First Service experience with new Toyota, 5k miles

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Originally Posted By: NMBurb02
So they reset the maintenance light without actually performing the specified and requested maintenance? Makes sense...


Actually, it does make sense. Toyota has a maintenance due warning dash light that automatically illuminates at close to 5K miles, it the light is not reset, it says on constantly.

Toyota Care pays the dealer for tire rotation every 5K, oil and filter and tire rotation every 10K, for the first 2 yrs or 25K.

JustinH could have paid somewhere around $65-$70.00 dollars for the dealer to change oil and filter, however, Toyota will not reimburse the dealer for the oil change.
 
Yeah, I have no desire in paying one cent in maintenance, if it is included in the Toyota Care plan. Also it is obvious that the dealer wants to do nothing but non-severe service schedule on these vehicles.

I have the car detailed by a local place who does such a nice job, it is 45 dollars for a full detail, inside and out with no swirl marks.

I can do that, or pay 15 to run it through a row of toothbrushes I suppose.

I do not drive a dirty car, and do not like to wash them when it is 100 degrees out.

The buyout is 18k on this vehicle, it is a 24 month lease, with 24k miles allowance. I will pay a fee of 300 dollars to terminate the lease pursuant the contract, then will throw the keys at them.

I did the lease for two years to get away from maintenance 100 percent on one car, and not risk any big repairs as well.

It is costing me far less money to operate a new leased RAV4, than it was to keep up my 40k mile Grand Marquis V8. Also I feel safer with the toyota in the rain, versus the RWD Marquis which was unsafe with even decent tires on it.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You aren't gonna get Mercedes or BMW service on a Toy.
Just ain't gonna happen.
OTOH, some dealers are better than others.
Why not poke around online for ratings of the local Toyota stores and take the car to one that is rated as having a decent service department?


Sure, but they should be able to perform services requested in a reasonably professional manner. There is NO excuse for INCOMPETENT or UNprofessional service. Period.

For the most part finding a honest, competent, and professional
$tealer is WORSE than finding a needle in a haystack.
 
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$45 for a full detail? Most of the decent detailers I know and work with, won't touch one for under $300.

The oil change is only required at 5k if the vehicle is operated under "special operating conditions," such as delivery use, towing, etc. Normal "severe service" does not require an oil change at 5k.

In fact, if you look at the terms of the Toyotacare agreement, additional maintenance that is required by the special operating conditions is NOT covered.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
$45 for a full detail? Most of the decent detailers I know and work with, won't touch one for under $300.

The oil change is only required at 5k if the vehicle is operated under "special operating conditions," such as delivery use, towing, etc. Normal "severe service" does not require an oil change at 5k.

In fact, if you look at the terms of the Toyotacare agreement, additional maintenance that is required by the special operating conditions is NOT covered.


It is nothing like what you do on your vehicles, with a bunch of high dollar products.

Nothing even close to what I get.

The 45 dollars is the basic detail, the full detail is around 100, which includes paint decontamination, and sealant on the outside.

I took my wife's matrix in for full detail, and it was seriously good for a year minus just having it washed and vacuumed.
 
Two hours for few inspections and a tire rotation? Wow! I guess if it's part of the "free" maintenance package they have you by the, you know what, as you're not paying, but after an hour I would've asked for my car back regardless.

I used to go to the dealer when my car was brand new but quickly discovered I didn't have time to deal with their schedule and constant double checking of their work. I do my own maintenance at a fraction of my time and cost.
 
Originally Posted By: RhondaHonda
I've had similar experiences with our Lexus dealer. If our GX is remotely clean I tell them to skip the wash.

I had ours in for the 5k service and asked them to rotate the spare into the mix like the owners manual states but they said they don't do that. I swapped it at home myself.

This is the same dealer that scratched all 5 wheels swapping the tires on our brand new vehicle when we bought it. Of course they didn't replace the spare wheel when they did it so I got to hassle with that when rotating. I swear I can't pay anyone to do something without some issue or problem.


Many dealers don't rotate anymore. With the negative camber these cars have and an owner who went "too long" between rotations spells PITA. The Customer has a rotation done and then starts complaining about vibrations/noise. The dealership doesn't have the time for that nonsense.
 
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Sounds like they wasted two hours of your time for a tire rotation. I would only bring the car in every 10k from now on.
 
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If you like the car, I wouldn't recommend waiting until 10,000 miles to change the oil.

I'm still an advocate of 3000 mile oil changes; probably the only one on this board.
 
Whatever it is, the first oil change should be done by 5,000 miles. There is too much metal parts floating around and even the oil filter will get clogged by these, at least partially. They also put in the bulk 0w-20 and keep it for 10k miles. None the less, Toyota's may start developing some problems from this frugal oil change plan. Cheers brother
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Just another reason why I try and avoid the dealer for anything other than buying a new car. It seems for every positive experience I read or hear about pertaining to car dealerships there's ten negatives.


