My car’s 30,000 mile warranty is going to expire soon. Should I take it to a dealership to have it checked out before the warranty expires? It’s a 2007 Toyota Rav4; there was 1 major problem that was fixed under warranty right after I bought it (exhaust manifold needed to be replaced), but it has run fine since then. Thank you!
Yes, good plan!
I seriously doubt the dealer is going to FIND something. Unless you’re having a problem I think it’s a waste of money. It’s NOT in their best interest to FIND a problem.
That Depends…
on the particular dealer and also how busy they are there. An “outstanding” dealer would take care of everything.
When I worked at a dealer the technicians didn’t like to do warranty work because it didn’t pay as well. However, on a slow day when techs were sitting on their tool boxes, they would have welcomed it.
Also, in the rare event they found a “safety issue,” they would act on it, I would think.
An “outstanding” dealer would take care of everything.
I agree…But in my 35+ years of owning cars…I’ve yet to find this outstanding dealer. This list includes Toyota, Ford, Chevy, GM, Nissan and Honda dealers of all different shapes and sizes.
You could be right, in your area. I have one near where I live. We are very rural. I hope you haven’t offended anybody from an “outstanding” dealer.
I don’t deal with dealers…I buy my car from them…and then only go back for warranty. The last Nissan dealer I dealt with was EXCELLENT…But I don’t think even that dealer would inspect do what the OP is suggesting. But then again I’m a skeptic. Didn’t use to be…but being skeptic helps you from getting ripped off.
I have to agree with common sense answer. With dealerships, as with many other things in life, one size does not necessarily “fit all”.
The dealership that I use for service has alerted me to a couple of warranty-related issues over the years with the two cars that I bought from them, and in one case, this notification was just prior to the expiration of the powertrain warranty. In that case, they noted some seepage from the oil pump, advised me that this would be covered under the powertrain warranty, and advised me that since they had to remove the timing belt in order to access the oil pump, I could have them replace the timing belt for just the cost of the belt itself. By having the manufacturer pay for the labor on the timing belt replacement (which was due in a few thousand miles), the dealership saved me several hundred $$ of labor costs. I also had them replace the water pump at the same time, for just the cost of the water pump + a very minimal labor cost as a result of the situation.
I know that there are a lot of crooks out there who are running car dealerships, but if you go to a family-run dealership, in a rural area, not located on a main highway, you might find a dealership that treats the customer as well as mine treats me.
“…I’ve yet to find this outstanding dealer.”
Simmonds Honda, Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada!
I just realized that I shouldn’t be advertising here but I have had such outstanding, honest service over the years that I forgot. Sorry about that.
How would the service order read? What would the customer complaint be to get the system going?
GM never allowed us to upsale warranty,What would a auditor think if he read the order with no customer complaint?
Now upselling extended warranty that was encouraged
Get your car checked-out by a independant,I think a report by a independant mechanic could get the problem system looked at,the Dealer may or may not agree that it is a warranty issue.
It was common for people whose car’s warranty was about to expire to come up with some concern with the CD player (skips sometimes) or speakers (poor audio quality)