3 years ago
I did not have a good experience here. Growing up ...
I did not have a good experience here. Growing up in a Toyota family, we always took our cars to dealerships for services, so I did the same with my car. When I first started going, I did not have any issues, but within the last 5 months, I have had horrible experiences. First off, it's $125 just to look at your car and see what's wrong ($250 if it's electronic). Eep! Expensive, but I guess if that's what it takes. They're friendly enough, and seem very helpful, but it's deceiving. Not once did they ever tell me that the paperwork I was signing was agreeing that the fee was "no matter what." I would've accepted it if it were, but I was always told that I was signing to agree that yes, this is why I'm bringing the car in, and yes, this is what they have agreed to servicing. I had been warned by friends that have car experience that the issue I was having (clutch) could be pricey, so when I was quoted $500-$1000, while it was a bit more than I was getting from friends, it is a dealership, not a mechanic shop. However, after they "checked" the car, they told me it was indeed the clutch, and that it would be $1700! $700 more than their highest in-person quote! I told them this was something I couldn't afford, and they gave me the car back, after attempting to charge me the full service check. The cashier said that if they didn't do anything, there shouldn't be a service charge still, she made a phone call, and said same thing afterwards. Service guy came in, said that I signed that I would pay the service charge if there was no work done, and that the charge only gets waived if they do the repair work as well (I have NEVER had the service charge waived any of the times I've had repairs done here) He also said that no one else at this location knew anything, that he was the ONLY one, out of all the other service people, that knew ANYTHING. After speaking to the manager, I was able to get the price down to $50 and took the car elsewhere. Turns out it wasn't even the clutch at all! It's the transmission, and the issue has only just started, so I could get thousands of miles on it before it starts causing serious problems. This other place even explained to me what the symptoms were, even though I knew them, what it means, how to "help" the symptoms, and how to tell if it's getting worse and needs to be fixed. I will definitely NOT be taking my car back to this dealership, and will highly recommend any of my friends that get a Toyota to look elsewhere for repairs, even if they don't get a "free" 1 year warranty for the parts. Thank you Toyota of Orange, you almost cheated me out of $2000 for a made-up solution.