Author Topic: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE  (Read 2968 times)

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Gnarly4X

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MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« on: Dec 22, 2019, 03:57:41 AM »
2013 Toyota Corolla....

At about 130K miles I started hearing what sounded like a front wheel bearing.

Two weeks ago I decide I wanted it done quickly, so I opted to see what my local Toyota dealer would say.

I made an appointment, and expected a $1500 to $2,000 bill and they would have my car for 2 days.

I dropped it off at 6:30am, got a call that my wheel bearings are fine – it’s the tires! Wow… nice surprise.  I knew the front pads were about to go metal on metal, but I wanted to do that job myself. They offered to keep the car overnight and do it, but I said no thank you.  The tires were Discount Tire's Arizona brand, 55K mileage warranty and had 63,000 miles on them. I knew they were close to the wear bars and I was about to replace them.

They had a buy-3-get-1-free deal. My service advisor texted me 2 quotes.  Without reading the fine print (I screwed up!), I opted for the $96 Rikins and a wheel alignment.  $549.00.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Riken&tireModel=Raptor+ZR+A%2FS

Driving home I immediately noticed the car wanted to hunt – VERY ANNOYING. I got the car home and to my shock, the Rikins are unidirectional, Ultra High Performance Raptors!  Can’t cross them, hard compound, rough riding, and worse - the tread design makes the steering hunt!  Discount Tire does not even sell them.  The next day I had to pick up a case of WS tranny fluid, so asked one of the Service Advisors why they put on Raptors. He admitted they were not the right choice, and that’s what they had in stock.  I always remove my wheel covers before I let anyone mess with my tires – why?.... because they break the darn things and Toyota wants $100 for one.  I was in a rush, did not remove the covers (I screwed up!) and sure enough the tech cracked one!

I sent a very candid email reply to the 3 guys listed in a “Did we provide Truly Exceptional” service survey email I got a couple days after I picked up my car. I told them I’ve owned 14 Toyota cars and trucks, and I asked why they put a set of tires on a Corolla that belong on Supra?

Surprisingly, the next morning I get a phone call from the Director of Service of the dealership. He said I got your email and we’d like to swap those tires for you.  I figured he would swap a set of nice 55K to 65K mileage tires.  He offered me a couple brands.  I opted for the Goodyear Eagles.  He did not say anything about replacing my busted wheel cover.  I figured he’d be a class act and be “TRULY EXCEPTIONAL” and cover any extra cost for the Eagles and give me a new wheel cover.  But NO…. he charged me $75 for the swap and no offer for a new cover!!

On Saturday I removed the wheel covers and drove 45 minutes to Tempe. When I arrived the Service Advisor didn't know anything about my appointment that I set up with Director of Service.  20 minutes later they figure it out.  I wait 2 hours.  Driving home the tires felt smoother and the “hunting” was gone.  I get home and I noticed the tech did not put my valve nuts on.  I checked out the Goodyear Eagles RS-A’s online and discovered that Discount Tire does NOT even warranty them – NO TREAD LIFE WARRANTY! …. Again, I screwed up I did NOT do my research.

Last night I went to put the wheel covers back on and I busted one.  They are just thin cheap plastic and after 7 years the poorly designed contact clips break.  So now I have two busted wheel covers to replace and set of tires that don’t even spec a tread life!

I bought my last 2 Toyotas from that dealership.

Truly Exceptional service my a$$!!

They most likely will NEVER touch my vehicle again. And if I buy another Toyota, it will probably be from a different dealership.

I screwed up 6 times... (can I blame it on old age?)
1- Picking a dealership
2- NOT removing my wheel covers
3- Not reading the tire specs - Raptors
4- Not reading the tire specs - Eagles
5- Abandoning my "gut" and empirical knowledge. 
6 - Believing in "Truly Exceptional Service"

Any comments?

Gnarls.

« Last Edit: Dec 22, 2019, 05:24:54 AM by Gnarly4X »
1986 XtraCab SR5 22RE 5speed W56B, ~16,000 MI after break-in, DIM (Did It Myself) rebuilt engine - .020" over, engnbldr RV head, OS valves, 261C cam, DT Header. https://imgur.com/oACTHTR

God Bless Our Troops... Especially Our Snipers. The 2nd defends the 1st
MEMBER: WWP, T2T, VFW, NRA, GOA, SAF, Mammoth Nation, C2 Tactical, Hillsdale College, Humane Society of the U.S. - "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them." ~ Albert Einstein

mwhite49

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Re: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« Reply #1 on: Dec 22, 2019, 09:30:51 AM »
I don't think there are any truly exceptional dealerships anymore for any brand. Every time I stop at a dealer for parts I get swarmed by Shark salesmen.
I buy tires always with a warranty and do my due diligence on checking them out.
As far as repairs go I always do my own work whenever possible. About 2 weeks ago front brakes and new rotors on my son's f350 4x4. Cost him 289 in parts, not cheap parts but we get good deals. It only took as half a day. Dealership price would have been 1500 to 2,000. I used to rebuild all of my standard trannys to but have a hard time now with the heavy stuff. I'm getting old. And I enjoy doing the work myself.

