Hi everyone:
A couple days ago I sent my car to a Toyota dealer for oil change. I was told some components were wrong and I should replace them. The estimate was $1,300. I told them I had Toyota Extend Care and went ahead do it. When I picked up may car, however, I happened to get a chance to look at the bill. They charged Toyota Extend Care for $600. Is this normal / legal? By $600, I think they still make money.
Thanks
So you (the technician) are basically subsidizing new car sales? Doesn't sound fair to me.
Labor is the biggest expense I bet. Struts require removal and disaasembly, in the rear, removal requires tearing some interior trim out also. Are you sure you need struts? Did you give it the bounce test?
It's the dealer who really thinks I need them. The problem is a clunking sound coming from the right rear. The sound is very similar to the front strut mount sound problem that was in a TSB. The car does have about 105,000 miles, so it's no surprise that new struts may be needed. My bounce test shows about 2.25 ups per 1 down, which I guess means it's over the limit (should fail PA state inspection, technically, though I suspect this could be considered borderline). The struts aren't leaking. Another dealer (without looking) suggested that the sway bar bushings could be bad, but my dealer said he checked, and they are okay. I know there is another TSB out for a loose bolt on the rear strut, but there is no free repair associated with it, and the labor would be almost the same as replacing the struts, I suspect. Does this all make sense to you?
I had the same problem with my 2000 Solara... Clunking noise from right rear. It was constant when on the dirt road to my house and intermittant when on tarmac.
I replaced the rear struts with Tokicos and top strut mounts with KYBs. Fixed it immediately. I liked the improvement so much that I did the exact same to the front struts.
Took me forever to get to the top of the rear struts though. Most everything removable from the front seats to the trunk has to come out.
Part numbers and suppliers available on request.
dealer ships are always overpriced by 20 to 200 % ,,,why go to a dealer ........
No they are not, this is an old wives tale.
I've forgotten more than those guys at an independent store will ever know on a Toyota!
Not to mention, all the resouces we have, years of experience, I know I can find a problem is way less time than the independents can.
please send me all the info you used for this replacement. i put 4 kyb's on my solara v6 and now it rides aweful. original handling was lousey
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