Do not go to dealership for oil change!

[BlakeA]

After a "Routine" oil change / tire rotation service, as I was leaving the dealership, the front-right tire came off. They FORGOT to tighten the lug-nuts!!

Fortunately the damage was minimal - they had to replace the TRD wheel because it was scratched on the inside. On the bright-side, I had them give me the "damaged" wheel and I plan on using it as a second spare for long off-road trips.

The dealer left loose lug nuts after a brake job on my old Gen 3. Felt weird driving it home and when I got in my driveway, I found the passenger rear tire with barely finger tight lug nuts. Wheel just flopping around. They comped the brake job by way of apology. They have also left skid plate bolts broken and loose.

I’ve got the two year Toyota care on my new 2019 (different dealer) that I’m going to take advantage of since my brother has used them for his Tundra for several years with no complaints.
I’ll still crawl under and check it out when I get home though.

 

[propain]

I’ll still crawl under and check it out when I get home though.

Crawl under and check it out at the dealership. It may be too late by the time you get home.

 

[radog]

that toyota care is beautiful

 

[cb1111]

After a "Routine" oil change / tire rotation service, as I was leaving the dealership, the front-right tire came off. They FORGOT to tighten the lug-nuts!!

Fortunately the damage was minimal - they had to replace the TRD wheel because it was scratched on the inside. On the bright-side, I had them give me the "damaged" wheel and I plan on using it as a second spare for long off-road trips.

The identical thing happened to my boss. He took his Tacoma (Tundra?) in for an oil change rotation to Koons Toyota in Tyson's Corner (Northern VA/DC burbs). At the first traffic light (within sight of the dealership), his driver's side front wheel came off. A cop was a couple cars behind him and started yelling at him to move his car (it was rush hour). He points to the front of his car with major'ish body damage and sitting on a rotor that is half folded under and asked "I'd love to. Why don't you help by lifting up the front of the car and I'll drive it over to the side of the road"

Koons ended up ordering him a new one (it was impossible to find a red manual tranny), gave him high retail on his and sold the new one at actual cost minus military discounts. I think he paid a couple of grand and got a two or three year newer car. They obviously gave him a loaner in the meantime.

I thought that was a one off, but yours is the third one I know of. The first was a brand new Jeep that made it a mile before the wheel fell off.

 

[Blue 4ever Runner]

May I suggest we start naming these crappy dealers who this type of lousy work? It might be a bit of a heads up to other members and avoid some headaches. On the flip side, if anyone gets truly good service from a dealer that could be mentioned also. Just a thought.

 

[patkelly4370]

The closest Toyota dealer to me, where I bought my 4runner, is over an hour away in Lake Havasu City.
The only reason I might go there would be during spring break.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Satter]

Over the 22 years I’ve owned my 3rd gen I’ve had a couple of issues with stealerships f’ing things up while doing simple maintenance.

Once they put 8 quarts of oil in my engine. There have been numerous times where I’ve seen the “tech” not know to remove the front skid plate in order to change the oil filter. And just recently I needed a new battery. However, replacing the battery sets off the alarm. The alarm is not an OEM. Between 1997 and 2002 Gulf States Toyota installed third party alarm systems in their vehicles. Anyway, over the years I’ve needed to replace my battery and different shops have done it no problem. But at Toyota of Boerne TX the tech can’t turn off the alarm. So what does he do? HE LITERALLY RIPPED IT OUT!! Yep. Put it in the passenger seat. Then my service rep told me since it was not an OEM alarm they could not reconnect it. I was pretty livid to say the least. Not only was the alarm system gone. But the doors no longer locked. I took some time to calm down and asked my service rep to please try and reattach the alarm system so at least my door locks would function. She agreed and they successfully reconnected the alarm.

 

[yota1976]

Dude, go to a Mobil1 and get it done there if you can't change it yourself.. This thread isn't meant to scare you but to create awareness. If you do a search on T4R you will see there are many mishaps at the dealership. But I think this one takes the cake. The only thing a dealer should do is recall work or something under warranty.

It used to be local mechanics were grease monkies and dealerships did quality work. Now it seems reversed.

I can do mechanic work. I just thought I'd let them change the oil because of the free 2 year service plan. I'll probably consider doing it myself now.

 

[Mopar2]

I do all of my own maintenance.

 

[Muzzle of Bees]

The irony is that they piss test their employees too. I smoke every day and have never messed up any vehicle while performing maintenance. In fact I ran circles around my coworkers. I was so tired of dealing with morons that I quit after 21 years at the same place. Only stayed to get my benefits payed 100% for life. We should not be surprised, look at the idiots running this country. That should be enough evidence.

 

[1000MPH]

On my very first dealer oil change they overfilled the engine, over tightened the filter, and broke off the skid plate bolt. Service manager brought the tech in who worked on it (a grizzled old dude, not a young scrub) and he said straight faced “it was like that when he brought it in here”.

 

[Tuco Ramirez]

I smoke every day and have never messed up any vehicle while performing maintenance.

Marijuana is a memory loss drug, so maybe you just don't remember...

 

[Muzzle of Bees]

Marijuana is a memory loss drug, so maybe you just don't remember...

I have a memory like an elephant. No issues there. I could testify in any forum about how people love to spew their wisdom without having any experience. The courts are full of paid testimonials that send people to jail based on nonsense. It’s sad, but as long as they speak and dress well their believable.

 

[Tuco Ramirez]

I have a memory like an elephant. No issues there. I could testify in any forum about how people love to spew their wisdom without having any experience. The courts are full of paid testimonials that send people to jail based on nonsense. It’s sad, but as long as they speak and dress well their believable.

Apparently weed is the weakest thing you are smoking these days.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

that toyota care is garbage

fixed

 

[MaddoxPics]

Using impact guns on my bolts, as well as not knowing how to put the TRD skid spacers in correctly was enough for me to stop going to Toyota. If they couldn't do that right, an OEM Toyota part, no way they can do other stuff correct.

 

[Nick B]

Ya gotta wonder how many dealerships are just draining and refilling the oil and not changing the oil filter ?

 

[ASUMTNEER]

Ya gotta wonder how many dealerships are just draining and refilling the oil and not changing the oil filter ?

This is the reason I do my own changes. It's a hassle to drop the pan and replace the filter, so I'm afraid they just won't do it.

 

[DAW89446]

This is the reason I do my own changes. It's a hassle to drop the pan and replace the filter, so I'm afraid they just won't do it.

Once made the mistake of taking my ‘02 Tacoma TRD to Walmart for an oil and filter change in 2008. That was the first time and my last time. They drained the oil into the skid plates. They didn’t change the filter, instead tossed the new filter, still in the box, into the engine bay, which settled down on top of the skid plates. When I took the truck for its next service, the Pennzoil shop I still patronize, they were laughing and asked if I took the truck to Walmart. They took me out into the shop and showed me the mess, as they had the plates on the floor and had rolled the truck back to show me.

 

[Rondigs]

Did my first oil change on the 4Runner last night. And throughout the whole process was wanting to go burn the dealership to the ground. First issue, my skid plate was missing a 12mm bolt. The second issue... the plastic oil filter canister would NOT come off! I was shaking trying to put all the muscle I had into it. Since it was my first oil change with the new plastic canister, I started second guessing myself and did some research to make sure I was on the right track. Yup, I was using the really nice motiv (spelling?) 64mm wrench and lefty loosey. It would not budge. Then, Unfortunately I had to get a breaker bar. And yup like breaker bars do, it broke one of the plastic tabs off! At this point, I was pretty pissed. Ended up, folding a piece of paper and putting it between the socket and canister and thankfully it came off. I was able to change the filter and reused the canister. However, I’ll need to replace it in the future.

Moral of the story: service techs (some... maybe not all) do not care about your vehicle like you do. All they know is use the impact wrench on everything and good enough will get by.