curious where abouts in oz
     
  2. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    You have to remember that things are generally a bit more expensive in Australia due to factors like a smaller market, a bit remote and a dollar value that's a bit lower than US (about 91 cents / USD). But yeah even considering all those thing I thought they were gouging and I probably wont be using them again.
     
  3. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Thanks for the info Drew.

    Re the fuel filter. I doubt it was clogged, there was no mention of any additional work (outside of the standard 80k service) on the job sheet and the car had been running flawlessly.

    Re the warrantee. I'm still not 100% sure that the "must use dealer service" was just for the remainder of the new car warrantee (which had nearly ended when I bought it and has now ended anyway) or if it's also for the Mickey Mouse 3 year warrantee that I got with the used car deal. Since I've now read the fine print for this used car warrantee and found that it covers a maximum of $1000 per "incident" then I figure it's really not worth a lot to me anyway. So I wont feel any obligation to use the dealer again and next service I will shop around. :)

    BTW. I'm in the Newcastle area.
     
  4. drew_flux

    drew_flux Junior Member

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    Uart, no worrys on the info.i dont spend much time with toyota based hybrids.(still at lexus though) If you get stuck for au based info feel free to pm me.im down in sydney,so i bit far for discount parts lol
     
  5. Doorknob

    Doorknob Junior Member

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    sorry, gotta say, you got ripped. Oz is not New Guinea. Prices may be a buck or two higher, but not the price your dealer charged you.

    If I were you, I'd go back to the dealer and DEMAND a refund. Before you go back, do some homework - print out online pricing of each product and go to another dealership, go to their parts department and get a list of prices for all the products.

    Now, armed with that, go back to the dealership that royally reamed you and ask to speak to the manager. Politely ask the manager to explain every cost and justify the prices. Now, pull out your arsenal of data and ask them to justify the 300-600% increase. Demand a refund (reasonable) of the costs. (you can't argue labor).

    Anyhow, if all else fails, politely advise the manager that you'd be glad to provide the information you're currently holding to their customers in line and outside. Oh, and that you'll be reporting them to your commerce department as soon as you get home.
     
  6. sktn77a

    sktn77a Member

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    The warranty is a selling dealer warranty (see the attachment on page 1 if your eyes are good enough) it states that you will "enjoy" their 6 monthly service at a "fixed price"; you need to call them and ask them what that price is (for every service).

    Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about what you've paid already other to let them know you feel it's excessive. Get a written estimate (their "fixed price"?) before each service in future and ask to be called if anything else needs to be done.)
     
  7. kenmce

    kenmce High Voltage Member

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    I wasn't quite able to read the posted copy of the "warranty." However, if you pay $1,300 a year for oil changes, and you can only get back $1,000 on the "warranty", then after the first year you will probably always be losing money by having the "warranty". The odds are good that an '05 Prius won't need that much service.

    Does it have over 200,000 Miles / 320,000 kilometers? Do you use it in some sort of extraordinarily hard service? Do you do a lot of off-road cross country races? Do you have regular weekend contests to see who can run over the most 'roos in a hour or something?


    I can get an oil change with new filter for around $25 US. That's around $ 27 aussie?

    In the US a manufacturer can't require that. However, you're not in the US and this might not be a manufacturer warranty.

    Don't know about the legality, For the dealer it's a nice profit builder. I am wondering if this warranty actually does anything for you. What did you pay for it?

    There is a trick that car dealers sometimes pull over here. They sell you a warranty for something, but if you try to actually make a claim on that warranty it doesn't actually work. It's designed that way. Don't know if you have one of those.
     
  8. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    looks like they did an oil pan gasket replacement, probably a brake fluid flush, in addition to your oil and filters. no idea what the $117 filter assembly is, but you should go back and ask them to show you what you paid that much for. here in the states, the owner of the vehicle has to authorize repairs before they are done, and it sounds like they didn't do that. but i don't know the laws there related to automotive service.

    overall for the work that they did, the cost of labor isn't horrible. the issue is that you did not authorize the additional work.
     
  9. Prius101

    Prius101 Paid off Prius Member

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    I just went in for an oil change and they wanted me to do the 30,000 mile premium service (around $600). The service person told me what they would do and it all sounded good until the price was mentioned. I had the Toyota service recommendation booklet from the car with me and just told them that I couldn't afford what they were suggesting and that I wanted the stuff in the booklet. No problem, they told me the price for that and we went with that.

    Now if I could just get them to leave the same pressure in the tires......
    Haven't gotten around to fixing the tire pressure back yet, and have noticed that (with the nice cold rain we have been having) that mileage is down to around 45mpg.
    It was better in March!! (of course weather was warmer and dryer then too!)
     
  10. haonvren

    haonvren New Member

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    The Australian Toyoto dealership always charges. My 80,000km service in Feb 2011 costed nearly A$800, the labour is well over $300. That was standard maintenance service, no extra parts replacement. On the 90,000km, I got a quote from the dealership for a little over A$300. I bought a voucher online for a silver car service, which does the 100 points check, 2 front wheel alightment, oil and filter change for $49 + 73 (oil and filter cost), more than 90,000km service can cover.
     
  11. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    Even in the US, the MM act does not apply to dealer warranties or extended warranties that you buy. They can pretty much have any terms that you and the seller agree to at contract signing time. MM only applies to manufacturer supplied warranties on new products.

    Extended warranties are actually more like service contracts. If the buyer doesn't meet the terms of the contract, the contract is no longer valid.