Udon Toyota Service Rip off
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laphanphon
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mike-maulicino
- udonmap.com
- Posts: 132
- Joined: September 29, 2007, 5:00 pm
- Location: UDON THANI & NAKLANG
ive just taken my toyota vigo for the 20000 k service and that was 1995 b,ive no complaints as yet with toyota in udonA few days ago we took our Toyota Vigo in for a full service.
Firstly the staff were only willing to give an estimate for the work which i found a little strange, but after repeated requests they told me the price of the service before they started. (6800 baht)
You really have to ascertain, exactly what comprises a major, or full service?
Often this is 5-6 labor hours of doing everything from changing the timing belt
to checking the gear oil in the differential unit but I suspect, much like in the
States, some of these things are never done but billed for anyway? The system
doesn't exactly encourage thorough, complete work since the stealer (I mean
dealer) gets paid a fixed rate no matter how much of the supposed service they
perform. Much like Ban_dungDero, after a few bad experiences, I just prefer to
do it myself if at all possible. The last time I took a vehicle in back home was to
have the wheels balanced and a week later the weights were falling off the
wheels. It really does get a little discouraging but pride in work done is a vanishing
art. It may actually be better in Thailand, I'm not judging.
Often this is 5-6 labor hours of doing everything from changing the timing belt
to checking the gear oil in the differential unit but I suspect, much like in the
States, some of these things are never done but billed for anyway? The system
doesn't exactly encourage thorough, complete work since the stealer (I mean
dealer) gets paid a fixed rate no matter how much of the supposed service they
perform. Much like Ban_dungDero, after a few bad experiences, I just prefer to
do it myself if at all possible. The last time I took a vehicle in back home was to
have the wheels balanced and a week later the weights were falling off the
wheels. It really does get a little discouraging but pride in work done is a vanishing
art. It may actually be better in Thailand, I'm not judging.
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laphanphon
at toyota, the first couple times i paid attention, and i was surprised at the detail of service. i watched a guy take all four tires off, put a dab of something on each brake assembly, quick visual, then replace the tires. now i know of no other shop, including myself, that would of done that.
i used to take my hondo motorbike in for service, real 900cc scooter in the states, and in an hour would have a list of 50 things that were supposedly checked, right, i party with your son, do you really think he did all that and do you expect me to believe it.
as far as doing it myself, i can, and used to when finances dictated. have even help change an engine and can do most things. but at my age, and patience level, lack of tools, and all the junk you need to take off just to get to something, it really isn't worth banging my knuckles and teaching the kid some new words she can't use. bad enough when she drives with me. can i say that, no, can i say that, no.
i used to take my hondo motorbike in for service, real 900cc scooter in the states, and in an hour would have a list of 50 things that were supposedly checked, right, i party with your son, do you really think he did all that and do you expect me to believe it.
as far as doing it myself, i can, and used to when finances dictated. have even help change an engine and can do most things. but at my age, and patience level, lack of tools, and all the junk you need to take off just to get to something, it really isn't worth banging my knuckles and teaching the kid some new words she can't use. bad enough when she drives with me. can i say that, no, can i say that, no.
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laphanphon
ok, 10 k (11/2007) check up, about 10 + items listed, checked for free, as labor is free during warranty period, three items prices:
1o K check up, same items listed and checked for 20 K, don this week, inflation.
something, gasket or screw? 12.75 / 15.00
oil filter 187.00 / 220.00
oil 8 @ 96 768.00 / 800.00
now, my one problem area, which i will inquire next time there, first check had oil listed as 8 @ 96, second time, no breakdown, just 1 item/800.
i'm quessing that 1.5 engine sure as hell doesn't take 8 liters?? of oil. though double checking with Ree, it doesn't say liter. and the one has 4 something then 800 in pricing on 2nd bill, and 1st bill has item 8@96 ea, so little half guys. i'm also guessing they sure as hell don't buy oil buy the pint or quarts or liter or 1/2 liters. i didn't compare oil priced at market, but last time i did, i was surprised at the price, close to 700 for large, quessing 4 or 5 units, as not sure how sold, but seemed expensive then compared to usa pricing at the time, and this was a few years ago. i remember buying oil in states for less than 80 cents, and taking 4-5 units to change my maxima or escort at the time. last time i did an oil change, 8 yrs.
totals with tax were 20k - 1107.45, 10k - 1035.49, far from expensive or excessive.
good customer service, brought in late morning, which means you might get in or have to come back tomorrow. taken, est 3:30 pm, was chit chatting with sale rep who sold us car, and asked where we were headed, to mall, stroll and shop, snap snap, hop in, he will take you, ride provided. called just before 3 pm to inform service completed. all in all, never a complaint from me. ok, maybe snap snap was and exaggeration, but nice for lift into town.
