Day 1 Blog: Saturday I waited five hours for an oil change, tire rotation, and battery replacement

[Nokra]

Saturday (9/30/23) I brought my car (2007 Prius) in to a Toyota dealership to get an oil change and tire rotation. I had an appointment but was told that, even so, the wait time would be 2.5 hours. I thought that sounded crazy long based on my previous experiences (and later Googling confirms oil changes take 25-45 minutes and tire rotations around an hour, on average) but I had a book and no other immediate plans so I stayed.

 

After waiting more than 3 hours though, nobody had communicated with me at all, so I went to find someone and was told that there "was a mistake on the line" so they were going to get to it soon. In hindsight, I wonder how long I'd have been left to wait if I hadn't said anything.  Anyway, about 30 minutes later they came out and said the oil change was done but the battery should be replaced (somewhat expected; I've had to jump it a couple times recently). Another hour and change later, i.e. just shy of 5 hours after I'd arrived, I was told the car was finally ready.

 

Then, when I went to get in the car the "MAINT. REQ." light was on and the old sticker with the recommended oil change mileage were still on the windshield. Both of these issues were of course quickly resolved when brought to their attention, but for a brief moment it made me wonder if they had even performed the oil change.

 

I'm annoyed at having spent five hours on a sunny Saturday (a somewhat rare thing in Portland) sitting in a car dealership with no idea when it would be over. If I would have known from the start, I'd of course have insisted on a courtesy vehicle or taken an Uber home.  They did take $50 off my $350 bill (so I paid $300 for an oil change, battery, and tire rotation), but personally that discount seems pretty low considering the crazy long wait (even with an appointment), terrible communication, and poor attention to detail. I've been taking my car to this dealership for all of its oil changes and other maintenance since I moved to Portland in 2019, so nearly 4 years. I've previously had very positive experiences, but this really burned through all of the goodwill and trust built up over the years.

 

A good, trustworthy mechanic is worth their weight in gold.

 

 

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. 

[TUFKAK]

As a car guy

 

eww Prius 

 

[Keyser_Soze]

Last time I got an oil change I was also told it would take a while because they only have 2 guys that can work on my model of car, so I went home instead of waiting (and I think I already told that story of the disgruntled Lyft driver)

[best3444]

Sorry to hear. 5 hours is pretty brutal.

[Captain Pickle]

2 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

Last time I got an oil change I was also told it would take a while because they only have 2 guys that can work on my model of car, so I went home instead of waiting (and I think I already told that story of the disgruntled Lyft driver)

Lol for an oil change. If everyone at that shop can’t do an oil change based on year of the car I wouldn’t come back. It’s an oil change for Christ sakes

[DarkStar189]

Car batteries are expensive these days. I’ve had to buy 2 batteries over this past year and they were both $200-240 each.  So that with oil change and labor sounds about right for the price. That time you had to wait sounds horrible though.

[Nokra]

Yeah the price was fine (though I think my time is worth more than a $10/hour discount) but yeah the wait was ridiculous. I at least made great progress with my book. 

[Jason]

A Genesis dealership near me turned into a Hyundai dealership recently and it was so fucking nice to be able to just drop the car off and then walk to work from there. Used to have to kill half a day driving out to what used to be the nearest dealership (like 45 minutes each way accounting for traffic) and then have to either sit in the dealership or find somewhere within walking distance within the stroady hellhole that dealership is located in to sit and wait. With the new one I wouldn't have even cared if it hadn't been ready until the next day.

[Pikachu]

Pretty decent price for everything. Dealerships are generally more expensive for parts and labor. Wait time is oof though.

[SmugPrick]

Damn I can do that in about 90 minutes and still have time to drink a beer.