Purchased a 2018 ORP last weekend. After a couple days of driving I noticed the alignment and balance were off a little. Had an appointment today to get both taken care of. Drove an hour to a dealer that carried the same "owner name" as where I purchased. Waited 3 hours... Not ideal but if the problem is fixed fine, so be it. Dealer service shop closed at 5pm. I get my keys back at 5pm. Service manager assures me their master tech took it for a drive and everything was good. 2 seconds on the road and it is worse off then it went in. Noticeable vibration above 50 mph, and steering wheel is easily an inch to the left. Ill never understand how such terrible quality control, or lack of performing a professional job, is acceptable. Blows my mind. Either they didnt take it for a test drive or said f**k it, we will fix it right when he brings it back because its saturday and we don't want to mess with it anymore. I sold my grand cherokee to avoid spending my weekends in the dealership service department... Not off to a great start.
F***ing dealerships....
- Thread starter kwhoadley
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loafer
New member
It took three times for them to get the undercoating right. It looked like kids did it the first time. so I brought it back. I checked under the drivers side where one of the areas were missed, no dice. They missed again.The owner came out seeing that I was upset, he had me take the car back in and I got to watch and direct. Its a shame you have to babysit people so they do a half way decent job. Just a shame.
sorry to hear that the toyota shop screwed up.. I had this happen a long time ago ... had a slight drift to the left and when I got it back the steering wheel was 10 o clock going down a straight road WTF..
brought it back and he said he did not set the toe correct..
end of day not good...for work .. gets sloppy..
my 2016 4 runner SR5 had a toe issue too little toe so it wandered ..
I ran it 1000 miles springs took a set yes they will drop down .. then I not toyota did the toe adjustment.. worked good .. much less drift on a rough road . over 12K miles on it now , tires all perfect all look and have the same wear ..
rotated @10K miles.
brought it back and he said he did not set the toe correct..
end of day not good...for work .. gets sloppy..
my 2016 4 runner SR5 had a toe issue too little toe so it wandered ..
I ran it 1000 miles springs took a set yes they will drop down .. then I not toyota did the toe adjustment.. worked good .. much less drift on a rough road . over 12K miles on it now , tires all perfect all look and have the same wear ..
rotated @10K miles.
The dealer was Fred Anderson in Sanford, NC. The staff was super friendly. I don’t even mind that it took 3 hours. What really bothers me is he assured me everything was good while shaking my hand. I would have preferred them come right out and say they ran out of time and couldn’t get it fixed that day. I still would have been upset but I’d prefer that over being lied to. It’s not even close. Steering wheel is at least at the 10 o’clock position. Other than that I’m loving the 4Runner. Gas mileage isn’t as bad as I was expecting. The dogs enjoy the back window. Ride is firm but not harsh. Heads and tails a better machine over the grand Cherokee.
I went in for my free oil change, the 10k service....
so that night I am looking at the truck, the new tire that got replaced due to a bolt going through the side was still in the same position it was, windshield washer fluid was empty as far as I could tell nothing else was done either, the oil did not look fresh, I had it done at 5k too and paid for it.
I contacted Toyota, they waited until the dealer redid the service with me watching, then forwarded my complaint to them.
the dealers are not the same anymore since they switched to paying the techs by the job and not by the hour. I suspect the tech was doing multiple oil changes at once to make the max possible amount. this dealer had the top tech at one point working for them. he won may competitions against their corporate techs. sadly those days are over
so that night I am looking at the truck, the new tire that got replaced due to a bolt going through the side was still in the same position it was, windshield washer fluid was empty as far as I could tell nothing else was done either, the oil did not look fresh, I had it done at 5k too and paid for it.
I contacted Toyota, they waited until the dealer redid the service with me watching, then forwarded my complaint to them.
the dealers are not the same anymore since they switched to paying the techs by the job and not by the hour. I suspect the tech was doing multiple oil changes at once to make the max possible amount. this dealer had the top tech at one point working for them. he won may competitions against their corporate techs. sadly those days are over
97stache
New member
I have been employed in various dealership parts departments since 2001. Most, but not all the techs now seem to have lost the satisfaction of doing a job right the first time. From what i have seen first hand is the service managers are getting younger and are not holding them accountable for crappy work. As our older mechanics retire and the majority of the repairs are completed by younger ones i don't look for improvements at all.
