Went to our dealership's "New Owner's Night", a get to know the staff, familiarize yourself with the service department event. General message they seem to give: "leave everything to us". A few impressions, and quasi-quotes: Senior mechanic questioned as to how often should owners check oil, responded: "You don't need to lift the hood. We'll take care of everything" Service Manager, on how to change a flat: "You don't want to have to deal with that. Just keep the Toyota emergency number in your wallet or purse." The dealership has an automatic, drive-through car wash: a good example of how not to do a thorough job, and neglect minor scratches in the paint. I was thinking of asking their opinion of a "hybrid" relation, ie: owner doing the basic maintenance, dealership handling the tougher stuff, but decided against it, just didn't seem the appropriate time or place.
Lame party. Holman Toyota served sandwiches & soda, had a car up on the lift to check out, and demonstrated how to change a tire. There were door prizes & everyone received a service coupon. I kept my mouth shut during the Q & A. As expected, they gave the Toyota party line answers to the questions.
probably made 90% of the owners very happy. none of them on p/c or interested in automobiles, aside from driving them.
The dealership I bought my wife's prius (DCH TOYOTA) had an owners night. It amazed me how condecending and arrogant they were. I also kept my mouth shut during Q&A and found their answers to some simple questions were based on opinion and not fact. They honestly did not know if the Prius had DRL. After the Q&A I told some of the other customers about PriusChat. They seemed very receptive about checking out this site. I did not purchase my 2nd Prius there.
Scary comment that you don't have to check your oil. That means they think it's ok not to check your oil in 10k mi. Wow. Halterman's Toyota also served sandwiches and soda ect. They showed what it was like to have an airbag inflate. They set one off from a junk car in the parking lot while everybody watched from inside. Really make a hell of a bang.
I went to one of these 1.5 years ago. They served Subway, cookies, and Coke. I collected a few Free Lube/Filter Changes coupons they were handing out. Yay yuh. But mostly they gave lame@$$ answers to questions and nobody believed I owned a Prius cause I looked so young. GRRR!
We had door prizes as well, everyone a winner. I guess this is a well choreographed script. We got a Toyota travel mug. Also everyone got a goody bag, with a POS digital pressure gauge, could not get it to work, and I'm pretty sure it's just defective. Anyway, thinking of good door prizes, in case anyone in the know is listening, how about: Wheel chocks. They're actually spec'd. in the Owners Manual, to be used when jacking up to change a flat (if the Toyota rescue number doesn't come through).
Just recalled another response I got from their head mechanic: I asked regarding transaxle fluid changes: were they ok with people asking for them, ahead of schedule, sometimes completely so, ie: when there is no interval spec'd. by Toyota. His response, paraphrasing: The Prius transaxle is "sealed", but sure they can do it, and ahead of schedule, if I want. He also cautioned against DIY, saying the fluid drain/fill was complicated by needing to be done at "operating temperature". Well, I typically drain both transmission fluid and engine oil when the car's warmed up, just to homogenize the contaminants, get a more efficient drain etc, but he seemed to be inferring there was some necessity to having the vehicle at operating temp, maybe for level check or whatever. Actually, it didn't make much sense to me.
At least y'all got some recognition from your local dealers. My local dealer doesn't even spell my name correctly, let alone invite owners back for a service show and tell. That's okay, because the less they're involved in my maintenance, the happier me and my wallet are! Remember when Saturn first intro'd and Saturn (GM) would have annual owner fests? That's crazy!
IMO, that's the difference between selling a commodity (a "car") and building a loyal fan base that will generate a "large" volume of repeat business. The cost of such events is very low compared to advertizing media. You make it sound like appreciating & maybe even listening to your customers is a bad thing.
Definitey not a bad thing. I'm saying this as a good thing in response to some who post that their Toyota dealer hosted open houses for new owners. Whereas Saturn fests were sponsored by GM at their assembly plant. That's crazy, as in a good thing. I think it would be cool if each U.S. Toyota distributor hosted their own Toyota fest for new owners; and to be selfish, just new Prius owners.
