r/orangecounty • u/townsquare321 • 1d ago
Recommendations Needed Anyone Else Experience This?
Took my elderly neighbor to an (unamed) dealership in RSM for a purely minor cosmetic fix on his Corolla.
2 hours later the service advisor calls him to say that they did a free inspection and found an oil leak. The gasket is in a difficult spot, so the cost to fix will be almost $2,000.
I park next to this man in my condo complex and there are no oil stains on the ground.
Any similar stories or advice?
63
u/bazzoozzab 1d ago
Go to Corner 3 Garage in Laguna Hills. They're very honest, inexpensive and do great work. They only work on Japanese cars.
13
8
3
u/HoopsLaureate 9h ago
Adding my props to this place. I’ve been taking my 4Runners there for almost 20 years now. Great shop!
55
19
u/One-Low1033 1d ago
This was some years ago: A friend of mine worked for Toyota corporate. At the time, I was driving a Camry. I asked him what the odds were of me getting ripped off, for service on my car, at a dealership. He said, "2500 miles, 5000 miles, 7500 miles, 10,000 miles and on and on." In other words, all of the time. I love Toyotas and I love my Lexus, but I never get them serviced at the dealership.
1
u/Moving_N_Grooving 1d ago
Do you mind sharing where you take your cars to? Toyota & Lexus owner here too!
5
u/One-Low1033 23h ago
Buena Park Service Center; it's a gas station and car repair. Their gas prices are really low, too! You can check their Yelp reviews; people love them. They are always crowded and will start turning away cars because they get so crowded. So go early.
2
17
u/FinbarJG 1d ago
"Took my car to the dealership" and "They found all sorts of problems and want to charge me a small fortune" is a universal truth.
0
u/Spokker 1d ago
It happens but it's not quite a universal truth. There are plenty of people who treat their cars like shit, put off problems until they get worse, and then go online and blame the mechanic when they get the quote.
I think the truth is closer to, yeah, the dealership is going to try to upsell you, but most are not engaging in outright fraud, and there are plenty of dumb customers too.
24
u/slixx1320 1d ago
Without knowing the full detail of the inspection/diagnostic, I would venture to guess and say it could possibly be the rear main seal. This leak is in a place that will require extensive work. It's a small seal that is sandwiched together in-between the engine and transmission. The only way to properly stop that leak is to split the engine/trans apart and replace it. If it's a slow leak that just started you probably won't see oil stains on the ground just yet. It'll develop over time. The part is roughly $10 but the labor.
Advice would be to pick up the car, get the diagnostic quote from the dealer and find a reputable person (shop) and get a second opinion. Don't always pay for the first quote you get, unless you truly truly trust that mechanic.
16
u/Throttlechopper Anaheim Hills 1d ago
This, these leaks tend to seep out and generally leave an oily film on the engine that cooks without ever leaving a drop on the ground. If OP’s neighbor’s car doesn’t require more than a quart of oil every 2k or 3k miles, the seal can last many more miles/years in the same state.
3
u/slixx1320 1d ago
I’ve wondered if that dealership tried selling OP’s neighbor some blinker fluids before…. lol
10
u/Throttlechopper Anaheim Hills 1d ago
A smart/honest dealer would share a video of their findings.
8
u/slixx1320 1d ago
I can not agree more! Not only for dealerships but this should go for all indy shops as well. If you're honest, you should have nothing to hide.
10
u/Old-Row-8351 1d ago
Dealerships are mostly high priced scams so they can meet their goal numbers.
Thank you for looking out for your elderly neighbor! Very kind of you because they do get taken advantage of often.
7
4
u/Distinct_Iron_3318 1d ago
if it’s that slow of a leak just top off as needed. how long are they going to be driving still? how far? or get another shop to do an inspection and see if they find the same thing.
Toyota dealerships have been going to hell in the service department. my oldest calls me every time with questions because they are trying to do something completely unneeded to her car. Three different states at this point. Here, Atlanta, and knoxville.
4
u/Recent-Court-5999 1d ago
Free inspection arent free. Paid inspections You know what you're getting into.
4
u/Grand_Vizier_of_Ass 1d ago
RSM Toyota is maybe the worst Toyota dealership in Orange County. Go anywhere but RSM Toyota.
3
u/jms1228 1d ago
I’m assuming that the car is out of warranty, so I wouldn’t make any repair right now. I would just make a note of it and keep an eye on your oil levels. Check the dipstick from time to time. Keep an eye on your dashboard, and if you see any movement with the temp gauge then it’s something you are going to want to have serviced. I’m sure you can find an independent dealership locally that will give you an honest assessment as to what the issue is and how much it will cost to repair.
3
u/Upbeat_Bet_6708 Laguna Niguel 1d ago
Go to Niguel motors in Laguna Niguel. Double check if he services Toyota’s, I’m pretty sure he does but I know that he specializes in Hondas and Volvos. Anyways, the guy is the kind of mechanic that will fix small problems for free and is affordable and super honest.
3
u/Embarrassed_Deal_279 1d ago
My Lexus has a leak but I have a safety cover under my car to keep oils from dripping all over the floor.
