Dealer Service Dept. Overcharge?

What is the hourly labor rate where you are? Without access to a flat rate manual, my wild guess is that the standard flat rate labor time is between 1 and 1.5 hours. Take the flat rate labor times and multiply by the dealer's labor rate to come up with a range of reasonable labor charges.

Your receipt should show the flat rate labor time they charged you.

So does mine, so lets see what's involved in changing the engine oil and transmission oil on a manual transmission car.

a) put the car on the hoist b) undo the sump plug or transmission drain plug c) drain the oil d) replace the plug.

Here's where it varies... for the engine e) replace the oil filter f) take the car off the hoist g) add oil via the rocker filler cap, checking the dip stick as needed..

and for the transmission e) take out the filler plug on the side of the transmission f) add oil via the filler plug hole till it starts to ooze out. g) replace the plug h) take the car off the hoist

Transmission oil is a bit more expensive than engine oil, but you need less of it.

I'd ask the dealer to explain specifically what takes longer when the MANUAL transmission is done, compared to changing engine oil. Automatic transmissions do take longer, but not much longer.

Stewart DIBBS

Yeah, that's about right.

Ray

Seems about right. An independant repair garage would have charged $45-60.

BTW, what colour is it? I had a '95 with an auto; always wished it was a

Sounds high to me - but suspect they have a minimum shop charge of an hour - and if they used synthetic fluid its $8-11 a qt (3 qts?) plus the hazardous disposal fee and shop materials --- it could be near that. An AT is more costly to power flush --- than simply pulling the plug and watch it drain..

I wish I had those charges. My 03 Lexus just had its 30,000 mile service and the charge for the maintenance plus replacing the rear brakes was over $1,100.00 ! Yes, you read that right. $79.95 would be a bargain for me. Maybe I should get a Highlander?

You had to replace the brakes on an '03? What the Hell gives?

And the REAR brakes at that??? Sounds like someone else is on the alimony payment plan as well. (my 01 Camry still has the original rears). Do you do a lot of backing up??? I guess they figure with a Lexus you'll never be in for any REAL repairs so they have to GETCHA on the sheduled / invented maintanace.

The Trans oil change sounds like what you'd be charged for a 'merican car (dropping the pan and changing the filter and gasket as well). Both of these good arguments for DIY lessons.

I read where a trans flush , (which by the way he didn't have done) is bad for your trans or is that just the chrysler trans' ?? (the edmunds chrysler trans problems forum is where I read it).

What you 'understand' is not correct.

mike hunt

snipped-for-privacy@volpe.dot.gov wrote:

well ... i presume the dealerships are reasonably competitive in pricing. Probably something you could have done for less than $10 worth of lube if u wanted to take the time.

- Josh

That was one of the reasons I stopped buy Toyotas several years ago, I could never get our of the Lexus dealers for less than $300.

mike hunt

J Golden wrote:

you said 'My understanding is that changing the transaxle oil is not much harder than a simple engine oil change.' That is incorrect.

mike hunt

That's why Toyota sells you the car at deep discount. They make up their profits from your regular maintenance and unfortunate events.

$79.95 sounds pretty cheap to me. I never paid less than $100 at dealer if it is not express lube. My Sienna was charged more than $900 last time just to changed a broken A/C pipe and recharge it. BTW, it happended right after a major service and they insisted that they did not even touch that parts.

You aren't going to get any money back, whether the job was overpriced or not. Toyota USA customer service won't help, I've tried. Be thankful they didn't insist on a full brake job, a coolant flush, a brake fluid flush, all new belts and hoses, tire rotation, replace your spare, realignment and tune-up. Save yourself a lot of grief, chalk it up as experience, find yourself an honest service station, not a dealer, and become well acquainted with the owner. Take your car in for service there regularly, and show up at the pumps, even if the price per gallon is higher than the guy across the street. Avoid the dealerships!

It has been my observation and experience that dealerships act as if their customer base is unlimited, and they can squeeze all they can get out of a customer and it doesn't matter if the customer finally smartens up and goes elsewhere, because another customer will be there to fill the bay. An honest service station, on the other hand, recognizes that they have a limited customer base and tries to treat the customer fairly to keep him/her as a repeat customer.

Lena

So, how, exactly, is changing the oil on a manual transmission more difficult or labor-intensive than changing engine oil? If you could provide some details that would be helpful. Thanks.