Toyota dealership service departments

I called the local Toyota dealership last week and was quoted $950 to do the timing belt on my Tundra so I booked the appointment right away. When I dropped it off today the service advisor says $950 unless we get in there and find something else. The timing belt, water pump, tensioner bearing, idler bearing, crank seal, thermostat, and serpentine belt were done 35K ago when the last timing belt service was done. I'm having it done again because it's been almost 8 years. The truck seems to run great, is there anything else that may need to be replaced again or is he fishing and going to try and to sell me a bunch when I go back to pick it up? I have never trusted dealership service departments.

 

Why 3 threads?

 

Didn't mean too

 

They will certainly be calling you with many suggested upsells. I can assure you if that after spending 20 years as a writer/manager.

they quote a very very low baseline price. Then you take it in and they take it apart and call with the laundry list…then you’re over a barrel because of you don’t do every little thing they mention and something goes wrong they’ll blame your lack of maintenance/repair parts.

I’ve worked in the aftermarket and dealers and will say that as far as the mechanics it’s all a crap shoot. Most places have 1-2 actual solid A techs if they’re lucky. In the aftermarket at least it’s often the owner.

Dealerships service departments are under so much pressure to make a profit it’s disgusting. With warranty costs being artificially held down by domineering manufacturers they look to fleece every paying customer the get…

There’s a few amazing easy to follow videos out there. Doesn’t take a ton of tools and nothing “special” to do yourself over a weekend. Hang out with a friend or family member and tackle it together.

Best of luck!

 

At a minimum call them and make sure he tells you exactly what is included for $950

 

Here in the VA Hampton Roads, I took our brand new 2022 GX460 for a 10K maintenance and they could not balance the tires after taking it back two times. I had to go to Costco to get them to balance the tires correctly. So think about the quality of techs they hire as they work on cars that they sell for upward of $100K only to get the most incompetent YouTube-trained "Mechanics" that can't even do the most basic tasks at the Lexus Dealer..

Just in comparison from the Lexus dealer to the Toyota dealer, I have had nothing but horrible and the same experience at all the Toyota dealers here in the 757... It seems like they pride themselves on hiring the most incompetent and useless people to degrade the brand and keep customer service as poopy as possible.

 

This is 100% true!! Thankfully I work for a good shop and a better human so some honesty with the customer goes a long way. Of the 60-70% that decline the work, we end up seeing their vehicles brought in on a flatbed a few weeks later. Then they get pissed at me for having to charge them more. I show them the documentation and where they declined the work. At that point it’s a week or more before we can work on it. Try to make it a learning experience but most tell me to shove it and I tell them where the door is.

@Rsmallw2 just pay for the work you brought the vehicle in for. Have them give you a detailed estimate of any additional repairs, including a written statement of each job needed. YouTube university can teach you a lot if you have basic tools. This site can also provide way more assistance on what “needs” to be done.

 

I mentioned before in other threads, this is almost verbatim what a prior service manager for Toyota South Atlanta told me after moving a state over, once he was clear of their BS. He moved over to the dealership management side. RE: Pressure, upsell, lack of qualified techs, etc. Hell, they wanted to charge me $1,200 to change my alternator after the OEM one caught fire several years back. I just wanted them to run a quick diagnostic to make sure it didn't short anything else, peace of mind, small price for an hour of labor. (No, I didn't let them touch it)

If your truck used OEM equipment last time (Toyota, Aisin), I'd seriously consider changing it at 10yrs versus 8yrs. But I would make a point of pulling back one or both timing covers at every OC during the next 24 months to confirm all is OK.