In For My Second Free Service

Grew up on a farm and saw my share of rusty sludge building up in engines that don't run a lot. Once they warm up after running for a few hours, the brown milkiness in the oil disappears as the water evaporates.

 

Sadly, that USE to be my thoughts about Toyota. But my interaction with Toyota and at least one Toyota dealership, since purchasing my Prius, has me severely wondering if that is still Toyota's current philosophy in actual application.

Kind of seems to me that once Toyota became "The Big Dog" they have reverted or adopted the toxic mannerisms that can come along with being on top. Apathy and a degree of arrogance.

I love my Prius, and have no plans to make an immediate change. But Toyota is going to have to show me a re- commitment to those qualities that I agree, made them into one of the most profitable car companies on the planet.

I'm no longer sure Toyota really represents those qualities in action.

Specific to this thread, there are just too many stories about Prius Owners who can't seem to get their oil changed without it being overfilled. Every story of an over fill or of an owner having to siphon out amounts of oil after visiting a dealership (and there are many)...should be an embarrassment to the individual dealership and Toyota as a whole.

You can't tell me this problem couldn't be fixed by a greater degree of awareness and training. This should be a priority with Toyota.

Quality doesn't just stop and start with the manufacture of the vehicle, it should extend to the company wide support network which includes dealerships and dealership service departments. They may be individually owned and operated, but they are Toyota vendors.

If Toyota's advertising is going to have "Jan" appearing as a Toyota Dealership employee, urging me to have my Prius serviced at my local dealership to have my Prius maintain its "Toyotaness"....then I'm going to say to Toyota, make sure your dealership can properly change my Prius oil.

 

Somewhere I read about how quality went downhill at Toyota when the Toyoda family lost influence in the company in favor of MBA types looking to maximize short-term returns. (BTW, the story goes that the founder of Toyota consulted a mystic about what the name of the company should be, and the mystic recommended Toyota.)

 

I did my homework this time, and selected a dealer based on reading a lot of customer reviews. It paid off, because so far, I have been treated extremely well.

I wish I'd done that the last time I purchased a Toyota, back in 2011. That dealer isn't even certified by DealerRater, and the bad experience of that transaction has left me with a lasting negative impression.

 

Numerologist, I believe.