Received an email service coupon from my dealer (decidedly not "stealer") a week ago for an inspection and oil change. I was coming up on my 140K service anyway. It was from my Desert Toyota service manager here in Tucson, and advertised an oil change and multi-point inspection all for the ridiculously low price of $23.99. Made the appointment, and when I showed up my service writer said that the coupon deal was a "mistake" but they were honoring it anyway. I think it was clever marketing. While I sat and waited in view of my service writer's desk there were at least 7 more customers showing up with the coupon. The usual charge is about $60 for this service.
To what extent did the service writer try to upsell you on other services? I recently went to Precision Toyota to get the brake actuator on the 2007 replaced under the extended warranty. The service writer provided me a long list of recommended services which supposedly were developed by the tech who worked on the car. One of the services was a brake fluid flush. However, the brake actuator service requires new brake fluid, and the fluid in the reservoir looks new. So that recommendation would be redundant...
When I purchased my first Prius, a 2008, at Chapman here in Tucson, the salesman recommended service with Terry at Desert Toyota. I have been going there ever since. I did practically all the maintenance on my 2008, and learned the Prius Way by studying a Haynes manual and spending quality time here on PriusChat. When I traded up to my 2011, which I purchased from Desert Toyota, I decided to continue with the excellent service I had been receiving from them. The oil change became quite a bit more of a job which I was more than happy to turn over to the excellent mechanics at Desert Toyota. Never got an upsell of any sort from Terry, but he knows that I know quite a bit about this vehicle. When my A/C compressor failed a couple years ago he tracked down a used part up in Phoenix, arranged for shipment, and had the shop install it. Sure, no warranty, but I still have great A/C today and for a fraction of the cost of a new compressor. I've got nothing but good things to say about Desert Toyota.
