There is an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning about how Japanese automakers are pushing their dealers to expand showrooms, hire more salespeople, and get their maintenance facilities up to par. It mentions Toyota specifically, and talks about how corporate is pushing the dealers since their customer satisfaction is so low. They blame the problem on an increase in sales from 834 cars per store annually 10 years ago to 1,448 cars per store now. Interesting read.

 

Here in Charlotte, their customer satisfaction straight SUCKS! I hate them. They charge you up too. $7-8k for an engine rebuild? Not to mention, only the bottom block? lol Rediculous

 

I'll mirror that. I've been very happy with the vehicle, but service TOTALLY blows. I've tried 4 different dealers and they're all lousy in the service area. Although my experience with Mr. Goodwrench hasn't been much better.

 

I've owned a Chevy, Subaru, Ford, DC and Toyota....I'd compare all the dealerships service. They all suck....Although I never took the Ford to the dealer because it was used. But I imagine the service is just as bad as the rest.

My parents have had GREAT service from the Lexus dealer. They traded in their SUV for another but forgot the rear seats at the house. Anyway they traded in the SUV and the salesperson is gonna drive out here to pick up the seats since its a 2 hour drive. When ever they get service done on there Lex since the dealer is so far from home the Lex dealer will give them a rental for a few hours so they can go out and do something instead of waiting for the repair or maintance to be done.

 

i can vouch for lexus... they treat my parents great EVERY time there is something to be done to the car...

they come pick up my fathers car from the hospital to change his oil... whether he pays extra for that or not, i dont know... but i do know they always leave him with a nice loaner for the 4 hours its gone just incase he needs to go somewhere...

now thats service!

 

we've had experience with the toyota dealers here......and the GM. The GM seemed to be ok, but not great. Toyota service is a joke tho....

 

I've never had bad service from the dealer I used in Denver (Burt Toyota) or Winchester Toyota out here (used them once so far). But then, since all I have done is routine maintenance, I've never had to deal with them on a major servicing.

 

I third the superb Lexus customer service.

 

i bought my 4runner used with 90k miles from Toyota of Lewisville and it came with free oil changes for the life of the vehicle...I havent needed any other kind of service to tell you about, but their showroom is huge and they have a lounge area with a plasma tv and internet...much nicer than all the other dealerships i went to. Anyway, free oil changes with a car wash seems pretty generous for a truck i payed 7k for.

 

I have to comment on this one, I was a former Toyota Tech, normally I do my own work on my Toys. When I bought my Taco I recieved a full year of free services, oil changes....! About 2 weeks ago I took my Taco in for her 30,000 mile service it was free, granted, but they tried to sell me brake pivot pins for my rears. After I said: " I want to see them!" They changed there story and especially when I told them I was a former Toyota tech they about cringed!! Funny, all of a sudden it was under warranty! Then they tried to sell me a throttle body cleaning for $59.00! Unfreaking real! I told them I know you want to make money, but your not going to make it on me! It takes 10 minutes to do this service! I told them I know all the tricks, and I do! A week later they sent me a survey to rate them! The average Toyota tech makes anywhere from $35,000 - $45,000! You have to be a good salesman and sucker people in! I seen everything from putting drops of oil on customers oil pans to wiping off the oil filter to putting drops off gear oil around the diff,s to putting drops of anti-freeze on the block to fake a HG! It's sad but it happens, and all too often! Buyer Beware!
Question everything and I mean EVERYTHING!
Take Care!
Harry

 

I used to work for the parts dept. of a Toyota dealer down in S. FL. The service there was superb, but then again they needed every customer they could get. There were 2 other dealers that made so much money off customers, they could turn away customers at will. I think the "ma' and pa'" kind of dealers are a bit nicer.

I can't stand the service I've recieved locally at Chevy, Dodge, or Kia.