1o K check up, same items listed and checked for 20 K, don this week, inflation.
something, gasket or screw? 12.75 / 15.00
oil filter 187.00 / 220.00
oil 8 @ 96 768.00 / 800.00
now, my one problem area, which i will inquire next time there, first check had oil listed as 8 @ 96, second time, no breakdown, just 1 item/800.
i'm quessing that 1.5 engine sure as hell doesn't take 8 liters?? of oil. though double checking with Ree, it doesn't say liter. and the one has 4 something then 800 in pricing on 2nd bill, and 1st bill has item 8@96 ea, so little half guys. i'm also guessing they sure as hell don't buy oil buy the pint or quarts or liter or 1/2 liters. i didn't compare oil priced at market, but last time i did, i was surprised at the price, close to 700 for large, quessing 4 or 5 units, as not sure how sold, but seemed expensive then compared to usa pricing at the time, and this was a few years ago. i remember buying oil in states for less than 80 cents, and taking 4-5 units to change my maxima or escort at the time. last time i did an oil change, 8 yrs.
totals with tax were 20k - 1107.45, 10k - 1035.49, far from expensive or excessive.
good customer service, brought in late morning, which means you might get in or have to come back tomorrow. taken, est 3:30 pm, was chit chatting with sale rep who sold us car, and asked where we were headed, to mall, stroll and shop, snap snap, hop in, he will take you, ride provided. called just before 3 pm to inform service completed. all in all, never a complaint from me. ok, maybe snap snap was and exaggeration, but nice for lift into town.
Re: Udon Toyota Service Rip off
I work for other car make, but reason to change back to original pads is simple: If you do not have genuine pads in front, you can risk your life in the worst case.kevh wrote:So having been caught attempting to steal 10 minutes later he phoned back to say that there had been a mistake and the brake pads were new but they were not original Toyota brakepads and we should have them replaced anyway.
Question is to have different kind of products in front and rear brakes. If those replaced pads are much harder than original, it means you rear brakes to be locked first in the case of emegency braking. After that you can not steer or handle you car as usually and anything can happen.
Using pirated pads can save your money few hundred baht, but risking your life in spinning vehicle should be worth of more shouldn't it?
I rather would blame the first shop using dangerous parts and possible replacing those pads without any reason. Or did you really drove over 100 000 km in 3 years?
Toyota service only tried to fix your car back to safe condition, because they must to so when they are representing the factory and authorized dealer network.
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laphanphon
Response to Eagles misguided post.
Firstly, there is no reason to believe that patern part companies make massively inferior part to toyota.
Especially as toyota is a very average manufacturer not at all high end of the spectrum.
Secondly, as the front brakes are disc brakes and the back brakes are drum brakes and 60% or the braking is applied to the front brakes and only 40% to the back brakes it is virtually impossible for the back brakes to lock up first.
The brakes that are currently fitted give the Vigo exactly the same stopping abillities as the original Toyota brakes.
And Thirdly, The original Toyota breaks wore out after 44,000 Kilometers not 100,000 which i saw with my own eyes.
The point i made is that Toyota told us that the brakes fitted were worn out and will need changing, this was a complete lie to try to bump up the costs.
Firstly, there is no reason to believe that patern part companies make massively inferior part to toyota.
Especially as toyota is a very average manufacturer not at all high end of the spectrum.
Secondly, as the front brakes are disc brakes and the back brakes are drum brakes and 60% or the braking is applied to the front brakes and only 40% to the back brakes it is virtually impossible for the back brakes to lock up first.
The brakes that are currently fitted give the Vigo exactly the same stopping abillities as the original Toyota brakes.
