5th & 6th Generation (2002-2006 & 2007-2011)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 2002-2006 & 2007-2011
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
got my second oil change/tire rotation..today and told the lady that they didnt rotate my tires last time,and i didnt notice until i got home. i said no one asked me for the wheel key 4 my car,and the trunk wasnt touched. her answer was that "They have a key"..i said well i have the same scratch on my front tire that was there already. so therefore they Didnt rotate the tires.. she said nothing, and started talking about something else. my question is ,,isnt every lock different/ if they werent then i could just go around taking wheels and use my lug key..its impossible 4 toyota 2 have a master key...
They're probably lying to cover their asses. They probably do have a key though.
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08 tC mt
Smooth driving is comfortable and easy. It is also FAST(though not comfortable at speed). I don't care if you apex corners(everyone does) on a public road unless you suck at it(everyone). Hold a proper line or get out of my way.
There's a conical shaped "key" that you can force over the lug. It will grip long enough to loosen it. Yes -- if everyone had one, wheels around the world wouldn't be safe.....
No every lock is NOT different because what if you lost your key.
and they don't have that kind of time/money to invest in x amount of keys per x amount of camrys.
and yes you can just going around and take wheels (from toyota cars) with that key.
and yes: the stealership lied to you. They do that a lot. they assume you don't know jacksh*t about your car and believe everything they tell you.
I corrected the technician about 3 times and they were like "do you work for toyota?" and I said no i just have access to TSBs and I know my warranty.
Not much you can do except ask them to rotate again if not just go to a mechanic shop in which they will probably not be inclined to screw you over because they genuinely want your business. or do it yourself lol
During my last service, my dealership didn't rotate the tires since front tires had better tread depth than rear tires (my tires are directional). They told me so and subtracted ~$10 from the total.
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- TRD wheels, TRD suspensions
- OEM replica navigation with iGo/Tomtom/...
- Folding LED signal side mirrors with JDM control switch
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OP should have a word with the service manager. If the statement says tires were rotated then the tech has some answering to do.
But I wouldn't be surprised if oil filter inserts were not replaced after an oill change, "brake fluid flush" was done by opening only the rear-right bleeder screw, and a coolant flush that really never happened. These are more common than people think.
A few mechanics can give the whole trade a bad rap.
But I wouldn't be surprised if oil filter inserts were not replaced after an oill change,
or half of oil was not drained.
I've seen that...
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no matter where you go, be sure to know wtf you're talking about beforehand.
my guess is, they didn't rotate the tires simply to save time and money. how many soccer moms can tell a difference if they rotated or not? why not try and get away with it?
I don't trust any shop with my car, it never gets done right or taken care of--- I took my car to Toyota and specifically told the service manager AND the guy who drove my car to be careful going over their speed hump.. Sure enough I walk around and there are two GASHES in the pavement from my frame taking a bite. This was at the dealer I've been going to since we bought the car in 2003, and they've all seen the several sets of wheels/etc that I've had on it.. Plain and simple, they don't care.
Not all techs are created equal. I was one of the techs who made sure to do the job right every single time. To me the day I didn't was the day the customer noticed/complained and I got fired (I have a family and cannot afford to be out of work). The auto repair industry is hard on techs (has guys doing extremely complex work that pays little money and requires almost no training). If you guys ever saw how hard it is to do the VVT-i gear on a 2GRFE you would see what I am talking about. They have guys making 10-12 bucks an hour doing this kind of in depth work.
As far as the master key. Every Toyota dealer has at least 3 sets of master keys for wheel locks. There are only about 12-15 Total wheel locks anyway for each type of lug on Toyota/Lexus vehicles (one regular style, one new Tundra/Land Cruiser/Sequoia, one for older style like MK4 Supra, one for TRD wheels for new cars like Scions). The dealership probably did rotate your tires. When I worked at a dealer we were grouped into technician "Teams" meaning a group of techs were assigned one or two service writers and we would share all the hours they service writers sold (i.e. an engine job done by one guy was split between all 6 but he also got the same split on all the oil changes done by the lower level guys). So when we rotate tires we would do so with 2 techs and sometimes would not have to even touch to spokes (Would grab the wheel by the tire and mount it that way) except to put on the lug nuts. The only real way to know if the work was done is to mark the old part. Either mark the tires on the inside with chalk, mark your oil filter, air filter etc. While it is possible they didn't rotate them it was probably an accident. Most likely though it was done.
But as a former tech I also know that unless you know the guy working on your car then you are risking improper or lack of work performed. That is why I do ALL of my repairs on my own car. And if I am not able to I have 2 tech friends who I trust to work on my car.
Last edited by hardtopte72; 01-04-2012 at 06:17 PM.
Yes, dealers do have master key sets. The keys we use are hardened and are meant to be used with impact guns. Consumer keys are soft and will not withstand impact gun use. Well, maybe once or twice but after that they strip out. It also saves the tech a lot of time scouring through the customer's car looking for the damn key. I love it when a customer comes in after a service and tell us we misplaced his key. EHHHN Wrong answer! As far as techs go, I've seen good and bad but for the most part they are good. Not doing work that is stipulated on the work order is grounds for termination in our dealership. One warning is all you get. After that it's sayonara.
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Have a word with the service manager. I work st a toyota dealership and it drives me crazy when i am working my butt off and the guys next to me could careless about their cars. Techs arent perfect, sometimes we mistakenly forget to do something but as far as a simple rotation goes thats pretty rediculous to forget. And yes, we have master key sets.
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is dealership lying to me?
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