This dealership and many others in my area are very greedy. The "Dealer Fee's" are nothing more than a disguised method of adding profit to every vehicle they sell to unsuspecting buyers. Every dealer has a built in profit already. It's called the "pack". The "Dealer Fee" is just another Rip-off fee.
There are auto dealers out there who do not charge these bogus fee's. I would urge you to seek them out.
I scheduled my appointment requesting a 30,000 mile interval service. According to the Toyota Maintenance Schedule for the 2016 Highlander, that service should entail the following:
Check installation of driver’s floor mat
Inspect and adjust all fluid levels
Inspect wiper blades
Re-torque propeller shaft bolt (4WD)
Replace cabin air filter
Replace engine air filter
Replace engine oil and oil filter
Rotate tires
Those are the basic services. Beyond the basics, there are a few other additional items, but they apply to those that are operating their vehicle on dirt roads, while towing, under heavy loads or other unusual circumstances. When I scheduled the appointment, I specifically selected the 30,000 mile service and nothing else. When I arrived at the dealership, I asked for the service advisor who had been assigned to me. After several minutes, she arrived and said something like “Oh, at 30,000 miles, that’s a big one!”. That surprised me to hear, but she took me inside to show me the service materials book. After I got done picking my jaw up off the floor (her “recommended” service was well over $500), I noticed that directly above that tier was a “basic” service, which came out to roughly $167. While that’s certainly pricey, it didn’t seem unreasonable for a milestone service, and I didn’t give it much thought. One would reasonably assume that “basic” meant a set of basic services as recommended by the manufacturer. However, when I went to pick up my vehicle, I was surprised to find that the final total was $230 after a $25 coupon! When I questioned the cashier, she showed me the actual invoice which included a number of items that were not in fact on the maintenance schedule. At that point, the cashier couldn’t help me and had to call the service advisor. After a lengthy wait, the service advisor finally came to the cashier’s desk and I told her that I was surprised to find my total was over $167, which is the price I had seen in her materials. She went over and got the very same book, and showed me that what I was looking at…. the more prominent price… was for some kind a pre-paid maintenance program. In my opinion, this practice is disingenuous at best. The unneccessary services breakdown as follows... 1. Oil conditioner for $16.50 - no oil conditioner is needed on fresh, synthetic oil. In fact, changing the formulation by including additives can negatively effect the detergent mix already inherent to the synthetic oil and cause premature degradation of the oil, or worse, excessive engine wear. This was the material charge alone, it does not include the labor cost. 2. "Z-Tech add" for $21.95. This appears to be a fuel injector treatment, added to the fuel tank. While it's not entirely out of the ordinary to add some kind of injector cleaner, most quality gasolines have their own detergent mixes. The customer should be informed of this before it's added, particularly at this price point (most add-to-the-tank cleaners are less than a quarter of the cost and the formulations are all very similar). This was the material charge alone, it does not include the labor cost. 3. "Prem BATT Service" for $12.25. This vehicle is equipped with a maintenance free battery. It showed no signs of corrosion or problems of any sort. As near as I can tell, some kind of spray was applied to the terminals, possibly to prevent corrosion. Nothing else was done. There was no cause for applying this service, which is way overpriced to begin with. This was the material charge alone, it does not include the labor cost. I contacted the dealer to let them know that I found these practices to be unscrupulous at best, and received nothing more than a dismissive reply. Customer should be aware that this dealership is bill padding with "snake oil" style services that are not in fact recommended by the manufacturer in any way, shape or form.
David Maus Toyota Reviews
This dealership and many others in my area are very greedy. The "Dealer Fee's" are nothing more than a disguised method of adding profit to every vehicle they sell to unsuspecting buyers. Every dealer has a built in profit already. It's called the "pack". The "Dealer Fee" is just another Rip-off fee.
There are auto dealers out there who do not charge these bogus fee's. I would urge you to seek them out.
I scheduled my appointment requesting a 30,000 mile interval service. According to the Toyota Maintenance Schedule for the 2016 Highlander, that service should entail the following:
Check installation of driver’s floor mat
Inspect and adjust all fluid levels
Inspect wiper blades
Re-torque propeller shaft bolt (4WD)
Replace cabin air filter
Replace engine air filter
Replace engine oil and oil filter
Rotate tires
Those are the basic services. Beyond the basics, there are a few other additional items, but they apply to those that are operating their vehicle on dirt roads, while towing, under heavy loads or other unusual circumstances. When I scheduled the appointment, I specifically selected the 30,000 mile service and nothing else. When I arrived at the dealership, I asked for the service advisor who had been assigned to me. After several minutes, she arrived and said something like “Oh, at 30,000 miles, that’s a big one!”. That surprised me to hear, but she took me inside to show me the service materials book. After I got done picking my jaw up off the floor (her “recommended” service was well over $500), I noticed that directly above that tier was a “basic” service, which came out to roughly $167. While that’s certainly pricey, it didn’t seem unreasonable for a milestone service, and I didn’t give it much thought. One would reasonably assume that “basic” meant a set of basic services as recommended by the manufacturer. However, when I went to pick up my vehicle, I was surprised to find that the final total was $230 after a $25 coupon! When I questioned the cashier, she showed me the actual invoice which included a number of items that were not in fact on the maintenance schedule. At that point, the cashier couldn’t help me and had to call the service advisor. After a lengthy wait, the service advisor finally came to the cashier’s desk and I told her that I was surprised to find my total was over $167, which is the price I had seen in her materials. She went over and got the very same book, and showed me that what I was looking at…. the more prominent price… was for some kind a pre-paid maintenance program. In my opinion, this practice is disingenuous at best. The unneccessary services breakdown as follows... 1. Oil conditioner for $16.50 - no oil conditioner is needed on fresh, synthetic oil. In fact, changing the formulation by including additives can negatively effect the detergent mix already inherent to the synthetic oil and cause premature degradation of the oil, or worse, excessive engine wear. This was the material charge alone, it does not include the labor cost. 2. "Z-Tech add" for $21.95. This appears to be a fuel injector treatment, added to the fuel tank. While it's not entirely out of the ordinary to add some kind of injector cleaner, most quality gasolines have their own detergent mixes. The customer should be informed of this before it's added, particularly at this price point (most add-to-the-tank cleaners are less than a quarter of the cost and the formulations are all very similar). This was the material charge alone, it does not include the labor cost. 3. "Prem BATT Service" for $12.25. This vehicle is equipped with a maintenance free battery. It showed no signs of corrosion or problems of any sort. As near as I can tell, some kind of spray was applied to the terminals, possibly to prevent corrosion. Nothing else was done. There was no cause for applying this service, which is way overpriced to begin with. This was the material charge alone, it does not include the labor cost. I contacted the dealer to let them know that I found these practices to be unscrupulous at best, and received nothing more than a dismissive reply. Customer should be aware that this dealership is bill padding with "snake oil" style services that are not in fact recommended by the manufacturer in any way, shape or form.