These “experts” at the dealership...

Just back from the dealership for my 10k service and going to the papers the hand me. I took a quick look earlier, good that I didn’t see that them because I’m so blunt, they would probably embarrassed! I own a ORP and I’m darn sure about that but the service guy describes: “20/Toyota/4Runner/4dr 2wd v8 sr5” - okay I get it, it’s just a Job for him there is no passion behind otherwise he would see it’s a ORP but what really pxxx me off is that the actual mechanic wasn’t any better. He crossed out the field for the Transfer case which would be ok for a 2wd but I got 4wd like every other ORP and many other trim lines... darn morons

 

Are they going to install the V8 you're supposed to have?

 

I should make them to do so!

These guys suck, there is no passion, no love for what they doing. I talk to the salesmen, try to figure out when they get In a 2021 trail edition (I don’t give a sh... about the cooler or the Yakima rack but I love army green and cement)... anyway quote him: “oh you’re interested in the upcoming adventure edition, I’m sorry but I don’t know when they come in since all the US plants were off for a while during COVID”

seriously?

 

Man you are brave, Not many success stories from the free service! I would see if they striped the skid plate bolts or worse the oil pan drain

 

When you look at 500 Camry's, Corolla's and Highlanders every month, and get the life sucked out of you by the corporate sales and service team, a 4Runner is just a 4Runner to most of these guys. Unless they're fans your gonna get that at most dealerships no matter what the make. @ForRun is right though, I bought a used LE from a dealer and did the free oil changes twice. Once I started reading some of the horror stories, I started doing my own which I'd always done through the years anyway, so no big deal. Saved me a 30 minute drive too. Well, sure enough the skid plate was stripped out and the filter element was the wrong size. SMDH.....

 

I quit after my 10K free oil change with bonus scratches by the gas door.

I agree. But, there's really no excuse for not knowing shit about your product. I wasn't surprised that none of the salespeople I dealt with knew anything about KDSS, although I don't know why you wouldn't want to.

I briefly sold Nissan, Suzuki, and Daewoo (remember those?), and I spent most of my down time reading brochures so that I wouldn't look like an idiot when a customer asked a question.

I suppose most customers these days research online and don't need the salesman to tell them anything. It's just weird to me. If I was a salesman I would want to know everything possible about the product. It seems like it could only help.

 

@Thatbassguy I would be the same way in educating myself for sure. I have to say the guy that put me in my used LE didn't really know much about them. Back in 2015 I was looking for a 3rd or a 4th gen, went to the dealer because they had just taken one on trade and didn't have any pictures posted. I ended up not wanting it for various reasons, BUT, this guy was an old school salesman, he actually listened to what I was going to do with my potential purchase, when most of these jokers would have pushed me out the door. He spent a little time, educated himself, took a hard look at their inventory, and found this used LE I ended up with. It was damaged cosmetically front, rear and on the passenger door, had dog and horse hair in the interior, but was mechanically sound with 58k miles. So he calls me back the next day and says you need to come look at this 12' LE I found. I responded "Larry I can't afford that" Then he whispers on the phone, "No Brett, you really need to look at this thing because it'll be perfect for what you want to do. It's been sitting on the back lot for 2 weeks now, they don't know what to do with it, I think we can get you a deal". He was right, they were happy someone was even looking at it and I got a pretty good deal on a 5th gen candidate ready to be fitted with armor. I paid it off in a year and a half, built it the way I wanted it, and it still only has 128k miles. I'm 57 now and I bet this thing will still be running like a top when I'm 70 lol.

 

Brave? im not sure about that, it’s probably stupidly or at least naivety to belief that Simple jobs are to simple to fuck them up.

 

i hate the idea of trusting others when it come to my ride but the wife talked me in (after a long discussion)
On every vehicle I owned before I did the maintenance by myself, I guess I’ll start doing it again. At least I got a good reason now and a proof point for another discussion with the wife!

 

[QUOTE="Thatbassguy“]

I agree. But, there's really no excuse for not knowing shit about your product. I wasn't surprised that none of the salespeople I dealt with knew anything about KDSS, although I don't know why you wouldn't want to.

I briefly sold Nissan, Suzuki, and Daewoo (remember those?), and I spent most of my down time reading brochures so that I wouldn't look like an idiot when a customer asked a question.

