Inflation or Just Gouging?
Back awhile ago I bought a new truck, the first and only new one I ever had. Being the proud owner of a brand spanking new Toyota Tacoma, I decided to stick with the oil maintenance schedule and let the dealer put genuine Toyota filters on and good synthetics in. The first oil changes were free, but once I’d had a couple, they charged me. As I recall, about 45 bucks. Even washed the rig for free. Little by little, of course, the cost started inching up, five more bucks at first, then a jump of 20. Inflation. Maybe that supply chain issue around Covid. Who knows, I just paid the dealer.
At around 50,000 miles my nice service lady took me aside to let me know my water pump was going out. Really? I asked. I haven’t noticed any fluid leaking or funny noises. She assured me that yes, really, but they could schedule a replacement for a bit over 600 dollars. I said thanks but I’ll handle this myself. You’d think, I said ruefully, that a brand new truck would get more mileage out of a water pump. Says something about Toyota, I guess. My service lady didn’t really care for this line of talk.
I have driven Toyotas practically my entire adult life. And the reason I buy them, used, new, battered or pristine is that they seldom break down, even up to a quarter of a million miles. One that had about 170K on it, I actually had to replace the water pump. So it wasn’t like I expected the things to last my lifetime. But this one, on inspection once I got home, was fine. At 120K it still is. Needless to say, my trust in my dealer plummeted.
I had my oil changed by my scamming dealership yesterday. The last one had cost me 80 dollars, but a few months later it had ratcheted up to 105. I guess that supply chain problem never really got fixed. Or maybe too many people refused to have their perfectly good water pumps repaired for them to clear their terribly slim profit margin. When I paid, the dour woman who has been scowling at her desk for as long as I’ve owned my truck told me my credit card would be charged an extra 3%. Piddly, I know, but … just another notch down on my opinion of the place. The free coffee was so watery, I had had to throw it down the drain, and trust me, I’m not fussy about coffee when I’m on the road.
I paid my 105 plus the 3 plus surcharge. When I got to my truck at the far end of the service parking area, I saw that the free wash job was apparently no longer part of their goodwill package. The little sticker they usually affix to my windshield, the one that is supposed to remind if the Needs Service light on my dashboard somehow burns out, was tossed on the dash where it almost went down into Area 51. The usual mileage they want me back is 5000 miles before the next oil change, but when I looked up the lifespan of synthetic oils, the consensus is 10,000. Can’t be too careful, I suspect my service lady would say. When I stuck the reminder sticker on my windshield myself, I happened to notice that the next recommended service was only 4000 miles, probably just a typo, right? I’m wondering if the service light was downsized too to pop on at 4000.
Geez, if you can’t trust a car dealer in these tough economic times, who can you trust? My next oil change I’ll probably do myself. Right after a good cup of my own coffee.
Tags: Boiling the Frog, Cost of an Oil Change, What Inflation?