Dealer oil change would be laughable...

If it wasn't so despicably sad. I decided to let the dealer do the 10k Toyota care oil change and tire rotation for me. Despite having a pulled abdominal muscle, I decided to climb under and remove my front factory skid plate before going, just so they couldn't strip out the bolts.

I had had problems at this service dept. before, so I scheduled with the service manager and told her I wanted an experienced tech. When I got there I asked to meet him before he started so that I could tell him a few things - don't wipe off my fluid film, etc etc. when I was brought back, the guy could barely look up at me for an introduction as he was setting up the lift. I couldn't understand why his gloves were covered in grease when he hadn't done anything yet to my car. "Whatever", I thought, let him change the oil and do the tire rotation and I'll be out of here, there's nothing can go wrong.

So it comes out a half hour later, and I do a walk around, and climb under to look. The joker didn't replace the access door on the skid for the oil pan drain plug. It may sounds like a little thing, but I was disgusted, and let the manager know it. This was supposed to be their big attempt to win my confidence after the last debacle I had with them.

Bottom line, always look things over before you drive away.

 

All too common, unfortunately. If Toyota built 4Runners with the same work ethic of a lot of dealerships' service departments, we'd be driving Toyota Yugos.

 

The only way to get decent service out of a dealership is if you meet/get a service advisor that knows their job and has a solid team.
Now finding a service advisor like that is tricky. I asked the parts department guy where I normally buy small OEM parts who he recommends and he gave me a name. The SA was great and solved the issue I was having and did not cause new problems.
Long story short, unless you have a name/point of contact avoid the dealership.

 

Recently had my truck undercoated for the first time (similar product to Fluid Film). Curious, have others had problems with dealer mechanics intentionally removing protective coatings?

 

I woolwaxed mine, and depending on what I’m doing, I’ll clean an area before starting work on it. This makes sure I dont get any grit bound in the woolwax on bolts as I tighten them down, or contaminate areas that should stay clean. For example, on suspension work where various fasteners require exact torquing, I make sure nothing can contaminate the seating surface of bolts. I don’t clean up anything for oil changes since I didn’t spray those areas directly, becauae I knew I’d be doing oil changes regularly and could keep tabs. That said, unless you sprayed down your skidplates, there really isnt a need to clean that much up. I guess it depends on how much is there, and how “wet” the woolwax is.

I would bet any mechanic cleaning an area before starting work is taking extra time to do it right.

 

if it wasnt for free service and warranty repairs and service new vehicles before sale, for all that dealership get paid by Toyota, service department, I think, operating at loss. no surprise, that they employ cheap unexperience labor and constantly invent charges.

 

The tech said he knew it was fluid film so he wasn't going to mess with it. Probably a lot of Toyota mechanics encounter it. This slob was probably happy it meant he didn't have to wipe up his own oil drips after

 

I have heard from numerous people there is such a man at a different dealership near me. And he happens to be the service manager, and gutted half the department last year when he left retirement to come back as service manager. He sounds like he knows his business and doesn't put up with crap in is department. I think I will work on that relationship instead of giving the other dealer another chance.

 

Yes. Finding the right man who knows his job is relief and peace of mind.
I believe that a Toyota technician who knows his job and does his job right is going to be far superior in workmanship compared to me working on my own truck or a friendly neighborhood garage, since he was trained to work on that car.

 

If you removed the skid before the tech started work, how did the skid end up on your truck after he worked on it?

 

Sounds like the OP removed the front skid and left the rear skid with the access panel on, trusting the tech to remove/replace the access panel, which apparently didn't happen.

 

Gotcha. That makes sense.

 

If I take mine in for an oil change to the shop by work, I'll do the same, but take off that access panel also.

 

I get what some of you guys are saying about pulling plates and what not, but at that point just do the oil change yourself. You're literally doing the hardest part of the job.

That's like cracking the eggs, measuring the flour, adding the backing powder, pouring in the vanilla extract, mixing in the sugar...and then taking the batter to bakery to make the cake.

There's nothing free about a worthless tech messing up your vehicle because they're either incompetent or negligent.

Glad you caught the missing plate before you left, OP.

 

I recently had to do oil changes on all 3 of my vehicles in one day, and the 4Runner took about twice as long as the other two combined because of the skid plate. I told my wife that I was seriously considering an aftermarket skid plate just to take the hassle out of changing the oil, but I haven't been able to find one that has the same vent holes as the OEM plate.

