stir_fry_boy
New member
Just bought enough oil and filters for 4 oil changes for $125. I'll add a video to my YT channel of me doing an oil change on my brand new 2015 TRD PRO.
How many people don't use the free oil changes and service?
- Thread starter SavageRunner
- Start date
Lester Lugnut
New member
You don't have a great dealer. They have Santa Claus for a customer!
Good God man...we are not all made out of money like you seem to be.
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Lester Lugnut
New member
I can use the money to buy my own oil/filters/whatever.
I suppose if I showered the local techs with beer/$$$/turkeys, I'd get better service. Just one problem with that. I should not have to go that far to get what I paid for in the first place.
You keep climbin' down the chimney 1E; I'll keep doing my own maint.
Lester Lugnut
New member
My father did.
That said, I'm not sure why you are compelled to preach over and over that you trust you dealer and shower their employees with beer/$$$/turkeys/etc. and think we should as well?
If you choose to do so, good for you.
Buying parts at various local dealerships as often as I do, I see techs come and go with the wind. Who would I buy a case of beer or a turkey for? Ain't no nirvana where I live.
Some of us are quite capable of taking care of ourselves. I was wrenching on cars a good dozen yrs. before you were born assuming your displayed age is correct.
Again, if you are happy with your situation, so be it. A lot of us aren't up to showering people with gifts for the task their employer pays them for.
1engineer
Moderator
Either way is fine Lester.
I have my dealer do the work and check after they finish the work. So far so good, have been happy with the service and it's way less strain on my physical limited body to do the work. Some people seem to have good dealerships and some have bad ones. We can all have a good experience one time and a bad one another or 30 good and one bad. It's wierd how people deal with it. I always take pictures and hold paperwork and have used it on the past when a 'quicklube' has screwed up before. Pictures do amazing things...
Speedy Gomez
Banned
The hell with the dealer! I do my own oil changes, tire rotations, and top the fluids, if needed!
dekeman
New member
Isn't that the sole reason to take it to the dealer - for service?
Seriously, good discussion.
For $75, the dealer will do it, but there's some risk of screwup, and almost always a mess.
For $55, I can do it, but have to store/dispose the old oil and filter, but get the good feeling of doing own maintenance.
For those that do themselves, what do you do with your old oil?
A lot of this comes down to having a reputable shop, something that often takes time to cultivate, and rare when using the Toyota dealership. Older independent shops often make the difference between doing it yourself or taking it in.
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stir_fry_boy
New member
I have a drain pan, then put the new oil in, then dump the drain pan oil into the new oil bottle. I then take it to a quick lube place, and they take it for free.
stir_fry_boy
New member
I was confused at where you were going with this question.
Land_Shark
New member
op2:
Speedy Gomez
Banned
Ron4RNevada
New member
Just pondering:
Think of all of the people who own the late model posh cars (and trucks) such as BMW, Porsche, Bentley, Land Cruise, Lexus, Infinity, Cadillac, etc..... The people who don't ever open the hood........ The people who don't know what's under the hood if the did open it...... The people who do not belong to an afficianado forum like this one.......
I have a feeling that they all take their cars to a dealer...
I wonder how many tell the stories that are told here?
Just pondering - - - -
Are their dealers technicians better trained; better qualified; more concientious; have more time to get the job done right than a Toyota tech?
Just pondering - - - -
You hardly ever see them sitting on the shoulder of the road with the oil running into the dirt.
Just pondering - - - -
:noidea:
Think of all of the people who own the late model posh cars (and trucks) such as BMW, Porsche, Bentley, Land Cruise, Lexus, Infinity, Cadillac, etc..... The people who don't ever open the hood........ The people who don't know what's under the hood if the did open it...... The people who do not belong to an afficianado forum like this one.......
I have a feeling that they all take their cars to a dealer...
I wonder how many tell the stories that are told here?
Just pondering - - - -
Are their dealers technicians better trained; better qualified; more concientious; have more time to get the job done right than a Toyota tech?
Just pondering - - - -
You hardly ever see them sitting on the shoulder of the road with the oil running into the dirt.
Just pondering - - - -
:noidea:
Nope. I worked at a dealership more than 30 years ago. The average mechanic at a dealer typically stays with that manufacturer. I started out in the service department doing oil changes. They will always have the young-no-nothings start there. I think I made $2.00 an hour. There's a lot of OJT that goes on, but today manufacturers have great training classes for their certified techs. There was none of that back then.
Ron4RNevada
New member
I worked at a Land Rover dealer for a couple of years (Not in Service Department). Their techs/mechanics started out doing lubes too but were being sent to schools all the time learning the mechanics jobs. Generally during that entry level service they were assisting the master mechanics on more technical stuff.
The ones at our dealership stayed at our dealership for many years. I considered them quite competent.
The ones at our dealership stayed at our dealership for many years. I considered them quite competent.
Speedy Gomez
Banned
Here is a good example why I don't go to the dealership. :snacker:
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Blitzkrieg
New member
Save your receipts for the oil and filters (and everything else for that matter) and record the mileage. I keep a record of all maintenance I do to my vehicles in an Excel spreadsheet.
A common misconception is that oil changes and such have to be done by a dealer (and some dealers will not go out of their way to deflate that misconception) or the warranty will be void and that's pure malarkey.
Just make sure you are using the correct oil (the 5th gen requires 0-20W) and a quality filter. I use only Mobil1 in my vehicles. Both the Mobil1 and Purolator filters score very high in filter tests. I'll run either but have been using Mobil1 filters for the last couple of years because they habitually rank at the top of the filter tests. I wouldn't use a Fram filter on my lawn mower and the factory filters are generally in the middle of the performance tests - not bad but not great.
1200 toyota dealerships in the US. I am not going to add up honda and volkswagon and any other you mentioned.
a very conservative 5 oil changes per day times 1200 times a conservative 220 working days a year is 1320000 oil changes a year. whats the time span of all those errors you posted. 2 years ? 2640000, 3 years, 3960000....more?
i'll take those odds.
talk about the sky is falling sensationalism. planes crash, doctors screw up, nurses screw up, every human on the face of the earth makes a mistake occasionally. I highly doubt that ANY dealership employee wakes up and decides today is the day i am going to make as many mistakes as possible or i am intentionally going to screw up someones car today.
you want to believe the dealership is some empire of evil intent on harming your beloved purchase have at it but don't for a second think that most of us do not care intensely about doing a good job.
Kennyr44
New member
Very true, screw ups I have seen first hand in 27 years in a service department were relatively minimal. I have had about a half a dozen mostly minor. I never had a drain plug fall out or loose (a common one) that I can remember. I did have a wheel come almost off as the customer was driving home causing body damage to the wheel well. I disputed this because an alignment was done by someone else after I had the wheels off. I lost and had to pay $500. I crushed a hood I had extended straight up on a ceiling pipe when the car was lifted. Cost me again. Dont snap a windshield wiper back to the window, had to buy one, that can crack em. Stuff happens for sure but the odds are against it. Question is do you feel lucky because this stuff happens on rare occasions. 99% of people have no choice and have to have others do their work. Yes we used to take customer cars to lunch occasionally during test drives. Big deal you had to extensively test drive some problems to recreate them or to see if they were fixed. Any time a car is being worked on or on the road or even parked something can happen to it. Bottom line over time people will screw up, some more than others.
Speedy Gomez
Banned
Another good example! :crazy:
