I've had good luck with Boulder Toyota in Boulder, Colorado. Only had one warranty service repair done their (problem with the radio), but it was pretty painless and they replaced the whole unit without fuss.

I also ended up buying my '04 Tacoma d-cab from them because they gave me the best upfront price over any other Toyota dealership in Colorado. Should be getting it next week, can't wait!

 

Let me continue this list and add


Wondries Toyota in Alhambra, CA.

Longo Toyota, El Monte (what Firstoyz said)


These two dealerships will just try to rip you off, and provide crappy service.

 

I bought my Taco at Prestige in Bergan county N.J. Service dept. or should I say lack of service dept. truly sucks ! I also tried Rockland Toyota Got my truck back scratched , because of lousy weather I didn't find it for a couple of weeks My tough luck. also lots of promises to have the truck done by the end of the day for a week straight. so in my opinion they aren't any better.

 

I have been taking my Camry's to Symes Toyota in Pasadena for the past 5 years. I don't have any complaints - turnaround time seems reasonable, they don't seem to try to sell me stuff i don't need, I haven't experienced any incidental damage or faulty work and for anything more than an oil change I can usually get the car washed at no charge. This is where I will be taking my new 4Runner so I will be keeping my fingers crossed that my good experience with Symes lasts.

 

I pretty much agree with the negative things said about dealerships. I've sounded off about them at this site before.

But...........................

If you can't figure out how to do your own maintenance, especially something as simple and as mundane as an oil change, then you at least ought to have sense enough to crawl underneath and check the drain plug, then check the oil level on the dipstick.

You might even want to look at the oil discoloration on the dipstick just before you take it in and compare to after the oil change.

Look the same? Then they didn't change your oil and it would scare the crap out of you if you had any idea how many times a day this happens at dealerships all across the U. S.

Maintenance work is the biggest rip-off. Alot of what they said they did never happened.

Sure am glad I know how to do all of my maint and most mech. work. That's why my old 22R went past 300,000 miles.

My new 2004 2.4l Tacoma will likely do the same since no dealer is ever going to change the oil or peform any "maint" task.

By the way. There are just as many incompetent/dishonest independent garages.

The auto service industry as a whole stinks.

 

I had an 89 mustang and needed to have the trans fluid and filter changed.I always do my own work but where I lived at the time didn't have a good area to do it and the trans pan had no drain plug.I didn't want to have a river of fluid come out and get everywhere and have the landlord on me so I thought I'd "treat" myself to having it done.I went to a Precision Tune shop,watched the tech clean the pan in a parts washer real good and he disappeared back in the bay.All looked fine and I took off.It slipped like crazy and I almost had a few accidents just going down the road since it was jumping in and out of gear.I went back and told the manager my problem.He said my tranny was shot and told me about the particles in the fluid keeping it together,etc.I had gotten this tranny from a salvage yard 30K miles before and had changed the fluid when I installed it and it was perfect.He tried to push some additive stuff on me,other mechanics came over to see the excitement and were smirking.I was about ready to go postal.The manager starts blowing me off and helping other customers while I stand there dumbstruck and furious.I told him I wasn't leaving until they took the pan back off so I could see for myself.He was about ready to call the cops but told the tech to take the pan off and I would have to pay for it again.I went down in the bay with this imbicile and he took off the pan and filter and that's where I saw he forgot to put the sealing washer on between the trans valve body and the filter.If I didn't know anything about transmissions,I would have had to buy a new tranny right there.Never again,you hear me!

 

It would be interesting to know how dealerships in other countries are. Anyone have any experience from UK, Australia, Japan?

Mark

 

So what happened? Did they buy a new Tranny for you?

 

bostonians can trust herb chambers toyota and toyota of watertown.

clair toyota (where i bought my runner) is a little shady, but i cant say ive had a real bad experience there.

 

Did you check your dipstick to see if your level was low? I couldn't imagine that they would just swap out the drain plug. You know what happens when you take a drain plug out? If they did replace your drain plug you should have noticed that you just got your oil changed again. It sounds like they cleaned off the drain plug to make sure that it wasn't leaking.

In any case, you are better off to do your own service if you can. That way there is no one to blame but yourself.

 

guys,

the best advice so far: i know that this is not an option w/ alot of us (i.e. apt rules, weather, etc), but really, this is the best advice and follows the ol' adage that "if you want something done, do it yourself". of course there is stuff that i'd never touch like timing belts, etc that require lots of experience and tools that i'd never buy, but the basic stuff you should do yourself.