And Thirdly, The original Toyota breaks wore out after 44,000 Kilometers not 100,000 which i saw with my own eyes.
The point i made is that Toyota told us that the brakes fitted were worn out and will need changing, this was a complete lie to try to bump up the costs.
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laphanphon
That is what factory has planned.kevh wrote:Secondly, as the front brakes are disc brakes and the back brakes are drum brakes and 60% or the braking is applied to the front brakes and only 40% to the back brakes it is virtually impossible for the back brakes to lock up first.
Friction for pads varies normally between 0,25 and 0,35. Some pads have friction as high as 0,55-0,65.
Braking forse can be planned to divide 60/40 and it is handled by giving different brake fluid pressure to rear and also having larger and/or disk brake in front. Using pads with friction 0,25 instead of 0,35 can reduce front brake braking capacity around 30% and it can mean that rear brake becomes more effectice. Braking torque is a combination of friction, pressure and brake size. The more friction you have, the less force you need to stop the car.
I only have automotive engineer background and now have been working for car factory only little more than 20 years, but I still believe that changing vehicle parts other than planned can make vehicle not stabil. Not always, but it is possible.
I have tested very hard front pads with soft rear pads and it really does not need wet surface to spin.
If you have pads wore out less than 50 000 km, those were very soft and friction could be around 0,5. Changing hard pads instead can lower front braking torque to half of the original. In normal conditions you do not feel the difference.
New pads can be similar to old ones or those can be anything. If those are near to original, there is not danger in wet or unusual conditions, but if the difference is from 0,5 to 0,25 I would not like to be near your vehicle when something happens and you have only half of original braking torque in the front (30%).
Ps. ABS of course changes situation a little bit, but still... not as planned.
Eagle,
You are still assuming that the not toyota part is massively substandard without any justification.
I have tried hard braking in both dry and wet conditions, and the vigo does have ABS so i will tell you again there is no difference in braking ability.
With all your experiance i'm sure you will agree that the original part wearing out in 44,000 KM is far from acceptable.
Especially as you estimated that they should wear out at around 100,000 in your original post.
And again you are straying from the point of the original post.
You are still assuming that the not toyota part is massively substandard without any justification.
I have tried hard braking in both dry and wet conditions, and the vigo does have ABS so i will tell you again there is no difference in braking ability.
With all your experiance i'm sure you will agree that the original part wearing out in 44,000 KM is far from acceptable.
Especially as you estimated that they should wear out at around 100,000 in your original post.
And again you are straying from the point of the original post.
I believe that non genuine part is sometimes same as genuine. Problem is that they make parts to suite several different models and conditions. A genuine Toyota part for cold area countries is not same as for tropical countries. That makes difference. Buying non genuine part you never know if you have similar part as original even the producer can be same.kevh wrote:Eagle,
You are still assuming that the not toyota part is massively substandard without any justification.
I have tried hard braking in both dry and wet conditions, and the vigo does have ABS so i will tell you again there is no difference in braking ability.
With all your experiance i'm sure you will agree that the original part wearing out in 44,000 KM is far from acceptable.
Especially as you estimated that they should wear out at around 100,000 in your original post.
And again you are straying from the point of the original post.
I try to follow the original post and remind that sometimes authorized workshop must speak against non genuine parts. It is not always a question of stealing money. I can also be thinking of customers safety. Authorized workshop does not know how non genuine pads are working and that causes a good reason to suggest replacing.
Please remember that connection between mechanic and foreman and also between workshop and you can be not so perfect and part of discussion can be left on the way (i.e. mechanic said that pads need to be replaced and foreman understood that those are old ones, not non genuine. He corrected that to you after checking again). I believe that person from workshop was native english speaker and there was no possibilities to misunderstand each other?
If workshop calls to customer and asks permission to do extra work, it is more customer service than stealing. In this case the way they used was not perfect and misunderstanding happened somewhere. They had a good reason for change, but in this case customer did not accept that. I believe that they did not change pads without permission and followed the original work order as agreed. To do as agreed and suggest something that is best for customer (as they think) is good service -I believe.
