Toyota maintenance – Who is getting “serviced”?

If there is one weakness in Toyota, it’s dealers. I can’t think of another part of the Toyota chain that seems to so regularly disappoint, misinform and basically lose the confidence of the owners as the dealers. Starting with the sales experience and tales of scant hybrid knowledge to rapacious service managers, anytime I have to go to a Toyota dealer the little hairs on the back of my neck start to stand up and I get the itchy feeling in between my shoulder blades as though a knife may plunge in at any time.

So it’s time for my 30k servicing and just out of curiosity here is what I found calling some local dealers (all within 30 miles of my home):

Performance Motors
3-4 hours
$300-400 (depending on what we need to do, he had no idea what the Prius needed)

Faulkner Toyota
2 hours
$225.00

Lancaster Toyota
1.25 hours
$235.00
(When I called back and spoke to the service manager about the details of this we somehow managed to get a price of $175 for essentially the same servicing)

Most of these dealers went from the appropriate list of things to do at 30k. Engine and cabin air filter, tire rotation, oil and oil filter change, inspection of various parts of the car, check fluid levels. Some of them wanted to change the differential oil. And to be perfectly clear, I used my own car as an example and I asked each one to list what they would be doing for that rate. So please, no claims that these dealers were offering different service for the different prices, except where noted, it’s the same thing all around. And frankly, where it differs worries just as much. This is factory mandated service, this isn’t an exercise in “guess what needs to be done to your car”. Improvisation is great in comedy, not so much in vehicle maintenance.

At Diehl Toyota in York, PA, the service person seemed to think I would need new “transmission” fluid and new coolant. Though I have to admit that even though they wanted to rape me for almost double the next highest estimate, at least they would get me a loaner car for the day.

Uh, ok.

At Frederick Toyota in Lebanon, PA they wanted a mere $330 and about two and half hours of my life to do the basic list of the 30k service items.

Did I say “mere $330″. Sorry.

Talking to the service person at Performance Motors was interesting in that I got the idea from him that the service people just basically took the car apart, looked at what needed to be replaced and then did the work. Hence the variable quote. An odd way to do factory service but I guess we all have our own ways of getting things done.

I’m not really clear on this. I’m guessing, but it would seem to me that someone at the dealer service counter either consults a book or a computer under the heading “Prius 30k service”. Under that heading might come a listing of what is needed for the Prius (as opposed to standard vehicles) and what the time involved is and what the charges might be. Yet, look at the differences above.

Here’s my problem with this. While I am sure there are some of you out there who managed to get some great deal on your Prius I think it’s safe to say that most of us paid what the sticker said and it wasn’t discounted. Many of us take the car to the dealer for regular servicing. Many times even for basic oil changes. The thing that’s really infuriating is that dealers here feel as though this is yet another opportunity to raid your bank account even though you’ve probably been a pretty good customer to them anyway.

When I spoke to the service manager at “my” dealership he told that one of the goals of the service department was “retention”. In other words, take are of the customers and they’ll come back and buy more cars from you. A laudable and certainly successful strategy (if you can actually do it). That said, what’s with the dealers listed above? I’m sure Toyota can’t control what they do and what they charge but in whose interest is it to hose your customers for basic service?

In 2008 consumers are smarter than ever. We have more resources than ever before. With a few keystrokes and clicks and I can read the service experiences of tens of thousands of owners. It’s that simple. So why play these games? Are they that greedy? Are they that stupid? I won’t argue that most people probably just pay up and move on but what happens when that “easy” customer gets just a little bit of this knowledge? And how do you think this affects that customer’s perception of Toyota? Legitimate or not, they are “Toyota dealers” and if you think a bumbling sales person who doesn’t know hybrids can turn off a customer what do you think the avaricious service writer does to the customer who calls for a “30k service”?

It’s time to wake up Toyota. You need to do what you can do to standardize and educate these dealers. It’s not my job to do so and frankly, it’s not something I would expect to have to do at a Toyota dealership. You want to be number one? Start cleaning up your act at the ground level. Paying a little extra at the dealer for service for regular maintenance is one thing, getting ripped off by people who seemingly have little idea of what they are doing is a whole other issue.

Oh and by the way, here’s the list from Toyota of what should be done at 30k for 2005 Prius:

2005 Prius
30,000 Miles – 36 Months
(My Prius has 29k on it and it is 32 months old)

Replace engine oil and oil filter 1
Rotate tires
Replace cabin air filter
Replace engine air filter
Inspect the following:
Automatic transmission fluid
Ball joints and dust covers
Brake lines and hoses
Brake linings/drums and brake pads/discs 4
Differential oil
Drive shaft boots
Engine and inverter coolant 3
Exhaust pipes and mountings
Fuel lines and connections, fuel tank band and fuel tank vapor vent system hoses
Fuel tank cap gasket
Radiator, condenser and intercooler
Steering gear box
Steering linkage and boots

Additional Maintenance Items for Special Operating Conditions:

Driving While Towing
Tighten nuts and bolts on chassis
Driving in Desert or On Dirt Roads
Tighten nuts and bolts on chassis

Applicable Footnotes:
1) Reset the oil replacement reminder (“MAINT REQD”) light after replacing engine oil, if vehicle is equipped with this light.
4) Inspect thickness measurement and disc runout.