I hate dealing with my car. Don’t get me wrong…I LOVE my car…but I hate dealing with maintaining it. Because of my extreme and “obvious naievete of someone {me} ignorant to the world of auto-mechanics”* I got the royal screw job of a lifetime yesterday.

I took my car in for the 90,000 service…which clearly states that they would change the spark plugs. I am bad because I haven’t taken my car in since the 30,000 mile service…so my plugs have been going for a long time. I told the dealership that I took it too…three times that I didn’t NOT have the 60,000 mile service and that it needed plugs (and was chastized accordingly). The description even said that it would receive NON PLATINUM plugs at this service. I was fine with that. I reiterated on the phone that I needed the spark plugs changed. I dropped my car off and they printed me off my paperwork that said this is what they were going to do:

90K service: replace engine oil and filter. Replace Air Filter. Replace all drain gaskets. rotate and balace tires. drain and refill engine coolant. replace nonplatinum sparkplugs. replace differential oil, install washer fluid into reservoir, install deposit control additive into fuel tank, replace transmission or
transaxle oil, install protective battery pads and clean battery terminals, replace front wipers, check and top off fluid, clean and adjust brakes as needed. Inspect: Battery condition (loadtest), steering linkage, ball joints and dust covers, drive shaft boots, body chasis nuts and bolts, tires (remaining tread), brake lining,
exhaust (on the sheet it is misspelled as exhuast) pipes and mountings, exterior bulbs and headlamps, road test.

They told me it would be done around 4:30. My parents took me to work. At 4:30 the Toyota Dealership calls me and tells me that because it is a high mileage vehicle they suggest that I have a special fuel injection flush for an additional $120. That I have a special transmission flush for another $120, that the brake fluid needs to be completely drained for…you guessed it…and addional $120, that because I haven’t had the 60K service that I should have the belts serviced for an additional $300, that I need a new battery because this on is “on it’s way out” and that because “someone” put aftermarket wipers on the car that they wouldn’t be able to replacethe wipers…unless I paid them and extra $11.00 a wiper…(and there are 3 of them). I gave them permission to do the rear wiper and the flush of the fuel system. That I would have to do the rest of the stuff later. We get to Toyota about 5:15. They still aren’t done with my car. I end up waiting in the damn lobby for an hour…and then I finally went up to the cashier and asked for an ETA on the car…and he said “Oh I think that you are done!” (and have been for awhile).

So I get the car and I pay the fee of $645.00 (the original service was $525) and find out that they didn’t change the spark plugs because “they should have been changed at the 60K service” Even though I told them twice on the phone at different times that I hadn’t had that service…and that I told them in person that I hadn’t had that service AND I asked them to replace them. They didn’t do all that much to my car frankly…to be charged so freaking much. And my dad told me (because he just inspected my car) that I didn’t need the special drainings/flushings and that my belts looked fine to him. The reason I wanted them to replace my spark plugs is because my dad didn’t have the right tool to get them out of the engine (they are way in there)….so my dad was livid about that and told them that “It is pretty sad that she paid over $600 dollars and you couldn’t even change her spark plugs.” They claim I didn’t tell them I wanted them to do it and to do it, would have cost $22.00 a plug! He was really ticked so he went home and built a tool (modified an exisiting one) so he could remove my spark plugs and we went to Kragen’s and bought some plugs ($25.00 for 4 platinum plugs) and he changed them in 20 minutes…and proceeded to find out that one of the plugs had come loose awhile back and was burning the plug wire…if it had gone much longer I would have needed a new plug wire too. Urg!!!

It is running like a dream now…and should be good for awhile…But I seriously have misgivings about mechanics (especially ones from dealships). I just wish I had a local mechanic that I know I could trust! Is it too much to ask??? I am so tired of being fucked over…maybe I should just become a toyota certified mechanic because according to my bill of the $642…$480 of that was LABOR!

I have three other horror stories…regarding dealership mechanics and having the fucktards* screw with me (or family members)…

My dad use to own an F250 ford pickup. It was having carbarator problems so he took it to the dealer to be fixed…and they charged him for a new one and he paid and got the truck home and looked at the carberator…not only was it the same carberator, but they had busted a huge chunk out of the carberator to “fix” it. He went
back and talked to the service manager who then claimed that we must have broke the chunk out ourselves!!!! My dad threatened to the better business bureau if they didn’t fix it right…it took them like a week to do it.

My old car was a 1990 Chevy Lumina sedan. I started having some trouble with it and I took it to the dealership- where my parents had purchased it (it was 10 years old at the time) and they told me that it was a cracked engine block, that there was coolant in my oil because of it, and the repairs would cost $3800 dollars plus labor because it needed a whole new engine. I told them that I didn’t have that kind of money and that I would be down there to pick it up. I went with my brother, who at the time was working as a detailer at a used carlot..so he drove it down the used carlot and had their head mechanic look at it…he told me that indeed my engine block was NOT cracked. There was NO coolant in my oil which he said was very clean (because it had just been changed) and that the problem was with the oil sensor…and it cost me $40 bucks to have him fix it for me.

I originally leased my Rav…but then I decided to purchase it after my lease was up. I financed it through the dealership in my town (I bought it in Gilroy). They forgot to smog it. So they called me in and told me I needed to have it smogged because basically it was like me buying a used car from them. They told me it would be free because it was their oversight to begin with. I dropped my car off to be smogged and my mom picked it up for me. WHen I got home- my car had been smoked in! I was livid- because I take very good car of my car (it being my first new car and all)…When I leased the car it was brand new…and I never ever used the cigarette lighter…it was in the original little baggy, and stored in the bottom of my center console….exaclty where it has been two years ago when I bought it. They apparently dug through the console and opened the lighter and
placed it in the lighter because that is where I discovered the lighter when I went to plug in my cell phone. My car reeked…so it wasn’t just that someone who had smoked at one time had gotten in my car…someone actually smoked IN MY CAR…I was livid. And called the service manager and told him so. He said that he would “look into it” Two weeks later I get a letter stating that he inspected the facility that they outsource smogging to and no one on their premises smoked and none of their advisors smoke so it MUST have been the person who picked up my car at the end of the day. I explained that my mother picked up my car and that she does NOT smoke.

* coined by and stolen from: ETS

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2004 at 4:54 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.