why not more sharing of info about good mechanics/service?

I think one of the reasons is that we don't have access to the mech. at the dealership. As we all know, when the car is being worked on, we sit in the waiting area with TV, coffee, and magazines. After the work is done, we just drive the car away without seeing the mech.

The first oil change at the dealer, I noticed it's overfilled and request to see the mech. that worked on my car, but I was directed to the service writer instead.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ScottY @ Jul 26 2006, 04:49 PM) [snapback]292782[/snapback]</div>

IMHO, if you believe something was done incorrectly, you have every right to speak to the service manager, not the writer. The overfilling of oil on the Prius is an epidemic - we owe it to ourselves as owners to make sure that we can do everything within our power to protect our investments in a remarkable automobile. If that means providing 3 quarts of 5W30 oil for an oil change, then by all means take that route. If it means writing specific instructions for the service mechanic as to what amount and type of oil to use it would seem logical to do it and check their work. It's a hell of a lot easier to put a little more oil in the car than it is to remove oil from an over-filled car. And remember, it's your car and they (the entire service department) should provide you with the best possible service. I'm having too much fun driving my car to have the experience spoiled by service people who have not received sufficient training to maintain my car.

And think of the Prius owners who, through no fault of their own, went out and bought the car and have not availed themselves of our remarkable community. I think some responsibility lies with Toyota in this area - there should be more customer "training" about how to operate and maintain the car through a website or dealer outreach.

End of rant...

 

I think this lack of sharing has to do with two things: first, while there are a high number of membrs here, not everyone frequents the board reguarly, and everyone's from different parts of the country, leading to (for example), me not being able to answer questions about any dealers anywhere but cleveland and (now) minnesota.

The second fact to point out is that it can be difficult to get people to praise one place. As anyone in marketing can tell you (especially for service oriented organizations, like mechanics), good performance tends to get lost in the background noise, while mistakes and problems are first on your mind. So if i go to a dealer and have the oil changed, i'm not necissarily thinking "well, they put in the exact right amount of oil", instead i'm thinking "why did it take them 45 min?".

to look at it another way, how often have you gone into work (usually on mondays) and overheard people complaining about something? "my AC broke again on saturday, never call company XX out to fix your AC, they do horrible work". compare that to the number of praises about a company... i'd put an example here, but none come to mind . an interesting exercise is to get a group together and have them tell their "horror" stories about poor service, then switch it around and have them tell the times they got good service... Everyone will be volunteering info about the horror stories, but you'll have to drag good stories out of them.

So in short, i think the main reason is that we simply don't notice the good service we may be getting.

 

I agree with what eagle said and just wanted to add my own twist on it. I think it's much harder for a service job to get a "great" rating than to get a "terrible" rating. For example, I have had one experience with my local Toyota dealer (for the 5K mile service). They rotated the tires and changed the oil (and didn't overfill it). Basically, they did what they were supposed to do, and they did it fine. I don't feel like I have enough experience with them to say, "You all should go to this dealer! They're great!" I've only had one experience with them, so maybe I just got lucky.

On the other hand, if I had had an unpleasant experience with them, I might have posted here talking about it. Even though I try to be objective, I can't help but think I might have posted something saying, "be wary of them" . . .

 

Overall, we see a lot more complaints about service departments than
praise. Think of it this way: it's sort of an infrastructure job.
Just like people who maintain computers or air conditioners or
whatever -- when everything works people don't say anything, but
when something breaks [or stays broken] then you really hear about
it. So PC is full of nightmarish service stories, and relatively
few positive reports.
.
_H*

 

people like drama. there is no drama in a job simply done right. (hate to say it but that's human nature for ya)

so only when something is done way above and beyond what is expected are people impressed/motivated to say anything about it.

and even when something goes wrong and it's fixed quickly and correctly, the owner is still pissed about the something that went wrong and considers the whole thing a negative experience.