GOOD LIST
Now I want to preface my list: you will get treated well if you treat them well. If you get treated like a jerk, just go to another dealership. Also, try to stick with one service writer if possible and build a relationship. Moreover, try to refrain from telling them what to do but at the same time, dont let them walk over you.

Good story: about a year ago, I had a full box of donuts left over from a meeting I had. While I was waiting in the line to get written up, I wrote on the top of the box "Hey guys, enjoy the donuts!" I made sure the SW got a donut and let him know to leave it in the car for the mechanics. And let me tell you how nice I get treated at Longo.

Longo Toyota
I know Longo has been on people's bad list (above), but these guys have always treated me right since 1999. And that was before the donuts. I stick with one of two service writers, Steve Ellingsworth and/or Rob McGuire.

Crap List

Glendale Toyota- never had service done b/c I get the typical surly service that i get anywhere else in Glendale. The parts dept is a joke too. They tried to sell me a stock battery for $140. Longo was a hair under $90.

Herb Chambers Toyota- Boston
When I was in grad school out there, this place took the cake. My female friend who owned a RAV4 brought me along to talk w/ these guys for routine service. Seeing that she is a female, they made sure to snowball her w/ "service talk" and try to overcharge her. Of course, we had their flyer w/ their "special" pricing. And when I took it out and showed them, they started saying "Oh well, thats only for certain vehicles". Needless to say, we left.

Unfortunately, it usually comes down to personalities. I believe most techs at the dealerships know waht they're doing but occassionally make mistakes. And occassionally, the service writer might overcharge you. Thus, be cool, try to work out a good deal, have a good relationship, etc...and if they cannot reciprocate, find a better SW and/or a better dealer.

Bob

 

Biff,
The moron at precision tune put in the gasket that he forgot to put there in the first place and when he was done he said "Ok".I almost knocked his brains out but gritted my teeth and left.My blood pressure goes up just thinking about that incident.

 

Nothin wrong with taking your truck to the dealer or a certain shop but I've learned 20 bucks goes a long way

 

My wife had a Ford Ranger from one of the denver John Elway dealerships. Came with free oil changes for the length of the lease. About the second time she took it in there was a rattling under the hood all the way home. When she got home she popped the hood to find an oil filter wrench sitting on the air filter.

Glad that one was a lease for several reasons.

She ended up going to Grease Monkey shops for the rest of the lease. Free oil changes like that are potentially too expensive.

 

THE GOOD:

Have had great service at Burt Toyota here in Englewood for the past four years. I've built a relationship with one of the writers there and he doesn't treat me wrong or try to sell me things I don't need. They do the work they promise and nothing else that I don't specify.

THE BAD:

Stevinson Toyota, either West or East. High prices, small parts dept., bad serivce. Have bought parts from them and they've been reasonable, but won't go there for service.

Mountain States (formerly Denver & Larry Miller Toyota): Samll parts dept., bad service rep, won't go there since its out of my way.

THE UGLY:

John Elway Toyota, where I bought my truck. Went there once after I bought the truck to have the alarm installed, and they screwed up my hands free phone kit. When I called them on it, the writer accused me of not telling them about it and that they weren't going to be married to my truck over that issue. When the service manager called me up to apologize, I explained it to him and told him that he had just lost a customer over this issue. I also had a friend that had his Tundra in there five times for the heater cable and they couldn't fix it. Talk about bad service , they exemplify it.

 

I just wanted to say to all of you who have always had bad luck with your dealers that there ARE good ones out there.

I just got back from my dealer, had them do an oil change...I was gonna do it myself but its too cold out and plus they do it for 5 bucks since I know half the guys that work there. Anyway, I called Frank the service manager and told him that I needed an oil change and asked if it could be done today. He said they were pretty busy but that he would see what he could do with the schedule and that he would call back. 15 minutes later I got a call and he said bring it by in the next 30-45 minutes and we'll get ya hooked up. Arrived about 10 minutes later, told them the oil I wanted to use was in the back seat and off it went. 25 minutes later James, the head technician came up to me said that my truck looked like it was in great shape and was ready to go...and off I went, and only $5.64 poorer

Now that is what I call service!

Just thought I would share that...

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