The Confessions, Rants, & Thoughts of a Dealer Tech (Blog?)

Preface: I will not share dealership names, customer names, technician names, or other sensitive related information. If you are familiar with which dealerships I worked at, please keep that information to yourself. Thanks for stopping by.

Why: I am not doing this to chum the waters of “stealership” hate. While that may happen, it is not my intent. I enjoyed working at dealerships and still enjoy visiting them. However, I am very grateful I no longer work at one. I am doing this for selfish and selfless reasons.

1. I believe dealerships can & should be the best place to get your Lexus or Toyota serviced. And I want to help others learn how to navigate through the BS and get the service you came in for.
2. I also want to call out where dealerships fall short and how they can be improved.
3. Maybe, just maybe, I can help y’all understand dealerships better.
4. I want to make a written record of my first career.
5. I need to improve my storytelling and writing skills for my current career.
6. My ego: I am proud of my first career, and I want to share the lessons I learned.

Where: Arizona & Texas

Who: My name is Eric, and I began working at Lexus/Toyota dealerships in 2009 and left them in 2021. My first job was as a car wash valet at a Lexus dealership. In 6 months, I got my “foot in the door” with the service shop as a trainee & roadside assistant technician. I stayed with this Lexus dealership until 2015. In that time, I had acquired a significant amount of experience by consistently working 65+ hours a week and found myself to be Lexus Master Certified, ASE Master Certified, and a Lead Tech for a team of 5.

After Lexus, I found myself at a small Toyota dealership that was still using handwritten repair orders and multi-point inspections when I arrived. This dealership was a very challenging place to work if you wanted to make money and advance your professional career. After 3-4 years of misery, I finally changed my attitude. I started embracing the challenges and letting go of what I could not control. Thanks to my wife, I found a new mantra that kept me sane: “not my monkey, not my circus”.

In 2020, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder known as ankylosing spondylitis (“AS”) and found that my spine also had a Pars Defect @ L5-S1. In November of 2020, I underwent surgery to address the Pars Defect. The surgery was a success, but the AS was still a struggle I was trying to cope with. I figured it was wise to stop working on cars professionally to protect my health and became a service advisor. I spent only about 90 days as a service advisor. It was a rough experience that I don’t wish to try again. Ignorance is bliss when you are a service advisor.

When: The goal is to share one post a week regarding a topic or story.

Topics I want to discuss:

1. What is a dealer technician from my experience and a Fixed Ops Director’s perspective?
2. Why is everyone at the dealership always pushing sales, flushes, & etc
3. Water pumps paid very well.
4. Factory parts & Aftermarket parts, which are often given.
5. Never offering brake fluid or transmission fluid services.
6. Compare what the service advisor is selling you to your scheduled maintenance guide.
7. Most overlooked items that do not get maintenance.
8. How to get the best service at a dealership.
9. Toyota extended warranty, why I find value in it.
10. Why you should pay for a pre-purchase inspection before your warranty expires.
11. Always document vehicle concerns at the dealership while in warranty, regardless of whether it can be fixed or not.
12. Did you know about the “Goodwill” warranty and who gets it?
13. How to spot a good service department when walking in the door.
14. Avoid dealership car washes.
15. The Service valet/porter is not the enemy.
16. Overselling fuel injector flushes & catalyst converters.
17. FTS & DSPM.
18. Each Toyota region is different.
19. Toyota training vs Lexus training.
20. Why Lexus technicians are happier.
21. Did they actually rotate your wheels?
22. When to take the Multi-Point Inspection seriously.
23. When to actually repair that leak.
24. Why flat-rate pay plans might be the root of all the problems.
25. …more topics to come…

Stories I want to share:

1. The release of the LFA, RC F, & Supra.
2. Prius fell off a lift, so we sold him a new Prius.
3. Cocaine, scandals, dealerships, & who they like to hire.
4. The handful of cars/repairs I f’d up that I still think about.
5. My experience with tool trucks & why most technicians are broke & how the dealership can fix this.
6. Unknowingly telling the President of Lexus of North America that IS 250's are so flawed they can't be fixed.
7. ….more stories to come…

 

I am excited for this thread. And a Marine Corps “salute” to you for working through your physical challenges. And to your wife for being the partner in life every man needs. Thank you for taking the time on your detailed post(s). Cheers mate…

 

Interested in lots of those topics, especially because dealerships generally suck in my area.

 

Ditto what @Echo5Golf said. I don't have AS but my coworker/supervisor does, and can totally understand your career shift - although unsure what you're doing now? Unless I missed that somewhere. Anyways, looking forward to this.

 

Subbed. Looking forward to hearing some of your stories

 

Looking forward to following along. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences OP.

 

Thanks for doing this @AZEric !

 

As someone who has worked for multiple automakers and dealer groups, all of your stories will be a great trip down my own memory lane. No surprises, whatsoever; but it’s always so crazy how almost every dealership/automaker is so similar in their characters and experiences. Thank you for doing this sir.

 

Looking forward to following along. Let the stories begin.

 

Well, I'm here and wanna watch too, and throw my experience in as well. I spent almost 10 years as a Toyota dealer tech. I graduated TTEN in 2009 and bounced from dealers to indie shops to my final dealer in late 2017 when I left the industry completely.

 

Freedom of speech/press baby! 5,4,3,2,1....let her rip Eric

 

Real interested in hearing about #5 - the brake/transmission fluid

 

I'm looking forward to following along and hearing the stories. I have never worked at a car dealership but I work closely with a lot of them. My line of work involves interaction with car dealerships all the time so I see and know a lot of the shenanigans that go on. But they are not all bad, there are many good honest ones also.

 

Same here.

 

"Let's Go"

 

—-> Sticky this baby…!

 

My father in law has AS. He is one tough SOB.

I'm excited to see this thread!

 

Cool to see the feedback...I will get to work and put together a post this weekend that covers topic #21. This one grinds my gears...

 

And the suspense sets in. This weekend is still 3 days away. See y'all Friday.

 

As a service advisor at a Toyota dealer for 5 years, I look forward to this thread.

 

Thank you Eric !

 

Me waiting for the weekend:

 

Subscribed

 

This sounds very interesting. Thanks Eric - I'm looking forward to your stories.

 

As someone whom has purchased a vehicle from a dealer and subsequently patronized that dealership's service department i am looking forward to learnding the names of the dealerships where OP was employed.

 

Excited for the stories

 

Thanks for starting this Eric. Looking forward to hearing your experiences. Best of luck managing your AS