When I bought my car from a local Toyota dealer, they had had it serviced at another shop. The valve cover gaskets were replaced, and the vehicle was checked for head gasket leaks.
After about 2000 miles I noticed that there was some oil leaking, but after some research thought that maybe it was the separator plate. I went to change my oil yesterday and noticed that the leak had gotten worse, and it appeared to be from the valve covers, as it was leaking from the back corners of the motor. I took it in to the place that had serviced it 12k miles ago. I had stopped in after 2k miles and let them know it was leaking. They inspected the car for free, and said that it was in fact the valve covers leaking.
Here's where it starts going down hill. They say they will cover the parts, but I have to cover the labor. Labor cost would be $205. I try to barter with them, offering to split the labor costs, which would cover pay for the mechanic, and the cost of parts basically. They still refused, and said that is all they could do for me.
If they won't do anything for me maybe the dealer where I bought the car will. So I go and talk to the manager of the dealership. I ask how often he does business with this other shop and he says a few cars a month. I figure with an average labor cost of about $400 per car(mine was over 5 with everything they had done and parts) that's between $800 and $1000 a month. I then tell him what is going on, he says he has to call them tomorrow on another job and will see what he can work out. I can't imagine this shop wants to lose that kind of repeat business.
I'm very irritated though. Then after all that they have the nerve to tell me I need to replace the whole axle because the boot is torn. I know you can replace just the boot. That's another 150 in labor plus parts!
After about 2000 miles I noticed that there was some oil leaking, but after some research thought that maybe it was the separator plate. I went to change my oil yesterday and noticed that the leak had gotten worse, and it appeared to be from the valve covers, as it was leaking from the back corners of the motor. I took it in to the place that had serviced it 12k miles ago. I had stopped in after 2k miles and let them know it was leaking. They inspected the car for free, and said that it was in fact the valve covers leaking.
Here's where it starts going down hill. They say they will cover the parts, but I have to cover the labor. Labor cost would be $205. I try to barter with them, offering to split the labor costs, which would cover pay for the mechanic, and the cost of parts basically. They still refused, and said that is all they could do for me.
If they won't do anything for me maybe the dealer where I bought the car will. So I go and talk to the manager of the dealership. I ask how often he does business with this other shop and he says a few cars a month. I figure with an average labor cost of about $400 per car(mine was over 5 with everything they had done and parts) that's between $800 and $1000 a month. I then tell him what is going on, he says he has to call them tomorrow on another job and will see what he can work out. I can't imagine this shop wants to lose that kind of repeat business.
I'm very irritated though. Then after all that they have the nerve to tell me I need to replace the whole axle because the boot is torn. I know you can replace just the boot. That's another 150 in labor plus parts!