mwhite49

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Re: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« Reply #2 on: Dec 22, 2019, 01:50:00 PM »
Gnarly, hard to believe such poor service at a Toyota dealership. Most strive to be better that I have seen so far. Lots of dealerships are Crooked to. As a young Navy man I got cooned into high interest rate at my local Toyota dealer. Just over 27% on my new Land Cruiser. After my purchase the bad and ugly items showed up. Dealer installed too wide tires on stock rims, would not hold air so added tubes. Lost all 4 tires within the first 100 miles. My local tire guy explained what they did. Dealer refused to make it right. Had wiring issues including a couple of shorts under the dash. What a can of worms. Looked like they used a large grinder to open up the dash for the aftermarket stereo. Dealer refused to repair and craigs the local stereo shop did the work for them. Took it to that shop. They refused to even talk to me. Radio hole was so big the cover plate did not cover the damage up done to the dash. Needless to say after about 5 months I got rid of it. That was in the mid 1970s. All future New vehicles I purchased I was past picky. One dealer rep asked " you just kicking tires or are you going to but it". I explained what had happened before and he said well I don't blame you.

emsvitil

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Re: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« Reply #3 on: Dec 22, 2019, 06:11:48 PM »
I get tires at Costco.   

$70 off rebate alternates between Bridgestone and Michelin.    Occasionally there's a BFG  rebate.

And every so often there's a free install deal......…….
Ed
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31x10.50R15

Prismo

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Re: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« Reply #4 on: Dec 22, 2019, 08:12:24 PM »
We have had great service at the Micheals Toyota in Bellevue. The have always made things right + some if there is any kind of problem. That said I would never buy tires at the dealership.
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Gnarly4X [OP]

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Re: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« Reply #5 on: Dec 23, 2019, 01:50:39 AM »
We have had great service at the Micheals Toyota in Bellevue. The have always made things right + some if there is any kind of problem. That said I would never buy tires at the dealership.

Hey P....

Yeah... I have never bought tires at a dealership.  I tried it this time because of convenience.  My schedule at work has been heavy and I'm driving out of town to visit family, so I was trying to save some personal time.  Since they had the car and it needed tires and an alignment and they could get it all done by the end of the day.... I felt it was good decision, although my gut said "maybe not".

I will not buy tires from a dealership again... prices, choices, warranties, inconvenience... it's not worth it to me.

Gnarls.
1986 XtraCab SR5 22RE 5speed W56B, ~16,000 MI after break-in, DIM (Did It Myself) rebuilt engine - .020" over, engnbldr RV head, OS valves, 261C cam, DT Header. https://imgur.com/oACTHTR

God Bless Our Troops... Especially Our Snipers. The 2nd defends the 1st
MEMBER: WWP, T2T, VFW, NRA, GOA, SAF, Mammoth Nation, C2 Tactical, Hillsdale College, Humane Society of the U.S. - "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them." ~ Albert Einstein

Gnarly4X [OP]

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Re: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« Reply #6 on: Dec 23, 2019, 01:55:25 AM »
I get tires at Costco.   

$70 off rebate alternates between Bridgestone and Michelin.    Occasionally there's a BFG  rebate.

And every so often there's a free install deal......…….

Hey e....

Yeah, I shop Costco quite a bit.  I have never bought tires there, although they do offer good prices and Costco's customer service is excellent.  I will check them out before I make my next tire purchase.

Discount Tire has always treated me right.  In California, they rotated and balanced a set of tires that I did NOT even purchase there...… and did NOT charge me.

Gnarls.
1986 XtraCab SR5 22RE 5speed W56B, ~16,000 MI after break-in, DIM (Did It Myself) rebuilt engine - .020" over, engnbldr RV head, OS valves, 261C cam, DT Header. https://imgur.com/oACTHTR

God Bless Our Troops... Especially Our Snipers. The 2nd defends the 1st
MEMBER: WWP, T2T, VFW, NRA, GOA, SAF, Mammoth Nation, C2 Tactical, Hillsdale College, Humane Society of the U.S. - "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them." ~ Albert Einstein

Gnarly4X [OP]

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Re: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« Reply #7 on: Dec 23, 2019, 02:04:30 AM »
Gnarly, hard to believe such poor service at a Toyota dealership.

Yeah... I believe it boils down to the people and from top down attitude.

I have spent almost my entire professional career in Technical Sales, Marketing, Advertising, and Customer Service and it always amazes me to find a high profile company that is being operated by people at the top who are clueless about the "customer experience".

Too often it seems to always come down to the almighty dollar and greed.

In 1982 I started my own computer consulting company.  I read Tom Peter's 1982 book "In Search of Excellence"..... one of the very best books on Customer Service ever published.