I dont know about that, it really depends on the dealer. Our local Honda dealer does a good job, at least every time I have been there. They always look at me funny when I request services early but oh well, be glad I am paying customer and do the work.
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
If they can't do a decent job washing the car, would you trust them with an oil change or anything more complicated???


Why? At the Ford dealer I use the tech simply drives around back to the automated carwash and runs it through. Parks it in the spot and that's it. Not a great wash by any means but it cleans basic surface dirt off. And certainly takes no "skill".
 
Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
If they can't do a decent job washing the car, would you trust them with an oil change or anything more complicated???


Why? At the Ford dealer I use the tech simply drives around back to the automated carwash and runs it through. Parks it in the spot and that's it. Not a great wash by any means but it cleans basic surface dirt off. And certainly takes no "skill".


That's what I was thinking, some dealers around here have an automatic wash. Other places I've seen them do a broom style wash, or some kind of quick hand wash. Either way, if it's not through the automatic wash, I don't think it's the technician washing the car, I think it's one of the lot guys or the guy that cleans around the shop.
 
I worked at a number of $tealerships years ago most places that did offer a wash at the store, did them by hand. Of course back in the 80s and earlier very few $tealers at least non premium brands did car washes on service work, this has only become common in the past couple of decades or so.

I never understood it UNLESS the customer spent a LOT of money on service work, perhaps over 1500$, that way you can provide a nice extra touch for your customer that spent a LOT of money and you can give the lot guys plenty of time to do it right. Usually poor work is done because the lot guys don't have enough time to do all the work they have when saddled with doing umpteen service washes by hand as well. Some big places have automatic washes but they are incredibly expensive to buy and maintain, they are always breaking down or parts are wearing out.
 
GM dealer by me sends cars to a high-end full-service car wash down the street. I don't think they do all the cars however, perhaps only the ones that need a road test, or are dirty, or where services have passed a certain cost threshold. The place does a nice job however; I've had mine washed there a few times too.
 
If you're terminating the lease at two years and throwing the keys at the bank, then why spend one moment more on maintenance than what is spelled out in the lease? You seem to be attached to it even though you have no obligation to. You're not keeping it.

The crux of it is that even if you don't do the extra stuff, it will still likely live a LONG HAPPY life.



And Merkava, oil changes at 3k miles on a lease with no plans to buy? Are you crazy? This isn't the 50's... The only thing that will be able to be quantified will be a lightening of the O/P's wallet.
 
Originally Posted By: lawman1909
Welcome to Toyota... My father has a Sienna and they told him 10K miles until the first change. He simply asked why that long since the first oil change is so important and they said the oil is the most "technologically advanced" oil on the market. Found out later it is cheap, bulk 0W-20 oil from a 55 gallon drum. But whatever, I do recommend changing that oil and filter though ASAP.


I’m sorry your father has not taken the time to learn about ToyotaCare, and Toyota oil and filter change interval. This information is available in the owners manual packet.

This nonsense talk about “bulk no name oil” is just that---Nonsense!

Do you happen to know what “cheap, bulk 0W-20 oil” is, and where to buy it?

How long do you think that Honda or Toyota would allow their franchised dealers, dealers who have millions of dollars invested in their business, to use inferior no name oil? Not very long, as we not only sell a car, but a reputation also. Every week a service rep from Toyota is in our shop, ‘snooping” to make sure we are doing things their way.
Car manufactures have revoked the franchise license of dealers, as shown here:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...g=4475,2278981

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/199...ish-dealership

We get a bulk oil delivery twice a week, and a after the deliveryman fills each tank, he fills a small sample bottle, and affixes an “CSI Evidence” type tag label to verify what he put in that tank. The sample is for everyone’s protection, I.e., oil manufacture, oil company, deliveryman, dealership, and customer. In case of problems further down the road, he/we have proof of what was put in our tank.

Take a guess what our “cheap, bulk 0W-20 oil” is. We use bulk Mobil 1 0W-20, and have GTMO in bottles. Are you aware that there is not one iota of difference between bulk oil and bottled oil?

At our dealership, we do not have 55 gallon drums. Our Quick Lube has 250 gallon tanks. 55 gallon drums are much too labor intensive for large volume dealers, and take up a lot of space.
 
Originally Posted By: lawman1909
Whatever it is, the first oil change should be done by 5,000 miles. There is too much metal parts floating around and even the oil filter will get clogged by these, at least partially. They also put in the bulk 0w-20 and keep it for 10k miles. None the less, Toyota's may start developing some problems from this frugal oil change plan. Cheers brother


Do you have any proof that these metal parts floating around are clogging the oil filter?
 
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