I suppose most customers these days research online and don't need the salesman to tell them anything. It's just weird to me. If I was a salesman I would want to know everything possible about the product. It seems like it could only help.[/QUOTE]

I’m with you, my brother was a salesman for Peugeot and later on for Nissan, he was very able to answer any possible question of every Modell but not only he wanted too, the companies made him too. There wasn’t a Modell that he didn’t drove on a safety course before, there was no competitive product that he couldn’t talk about to proof the pros of the product he wanna sell. It was a part of his job to consult the customer and not blindly selling it.

 

Im pretty sure she will as long as you take care of her and don’t bring it in for service to Toyota Phillips in Leesburg, FL

It’s pretty sad that there isn’t much Larry’s out there, it’s just a job not more but probably less for the majority.

 

Last time I went to the dealer parts counter in my 88 pickup there was a crowd of service and sales people looking at it when I returned. They knew very little about the vehicle. Most tried to speak as they knew lots, but were getting facts wrong constantly while trying to talk about it. I just smiled and nodded. I had a good time leading them into talking confidently about something they didn’t know shit about.

 

LOL, I get that everytime I drive my 92 to the dealer. One time a guy told me how nice my ride looked and that he didn't realize that they made TRD off-roads back then. I have a TRD off-road sticker on the side of it.

 

Isn’t that sad... I mean I didn’t expect a bunch of enthusiasts that know everything but who wanna get meat from a vegan butcher?

 

I can accept them not knowing about past models. Although, my sales manager at Wilde Nissan/etc was a Nissan nut, and I thought that was super cool!

On a similar note, today I stopped at REI, which I think is a pretty cool store. I overheard a gentleman ask an employee about hammocks. The employee pointed out a specific product and then gave a detailed explanation of it's construction and why it would be perfect for this time of year, etc. I couldn't help but stop and listen. It must be so cool to work with products you know and appreciate!

I just thought I would share since it was so much the opposite of most of our experiences with car salesmen.

 

^^Yes, that's what true sales are all about and I've had good experiences at REI as well. The customer doesn't feel pressured because the sales team has knowledge and passion for what they sell. The customer just naturally wants to hang out and learn more about the product because the salesman's enthusiasm is infectious, and then they can make a solid decision based on what they're needs are. There is a local gun store by me that has that attitude, so I listen to the guys selling to other people all the time.

 

I hate dealship personnel in general, especially after the past couple weeks.


I posted about this in my thread, but my wife and I just bought a Highlander from a BMW dealer and it was ridiculous.

So we bought the car and brought back. I do a full inspection and service on everything. On top of the item I saw in a brief overlook the dealer didn’t clear any of the customers personal data, their home address was still stored on the nav, along with their work, their kids school, addressed labeled as aunt/uncle whoever, they didn’t wipe the garage door from the Homelink, the newly installed tires were 8 psi over inflated, they didn’t bother cleaning off any of the old wheel weight tape, 1 lug nut was only finger tight, the light bulb in the cargo area was burnt out, and the spare tire was 35 psi under inflated.

I go to my local Toyota dealer to get parts for services and maintain everything on the Highlander but I drove my 4Runner there. I ask for a remote battery for the Highlander and he tells me if I don’t have the key with me I’d have to come back. I’m like I can give you the vin but it’s. 2016 with the black smart key, he tells me that’s not going to help and he’d need to open it and see what battery it takes.... you’re literally standing in front of parts computer you lazy asshole, look it up. Dude wants a vin number for oil filters every single time. He gave me 6 qts of oil for the Highlander... the capacity is 6.4 qts. This is literally what you do for a living and you don’t even know what basic maintenance items that you pull all day everyday fit common models?! First time I changed my 4Runner oil I got home, dumped the oil, pulled the filter just to find out this same guy gave me the wrong one.

 

nothing changes. My dad was a WWII Veteran and a professional mechanic himself. By the time all of us went off to college in the late 80's/90's his back and shoulders would not let him get under a car to do oil changes and other maintenance anymore and it p***ed him off to no end how things were done at the dealership and other 'professional" shops. And God help the poor fool at a shop that tried to 'explain how it goes" to him. Got to the point that he would either wait for one of us to come home to do maintenance, with him supervising, of course. Now that I think of it, I miss hearing 'alright Mikey make sure you don't twist the bejeezus out of that filter getting it back on" and other loving encouragement.

 

Wow! Those dealers should be embarrassed! A parts guy needing a VIN is pathetic.

What happened to having a little bit of actual knowledge about the product you sell or service? It seems like it used to be "car guys" would work in the parts department. Now it seems like they hire the cheapest person who can operate a computer.

How's the Highlander?