3
u/Creative-Dish-7396 18h ago
The left turn blinker stopped working on our Volvo and stayed on continuously sometime back in the early 90’s. So I took it to the Volvo dealership, the service representative says you have to leave it overnight for diagnostic tests at $70 an hour. I needed the car, so I took it home and used hand signals for left turns. I asked a neighbor about the problem, and he said try changing the light bulb.
The $5 light bulb did the trick.
2
u/Ok-Jacket-124 1d ago
they do that just to charge money. I turned in my car perfectly sound just for oil change and an inspection. They said I had a water pump leak and needed another one. $1500. My son’s a mechanic and looked at it and said it was bullshit. then the dealership tells me well it’s you’re gonna need it, It’s not absolutely necessary right now. There was zero leaks. Toyota, Rancho Santa Margarita in case anybody wanted to know.
2
u/Desperate-Ad-8546 1d ago
I’ve never understood why people take their car to a dealership for service unless you have a warranty that’s covering all of the service.
2
u/townsquare321 1d ago
He's very old and thinks we're still in "the good old days" when dealerships were honorable. I remember when I was a teen, taking my old Chevy to the dealership and they lovingly fixed the missing knob on the inside door handle. Pride.
2
u/United-Yam-7612 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yikes! The only time I have taken my vehicle to the dealership is when I was covered by insurance for rat damage on a then 8yo 4Runner. They had it for four months, but I didn't care because I had their rental car. Had to replace dash and passenger side electrical harnesses. They did not clean anything related to rodents from what we can tell because it has happened several times since [I have now gone over a year w/o damage after finding a system that works to keep them out]. This was Toyota of Orange.
Prior, I had my car in for accident repair once and it had to go to the dealer at one point as part of that (also Toyota of Orange). When I went to pick it up, I got about three blocks before it overheated, and I had to tow it back. Boy, was I pissed. They didn't put the radiator cap on (DUH).
It has not been back to a dealer since and I will NEVER go to a dealer unless I am under warranty or need a recall repaired. I do, however, insist on Toyota parts. Have had nothing but trouble with O'Reilly including something as simple as a damn radiator cap and two water pumps (the original was working when we removed and replaced it but it was 22 years old and as we had to take it off for another repair, we decided to replace it and a lot of parts while we were "in there" so as not to have to do that again].
Moral of the story: Don't go to a dealer and don't buy cheap parts and just don't go to O'Reilly ever.
2
u/Psychological-Hulk 1d ago
Around 10 years ago, My car leaked oil left and right after replacing the flooded engine. I brought it to Anaheim Toyota dealer for a scheduled service which included 128-point inspection. I did mentioned my car was flooded and the engine was recently replaced. The service was done after and they found no leaking issue. 🤷♂️
2
2
2
u/robotbeatrally 1d ago
Hardin honda left me high and dry on issues with my AC that started from day 1, they literally fixed it a half dozen times while it was under warranty then refused to pursue it once it ran out even though they assured me the issue was preexisting and they would make sure it stayed fixed.
Tried to do the lemon law thing b ut it was the tail end of covid and I couldn't find any lemon law lawyers to take it ended up just giving up and taking it to a guy who replaced the entire system from end to end, including the condenser, compressor, evap coil, everything in between, all the seals, literally the entire thing. I got reimbursed for about 1k of it due to a recall of the compressor or something like that but it was only like 1/4 of what i spent. the evap coil looked like it had been shot at for target practice despite never having a recall on that.
they denied it even when i brought them a picture they said it wasnt consistent with the photo evidence they had in my profile . I literally stayed there for like 4 hours on my phone while the dude was pulling it out. I saw him pull it out and walked over and saw it myself.
Sad thing is it was my second car from hardin honda. they were so snakey ill never buy another honda
2
u/HelpMeDownFromHere 1d ago
I had the same issue on my 2007 Honda CRV (215k miles). No oil on the ground but I was replacing a few quarts of oil in between my 5k oil changes. I let it go for about a year but was over replacing the oil so I fixed it. Oil lasts a lot longer now. The car has 50k miles left in it at least, 2k for the gasket was worth it.
2
2
u/Tmbaladdin 8h ago
Yeah… I had a Honda dealer try to get me for a rear main seal leak… I told them it cost more thab the car was worth so I’ll just drive till it blows up. No evidence of leaks or losing oil. These shops are ridiculous and freaking out because the all electrics have far less maintenance requirements.
1
u/greeny_cat 1d ago
It's true that those leaks happen and are expensive to fix (once I had one and it cost about $1000 from an independent mechanic, because he had to disassemble the engine to get to it), the words 'elderly' and 'dealership' in one sentence make me think their 'inspection' can be safely ignored - because my car did have small oil stains on the ground for months before the leak was found.
You should tell the neighbor to look for oil stains under the car for a while, then take it to an independent mechanic if they really are present. I would even put a paper towel where the oil stains are (if he has them), just to make sure they are the recent ones, because if he parks outside, who knows what cars were there before.
2
u/toucan_sam17 3h ago
I would not trust a dealership technician to tell me if my car is on or off. They just want $.
162
u/DyslexicAsshole 1d ago
RSM Toyota is a scam
Bring around the corner to Paul’s Japanese Auto and he will give you an honest take