Does it matter which dealer you buy a new T from?

Does it matter which dealer you buy a new Toyota from? Would I be giving up on some kind of after sale service if I never go back after the sale but go elsewhere for maintenance?

My nearest T dealer also has a GM dealership and what they call a 'service department' that is absolutely horrible now. His T dealership and service department looks like the same or worse mess but they are the closest with the low sales price.

j
Reply to
joe
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Probably not, but I prefer to give my money to the guy that treats me fairly and properly. Lithia, at least their dealers in Medford, OR seem to do neither of those. They take your money, if you have an issue they refer you to service who wants to do lots of diagnostics with no answers at $90+/hr. Then if they can't solve it, you can pay lots more for them to get a Toyota rep onsite and then usually you're so frustrated you want out of it all -- they then gladly offer to trade your vehicle in... even if you just told them you've just owned it a year. Anyhow, you can pay whoever you want but I would seriously consider giving your money to the guy that seems most fair to you and treats you like you're valuable.

Reply to
mrsteveo

Toyota does not charge its dealers to have a district service manager or field technical specialist look at customer's vehicles.

Reply to
Ray O

Interesting. I'll note that. I wonder if Toyota ever just sends their higher ups to places like Lithia just to 'ensure the guest is getting accurate and fair treatment.' I only ask because I am sure there are reputable dealers, but the Lithia Toyota here leaves a lot to be desired. I'm quite happy with my Toyota, but the way the dealer has treated me has certainly left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm smart enough to visit another dealer but for a lot of people out there that don't know any better, they'll equate the dealer as being Toyota and then never think twice about another Toyota. Sad, but true.

Thanks again for that great piece of info. FYI, I did complain to Toyota which seemed to faul on deaf ears... perhaps you know a regional guy/district guy for Medford, Oregon? :)

Reply to
mrsteveo

What is with all these endless diagnostics - are there not a whole series of codes that can be harvested and sent to a PC for some analysis - removing the incompetent and/or unskilled mechanic from the equation - more or less? At least those were the excuses for my 1984 110k miles Seville - not having all the latest.

j
Reply to
joe

Every Toyota dealership should be visited by the district manager, district service manager, and district parts managers responsible for the dealership every month. Due to the schedules of the respective managers, this is not always possible, but larger dealerships usually get a visit at least once a month.

Toyota tracks the the performance of each dealership very closely, including customer satisfaction, and the customer satisfaction ratings of the dealerships in a manager's district are part of the manager's performance evaluation.

In a practical sense, people who are newly promoted to district service manager tend to get assigned to districts with smaller populations and more seasoned district servcie manager will be assigned to metropolitan areas, so I suspect that the DSM who covers Medford, OR will be less experienced than the one who has Portland or Seattle.

Sorry, I don't know anybody in that area any more. Medford is covered by the Portland Regional Office. If you cross the border in to CA, it is covered by the San Francisco Regional office in San Ramon, CA.

Reply to
Ray O

A skilled technician uses the DTC to identify which components to check. An incompetent and/or unskilled mechanic uses the DTC to identify which components to change, which is why so many unskilled mechanics swap a bunch of parts without curing the problem. In other words, modern diagnostic codes make a skilled technician more important, not less important.

Reply to
Ray O

And how would one spot a competent one? All the patches and ads on the walls clearly mean nothing in a GM shop.

j
Reply to
joe

At a Toyota dealership, look for Toyota's Service Excellence Award plaque hanging somewhere in the service department reception area or customer waiting room or even better, the Toyota President's Award crystal globe somewhere in the showroom. A good dealership will consistently receive these awards year after year.

Reply to
Ray O

That's part of the problem. They read the codes (which I can do with my reader) and it says like 'PO420' and they immediately tell me to replace my cat. They never show proof of how they get to that other than 'the computer says...' which I already know. That's $90 right off to tell you this.

Then of course, you can pay $1700 for the new factory certified cat they claim. Seems weird my car would go through 2 cats, but it makes sense when I look back. I was told the computer said bad 02 sensor. They replace it without looking into anything. Then I get bad cat, they offer to replace that too... I say no and paid for a $200 cat that probably was fine, so now I have a new front 02 sensor and a cat. My engine light is on again, about a bad cat. However, Lithia took 2 months to figure out I had a leaking fuel injector and claimed that it cost like $1,000 to fix with all their 'diagnostics' but fixed it under warranty to make me go away... so anyway, I think the always rich mixture from the leaking fuel injector was the part at fault this entire time.

