[Tolomea]

I agree, I even told the Service Mgr. that he could call Sparks Toyota and they would be happy to walk them through the process. That dealership is only 1 hr and 1/2 away! I think that fired him up a little. But, I give him credit, he did admit that alarm activation was new to him and he thanked me.

 

[danoh]

I agree. They do know a lot about Toyotas, the help out when possible, and do it with a smile. That's the point, calling them morons for not knowing a simple process is not a great way to keep it like that.

Nobody called anyone a moron :lol:

Maybe it's just me, I dunno. Maybe I'm just way off my rocker to think that a manager, be it a mostly political position or not, needs to, and should, know about the things he's managing. That'd be like hiring me to manage a power plant. Probably NOT a good idea, even though I can be political.

But, extrapolating from your percentages above, it's mind numbing to me that most of the "managers" don't have any tech background or experience. It's awesome that this particular manager helped out and learned something, but most I've dealt with or read about just don't care. Most will just flat tell you it can't be done, yadda yadda this and that and try to make you look like you're an idiot that doesn't know what they're talking about. When confronted with evidence, they just try to play it off. Like I said, it's a sad state of affairs.

 

[ColoradoTJ]

Your right, incompetant would be a better word.

 

[danoh]

In most industries, the incompetents are pushed to the top :yesnod:

Hell...look at our president :dunno:

:yesnod:

 

[ColoradoTJ]

Point taken...lol

 

[volleyball]

Dealers are in it to make money. They know how to sell and how to fix.
You cannot expect them to know every little detail. There are very few in any job that knows all of their business.
Not even the trash man knows every garbage and recycling detail for the dozen closest towns and cities.
I taught my dealer the alarm detail years ago and now they all know how it's done. I'm guessing Toyota never marketed that detail to the dealers

 

[Mickey]

I'm not a mechanic, but in the dealerships defense they have many cars, brands and personalities to deal with on a daily basis.
Something like this, I do think it should be activated from the factory. Why wouldn't someone do that?
A long time ago I worked in a Toyota dealership maintenance division and we hardly ever had Toyotas come in. Mostly, American vehicles crowded the racks. The Toyota techs at the dealership we very good all around mechanics due to that situation.

A great ssalesman should know his product he/she is selling. Being either sales manager or service manager should know their product also. By not knowing your product makes that person look like a fool in front of the customer. How would you trust this person with your vehicle if this person has no idea about said vehicle. When I was a mechanic back in the mid 70's I went through General Motors school to learn strictly GM vehicles. So you learned all engines/trannies and interiors (Body By Fisher). To be a manger you need to be on top of your game and know what you're talking about on the vehicles you're selling/servicing.

 

[Mickey]

You obviously don't know management structure, so here is a short lesson.

Mechanic-100% technical 0% political
Lead tech-70% technical 30% political
Service advisor 35-50% technical 50-65% political
Manager- 10% tech 90% political.

Well, it says you dump trash for a living....

I expect that at any GM dealership. Not a Toyota dealership. A service manager better know about the vehicles he mainly services at that dealership If this manger can't explain about an issue you having with your vehicle how can you trust him or his/her techs to fix the issue? If this person has no knowledge then I wouldn't let them touch my vehicle. I will find a dealership that does have a knowledgeable service manager. Even the service adviser should have this same knowledge.

 

[Mickey]

I agree. They do know a lot about Toyotas, the help out when possible, and do it with a smile. That's the point, calling them morons for not knowing a simple process is not a great way to keep it like that.

I will agree with that. Calling them any name won't get the job done. But on the other hand having a factory rep accuse you of pulling down a headliner 3x is an insult to me period.

 

[Mickey]

You're 100% correct!



They might learn something

I'm sure the techs are being taught through school and OJT (ON the Job Training).

 

[Mickey]

My grandson is a tech working/learning while going through school. He works at a Toyota dealership in Brunswick, GA.

