Tundra engine recall - interesting news

I used to work for Snap On Equipment and Hunter Engineering. I went into almost every dealership, garage, Walmart, Sams, Pep Boys in the Delmarva area and I can say, without a doubt, that more than half were below the level of competency I would expect. Not to say there weren't some GREAT techs and the like out there but all those bad apples spoiled the bunch, at least for me anyway

 

Okay, well I've abandoned 2 of them in my area because they have gotten way more expensive and way less competent. So, its a trend to me and I will stand by that. Using local shops now.

That time frame of disappointment is over 8 years. Everytime I go it gets worse, now I won't go.

 

It’s just that there’s more than a few bad dealership in the bushel basket. Now days, the good dealerships are the needle in the haystack, where it used to be opposite. Dealerships of today are merely revenue generators with little (if any) true customer service involved. Different generation, different values/morals, different end results.
*Yes, I know they are dotted around the landscapes, but are few and far between. I’ve wasted many days of personal time off from work for repeated “could not replicates”, “common for the model” and “they’re still working on a fix”/“they don’t know/never seen that” on issues that I find are common complaints. They are 1.5hrs away, as are 2 others I hear may be “decent”, in different directions. My closest is a half hour and a known bunch of sheister clowns, as well as another one an hour away is the same shape.

 

Any thoughts on Koons Toyota in Easton MD? Asking for a friend…

 

Lots of consolidation in dealerships. So Slick Sammy that cut his teeth owning Chrysler and Kia dealerships for years is now flush with cash to expand the empire buying other brands.

Lots of dealerships are now generically named. Toyota of Mayberry. You may not even know when Andy and the boys sold out to some foreign born investment group. My local dealer sold out 3 years ago. Only way I knew it was I canceled a warranty contract on a vehicle I was selling and it had to go thru the transition group for the previous owner to come out of his accounts.

 

We created this. We want everything done in 10 minutes, pay $10 and expect platinum service at that. We can’t have all 3.

 

My Toyota dealership service experiences have been pretty dismal for decades and from multiple dealerships.

Fortunately, my 2 previous 2008 and 2015 Tundras rarely needed to see the dealership. I've already had my 2023 in more times than both of those trucks combined.

Thankfully, I have a trusted local mechanic that I've used for years. If a problem isn't covered under warranty, he fixes it for me.

 

Except the price of what used to be $10 is a $100

No dealership will clean your windshield for a 10 spot. Charge you $150 for hour of labor by the book and $50 in shop fees

 

I have not heard that, because the saying is actually “one bad apple spoils the barrel.” One bad apple can indeed spoil the bunch, causing the other apples to rot faster. The point is that the bad apple needs to be removed to prevent this.

 

Unfortunately, I think the barrel is already mostly rotten, and the good apples are the exception.

 

Common in business when the starter of a business the service is better and cheaper than when it sales.

Medium and large dealers can sell for 8 figures. The new buyer has to often cover a much bigger monthly financing nut than the previous owner. Which leads to price increases, penny pinching and monetizing every square foot of the dealership.

There are dealership financing groups whose business plan is build it up and sell it out to pocket millions

 

What is it that people keep telling us plebs? If you can't afford it buy used? Maybe someone should pass that along to them. In reality I think theres also a good chunk of Private Equity firms owning everything in America, and once they get enough market share, really squeeze the hell out of us.

 

Man, I thought I was cranky about stuff. You guys are knocking it out on your dealer hatred. I've bought and sold to many dealers. Some are better than others. Like going to the gas station, McDonalds, Walmart, etc... Some stores are better than others.

 

Tundra owners are generally a borderline angry and entitled group. How many posts start with something to the effect of "I've had 3 tundras and 6 Toyotas and Toyota should do better by me"? Toyota doesn't give a rip if you've bought 4 Toyotas. It's transactional and has been forever.

 

Weird - this is how I see other Tundra owners / forum members -



But then again if you call everyone angry and entitled it’s probably hard to make human connections.

 

Is there something wrong with being angry and entitled?

 

Don't take this the wrong way Tim but the experience of a known youtuber/social media influencer/auto journalist is not going to be the same as some random customer who has a 9-5 job working as an accountant. Your experiences are real and valid but I can't expect the same level of service and customer care that someone in your profession receives.