Meaning, I feel like had they done research, they would have found this. Then I would have replaced 1 injector and not an O2 sensor, a cat, a faulty injector, and now possibly a rear 02 sensor/cat. I think their misdiagnostic (or lack of any reserarch at all) is what caused the chain of failures I had.

Hence why I hate being referred to the dealer. If all they really truly do is read the code, I can do that myself. I would think it's a little more involved than that.

Reply to
mrsteveo

Obviously, I do not have the service department and technician's side of the situation and I do not have access to the technician's notes on the back of the hard copy of the repair order to be able to determine the real story. That said, it sounds like the service department did not do a thorough diagnosis.

Reply to
Ray O

Much more involved than that: Codes and the Check engine light are a fever. You go to a doctor with a fever and they check other things also to figure out what's wrong. Some codes are simple: o2 sensor heater fault. Pretty much tells you what's wrong. Other codes are vague: Cat efficiency code. (to get that code the rear o2 sensor looks at its numbers and looking at the front o2 sensor makes a call. But if you have that code you have to look at the fuel trims and see if the sensor is telling the truth or not. Is the car running rich or lean? what is the fuel management system doing to try to comp for this. We have a Suzuki in the shop for overheating (think there is a crack in the block) but the CEL was on so I ran the codes. Cat efficiency code. Rear 02 sensor is stuck at 1.25 V; Fuel trims are going negative. The rear o2 sensor can effect fuel trim so rather than shooting down the cat, I want to try a new rear o2 sensor and see if it starts switching.. Then see what the effect is. But first we have to get the overheat fixed and try to convince the customer that this is in his best interest to repair. sometimes if you replace a rear o2 sensor, the new rear sensor looks at the sluggish front sensor and sets a cat code. Friday we had a BMW in (V12 eng) with a lean code; The tech couldn't get it to switch so he swapped it to the other side and it worked fine. Another tech and I explained to him he doesn't have a problem with the o2; he probably has a intake leak. BTW; the bmw v-12 has to computers; left bank and right bank.

Anyway, as much as I learn, I realize there is more to learn

Reply to
Stephen H

I have found over the years that if I submit an unsatisfactory report on one of the forms that they mail to find out about service, I will never receive another query. This is a way of keeping the statistics regarding customer satisfaction up. Why send another query to someone who has complained when you can just ignore him and be assured that he won't complain again. This makes their image look good, but doesn't reflect the real world.

Don Dunlap

Reply to
Don Dunlap

Customer satisfaction surveys are generated by warranty claims and new vehicle sales. I'm not sure if this is still the case, but customers were only sent one service survey for any particular repair - in other words, if it took a dealer 2 tries to get a problem fixed, the customer received a survey only for the first visit, and I think there was also a time frame that had to lapse before a customer got another survey. I don't necessarily agree with this policy, but that decision was made way above my pay grade. Also, surveys were not generated for some warranty repairs, like emissions.

Reply to
Ray O

I'm talking about ALL subsequent visits to the service department. If you submit favorable replies to the survey, you will continue to receive queries every time you visit the service department, regardless of the reason. The first time that you submit an unfavorable reply, no more queries. This pertains to surveys generated by the dealership and the manufacturers office. This has been my experience, regardless of dealership or make of car.

Don Dunlap

Reply to
Don Dunlap

I do not have experience with how automakers other than Toyota survey their customers.

One of the questions on the Toyota survey is whether someone from the dealership contacted to see if you are satisfied with the transaction. The dealerships that are genuinely concerned about the quality of your experience contact every customer, either by phone or with a thank-you letter. I get those letters and phone calls when I take our vehicles to our local Toyota dealership. The ones that are not as concerned with your satisfaction only contact the customers that they know will receive a survey from Toyota.

Reply to
Ray O

I know this is way out in left field but...

I've used Pacific Bell co. for like 30 years now and every other business I have ever delt with in my 48 years should take lessons from those guys. lol

one of the forms that they mail to find out about

statistics regarding customer satisfaction up. Why

him and be assured that he won't complain again.

vehicle sales. I'm not sure if this is still the case,

in other words, if it took a dealer 2 tries to get a

I think there was also a time frame that had to

this policy, but that decision was made way above my

submit favorable replies to the survey, you will

regardless of the reason. The first time that you

generated by the dealership and the manufacturers office.

dealership contacted to see if you are satisfied with the

of your experience contact every customer, either by

take our vehicles to our local Toyota dealership.

customers that they know will receive a survey from

Reply to
Danny G.

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