[Obike]

This is a question directed towards all those in the SET dealership area that have surpassed 5k miles.

When you took your car in for the maintenance scheduled at 5k miles, isn't it supposed to be free? I was charged $150 and the service manager said to call up Scion and talk to them.

 

[lo bux racer]

$150 for an oil change? That's all that's scheduled at 5k according to the manual I got. What did they do?

 

[Obike]

All the bill says is parts and labor.

 

[wolo]

That doesn't seem right. Didn't you get three free oil changes??

 

[lo bux racer]

I would ask for a complete description of what they did for almost 2 hours on my car. This doesn't sound like the maintenance prescribed in the service schedule at all.

If they say it is "other" maintenance, and not recommended by the factory, I would ask to talk to the Service Manager (not the advisor, the manager) and ask him why they are performing maintenance on the car that is not prescribed by Scion, and not to specifically repair a complaint. Dealerships have been ripping people off for this kind of stuff for years, and it sounds like you've found an unscrupulous service department.

In California, you could take this to small claims court and easily win, if they are performing maintenance outside the scope of the factory recommendation.

 

[Obike]

Two hours? Try seven, and I was sitting in the lobby the entire time. Who do I need to contact about it?

I finally got a complete bill detailed to me over the phone... here it is.

Section 1
Parts:
Fluids, $1.50
Wheel weights, $5.88
Labor: $57.95

Section 2
Parts:
Gasket, $0.92
Filter S/A, Oil, $6.00
Labor: $16.95

Section 3
Missing lug nut, $2.60
Labor: $23.40

Section 4
4-Wheel Alignment (Which I specifically requested, I watched this... only took 15mins and have no dispute with it)
Labor: $29.95

It's sections 1-3 that I"m having a problem with

 

[lo bux racer]

If they charged you $150, they spent between an hour and a half and two hours working on your car. Check the standard shop rate and divide $150 by that rate to determine the actual work time.

 

[wolo]

Seven hours?? Did you have an appointment or did you just drive up (not that it would contribute to a 5 hour difference)?

 

[Obike]

I had an appointment, they told me two hours.

 

[wolo]

That sucks.

 

[lo bux racer]

You've been had. There's no way I'd pay $57 labor to balance wheels, and there's no need to check balance unless you have a complaint. Did you complain about vibrations or request balancing? BTW, I pay $12.50 per wheel for mount and balance on new tires. That price is ridiculous.

The whole oil change is free, it says so in your contract. Rip off.

Missing lug nut? WARRANTY. It's not your fault the lug nut fell off, and they should be damn happy nothing bad happened to you or your car because they delivered the car with a loose lug nut. If it had, you'd be suing them for negligence.

The alignment was cheap. I pay $100 for an alignment, but I don't trust computerized alignments. IME they are usually bad for my purposes.

 

[Obike]

What's the number for Scion Warranty?

 

[lo bux racer]

You really need to start with the dealer, that's what Scion will say, but if you must call them, try 1.866.70.SCION. They might be interested to know how this dealer is treating you.

 

[Zygote55]

lol....$23 to put on a lugnut.

 

[lo bux racer]

I'd quit my job and do that all day if I could get $23 per unit. I know I could do a hundred an hour eight hours straight easy.

 

[iGod]

if thats the going rate for lug nuts, i am way undercharging for spring installs. 20 lug nuts come off and go back on. i figure at their rate thats 46 bucks per lug. times 20.

$920 plus tax. i am going to start charging accordingly.

personally, obike, i would have their ass for this.

 

[wolo]

I'm in the wrong business.

 

[Obike]

Found out more details, apparently they are attempting to void my warranty for illegal "aftermarket performance parts". I didn't know that a TRD suspension and TWM short shifter were considered illegal aftermarket parts...

It was my understanding that they could only void the warranty if these conditions were met:
1) There was something wrong with the car.
2) A aftermarket part is proven to be the cause of the failure.
3) They can only void that portion of the warranty, not the whole thing.

The problem with that is nothing was wrong with the car to my knowledge, and the service desk isn't giving me any information to ascertain on my own if there was something wrong with it.

P.S. That was after talking to the service department of the dealer, didn't get in touch w/ Scion corporate in time so I'll be contacting them first thing Monday morning.

 

[Duckman]

Hey Obike, I don't know about 1 or 2, but I can verify 3. I was speaking with my dealer and he told me about someone who had his car serviced at some shop that did something that wasn't in line with the correct maintenance of his car. It consequently voided the warranty that covered THAT part, but not the other warranties.

Definitely look into this issue further with Scion corporate because I'm not entirely sure of the policy. Hopefully you'll be able to head them off before they try anything. If they're going to try to screw you, raise hell.

Good luck.

 

[Zygote55]

Originally posted by lo bux racer@Feb 25 2005, 06:51 PM
I'd quit my job and do that all day if I could get $23 per unit. I know I could do a hundred an hour eight hours straight easy.

Hey....why don't we start our own business? I'm wasting my time not taking advantage of people.