 

[ColoradoTJ]

Can't argue that, but rarely it happens. I usually research my vehicle until I'm exhausted. Most car salesman are not in one particular brand for over 5 years, and most are not great, they are ok at best.

Listen guys, if you think your Toyota dealers are bad, go try one of the "US" made vehicles service centers. That will make you want to go postal.
I have to say, with my Corvette I have been impressed with the service department. However, I do get treated differently too which is a bonus in my favor, nonetheless is sad for the guy with a Malibu.

For the most part, Toyota has always done me right. I have only had one incident. I have owned a Toyota since 1998.

 

[Mickey]

^^^I know and agree with that. I get special treatment at my original dealership and where my grandson works. The reason at my original is because we bought a 07 Prius pkg 6 which is a limited along with this 07 CM Limited.

 

[Mickey]

Where I had issues was with my 07 Thuinderbird brand new only 500 miles and while traveling from New Orleans to Norfolk, VA I put it in cruise control and when I would climb a hill the cruise would slow down and turn itself off at 40mph. As I explained to the Ford dealership service adviser what happened she tells me it's suppose to slow down going up a hill. I said are you kidding? SHe got a tech to come out and state the same thing that the cruise control will slow down going up a hill. I said it also slows to 40mph and turns off climbing that hill. Then the deer in the headlight look. Then it was time to get my car and find a service adviser that knows what they were talking about. It took 2 months but I finally found a dealership in Florida who understood and fixed the issue. Somehow water was inside the sealed control unit.

 

[ColoradoTJ]

Yep, kinda what I was talking about. My FIL has a brand new EcoBoost. Nice lariat package and on one of his trips to Florida he started having issues with the truck just shutting off. He could not get it fixed until making it back to CO. What a joke. Can't say I was impressed with his mileage either 17-19 was tops.

I will say this, Toyota techs are one of the better trained ones too. Dodge/jeep, might as well go buy a scanner and read some books.

 

[BLOWN]

i finally got my new 13' sr5 crewmax-magnetic grey yesterday. Prior to leaving the dealership i asked my salesman and the service mgr. If they could activate my factory-installed alarm. My salesman had no clue, and the service mgr was skeptical. I handed them the instructions and after the first try they tried to charge me for the glass break sensor package. I said no, please run through the techstream program instructions and "activate on" the alarm. 10 minutes later the service mgr. Hands me my keys and says "you have taught an old dog a new trick, son" talk about redemption! I live in charleston, sc and my dealership had no clue about the un-activated alarm. So print out your instructions and be ready for a fight!
I'll post pix when i can- thanks again for all the knowledge that this forum generates, it makes going to a dealership easier!

what dealer in charleston did you go to?

 

[Tolomea]

BLOWN-I went to Fred Anderson on Savannah Hwy.

 

[SteveSR5]

Wow, I had no idea that the alarm was already in the truck. When I bought mine last month, the dealer offered a $600 remote start package and an extra $100 for the alarm. Glad I didn't take it. Will print the instructions and see if they will enable it.

 

[Tolomea]

SteveSR5---I had no idea myself until I started reading these forums.....Good luck---don't let them charge you, it's a feature that your truck is already equipped with...

 

[Guest]

Hopefully someone chimes in but I read quite a few posts on activating the alarm so today, when I was getting a software update at the dealership, I asked the service guy to activate the alarm. I have a 2012 TRD 5.7 by the way.

The service tech, finance manager and service under writer all looked at my truck and said that I don't have the alarm installed. I was under the impression from reading all of these posts that all 5.7's came with the factory alarm installed. The service tech showed a plug under the hood on the passenger side near the back firewall and said that if I had an alarm, it would be plugged in there.

How can I OFFICIALLY tell if I have the factory alarm installed on my truck? Any help would be appreciated! By the way, I turned down the $550 offer to install the alarm today! I need to be sure before I look at buying what I always thought was on my truck!