Toyo dealer and wheel bearings..

[greif07]

Just looking for opinions. I brought my 2 axles in to my local Toyota dealership yesterday morning to have the wheel bearings replaced along with retainer, abs ring etc. I don't know any local shops and didn't want the depth wrong on the retainers.
They said they didn't have the bearings in stock yesterday so would have it done by noon today.
4pm today I get a call.. they broke 4 studs on an axle and now and didn't have any in stock, so they are coming in from next city over (2 hours away) and will be working on it tomorrow.
How the hell do you break studs off on an axle whilst changing wheel bearings??

I feel like they're just chalking up hours since they couldn't charge me for the whole disassembly etc.:crybaby:

 

[greif07]

So 3 days to change 2 wheel bearings at the dealer when I dropped off just the axles with backing plates attached...??

 

[pluton]

But since breaking, and subsequently needing to replace, the studs isn't part of the job they agreed to do for you, you should not be on the hook for that part of the parts/labor charge.

My local dealer service department got into some serious Alice In Wonderland-style divorcement from reality when I had them do the rear axle seals(both sides), starting in June of 2013.
I say "starting" because it took them until December, including five re-dos of the repair, to finally---fingers crossed---do the job correctly.
And, I have absolutely no confidence that they did do the job correctly.
In the end they were fabricating fantasy reasons why the seals would start leaking within a few months to a few days after having done the job.
I'm sure there must be some dealers who can do it right, but my local one isn't one of them.

 

[greif07]

It's really disappointing that the dealerships are such shite..

I mean seriously.. what do you need to do that would result in breaking 4 of the 6 studs on 1 axle?? do they really have some kind of press that requires removal of the studs? I doubt it...

I should've just bought a press and a jig & done it myself.. but what a waste of $ and space for a job I'll do maybe twice.

 

[OL0033]

Just out of curiosity, how much did you pay for parts/labor?

But that is (time wise) way longer than needed. After all that I hope they gave you a discount for the inconvenience.

 

[BrianSD_42]

There are quite a few dealerships that don't do the work themselves but outsource the pressing on of the bearings.

 

[LittleCaesar]

One more reason I buy tools and do it myself.

Chalk it up to a lesson learned and find an independent Toyota/foreign auto mechanic.

I can understand a dealership outsourcing work such as upholstery but not to have a damn press in a garage is pretty pathetic on many levels.

 

[weekendclimber]

One more reason I buy tools and do it myself.

Chalk it up to a lesson learned and find an independent Toyota/foreign auto mechanic.

I can understand a dealership outsourcing work such as upholstery but not to have a damn press in a garage is pretty pathetic on many levels.

^This. When mine need it I'm going to spend the money on tools, even if I have to end up giving them to a friend since I don't have a garage to store a press in. There are very few things that I would have anyone else do to my rig. Not just because of money, but because I believe that most people see a 16+ year old rig and think "Eff it, who cares if it's done right?".

 

[greif07]

Just out of curiosity, how much did you pay for parts/labor?

But that is (time wise) way longer than needed. After all that I hope they gave you a discount for the inconvenience.

I have no idea yet.. they originally quoted me 3 hours labor. That was yesterday afternoon. I bet they charge me about $450+......

 

[gamefreakgc]

3 hours labor alone at the dealer (usually $125 per hour) will run you $375. Recently did this with Toyota parts and cost me about $160, and that's after matching online prices. You'll be looking at about $535 BEFORE they messed up the studs. I wouldn't be surprised if they charged you upwards of $700.

I second finding an independent Toyota shop. The place I used to go to had a Chinese guy that knew Toyotas like the back of his hand. He owned an 89 Pickup with the 22-RE and could fix anything. Worked at the dealer for years but got tired of it and went somewhere else.

P.S. the rear axle seals aren't that hard to do. I pulled my axles and took it to NAPA's machine shop and they did an awesome job at $65 per axle to press on and off. No issues at all lining it up but I also did provide measurements and pics.

 

[OL0033]

I have no idea yet.. they originally quoted me 3 hours labor. That was yesterday afternoon. I bet they charge me about $450+......

Holy heck, I'm assuming that's just labor?
I took mine to a toyota shop that buys parts from us all the time, they charged $180 for one axle, but they did all the work. Dropped it off in the morning and got it back that afternoon, no issues.