I always scratch up the oil filter before going in for an oil change to make sure they've replaced the filter. My last two dealer visits have been a total sh*t-show.
Last year one dealer did an "inspection", during which they inspected the throttle (to try and sell their ludicrously overpriced throttle-body cleaning) and managed to pinch the intake hose when replacing it, so for about 30 miles until I caught it my engine was sucking in unfiltered air.
Last week, I had the ATF drained and refilled at a different dealer. All seemed fine until I was peering into the engine compartment about 100 miles later and noticed a half-full, open bottle of Type IV ATF fluid lodged down next to the drive belt and the bottle had a nice belt-shaped gouge in the side. Needless to say I was furious, not least because if that bottle had ruptured or tipped over it would potentially have caused an engine compartment fire.
So I'm going back to the dealership to have them redo the ATF fluid change (since I have no confidence they actually did it right or finished it) and inspect the drive belt for damage.
It's gotten to the stage now that I will have to examine my own engine before driving home from a dealership because I just can't trust them not to screw something up.
Last year one dealer did an "inspection", during which they inspected the throttle (to try and sell their ludicrously overpriced throttle-body cleaning) and managed to pinch the intake hose when replacing it, so for about 30 miles until I caught it my engine was sucking in unfiltered air.
Last week, I had the ATF drained and refilled at a different dealer. All seemed fine until I was peering into the engine compartment about 100 miles later and noticed a half-full, open bottle of Type IV ATF fluid lodged down next to the drive belt and the bottle had a nice belt-shaped gouge in the side. Needless to say I was furious, not least because if that bottle had ruptured or tipped over it would potentially have caused an engine compartment fire.
So I'm going back to the dealership to have them redo the ATF fluid change (since I have no confidence they actually did it right or finished it) and inspect the drive belt for damage.
It's gotten to the stage now that I will have to examine my own engine before driving home from a dealership because I just can't trust them not to screw something up.
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Crocket
Member
Same thing happened to me. Took it in twice to get the undercoating done. Given it was winter time, I didn't get to check the re-do. To be safe I plan on bringing it in for oil spraying every year. As OP said, F@#$ing dealerships!
ZebRuaj
New member
When we bought my wife's 2011 Rav4, the salesman was adamant on it requiring SYN oil (this was before free ToyotaCare). I played along, asked what would happen if I didn't. He was honest and said he didn't know, was just saying what he was told, but then went and pulled the oil tech boy. Gawd, it was hilarious seeing him sweat it out and try to sell "synthetic oil is required" on me. Told them to give me some free oil filters and they'll never see my car in their oil change lines. They obliged. I'll do my own oil changes.
I took it back in for recall service a few years later. Service writer told me I needed to flush out the coolant cause it tested bad. And I needed new ATF (shock and awe. Someone actually wants to change out lifetime WS?!) Told him to show me the tests, I just flushed it with Toyota Pink a week before coming in and have been Drain/filling WS every 30k. Guy says he'll look for the tests and never returns. I see him in the customer pick up line hours later and he avoids eye contact with me.
This is the same dealership and service writers that are appalled that I turn down the free car wash anytime our vehicles are in for recall or warranty repairs. They don't get that I don't want high school kids pushing dirty rags and brushes across my vehicle's paint.
I took it back in for recall service a few years later. Service writer told me I needed to flush out the coolant cause it tested bad. And I needed new ATF (shock and awe. Someone actually wants to change out lifetime WS?!) Told him to show me the tests, I just flushed it with Toyota Pink a week before coming in and have been Drain/filling WS every 30k. Guy says he'll look for the tests and never returns. I see him in the customer pick up line hours later and he avoids eye contact with me.
This is the same dealership and service writers that are appalled that I turn down the free car wash anytime our vehicles are in for recall or warranty repairs. They don't get that I don't want high school kids pushing dirty rags and brushes across my vehicle's paint.
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