To add to that, how many horror stories have we read about/directly experienced when it comes to women getting scammed by dealership sales/service departments. The industry has a well earned reputation of being sleazy and unethical.

Whatever your thoughts are on Tesla as a company aside, I think their direct to consumer fixed pricing sales model is superior than the dealership "let me go talk to my manager" horseshit that is the current dealership experience. How people feel about a dealership from a buying a experience will bleed over to the service department which has it's own can of worms.

This is why there is so much innate hostility towards dealerships in general.

 

When you understand "the game" it doesn't bother me. Personally I've never done any of the upsell products like paint protection etc. nor have I ever purchased an extended warranty and I've found in the past few years that you can cut the bullshit quite quickly and just get on with the transaction.

You are 100% correct about women dealing with dealerships, my wife refuses to set foot in one and our daughter was getting the run around from her dealer when her Hyundai Santa Fe blew it's motor, until her husband, a 240lb ex mma fighter visited the dealership.

Maybe my experiences are different due to the fact that we don't tend to try to pressure the dealer into the lowest possible price. I do my research before going to the dealer and have a $$$ amount in mind and if the dealer gets close to that without any haggling then we'll just buy the car. I'm not going to fight over or get stressed about $1000 etc. especially talking about a $60,000 - $80,000 purchase.

Having lived rural, semi-rural for the past 25years has maybe colored our experiences as dealing with small town dealers tends to be more pleasant than a large multi line dealer in a big city. Sort of related, we just bought a new RV, a highly sought after model, which typically has a waiting list for new models so never much discounting if ever. We live close (30 minutes) to a big city that has a large dealer of the model we were interested in and said they "might" be able to get us one but yes the price is MSRP and no moving. Contacted another dealer in a small town, where we used to live 25 years ago, 3 hours away, but a Platinum dealer for this brand and they had one in production we pick up in 4 weeks and they gave us a reasonable, fair discount without us even asking. Dealer gets rave reviews for service and sales and now our business. If you have a good dealer near you, support them and recommend them and lets try to keep more of the good ones around.

 

Just so we are clear, I don't tell dealers what I do and I buy vehicles privately without automakers knowledge all the time.

Point understood on the times when the dealers know who I am and prepare for my arrival. I hate that btw.

 

Here's my question: how do local communities replace the lost tax dollars and charity sponsorships provided by dealerships?

 

Ummm...who are you, and why would a dealer "prepare" for your arrival?

Just curious

 

I hear you and since I watch your channel, I can point to the fact that you, a resident of Nebraska(I think), had to go all the way to Louisiana to buy your RHO. That you as a consumer can't just walk into a local dealer and get the same price is why people don't like the auto industry multi-tier sales model/dealership experience.

It's crazy. Granger Ford is another great example. You have all of these Ford dealerships price gouging, while Granger has a fixed price that everyone gets. You just wait your turn and when the truck shows up, go get it. Like buying a washer/dryer/refrigerator.

There are very few industries in the United States that exist in this manner due to legislation. Alcohol is another. Alcohol makers, with the exception of tasting rooms aren't able to sell directly to consumers but are required by law to use a 3 tier distribution model.

I'm going to leave this alone as I don't want to derail this thread further.

 

I agree on this. I use a local shop unless it's warranty work. In reality, the model is now broken. Dealerships jack up prices by all those dealer add-ons. It's hard to find a dealership without any unless you are willing to travel and take more time off work to go find them. Using the Carvana model, it would be great to be able to buy a new vehicle directly from a manufacturer and have it delivered to your door instead of going through a dealership, then I could still have work performed at a dealership should I choose.

 

The only local sales tax dollars in Texas are for parts sales and service. Vehicle sales are only charged the state sales tax rate of 6.25%, which goes directly to Texas and not the local communities or counties. The local governments only get property tax dollars, and the counties get registration fees.

 

Not just that but the income tax from the dealership employees and the economic impact of laying off thousands of people nationwide.

 

I run a large YouTube channel and website.

https://www.youtube.com/@Pickuptrucktalk

 

Oh gotcha. I thought you might be someone who is important.

Sorry, I spend very little time on YT.

 

except 3rd gens.