No more dealer oil changes after the first!

Just had my truck in for the front differential needle bearing & a oil change...would have never known a front differential was replaced, but a oil change, oh it shows. To be continued Monday. Nothing but ISSUES with this purchase!

 

What's wrong with the second and third pictures? But yeah, I'd be pissed about the paint scrapes.

 

Just signs of the oil residue, and side oil gets filled on, but lines up perfect with where the scratches are & scratches not being on the hood = was done during oil change to me.

 

Gotcha. I'm sure the dealer will have to make it right. Keep us posted.

 

Unacceptable! Probably a belt buckle.

 

#1stworldproblems

 

#shouldnthappenataexpensivedealershipissues

 

Scuffs are one thing and I get it. Small oil spot pictures to me are ridiculous. Only way it will stop is if you DIY. You're expecting Bugati service but buying Toyota service.

 

As said above, I don’t really care about the oil spots, it was posted to show that they LINE UP with the side where all the scratches are to kind of SHOW that it was obviously from the oil change. Yes I know that & that’s why I am doing them myself for now on so my vehicle doesn’t get damaged from a oil change. I find that ridiculous.

 

I’ve only had the dealer change oil once on my wife’s Highlander - “24 month free maintenance.” Once was enough, never again. They overfilled the oil and tightened the oil filter canister drain plug so tight I had to use an impact wrench to loosen it.

 

Toyota service will scuff your paint and scratch your wheels.

 

I would guess that it is pretty much as for where you go because some places are good and some places really suck, Both Toyota Dealers I go to for certain things they do a complete walk around with you and Take Pictures all the way around and never had any issues to speak of at them.

 

My first two free oil changes netted me a couple of stripped skid plate bolt holes. Very common scenario.
At my age, I was actually looking forward to being able to pay someone else to service my vehicle, but it appears that my wrenching days are not over.

 

I have heard of this to much here, when it gets a bit warmer out I guess I am going to have to remove everything as if I were to do a oil change and check to see if they stripped mine on the first go. Ridiculous.

 

Yes, I was able to clean out several holes with a tap but one hole was damaged to the point that I had to drill and tap to the next size up bolt. Also they had forgot to reinstall the skid plate cover for the engine oil drain plug. Didn’t catch the missing cover until I got home which meant I had to drive back to the dealership to get my cover. An additional 50 miles round trip. IMO, the problem is they are pushing the quick lube techs so hard to rush and they use impact tools. The threaded holes for the skid plates are not very robust by design and can be cross threaded even by the most caring mechanic. I don’t have a lot of miles on mine so I have only done one oil change myself so far. When I did it though I used liberal amounts of anti seize compound on the skid plate bolts.

 

I did the first oil change on mine and I have to say its not entirely the tech's fault that the bolts get stripped. I had to clean each bolt and chase each thread for the skid plates. I'm not sure what goes on at the factory but those bolts had so much trash on the threads. The problem is the guys at the dealer just zip the screws in and don't care enough to stop and thread by hand first. I literally ran a thread chaser in each hole and ran the screws through a die to clean the threads. After that I put some anti seize on each screw. So far I did 3 oil changes no issues. Here is a picture of the metric re-threading kit. These are more of a cleaner/chase kit. They are not meant to "cut" new threads.

 

Yes, I would agree with you. The threads are easily damaged without the greatest care.

That’s a very nice kit you have pictured. Maybe I should put that on my wish list.

 

I read this here and have dropped the plates off every time I take it in for a checkup. Did the 15k check last time as dropped all of my skids. Trd, rci, diff. Just because they had to check diff levels and I don’t want them touching something that is not really routine.

 

It's a decent kit and priced pretty well. I got it on Amazon. Here is the link

$45 Lang Tools 2584 15-Piece Metric Thread Restorer Set, Black , Gray

https://www.amazon.com/Lang-Tools-2...c+kit&qid=1648430720&sprefix=,aps,128&sr=8-15

 

Yeah, if I had aftermarket skids I’d most definitely take those off before a service. Unless maybe if skidplate removal was understood as a explicit part of the service. Those things can be heavy and would require some planning to remove if it’s up on a lift. That much weight hanging overhead a techs head deserves a bit extra billable time since I dont expect anybody to risk a head injury by “doing it quick”.

But would I trust someone else to not strip out half the bolts? Not really, I’d still need to verify after the service… which would mean me raising it on ramps and going through each bolt. That would pretty much negate the value of having someone else do it.

That’s why I love the 4runner. At my age I can still get in there and do these simple jobs by myself, and for me it’s part of what makes this ownership experience enjoyable. It’s just a matter of fitting it in the schedule, and reminding myself to have fun lol

 

Inexcusable.

 

I remember I had a tire replaced on my Mustang at the Ford dealer. I have the black out wheels and asked the service department to be extra careful and not scratch them. Of course they said no problem, they'll make a note. I get the car back with a scratch on the rim of the wheel. I obviously bring it up to the service guy.

He goes on to tell me how it's impossible to avoid scratching the finish when replacing a tire on black wheels.

I simply responded, "It didn't get scratched at the factory when the wheel was mounted, right?"

He had no response.

 

I got my free oil change from the dealership for the first go around, well I was in the process of masking so I could Plasti- Dip the front valance when I noticed one of the bolts for the skid plate was missing, as I looked closer it wasn’t missing it had been broken off inside. Needless to say I wasn’t very happy, I went to the dealership and told them about it and they did take ownership of it but it took me 3 visits to finally get the broken bolt out of there. 1st visit “they don’t have the part, they have to order it”, 2nd visit “ they ordered the wrong part”, 3rd visit they finally got the “expert”on it and finally removed it. I’ll be looking for another dealership when the need for it arises.

 

I'm amazed by the number of these incidents.

 

For simple stuff like oil changes, tire rotations, etc., these dealers must be hiring the guys that were working in the quick oil change locations (?)

 

Nah, not even that good, they hire drones who have zero compassion or care for someone else's property.

 

You know I wasn’t upset at the fact that they broke the bolt, I was more upset at the fact that if indeed the tech broke it knowingly just let it be. It became a trust issue on whether that dealership has the customer’s best interest at heart.

 

Me too. I wish the folks who’ve had problems would call out the bad dealerships by name.

 

Which dealer is this? I'm also in So Ca.

 

Took my TRD ORP in for it's first "Toyota Care" oil change, I then did the next one myself. The oil filter housing was so tight that I had to break the filter housing and gently remove the plastic from the base threads. A bit of a nightmare. Thank goodness I was doing the upgrade to the metal housing so I had the parts.