Brake pad life less that 50000 km could be caused by skipped yearly brake service (lubrication). It means that that service point is not perfect and they not do whole service as they should. That is stealing.
It's my understanding that you have 3years/40k kms free maintenace when you buy a Toyota, you only have to pay materials. Most of my maintenance bills are less than 1k baht, except for 40K kms, which shows a lot of items for 4k baht, no labor, but strangely mentions work for 50K maintenance, is this a new kind of scam?kevh wrote:To clarify our service was at 50,000k and the pickup is 3 years old.
Prior to this rip off i had no problems with Toyota either, however once bitten twice shy.
Kev
Everytime I've paid my bill at Toyota the girls go over the bill with me. They do it in Thai, but when I've asked about different items on the bill, they've either explained it themselves or brought in someone who could. If you're presented with a bill that's not to your liking, whether at Toyota or a restaurant, you ought to get clarification before forking over your money.
As for brakes wearing out at 50,000km, I've seen people with feet on the brakes while driving, emergency brake engaged while driving, or hard braking for every light. I can't imagine the lifespan of a typical brake set is designed for that sort of abuse.
As for brakes wearing out at 50,000km, I've seen people with feet on the brakes while driving, emergency brake engaged while driving, or hard braking for every light. I can't imagine the lifespan of a typical brake set is designed for that sort of abuse.
Re: Udon Toyota Service Rip off
An old thread but time for an update.
I would very stronly recommend against using Shin Nont Toyota for sales or service!
I think they are anti-fahlang. I made an appointment to take my Camry in for routine service, just lube and oil change. It took 3 and a half hours and car not cleaned. At no time while just sitting there was I spoken to or acknowledged. As a matter of fact, I felt personally ignored.
It looked like several people that came in after me were finished well before me. Maybe “special” customers. I don’t know what it takes to be special, I purchased their most expensive model.
This was not the first time I expericed this. It happened before but I thought it was just me. It’s not me.
Just my personal opinion. They have definately lost my business but I think they don’t care. I sent an email to them with my complaint but do not expect a response.
I would very stronly recommend against using Shin Nont Toyota for sales or service!
I think they are anti-fahlang. I made an appointment to take my Camry in for routine service, just lube and oil change. It took 3 and a half hours and car not cleaned. At no time while just sitting there was I spoken to or acknowledged. As a matter of fact, I felt personally ignored.
It looked like several people that came in after me were finished well before me. Maybe “special” customers. I don’t know what it takes to be special, I purchased their most expensive model.
This was not the first time I expericed this. It happened before but I thought it was just me. It’s not me.
Just my personal opinion. They have definately lost my business but I think they don’t care. I sent an email to them with my complaint but do not expect a response.
Re: Udon Toyota Service Rip off
Your post's title << Udon Toyota Service Rip off >> might be misunderstood since i believe that the Udon Thani Toyota dealership is on Thahan rd near Wing 23, while you are clearly referring to Toyota Shin Nont Udonthani.
Have a nice day.
Have a nice day.
Re: Udon Toyota Service Rip off
I've taken my 10 year old Toyota truck to Shin (near Tool Pro) a few times. Once to fix a problem with rare stalling at a light....the kind of problem that you can't replicate on demand. After the mechanics said they couldn't determine the problem, they told me to wait a few minutes for the master mechanic to return from lunch. He determined and fixed the problem.
A few oil changes were done quickly enough. And my last visit for a 130,000km check on an appointment was done fast enough......wifi inside, a harem of girls serving coffee, water, snacks to help while away the time.
Early this year, I visited to check out a new truck......the salesman was nice enough to show me several models and satisfactorily answered all my questions.
That all said, if I had an appointment and still waited 3+ hours for an oil/filter change, I'd not be a happy camper. I'd bring a tent and camp out in front of the manager's office.
A few oil changes were done quickly enough. And my last visit for a 130,000km check on an appointment was done fast enough......wifi inside, a harem of girls serving coffee, water, snacks to help while away the time.
Early this year, I visited to check out a new truck......the salesman was nice enough to show me several models and satisfactorily answered all my questions.
That all said, if I had an appointment and still waited 3+ hours for an oil/filter change, I'd not be a happy camper. I'd bring a tent and camp out in front of the manager's office.