I'm two-for-two today. First the BMW X5 service went off without a hitch and now the Scion is back from its appointment at Scion of Santa Monica good as new.
The appointment was made last night for an 8am drop. The maintenance light was on and the left brake was squealing a bit. We also had that bothersome issue with the caps on the wheels.
Two hours after we dropped it off I got the call that the Xb was ready. The service called for a tire rotation, oil change, fluid top-offs, and general inspection. The charge for that was $94.95. Slightly more than Edmunds Maintenance calulator estimates.
When I got the call I had a confession to make, I'd forgotten to mention the peeling plastic parts over the lug nuts. Turns out my advisor had noticed the bad plastic and had replaced them without being asked to. Nice!
All things considered it was a great experience.
Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant @ 20,706 miles.
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the dealer was smiling because he robbed you clean.
CA must be hell, 100 dollars for an oil change and tire rotation?
LOL, edmunds makes way to much money. a crack habit is almost cheaper then your service appoinments
"All things considered it was a great experience."
Im so happy every time I get ripped off too.
I too have had very good service from Santa Monica Toyota. In my book, a service advisor that calls you two hours later and replaces bad parts without being asked is good service.
I'm always amazed at those who criticize the price. I guess Mike could have stormed out and went to other dealerships in order to find a better price but given that mounting and balancing tires typcially costs $9-15 each and and an oil and filter change runs $20-35 that would not have been time well spent.
Maybe he would have saved $15? Maybe. The time and gas is worth more than that.
These freakers that assume everyone ELSE is a sucker and is getting ripped off is really getting tired. Right, we're all dummies.
$100, +/- $25, is the going rate for a minor service in California.
What was the dealership's response to your brake noise complaint?
Opfreak: Get a life. I guess you think proper car maintenance is based on nickel-and-diming the local dealership. As if you'll build any kind of long-term relationship that way. Let us know how that strategy works out for ya, OK?
Mike: Did you take this picture? I gotta say, it's a gorgeous shot. Very artsy and evocative. Kudos.
With my old VW, an oil change alone was $80 at the dealer. And their service was never that good. Which is why I use to do my own oil changes. Not because of the cost, but I grew tired of having some idiot using the wrong oil, or not adding the proper amount (oil was always low the day after, after sitting all night). To be honest, $100 service is the norm these days. You can always do your own, if you have the time and place.
But I wouldn't say they got ripped off. Just about about every one is charging that these days.
we own a scion. the 1st 3 oil changes are free.
to rotate the tires is 5 bucks at the dealer.
and their normal oil change/inspect rate is 25 dollars.
So 25 dollars for oil + inspect, + 5 dollars to rotate tires = a 30 dollar bill.
if you think that extra 70 bucks is buying you 'quality' then thats why you live in CA.
carmizvi - a fool and his money are soon part.
Alot of you are fools into thinking that an oil change and tire rotation is somehow worth 100 dollars.
FYI, - I generally do my own oil changes, mobil 1 5qt + mobil1 filter = $35.
I dont know where a 100 dollar oil change is the norm. I would shop around to save the 60+ bucks. Unless you really have money to burn.
Plus at the end of the day no tire rotation is worth more then 5 bucks.
Toyota is sneaky like that, doing things like recalls and etc. without notifying the customer so they think their Toyota's are trouble free.
cx7lover,
don't you want automatic fixes instead of having to argue and yell to get it?
And it surely is trouble free, automatic fixes without having you worry about it. And it's fixed before a catastrophic break happens.
I'm sure them fixing it without a fight is great but it also leads people into the dark.
Might I add that in a year of having the Wrangler they spent less than $20 on maintenance, for an oil change. That is about as trouble free as it gets.
"$100, +/- $25, is the going rate for a minor service in California."
I don't think so... My local Lexus dealer charges $60 for 5000-mile oil change/minor service.
What part of California are you in?
Here in Northern California, dealers charge $140 for the same service.
I can do it myself for $20.
In general, isn't the cost of living in Cali among the highest in the nation? If so, then why is it hard for some people to understand that what would normally cost $35 in some places would cost more in Cali? I'm sure the wages of the dealer techs are much higher Cali than in most other places.
I used the Edmunds maintenance calculator for my area (Miami) and it gave me a cost of $56. Why the big difference?
cx7lover, i'm sure the little fixes are on the printout you get. The dealer needs to document the tsb fixes so they don't waste time fixing the same thing twice, and not get reimbursed by Toyota.
