Service at the dealer nightmare stories

[Anonymous]

Last week, I took my 12-year-old ES350 (75k miles) into Jim Coleman Toyota for an oil change, tire rotation, and inspection. I had only used them once before, in September, when my mechanic was unable to get a bad sensor off the manifold. JC mechanic was able to replace the sensor, and they only charged me a bit more than the original mechanic was going to. So I thought I'd try them again. They call me and tell me the car needs $8k worth of work (not sure the vehicle is worth that much!!!). The bulk of the cost was $3,400 to fix a small oil leak. They said they needed to lift the engine completely out of the car to fix it. Another $2,400 to fix a leak in the power steering system. I tell them not to do anything and I take the car to another mechanic on Rockville Pike. He tells me he sees no oil leak in the vehicle. He also tells me a $60 clamp will fix the leak in the power steering. He did all the other work (rear brakes, replace axle boot, etc.) and he did it all for well under $2,000. I learned from several sources (after the fact) that Jim Coleman Toyota is notorious for this kind of thing. Beware any dealership, but especially this one.

[Anonymous]

I just recently had an issue with this dealership too. Took in an older Prius for repair and they gave me a ridiculous estimate and then the service advisor tried to buy it off me on the side (he said the dealership would only give me $600 and he offered a few hundred more still well below reasonable)

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the heads-up, OP! I appreciate when posters name the bad businesses.

It has also been my experience that "name" dealerships have tried to fleece me (looking at you, Mazda dealerships in Tyson's and Rockville Pike!). DH takes his car to a no-name, reasonably-priced mechanic in Wheaton and swears by his work.

[Anonymous]

I would never take a 12 year old car to a dealership’s mechanic. Especially not for something simple like an oil change, tire rotation or inspection.

[Anonymous]

As a woman especially, I hate when my car breaks down.

I would rather walk over hot coals barefoot than take my car into the shop.

I always get these co$tly estimates & since I never went to Auto Repair School, then I never know if they are scamming me or not.

And to get a second opinion on my car costs add’l money in many cases.

Thank goodness for Yelp + other online review websites.
Hopefully it will be incentive enough for mechanics to stop scamming its clients.

And thank you for spreading the word out about this sleazy business OP.
I strongly encourage you to leave them a bad review on Yelp as well!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would never take a 12 year old car to a dealership’s mechanic. Especially not for something simple like an oil change, tire rotation or inspection.

For certain things (like a battery in beforementioned Prius) it makes sense to go to the dealer for a warranty. Regardless, you should be able to expect that a dealer doesn’t screw you over).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a woman especially, I hate when my car breaks down.

I would rather walk over hot coals barefoot than take my car into the shop.

I always get these co$tly estimates & since I never went to Auto Repair School, then I never know if they are scamming me or not.

And to get a second opinion on my car costs add’l money in many cases.

Thank goodness for Yelp + other online review websites.
Hopefully it will be incentive enough for mechanics to stop scamming its clients.

And thank you for spreading the word out about this sleazy business OP.
I strongly encourage you to leave them a bad review on Yelp as well!

OP here, you're welcome. Interestingly enough, I've tried several times, on two different machines, to leave a review on Yelp. I get the message 'POSTING' and nothing happens. I will keep trying.

[Anonymous]

I joined yelp because of the poor experience I had with the VW dealership off River Road in Bethesda.

Note - to add insult, they charge you for your bill!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Those prices are absurd. Power steering shouldn’t be that expensive, try another shop. You definitely need that fixed. Ask at the other shop about the oil leak. If they also say it will cost 3k then just keep a bottle of oil in the car and top it off from time to time. That’s going to be way cheaper than removing the engine to fix a “small leak”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would never take a 12 year old car to a dealership’s mechanic. Especially not for something simple like an oil change, tire rotation or inspection.

This. Doing so is just begging to be financially sodomized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those prices are absurd. Power steering shouldn’t be that expensive, try another shop. You definitely need that fixed. Ask at the other shop about the oil leak. If they also say it will cost 3k then just keep a bottle of oil in the car and top it off from time to time. That’s going to be way cheaper than removing the engine to fix a “small leak”.

I've already had the work done elsewhere, and there is no oil leak. I also had the dealer give me an appraisal - $3k. I took the vehicle to CarMax and they offered $6,500. And they didn't see any oil leak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never take a 12 year old car to a dealership’s mechanic. Especially not for something simple like an oil change, tire rotation or inspection.

This. Doing so is just begging to be financially sodomized.

OP here, did you read the original post? I explained why I took it there. It's also walking distance from my office. I wasn't sodomized in any manner. I had the work done elsewhere. Geez.

[Anonymous]

We are totally out of area Toyota dealerships that aren't total ripoffs. We only take the cars to a dealership for service when it's a recall or warranty work and they're paying.

[Anonymous]

PSA - if you live in the Arlington area, check out Japanese Auto Clinic for service. We've been going there for 10+ years for our Highlanders and Acura. Steve, the owner is honest, fair and responsive. Great customer service. My husband is about to get a new car and considering a Tesla. His only hesitation is that he wouldn't bring it to Steve any more, and that gives him pause!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just recently had an issue with this dealership too. Took in an older Prius for repair and they gave me a ridiculous estimate and then the service advisor tried to buy it off me on the side (he said the dealership would only give me $600 and he offered a few hundred more still well below reasonable)

Same here- they wrecked my car while it was in their shop (body damage) and tried to claim it was pre-existing. Fortunately we had video from that morning when my DH dropped off the car. It was horrible.