 

With kid #2 on the way we wanted to get rid of the car for something bigger, I decided a 2016 Toyota Highlander XLE AWD in any color but white was the way to go, so that’s what I started searching for.

2016 was the year to get, it’s the last year of 6 speed transmission and port fuel injection before they changed it to the somewhat problem prone 8 speed transmission and went to dual port and direct injection fuel systems in the 2017 and newer. I don’t want to give up long term durability and dependability for systems that add cost and complexity to repairs in exchange for a very small bump in efficiency, if you want to keep it forever, start with keeping it simple and reliable. Plus with 2020 being an all new model I wouldn’t even look into it, I did not even consider it. You never want to purchase the first model year of a vehicle, your basically paying a premium to beta test the vehicle for the manufacturer so they can work out the kinks.

XLE trim level was the way to go because it’s as loaded as you can get (nav, heated seats, leather, 3 zone climate control, smart key, power lift gate, etc) without having to get driver assist systems or the huge panoramic sunroof. Drivers assist systems add significant cost to minor repairs and maintenance, plus they are more expensive to insure. And no manufacturer builds a good panoramic roof, they are all garbage and prone to leaks.

AWD was a must because we’re avid Colorado skiers, AWD with snow tires is standard equipment for safe travel in the mountains during winter.

Any color but white is because even though Toyota builds great quality vehicles they have way too many issues with trying to make white paint stick to vehicles. The Highlander is NOT included in the white paint warranty extension Toyota put out on a bunch of models, but it’s just not something I want to deal with either way. White is out.

So we looked for a long time, nationwide, to find the right vehicle but we eventually did. It was originally sold locally, mudflaps, roof rack cross bars, tint, and clean bra were all installed by the local dealer before the customer took delivery. The dealer did the 5K, 10K, 20K, 30K, and 40K services based on time, the car had under 30K on it. It was 1 local owner, it was never a lease vehicle, it’s not from an area with road salt, clean car fax showing the full vehicle history, no damage, it was in great condition inside and out. Plus it had the optional captains chairs for the second row. When I got it home I did a full in depth inspection and service on everything, oil change, transfer case fluid, rear diff fluid, brake fluid flush, air and pollen filters, remote batteries, etc (just bought it, parts for trans service and coolant flush are on their way). Deep cleaned it inside out, debadged it, paint correction, etc.

In the end it wasn’t cheap, the car was slightly above fair market value, the salesman was a POS, and I spent a bunch of money on parts for the services, floor liners, sun shade, cargo mat, cargo privacy cover, high quality interior LEDs, etc, but all in all it was worth it to get exactly what we wanted. I’m very confident this is going to be a great trouble free car over a very long term.

 

Looks really nice! Honestly, for 90% of what I use the 4runner for, a Highlander would do just as well. You guys will enjoy it.

 

That’s kind of the plan. I don’t need to daily drive in general and we always left the car at at home and took the 4Runner everywhere for everything. We almost feel like the 4Runner has gotten to the point in modifications and customs work that we don’t want to add miles and wear and tear and risk getting hit and totaling it, just to run errands while getting around 15 mpg. We’d rather use it as a second vehicle and an adventure rig and use the Highlander for everything else.

 

Yeah, some guys are just putting in the time. I try to avoid them, but you sometimes just have to endure incompetency.

 

I am coming up on my first oil change, and am just about to skip the 'free' ToyotaCare visit. I never had any major issues with the other dealer in town where I bought my Tacoma, but the 4R oil change requires a bit more to perform, and I don't know whether to trust this other dealer...not really set up to do it myself, though, so maybe it's worth paying a trusted shop...

 

And you know, it seems like there is an increase in blatant incompetence lately, and they try to blame it on COVID... -_-

 

Man, jealous of where you live. Nice park right outside your front door. Congrats on the new ride too.

 

Wow

 

Thanks and thanks, the location is really what sold us on the house.

It’s not really a park so to speak out front, it’s the northwest trailhead for the mountain bike trails, here’s my 4 year old ripping them up. We ride almost every day.
https://youtu.be/YHlFBNAl2hQ


But the backyard is really the site to see! The tall one is the 14,259 foot Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park.

 

Classic. I've got so many similar stories. It's pathetic when you have to worry that a dealer service visit might actually make your car worse than it was before you drove in there.

 

Most of the mechanics are hard working guys doing their best most of the time. It’s those arrogant service advisers that can really rile me up, but I retain a cool, polite and respectful approach on the outside. But it’s hard to do some days. Thank goodness my 4 Runner doesn’t need their “service”. I’ll take 4 Runners.com service advice over them any time.