As for the auto dealership experiences, I believe we could fill up a fat thread on the forum of bad experiences.  I have a family member who owns 5 auto dealerships.  I worked for an auto dealer for a very short time.  I literally walked off my job the day the management insisted I cheat a customer buying a car.  I told my boss as I was walking out the door.... "I've cheated on my taxes, but I will never deliberately cheat my customer."

My experience with the Lexus dealership was completely different and it was "Truly Exceptional" customer service.  The first time my wife and I walked in.  I was taken back by the fact that no one immediately approached us.  At first I thought they were ignoring us and was waiting for someone to notice us.  I could see that several people close by glanced at us.  We walked over to several cars in the showroom.  It was about 4 or 5 minutes before the "greeter" came over and welcomed us and asked if we would like a bottle of water (it was late September here - still toasty).  It was nice to not get pounced on by 2 or 3 salespeople at the moment we arrived.

Gnarls.

« Last Edit: Dec 23, 2019, 02:30:20 AM by Gnarly4X »
1986 XtraCab SR5 22RE 5speed W56B, ~16,000 MI after break-in, DIM (Did It Myself) rebuilt engine - .020" over, engnbldr RV head, OS valves, 261C cam, DT Header. https://imgur.com/oACTHTR

God Bless Our Troops... Especially Our Snipers. The 2nd defends the 1st
MEMBER: WWP, T2T, VFW, NRA, GOA, SAF, Mammoth Nation, C2 Tactical, Hillsdale College, Humane Society of the U.S. - "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them." ~ Albert Einstein

sirdeuce

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Re: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« Reply #8 on: Dec 27, 2019, 04:46:08 PM »
Worse dealer experience ever. Took my '92 Toyota 4X4 down for the 3VZ recall. They had the truck 6 months, didn't do a thing to it. When I got it back I found the windows had been left down and no effort was made to clean it. No apologies, no offer to clean it, just here it is.
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Gnarly4X [OP]

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Re: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« Reply #9 on: Dec 30, 2019, 03:55:20 AM »
Worse dealer experience ever. Took my '92 Toyota 4X4 down for the 3VZ recall. They had the truck 6 months, didn't do a thing to it. When I got it back I found the windows had been left down and no effort was made to clean it. No apologies, no offer to clean it, just here it is.

Why did you let the dealership possess your truck for 6 months!?  :headscratch:

Gnarls. :dunno:
1986 XtraCab SR5 22RE 5speed W56B, ~16,000 MI after break-in, DIM (Did It Myself) rebuilt engine - .020" over, engnbldr RV head, OS valves, 261C cam, DT Header. https://imgur.com/oACTHTR

God Bless Our Troops... Especially Our Snipers. The 2nd defends the 1st
MEMBER: WWP, T2T, VFW, NRA, GOA, SAF, Mammoth Nation, C2 Tactical, Hillsdale College, Humane Society of the U.S. - "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them." ~ Albert Einstein

sirdeuce

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Re: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« Reply #10 on: Jan 02, 2020, 07:44:53 PM »
It was a recall and they said they were working with Toyota on the paperwork.
Brought to you by the WBC (World Billionaire's Club) because money is a bad thing. Let us carry that burden for you.

Sure it'll fit........ Just needs a little brute finesse.

Sure I believe intelligent life exists on other planets. Other planets, not this one.

kneedownnate

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Re: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« Reply #11 on: Feb 04, 2020, 09:06:49 PM »
I checked out the Goodyear Eagles RS-A’s online and discovered that Discount Tire does NOT even warranty them – NO TREAD LIFE WARRANTY! …. Again, I screwed up I did NOT do my research.

:psss:  Discount tire doesn't put a mileage warranty on any tire, that's up to the tire manufacturer.  They only help you get credit when the tires don't meet the manufacturers warranty.  I got 19,000 miles on a 90,000 mile rated michelin and coulda got a fat mileage credit if I'd replaced them within the alloted 6 1/2 year window.
RIP KYOTA

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Gnarly4X [OP]

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Re: MY DEALERSHP EXPERIENCE
« Reply #12 on: Feb 05, 2020, 03:01:51 AM »
:psss:  Discount tire doesn't put a mileage warranty on any tire, that's up to the tire manufacturer.  They only help you get credit when the tires don't meet the manufacturers warranty. 

Correct.  My point is that the dealership offered me a replacement tire that is on the very low end of the Goodyear’s Tread Life warranties…. the cheapest tire they could offer me.  In terms of marketing, advertising, and customer service, affecting their reputation as a Toyota dealership, that is pathetically stupid.

Gnarls.

1986 XtraCab SR5 22RE 5speed W56B, ~16,000 MI after break-in, DIM (Did It Myself) rebuilt engine - .020" over, engnbldr RV head, OS valves, 261C cam, DT Header. https://imgur.com/oACTHTR

God Bless Our Troops... Especially Our Snipers. The 2nd defends the 1st
MEMBER: WWP, T2T, VFW, NRA, GOA, SAF, Mammoth Nation, C2 Tactical, Hillsdale College, Humane Society of the U.S. - "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them." ~ Albert Einstein

 
 
 
 
 

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