 

For the best group, I can mention Eric Foster and Andy Chou at Toyota of Claremont CA. Mike Beyer (IFixEm here) at Toyota of Olympia WA. David Griffin at Toyota of Vancouver WA.

For the 'OK' group, Power Toyota of Buena Park CA.

For the 'no so good' group, Beaver Toyota of Santa Fe NM. Note that this is based on only one experience and it is not entirely fair to condemn without additional data.

There may be a spreadsheet or something similar on PriusChat where we could compile this sort of info?

 

galaxee is correct. Everyone expects a great job. Therefore, complaints are the norm.

I am wondering how I would ever get to know my mechanic at the local dealer. Suggestions?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Lil Mo @ Jul 27 2006, 07:42 PM) [snapback]293508[/snapback]</div>

if you haven't checked out this post, it may help. http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=16494&hl=

dealerships should let you talk to your tech should you request to do so. most will. some won't for whatever reason. but you have the right to talk to the person who works on your car.

 

And here my story comes.
Not to long ago I have to different services done, the most recent one was for the ssc 60c and I have no more than praise and congratullations for the service facility at Atlantic Toyota in Hempstead NY and his Prius technician/mechanic Albert, a great professional; but in the first encounter with Millennium Toyota in Amityville NY, the service counselors where almost avoiding my phone calls, unresponsive to the customers need and requests, their Mickey mouse "technician", always with an attitude of magnificence, an incompetent in the field.
I had to get involved Toyota Headquarters in CA and after several phone calls to Key personnel they assigned the regional field engineer to complete the troubleshooting on my vehicle in person and unfortunately this "mechanic" completed the repairs by himself in my vehicle after 10 total long days of keeping it in their gorgeous facilities.
Now, after several weeks I'm encountering certain electrical discrepancies, some voltages are randomly changing from the standards ( thanks to CANView monitoring and data tracking) and my fuel economy dropped at least 15 after having the HECU replaced.
Millennium Toyota, Amityville NY, is not the place to have your Prius vehicle repair if the necessity arises :angry: besides tire rotation and oil changes. For other types of Toyota model vehicles I can not comment or advice.
We should have an "STICKY" indicating the good and the bad Service Facilities, the ones to avoid and hopefully TSM will monitor the thread and take the appropriate corrective measures for everybody peace of mind.

 

I've had good, consistent experience with "Oriental Imports" in Allston, MA. They always tell me I can bring cars in when other garages tell me there's a wait for the same jobs. I've never had a problem with a repair there, except for one time:

My 11 year old Camry wagon with ~140k miles on it was having a minor problem with the coolant temp gauge spiking. They said they couldn't really find a problem, but a little while later, the temp gauge pegged while driving. I stopped and checked the coolant level, and whaddya know, it was empty and the radiator was nearly dry.

So I'm left with two questions:

1. Am I really dumb enough to take a car to the shop before I check the coolant when the temp gauge goes up?
2. Is the mechanic really dumb enough to not check the coolant level when the car is in the shop for a coolant-related problem like that?

Maybe just a slow leak in the system somewhehre. No drips on the driveway, but maybe while it's running...

p.s. I don't know if they can do anything other than basic simple stuff for the Prius, but now that I think of it, how much can we have done to the Prius at a "regular" mechanic, and when do we need to take it to the dealer's service department?

 

Maybe it's just a lack of good mechanics

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Lil Mo @ Jul 27 2006, 07:42 PM) [snapback]293508[/snapback]</div>

Only when I can CHOOSE who works on my car will I go to the dealer.

Our local Acura dealership had a well know NSX expert, twice I requested the mechanic, twice someone else worked on my car. Both times my car was cosmetically damaged due to willful neglect.

After years of searching for a BMW mechanic (and barely surviving the search) we finally found an independent that will usually fix things properly and not leave collateral damage.

Consequently, I'm doing all the routine maintenance, and only taking our vehicles to the dealer when I'm out of options.