Wats really old is this false assumption that just because you live in CA people get paid WAY more.
http://www.search-colleges.com/articles/21/3/Auto-Mechanic
in 2006,
level 1 mechanic CA = ~35k a yr.
level 1 mechanic TX = ~28k a yr.
level 1 mechanic NB = ~29k a yr.
a spread of ~20%, or 7k a yr, however hourly it brakes down to:
CA = 17.5/hr
TX = 14/Hr
NB = 14.5/hr
So an hour long oil change/rotation should cost roughly 3.50 more in CA then TX.
oil change, tire rotation, inspection at my ford dealership is $40. face it people, $95 is a rip off.
floor jack, $30 at wal-mart.
There's more to high Calif prices than just salaries - rent, supplies, outside vendors and insurance are part of what/why a business charges what it does.
According to homeinsight.com the median home price in Santa Monica (where the dealership is located) is $827,000 so rent is likely very high.
Still, like most things in life, the good stuff costs more. We'll deal with the big ripoff as today in So Cal it's 73 degrees and 55 percent humidity - even at that it's starting to feel a little sticky.
I've got an extra $95 I'll throw at the Scion just b/c I love living here.
Did they list the new wheel caps on the invoice?
Oh my god. Hoffman Toyota in Simsbury, CT and Toyota of Wallingford in Wallingford, CT both tried to charge my mother $560 for the same maintenance on her Prius. $95 sounds positively......reasonable.
CT residents, avoid those two dealers' service departments at all cost!
bemanix88: $560 is not high, it is in another realm, namely, price gouging and fraud. I would report these dealers to the Ct. Attorney General's Office if I were you. Shame on them for trying to rip off your mom!
The dealer down the street changes $15 for an oil change and $0 to rotate my tires. It's not a special. It's their price. I'm sure it's a loss leader, to bring in customers.
As for the TSB, we brought our 10 year old SUV in for a new tire (she drove on a flat) and they just took care of the the cruise control recall. Told us afterwards. You bet dealers just fix that stuff. It's money in their pocket and it makes the customer happy.
bemanix88, did they indicate why the price was so high? I suspect they were doing something a little bit different.
Sodaguy, I live in the South Bay area (specifically Torrance) and the dealer I referred to is the South Bay Lexus.
Brian - thanks for bringing to light what I call our "city usage fee" which covers the cost of being the first for new fashions, new movies, new trends, plus excellent weather and activities (Vegas, skiing/snowboarding, surfing, hiking, etc). Think of it like that & LA isn't as expensive as you think.
By s197gt on July 20, 2008 12:44 PM
oil change, tire rotation, inspection at my ford dealership is $40. face it people, $95 is a rip off.
floor jack, $30 at wal-mart. ----->
FORD IS A PIECE OF SHIT and that is why their oil changes/tire rotations are cheaper, The dealerships simply make more money b/c their cars are always in the shopas opposed to toyota that never gets the same car in twice in the same day. Trust me, i work in the service department of a ford dealership and i constantly get people back in the same day with the same problem after they supposedly "fixed" it... and this is why i drive a toyota. BUT 100 bucks is a bit high, i pay 45 at my local toyota dealer for the same service, im guess CA is just more expensive since i live in VA
"i work in the service department of a ford dealership and i constantly get people back in the same day with the same problem after they supposedly 'fixed' it."
As if your post doesn't make you look foolish enough, the statement seems like a poor reflection on you and the dealership you work for, not Ford.
Opfreak, is this the moron you take your car to? If so, I understand your dislike of dealers.
The only car going to the dealer right now is the scion xa. It still has 2 free oil changes left, with the 5 dollar tire rotation.
My car thats going to be replaced sooner rather then later (2001 sunfire, 113k miles). gets oil changes / maintance done by me.
like I said before I get mobil 1 + filter for ~35 dollars. And can change the oil in <30 mins... and most of that time is spent waiting for the old stuff to drain out.
And since its mobil 1, and a good filter, I change my oil ~8k miles.
I dont rotate my tires because of 2 reasons:
1) I use summer and winter tires, so they get a rotation once a year anyway
2) If your aligment is fine the difference in wear over the lifetime of your tire in MY application is so minimal, that paying someone to do it is a waste of money, and me doing it, is a waste of time.
-Unless something major went wrong with my car I'd fix it myself. The only PIA job right now is drum brakes. Which are an invention of the devil to change.