 

Haha this is the primary reason I got an RCI engine skid, to make oil changes easier.

 

X2, for the exact same reason!

 

Just took mine in for the same service (changed the oil myself at 5,000 miles). Removed my RCI skid plate before I took it in since I had heard all the horror stories about stripped/ missing screws. I had also marked the oil canister case (metal part) to see how tight they screwed on the canister compared to where I had it. Car Care Nut video showed it only needed to be snug and I had no issues or leaking in the 5,000 miles since I did the first oil change.

Got the vehicle back and, when I went to put the skid plate back on, I noticed the filter canister had oil on it and appeared to be dripping oil from the bottom. They also tightened it quite a bit farther than I did.

Sent pics to the service manager and expressed my disappointment. They offered to send a tech to my house to check it out or I could bring it in. I chose to bring it to them in case the tech needed to drain the oil etc. About 40 minutes later I had it back. They told me the tech took the canister off, checked it, put it back on and, after running the engine, thought it might still be leaking. They took the canister back off to be sure the O-ring wasn't torn or pinched etc and reinstalled it again. Ran the engine and all looked fine. I drove it about 70 miles that day and all was dry. Guess 3rd times the charm for an oil change.

 

I had a similar experience when I went in for my “free” oil change. They left the access plate off on the rear skid. Plus they stripped a couple of skid plate threads.

I have been doing my own oil changes since then.

If you’re going to go to the trouble of pulling the skids prior to a maintenance visit, you might as well do the oil/filter change yourself. Removing the skids is the hardest part of the job.

Don’t use an impact on the skid bolts, that’s how the threads get messed up.

 

ToyotaCare is "free" to you, which means the dealer is reimbursed peanuts by Toyota for the job. The tech isn't paid extra to fumble around with extra skid plates and access doors.

You basically have three options if you choose not to DIY for various reasons
1. Get a less-than-satisfactory oil change done at the dealer.
2. Get an even more half-assed oil change at a chain like Midas where they'll upsell you on a power steering flush, fuel system flush, etc.
3. Go to a Toyota specialist indie shop that charges straight time and pay $80-$100 for the oil change done to your satisfaction.

 

I am fairly new to my 4runner (had it less than a year) and I am glad to hear others state that getting the skid plate off is a pain in the a$$. During my first oil change with this vehicle, I could not get the skid plate off. It would swing down and the right side came off but I never could get the left side free. I ended up having to go more under the vehicle and come at the oil filter from behind. On my second oil change, it came right off with no problem. I also noticed that one of the bolts had been sheered off inside of one of the plate bolts. I just changed the oil in my wife's BMW this weekend and with the oil filter being on top, it is so much easier.

 

They changed my oil once while I was getting a new engine harness and they broke the plastic drain tool in the filter housing cap.

Yeah I run the aluminum cap because I fell for the hype.

 

^The dealer bothers with draining the filter cap? That's unusual.

 

Probably the one time.

 

Not a fair comparison by any means. Just removing/replacing the front skid plate and access panel on the rear skid hardly equates to "the hardest part". What about buying the oil and filter, a drain pan, a filter removal tool, pulling the drain plug and getting oil all over your hand/arm, draining and changing the filter, filling with oil, then taking the old oil for recycling (all of which, I assume, you meant by your list of baking steps), also all of which you skip by taking it to a trusted shop. I did a cost comparison not that long ago, and the cost to have that shop do my oil change amounted to about $40 - $50 more than I would have spent just getting the oil and filter to do it myself. My time is worth that.

FYI, I did all that myself last oil change, so I know what's involved, and have the filter removal and drain tools already. The jury's still out on whether I'll do it myself again next time. Maybe. But I do know I won't want to forever. I just know I won't take it to a dealership.

See above.

 

If we were referencing aftermarket skid plats and equipment I'd 100% back your claim. The issue here is 99.9% of the times people have issues with oil changes it's on OEM equipment that comes from the factory. If a factory certified dealer technician is having problems with equipment that comes on the vehicle form the factory then they shouldn't be a technician.

 

Nothing you mentioned is hard.

My point is that if you're already getting down and taking off skid plates and or access ports to make the dealerships job easier to ensure they don't damage your vehicle or perform the job correctly, then just do it yourself.

 

^Exactly

 

I don't know why you're trying to convince me to change my own oil. I have, and probably will again. But if I don't want to, I won't.

 

I have heard many times the skid plates are missing completely. Many can't do their own service. At least go over the truck before you leave the lot.