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Inspect even the warranty-covered services by a dealership
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By Timothy Boyer Oct 5 2021 - 1:15pm

Toyota Care Dealership Service Center Mistakes

Think you are safe from avoidable problems because you have someone at a dealership service center taking care of your vehicle maintenance under a regularly scheduled ToyotaCare program? Think again. Here’s why you really have to check even the warranty-covered maintenance service work for yourself whenever a service tech or mechanic does the work on your car.
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ToyotaCare Service

Toyota Care is a no-cost maintenance plan that comes with the lease or purchase of every new Toyota car, truck or SUV for 2-years or 25,000 miles (whichever comes first). The benefit of Toyota Care service is that of the convenience of having a trained automotive tech or mechanic at a dealership take care of your vehicle’s maintenance needs during the first two years of ownership that includes “…oil changes, tire rotations, fluid level adjustments, multi-point vehicle inspections and peace-of-mind.”

But is that “peace-of-mind” really true?

Mechanic Begs to Differ on Service Quality with Some ToyotaCare Service Providers

In an informative video on Toyota maintenance, a Toyota master diagnostic technician takes you a walk around a 2020 Toyota Camry Hybrid that has just undergone its regularly schedule 20,000 maintenance and service check.

While the video started out by explaining to viewers why especial attention should be paid toward servicing the high voltage fan filter that prevents the hybrid vehicle battery from seriously overheating, the video turned into a lesson on why car owners really need to learn not to depend solely on service techs and mechanics for even routine care that is covered by your vehicle’s warranty.

In the video you will learn:

• How to check and replace the HV air filter in your hybrid.
• How to check and replace cabin air filters the proper way.
• A common and engine-damaging mistake made during oil changes.
• How that some service centers either only blow-clean filters, replace recommended charcoal-based filters with cheap paper filters, and/or don’t bother changing filters, but will bill the warranty anyways to increase the center’s profits.
• Fake battery recharging services when a software update is what is really needed.

If you are only interested in the dealership service mistakes, start the video at the 5:40 time point. However, since the HV air filter is critical to EV battery maintenance and it something you can easily check yourself, I would recommend watching the video in its entirety.

That said, here is the video that promises to hold a lot of useful information and demonstration on car care you can do yourself; or at the very least, ensure someone else is doing you a service and not a disservice.

Newer Car DIY Inspection Camry Avalon HV Fan Filter and Dealership Messed Up!

And finally…

For additional used car articles related to the topic, be sure to check out the following linked articles “Subaru Crosstrek Engine Oil Analysis After 3,000 Mile Test”; and, “The Most Important Used Car Test You Should Do Before Deciding to Buy a Used Car.”

Comments are Welcome---Have you ever caught something amiss after having your vehicle serviced? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

COMING UP NEXT: Everything You Need To Know About Buying Car and Truck Tires

Timothy Boyer is Torque News automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites for daily automotive-related news.

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Comments

Tino Daniels wrote on October 6, 2021 - 2:22pm
Have a 2021 Rav 4 hybrid that is stated to have a 14.5 gallon tank, yet when gas gauge reads empty (literally with 0 miles left based on dashboard info center) will only accept a refill of 11.5 gallons of gas. The dealership and Toyota claim that the vehicle has a 3 gallon reserve, so the empty reading isn't really bone dry. Sure. No, they don't offer to fix the gauge. They also claim that this is not related to the issue they had with gas gauge on 2019/2020 Hybrid models. Personally i think the answers are bullshit, but Toyota and the dealership are sticking to this story. I also expect many other owners have experienced the same issue and lack of accountability by Toyota.
Timothy Boyer wrote on October 6, 2021 - 4:38pm
Hi, take a look at this link ( https://www.torquenews.com/6626/gas-tank-issue-toyota-rav4-hybrid-here-your-fix-video ) to an article written by one of our staff who works at a Toyota Dealership about this issue. Apparently there is a fix for this, but you might need to go to a different dealership to find one who is sympathetic---not all dealerships are as bad as the one you reported. Hope this helps!
Rob Stewart wrote on October 7, 2021 - 7:09pm
Hi, I have two toyota's a 1.8 4 and a 3.5 v6 fairly new to me and both have the same problem trying to read the oil level on the dipstick, it always show high even after adding the correct amount. I spoke to a service rep she gave me a tip blow a small amount of air down the diptube I remove the oil fill cap while I do it. This clears the oil from the tube and you get the correct reading. Crazy but it works every time it was making me nuts since I have Never seen this on any other car.