My disgust with dealership mechanics is one reason I bought a *reliable* Toyota.

 

One thing you can do, though it's no guarantee, is to go to the Toyota.com web site and do a dealer search for your zip code/city. Look in the list that comes up for Signature and President's Club dealers. Both brandings are indications from Toyota that the dealer has good customer satisfaction ratings.

That said, McCord's Vancouver Toyota, where I bought my car and a Signature dealer, did not follow Toyota procedure for the SSC 60C recall, and the service director never answered my email. They can change the oil OK, but they always screw with the tire pressure. Never let them wash your car unless you want to give it an acid bath to remove the water spots.

I'm going to a President's Club dealer next time. We'll see...

 

<_< I *HAVE* shared my "good service" experiences and here it is again... of potential interest to Prius owners in the Dallas TX area.

My Prius was purchased in Houston and "imported" to Dallas. First "rattle out of the box" I needed minor warranty service (panel lights not working due to a disconnected cable behind the dash." Toyota of Richardson fixed the problem promptly. Next, I need installation of body side moulding I purchased online - Toyota of Richardson's affiliated body shop installed it in about 35 minutes without charge.

Since I have had the 5,000 mile service procedures done there at fair prices, using the oil I provide (3½ qts Mobil-1 5W30 - to assure NO OVERFILL), their filter, tire rotation (they used my requested tire pressures - 40 psi front/ 38 rear) and some SSC's when due as well as warranty items (center console lid fabric problem). My 20K service cost was ~$45 plus the oil I furnished. My Prius was delivered to the ramp freshly washed.

The Assistant Svc. Manager is very well acquainted with Prius peculiarities. To you in the area, here's a shot of Mickey Hagar's business card - I recommend him and Toyota of Richardson.
[attachmentid=4276][attachmentid=4276][attachmentid=4277]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ Jul 27 2006, 01:50 PM) [snapback]293291[/snapback]</div>

I'd like to offer an alternative opinion of Beaver Toyota here in Santa Fe. My wife and I purchased my '04 Prius, as well as our '03 Taco, at Beaver and have maintenance for both performed there as well. We were quite happy with the purchase experience and have been consistently pleased with the promptness and quality of the service. And evidently, others share our opinion. Beaver has twice won Presidential Awards and was recently voted best car dealership in Santa Fe - and has for several years in a row - in the Santa Fe Reporter's annual Best of Santa Fe readership poll.

As an illustration, let me recount a bit of our purchase experience. We negotiated both the Prius and the Taco at the same time, drove off the lot with the Taco and put the Prius on order. Naturally, there was no dealing on the Prius - strictly MSRP - but they gave us a very good price on the Taco - about $4K off sticker - and an extraordinary trade-in on a really beat up Outback. This was in late Sept '03 and we were driving the Prius by early Nov, which for the time was a helluva good turn around.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Jul 28 2006, 02:30 PM) [snapback]293909[/snapback]</div>

This is the kind of feedback that is needed in this thread, praise the outstanding and avoid ( condemm) the "other" ones !!!font]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mrbigh @ Jul 28 2006, 11:43 PM) [snapback]294164[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'>
Yes, this is good and positive info, but what good does it do to anyone that isn’t in Texas. Also negative responses are of great value if they are constructed in a useful way. I’m sure that many people besides me have benefited from someone’s negative experiences. Let’s not rule out some good just because we may need to put up with some BS. After all, what we don’t want to do is limit our thoughts and selective reading is the same as burning the books that you think you don’t like just by looking at the cover. Read them first, then burn them [/b]

 

I know its a long drive for most of you but your never know when one of you might be visiting up here. I now have nothing but the greatest praise for the excellent service provided by Nanaimo Toyota service department up here on Vancouver Island,BC. And yes, I can talk to the mechanic anytime I wish but cannot be in the service area for obvious insurance reasons. He often comes out to the vehicle before and/or after servicing to discuss anything I might have a question about.
Gary