 

Grounded,
My experience has actually been good. I have had a couple of minor issues, which the dealer has corrected quickly. My major compaint has actually been with salesmen. I was looking at new Taco's, and couldn't find anyone who actually seemed interested in selling me a vehicle. It's almost impossible to get a call back, and the second you start giving them a hard time on the price, they don't want to hear it and they lose interest. That's one of the main issues the article in the Journal discussed...too many customers, not enough sales staff or showrooms. So that's why Toyota corporate is pushing their dealers to shape up.

 

Toyota dealers suck. Every one I have ever been to has acted like they were doing me a favor by merely letting me set foot in their dealership.
Cap'n

 

Hey, don't get me wrong! I worked for 3 Toy stealerships and there are some really good ones out there, ( I haven't found one yet!) I had to get out of it, the stress was killing me, I retired my wrenches in '98 and went and got a degree in Civil Engineering, I now work for the state of PA. I do miss wrenching but the politics and red tape and BS got to me! My suggestion is to do your own work, anyone with a limited mechanical knowledge can do anything, it's the truth. It's only as hard as you make it! My last year of working for Toyota I brought home $60,000, that;s right $60,000! I have a conscience, never have I ripped off a customer, but I seen tech's do it time and time again! I couldn't stand to see it anymore, these customers were hard working people, and here they were getting screwed time and time again! I could tell you stories that would make you scream!! I could tell you every trick in the book, sh** you would have never even thought of!!
I'll always swear by Toyota! My last truck I got over 310,000 miles out of that 3.0! This new Taco is great! The only quam is I hate these seats!!! They absolutely suckk!! My back aches from these seats!

Take care all!
You have questions about stealerships, pm me and I'll fill your ears!
Harry

 

ok toyota service dept customer serivce is a joke. Lexus is awesome, they go out of theyre way to make sure everything is done right. If not they offer to fix it, before you even have a chance to complain. Mercedes is the same way. Free loaner car no matter what service you come in for. Even if it's just an oil change, you get a brand new benz to take around for the day. Everything is fixed right the first time.

THe downside to both of them, is that the prices they charge are outrageous. Oil changes are a little over $100 for both of them. Spark plugs and wires change on a benz cost me $600.

So they all screw you one way or another.

 

Ok - maybe you guys south of the Border don't like Toyota's service, but I know up here in BC there some EXCELLENT Toyota service departments at dealerships. I'm talking top notch. I know of 2 Toyota dealerships in particular within 20 minutes of me who are outstanding.

 

The two dealers I've dealt with recently have been pretty good.

The main one I take my 4R to, and my corolla before that always did good work, and didn't recommend a lot of work I didn't need. Still expensive as heck, though.

They did, however, blow it at my last service, where some lunk-head managed to forget to tighten the oil drain plug. Because of my long service history with them, I wasn't going to sweat it much. A day later they called to see if I was "delighted with my customer service", and I must admit I 'fessed up to being a little miffed. The girl calling was horrified, and promised to have the service manager call me. Very shortly he called me back, talked to me about the mechanic who performed the service, apologized, offered, nay, begged, to drive the 30-odd miles out to my house and clean my driveway. When I told him I wasn't too worried about that, he told me to drop by and he'd get my next few oil changes comp'ed. Granted, they made a mistake, but they sure tried to make it better.

YMMV...

 

nunsa: If you don't mind me asking, what was the pay system when you worked for Toyota? Obviously it isn't straight hourly or salary, since it appears mechanics benefit from selling more services. Is are there SPIFS for selling different services, or is there a commission system in place, or do you get a percentage of the repair bills?

Thanks,
-aNUT

 

In defence of some mechanics. I have a buddy thats a GM service tech. He would in no way "sabatoge" someone vehicle. He wouldnt have anything to do with it, and if they asked him to do something like that he would walk out, or even more likely take pics and give them to the vehicle owners after the repair. THEN walk out.

I admit there are probably alot of shadey dealers but alot of those guys are straight up and couldnt morally do some of these horrible things some do. Now finding these guys is the trick.

 

Downtown Toyota on Burrard sucks. They will try to sell you everything plus the toilet seat, and at $107 bucks an hour no less. I have had nothing but trouble from them in the tweo years i have had to deal with them. The Toy dealer on Lougheed is very good in my experience though.