I began my relationship with Toyota on a friendly and - Ro
I began my relationship with Toyota on a friendly and very happy note. I had great service and they provided a shuttle service to Kingsville from Windsor for my 2020 RAV4. At first, we had a deal where I would sign off and receive a car to drive while they took and serviced my car. After 2 services, I was told that I was not allowed to do that. When I questioned it, they told me that we have never had that system in place and only Lexus drivers received a service vehicle. Strike 1. For my next service, they told me that there were new fees on a valet service to Kingsville. Now, I was to pay $50.00 for the trip. They implemented this, but did not tell customers until they booked a service. They changed the rules of engagement. Fine, on the day of the service which is a routine service, I had my partner drop the car off for me. I had already discussed with service all of the things that were meant to happen on the car. All was well. They made my partner wait upwards of 45minutes to discuss the service with her. She was merely dropping off MY car, we had already discussed the plans for the service. Next I was getting updates via text, I was teaching so I was not able to readily respond. My partner was then being asked what to do (they wanted to rotate tires and change a filter). Both of these things sounded fine to me, they didn't attach prices to me in the text, but I figured an extra hundred on the price tag wouldn't be that bad. Parts like filters and oil etc. got the price up to about 240.00. I'm still okay with that. Labour though is what put me over the edge. 777.00 for labour. 3 times the amount of the parts. When I look at the invoice, I see normal things like changed filter, blew out lines etc. This wasn't a service on a highly worked over car, It's 5 years old with 43,000km on the clock. With taxes, the bill was over 1000.00. When I asked the service person why the bill was so high, she blamed tariffs and the high cost of parts. I argued that the parts were not the issue, it was the labour cost. I was not happy with the answer, nor was anything more said when I couldn't believe that tariffs could be the ultimate culprit. I then went to another dealership and checked out some new vehicles. I sold my lease to another dealership and walked out with a better warranty, a better car, and a better state of mind.
Eastway Toyota service on a Thursday. New car by Saturday. I will not be returning.
Read More