Went to the dealer for minor service, mainly for oil filter change and tire rotation. Got it for $30 with minor service coupon and a $10 off coupon.

MY gosh, as expected, the service guy came up with $2k worth of repair lists he said I desperately need for my car. I told them I need none except for the 3 things above and still kept pushing. My car is only 32k miles with no problem I see. I know this is the trick they use to scam!

I also had buy 1 get 2nd blade for $1 coupon. I went to the parts dept. I didn't a show them my coupon first but asked for genuine toyota camry 07 blade. he shows me 2 and said they are original ones. I than showed my coupon. The parts people hated the coupon and kept saying they don't have the original one in stock which they costs over $50 each. They than changed their story and kept saying what they showed me is replacement not the original one. didn't want to sell the replacement camry blade for buy 1 get end for $1 and kept saying all I need is the insert only and blade never needs change. They sold the insert for $14 and 2nd for $1. In total,ie the oil filter change, tire rotation & 2 inserts, I was charged $52 with about $7 in tax. I watched my car being serviced and regarding the tire rotation,I saw them was unscrew and screw the tires and never pulled them out.

below are the lists they said I must get done for my 07 camry hybrid with 32k miles:


coolant flush. transmission flush. Front & rear brake pads & rotors replacement. Fuel injection cleaning. Drive belt glaze. Brake flush. All for $1972..43

 

Coolant flush by an independent or you would cost $50 or less. The same with the trans flush. Front and rear pads and rotors will more than likely outlast the car but an independent can verify if they are needed, if you are running ANY decent brand of gas, no injector cleaning is required. The drive belt will go to 100,000 miles but is only around $30 or so to replace and a brake flush? maybe on a regular, ice only car but unless your fluid has turned acidic (again an easy check by an independent you trust) it is not required.

The are trying to rip you for around $1,500 or so even if they did everything listed.

Look at some of the DIY threads on this site to see how simple some of these are.

 

Thanks I knew they would try to make up things to scam. I see them doing this to everyone who brings their car for any service. Many have written horrible reviews of similar things.
I go there only when I have the normal maintainence coupons for things like oil change or tire rotations.

 

Easy now on brake flush. You can NOT take to a mom and pop shop as brake actuator must be bled. Around here Doxon Toyota charges $150 for procedure, Greg's Japanese, an "independent" charges $700.

OP, why not to learn how to do such a basic stuff as brake pads and oil changes?
Btw, I had to do all pads at around 50K miles. Some do claim to have OEM ones closing on 200K miles though. And I am a very conscientious driver.

 

Your brakes are worn out at 32,000 miles? Pads, rotors, coolant, transmission oil and brake flush? Some of those items are not due until you reach 100,000 miles. I would be contacting the service manager asking for explanations as well as contacting Toyota Corporate and posting a few negative reviews on the dealer site as well as places like "Yelp". If what you say is true and your car "really only has the mileage you say", what they said and offered to do is a problem.

Now the brake flush makes sense due to the age. But, that can be tested and requires a scan tool to run the actuator and bleed all the lines. I could see "servicing the brakes", where they remove the calipers, clean and lube the slide pins and re-grease the backs of the pads. But, replacing it all "just because", is blatant fraud, waste and abuse!

FYI.... I am about to hit 200,000 miles and the brakes on mine are original and will easily make it to 300,000 miles! I have done other things like 3 transmission oil changes and several coolant changes on both systems.... But, that is because we drive a ton of miles. I also work on the car myself and only go to the dealer if it is something I cannot do; like change the inverter coolant (requires scan tool to run pump) or bleed the brakes and change the brake fluid (requires scan tool to run actuator to bleed brakes). I am still on the original drive belt as well. I bought one when I did my water pump change a couple years ago and just never put it on. I keep it in the trunk. If it is not cracked or "checking", it is fine.

If you are unable to do these things, you should absolutely take it to another dealer before committing to anything and get a second opinion.

 

yes mine is only about 33k miles now although bought in Aug 2006. the exterior looks brand new too and never felt any trouble other than the rattling noise sometimes from the stereo sometimes. When i complained about this some years ago to Toyota, i was told the service recall or whatever already expired on that so couldn't do anything. The same dealer at that time wanted to charge me $900 something to fix that noise and I said NO since it is not any safety related problem.

As I was sitting in the waiting area watching my car getting oil change. I met another man and he told me his car is almost brand new and he too was told he needed almost $3k of repairs but he rejected it. I have completely lost faith and trust with this dealer because of their attempted scams. I go there only when I get the oil change or tire rotation coupons from them. I never had to have any repairs for my car anywhere. If in the future, I need any repairs done due to any mechanical failures, My plan is to go to independent private auto mechanic shops instead. They should be able to do the repairs or install genuine toyota parts and if they don't have in stock, I can have them order. Is that a good idea?

 

The apparent dishonesty of this dealer would keep my car completely away from them. It is just too easy to create a problem (on purpose or by accident) during an oil change that you should trust the garage doing it. How clear is the line between asking you to allow them to steal from you by doing unnecessary work and the direct creation of necessary work? Not very clear to anyone willing to ask first! There really are good, honest dealers and independent garages around, but can be hard to find.

 

It's all being run by the service manager, whoever racks up the most in service charges gets to be the employee of the month. I never set foot on this kind of dealership, chances are if you have *REAL* issues it's going to cost you an arm and a leg. All of those are unnecessary service items at that mileage.

I did change the pads on my rear at 90k+ ($60), the fronts can go another 100k. Rear and front rotors are still original. No brake flush yet (waiting for that brake recall appt) Trans flush at 60k ($45+), coolant got changed at that time due to water pump failure. Buy a bottle of fuel injection cleaner at $6, will do the same.