Trusting Toyota Service Department

[JCNFLA]

Well like most of you I had a bad experience with a certain toyota dealer, but I now have a toyota dealer that I trust and highly recommend.

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[GSPHerder]

Last vehicle I took in for work the tech was leaning into the engine compartment and put his hand and all his weight on my windshield, needless to say it broke, looked like a softball hit it. Well a few days later they called to let me know the vehicle was ready to be picked up.

Soon as I noticed the the broken windshield I went to service manager and demanded a new windshield. He said I broke it and said he wasn't going to replace it. After I got pretty loud infront of the whole service dept he said he would do a new one but not a OEM. After the second argument he finally conceded.

2 things that blew my mind is that the tech never admitted to it, and the other thing is I actually worked on the sales side of the same store. I don't care how much free stuff they offer I stay away from the service dept.

 

[TacoFreak]

I just got an email today warning me that my free service plan was about to expire. Now I will have to pay them to break my truck if I want to take it to them. I wonder what I will do?

 

[aquaman67]

Let's all be clear on this. Dealerships are not owned by Toyota. they are merely there to distribute and sell Toyotas as well as perform services they are obligated to do according to their agreement with Toyota corporate. Their technicians must be trained and pass certification but that is handled by the dealership, not Toyota. That means they may bring in idiots to change your oil.

Speaking of oil

I makes me wonder what oil they actually use

I’m pretty sure they are not cranking open quart bottles of Toyota brand oil for your Toyota Care oil changes

I’m pretty sure it comes from a 55 gallon drum just labeled “OIL”

It might be the correct grade. It might not be.

I’m only taking my truck in for the free oil changes as long as it’s under warranty in case something happens. Just so there’s a record. I’m debating draining that oil when I get home and using it elsewhere.

 

[Texas Bob]

I know it's not fair to paint all dealerships with the same brush, so I would like to know if anyone here can recommend a trustworthy dealership in central Texas. I can report bad sales experiences at three out of three of the Austin area dealerships I visited, and ended up driving five hours toward Houston to buy my truck. And for the covered service on that truck, done at the 'least bad' of the three Austin area sites based on the sales experiences, I have had two out of two unacceptable service appointments. Specifically, when I was there for the initial oil change they would not do a simple OBD programming to increase my turn signal volume to the max. They insisted on a separate appointment two weeks out at which I would have to leave the truck all day. And when they did the oil change, they did not fill it: checked at home, the level was near the lower line which I am going to guess represents 5.0 quarts. Do you know how many quarts are required for a 2025 Taco oil and filter change? That's right, 5.9 quarts. So either the tech is too lazy or poorly trained to put in the correct amount, or (even worse) the dealership has trained them to round off to the nearest lower quart.

What does the dealer care about, if not customer service? The APPEARANCE of customer service. That has a direct effect on how well they are treated by corporate Toyota. So what they want is all 5-star reviews. When I complained about being shorted on oil, their Customer Schmoozing Manager (that may be his actual title) tried to calm me down and get a good review by giving me a free 'premium' car wash. For which I had to make an appointment and kill three hours in the customer lounge.

So please, folks, tell me where to go...

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