R All Service Writers Dumb? Wrong Fluid

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Went to my Lexus dealer yesterday for 60k miles service on my LX. Never had a reason to be unhappy with them in past. Today I recheck the paperwork and notice this

4 00279-000T4-01 ATF T-IV QUART $30.00

which is a big no-no, as this truck takes WS ATF. may be they scanned a wrong tag, I cannot imagine a certified mechanic could have put a wrong fluid there. But the guy should have picked this up, he is the first and the last line of defense. I am a moron too, this will teach me to be more attentive to the paperwork. I had an open heart surgery recently and cannot do PM on my truck, and it was time to change AHC fluid as well, along with the brake fluid and front wheel bearing and axle bushing repacks.

How to find a good service writer within a dealership. Who should I talk to? Not sure that their superiors are the right ones to ask, and their service bays are not public accessible.

WS is not compatible with anything says a few Toyota TSB bulletins. In fact, even the overflow from the fill procedure has to be discarded.

I think I need a full system flush for a piece of mind now.
 
We had a post here a few weeks or month back someone took their audi to dealer and the receipt said 15w40 the guy called and asked and the worker said thats what their computer automatically puts on the paper, assuring him his car received the proper oil.

That's what I would do first call and ask.
 
I would immediately do multiple drain/refills with correct fluid.

Rare to find a tech with pride doing a job correctly.
 
Originally Posted By: rickmeseke
We had a post here a few weeks or month back someone took their audi to dealer and the receipt said 15w40 the guy called and asked and the worker said thats what their computer automatically puts on the paper, assuring him his car received the proper oil.


This wouldn't work for me. That paper is what they're going to look at when the warranty is needed, for one thing. Of course, just because the paper said 0W-40 (or whatever) doesn't mean the right oil got put in. There's just not many people I'd trust to change my oil or do much of anything to my vehicles.

robert
 
Service writers have little control over what parts go on the RO or in the vehicle. Usually the tech tells the parts department what fluids they want, that is how it is supposed to work.
 
O, we put in the correct fluid but, the computer did it, is all [censored] in my opinion. So they don't even know how to input values into their computer system? How dumb do they think customers are these days? Ed
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Service writers have little control over what parts go on the RO or in the vehicle. Usually the tech tells the parts department what fluids they want, that is how it is supposed to work.


Does that translate int: "just sign here and initial there.." if they put Mercon V instead of Mercon LV in the Ford world? In other words: "I am not responsible".

WS ATF is not compatible with any other fluid whatsoever, that's what TSB says in big bold letters.

I hope the tech simply scanned a wrong tag, but hope is not going to pay for ruined AT.

So, who has control over what techs put in your vehicle? Pope of Rome or Attorney General?
Happy Easter
 
Originally Posted By: Eddie
O, we put in the correct fluid but, the computer did it, is all [censored] in my opinion. So they don't even know how to input values into their computer system? How dumb do they think customers are these days? Ed

I agree. The whole "that's just what the computer or system puts down" thing is a lame excuse. The RO should match what went into the car. Period. People pay a premium for dealership service because they expect the right parts & fluids to go in their car. There shouldn't be these sorts of discrepancies.
 
Take it back and make em flush it with the right stuff and have the receipt indicate the right stuff. Don't take no for an answer. They'll all have a huddle after you leave about hitting wrong keys on the computer.

The only way to get respect is to command it.
 
You bought a Premium vehicle and paid a dealer to maintain it in a professional manor with manufacture recommended fluids. My gut feeling if it were my vehicle, would be, that the dealership is not acting or preforming in a professional manor. I would let them know this IN PERSON. Ed
 
Shouldn't the correct part / lubricant parts numbers populate with corresponding VIN number ????
This transmission with blow up with the wrong fluid. Dealership will deny all responsibility to rebuild it.


Eddie,
Yes the dealer is obligated to correct their mistake in a professional manner.
Mechanics brag about their certifications until the mess up.
 
FWIW the few times we have put in incorrect fluid, we fix it at no cost to the customer. That is the way it works.

The service writer is the face you talk to. They don't work on the car, they don't look up parts. They are supposed to make sure the job gets done in the time the customer requested.

The cataloging does not tell you what fluid to use. With Ford it will tell us the transmission and then we look at a chart that lists all the transmissions and years they were used and use the corresponding fluid recommendation.

Now working with this as long as I have, I pretty much know what any Ford or Mazda will take. There have been TSBs put out saying one fluid supersedes another, those you just have to know about as it will not prompt us.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Take it back and make em flush it with the right stuff and have the receipt indicate the right stuff. Don't take no for an answer. They'll all have a huddle after you leave about hitting wrong keys on the computer.

The only way to get respect is to command it.


+1
There is no other way around it, if OP wants to keep the proper paper trail, but to go back to the dealer that performed the work, with the receipt in hand and tell them, not ask, to fully flush the transmission with the correct fluid and print a receipt that lists the proper fluid and the amount they used.
The amount should be a good indicator whether they performed a full fluid exchange or just a single drain and refill.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Take it back and make em flush it with the right stuff and have the receipt indicate the right stuff. Don't take no for an answer. They'll all have a huddle after you leave about hitting wrong keys on the computer.

The only way to get respect is to command it.


+1
There is no other way around it, if OP wants to keep the proper paper trail, but to go back to the dealer that performed the work, with the receipt in hand and tell them, not ask, to fully flush the transmission with the correct fluid and print a receipt that lists the proper fluid and the amount they used.
The amount should be a good indicator whether they performed a full fluid exchange or just a single drain and refill.

+2 And watch while they do it to be sure they don't screw it up again.
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Service writers have little control over what parts go on the RO or in the vehicle. Usually the tech tells the parts department what fluids they want, that is how it is supposed to work.


Maybe so, but the vast majority I have ever dealt with know less about even the basics of how an automobile works than a little girl does.

They ONLY seem to be hired on a basis of bee ess up-selling salesmanship ability/'character'/charisma, and are dumber than the proverbial rocks when it comes to KNOWING about the products they are servicing.
mad.gif


I lose ALL confidence in their whole organization when I see this kind of display of ignorance of their products, which is just as prevalent in the actual car salepeople, if not even worse yet.

bd, your dealership may be a BLATANT exception to the above, but this is what I've observed/experienced in most of my almost 50 years of dealing with various stores.
 
Originally Posted By: dailydriver


bd, your dealership may be a BLATANT exception to the above, but this is what I've observed/experienced in most of my almost 50 years of dealing with various stores.


You're right on the mark...most $tealerships are not much better than a average independent shop but of course you pay high prices for middling service quality. The saving grace of using the dealer is that should there be a problem with their service you do have the ability to put their feet to the fire with the manufacturer if necessary and many times they will get things right...eventually.
Also nowadays the $tealerships offer longer warranties for work done that can be used at any same manufacturer store around the country.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
I don't know if all service writers are dumb

but shortening Are to R looks dumb.

...and don't even get me started on the "PIECE OF MIND" thing
 
GM gave me a voucher for a free oil change on my old 2007 Uplander.

I took the Van to the local dealer and got the oil filter changed.
When I got the van home I was checking it over and found the oil WAY over full. Dealer told me to bring it back.
The service writer checked the oil and had one of the techs drain a Litre out.

I asked the service writer how something like this could happen -
He looked me right in the eye and said "We put 5 Litres in all our oil changes" (My Uplander took 4).

I shook my head and walked away. That writer had been there for years. Nothing I could have said would be of value.
 
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