The Eight-Hour Oil Change

Over the weekend.

My girlfriend has a Toyota and she drives roughly 100 miles a day. So just if you're doing quick math, we need to service that thing every two months. So we're a pretty high regular servicing customer. So on Friday night, I checked to see if there were any online appointments available at the Toyota center where we bought the vehicle from.

She clearly defaults to you for any.

Sort of service, very much as she probably should. So it just makes sense, right? I'm like, okay, so we need an oil change in a tire rotation. Pretty simple service. So I'm going to ask you a couple of questions as we go through this. I have a feeling it'll probably knock the answers out of the ballpark, but we're like, okay, so you know, it's a Saturday. I'm going to guess it's probably we kind of allotted three hours is what we thought it would take to go somewhere without an appointment, get an oil.

Get an oil change and a rotation.

And then be on our way. So we kind of planned it out and then we're going to go to somewhere that was a little further out than where the dealership was that we were getting the service done. So we kind of planned. Planned a day around it. And so we get there at 8:45. So we left our, our place at about 8:15 and 8:45 pull up and then there's what I would call a greeter cabana that's outside. And there's a nice young man that says, he says, good morning. And that was a highlight of the visit. But he says, good morning. I said, hello, good morning.

The highlight is it all goes downhill from there.

Yeah, it was the best part of it was that the young man was pleasant and said, good morning. And I said, yeah, he's like, you know, how can we help you today? I said, I need to get a tire rotation and an oil change. And he says the question that I never want asked to a customer, which we've talked about this before, but what do you think that that nice young gentleman asked me, do you have an appointment? Do you have an appointment? And I said, no, I don't have an appointment. So he puts a wait.

So did you try to make an appointment?

Well, there was none available. So I tried on Friday night, but there was no appointments available for the Saturday night.

When was the next appointment?

Oh, good question. So it was roughly around like three weeks out. So it's three weeks for an oil change.

And so this is the dealership she bought the car at. Yep, this Is the guy who started this dealership is since deceased.

Yep.

But it was a long go. A long time ago.

It really was.

It was the number one Toyota dealership for a long time.

I don't think it is anymore.

Right.

Are they. They sell a lot of banners that say that they're number one.

Oh, they're number one. I thought somebody else was in Florida.

I heard that too. In Hollywood, Florida specifically, I think. But they, they do a lot of business no matter what. Like, so whether the number one.

I just want to make the point that a lot of people listening to this are like, oh, not us. We're not us. We're talking about the. The like, this is the example for customer service. Yeah, this is Penske example for customer service. The creme de la creme. The what people aspire to be in our industry. Booked out three weeks for an oil change.

That's right. Okay, so. So then we pull.

You decide, I'm just going to drive.

In and let's get the oil change.

And was going to Jiffy Lube. Ever an answer?

Never.

Why?

Because I like to service the dealer personally. I like the maintenance records. They let you know if there's any recalls. There's a lot of advantages in my opinion to servicing at the deal dealer.

But, but that, that might change one day. So he directs us into this line, lane number one, which had seven people in front of us. Okay. So I'm like, oh, okay.

Do those people have an appointment or.

No, no, we're in the no appointment line.

There's a no appointment line.

There's a no appointment line.

So like detention in school.

It totally felt like detention at school. So that was 8:45 that we got into that line and we sat there, we sat there for a really, really long time at around 10:10.

What are you listening to on the radio during this?

Oh, what was I listening to?

You listening to a book?

No, because I had my son and Claudia in the car. So we just. Regular conversation. Maybe a little bit of music in the background. But the music probably got old really, really fast. Okay, so.

So what time do they come out?

10 10. They didn't come out sitting there?

Oh, they didn't come.

Hour and 25 minutes.

An hour and 25 minutes in. In the detention line.

And we were just, just getting frustrated. Right. So. So my girlfriend gets out of the car because that's just, that's where she's at. Right.

By the way, she's three feet tall.

Three. Eight. Yeah, she's, she's, she's not of high.

Stature, but she definitely has a big presence for a little.

Would agree with that. So she goes out and then she starts asking for the manager. So this is, this was my favorite.

No time. Are you like, I should just leave? So you, you want to experience this?

Well, I did. After an hour, I'm like, okay, I want to see how this plays out. Because the thing I keep playing in the back, mine, I'm like, well, this is probably. I'm not, I'm not abnormal. Like that was a normal experience for some.

You're not afraid you're gonna recognize anybody? No.

I don't mind either way, really. But I get there and she goes and she finds the manager, the drive manager. And so she's like, she's not.

She doesn't know enough about our industry to know that that drive manager is basically an advisor.

Yeah, yeah. So she goes to him and she's like, don't you think it's. Don't you think it's terrible that it's been an hour that we've been here and no one's even talked to us yet? And the drive manager immediately does. His name's. Immediately goes. And his name.

But immediately. This is why I'm just amazed. Okay. But.

The drive manager goes to her. Well, you wouldn't be in this situation if you made an appointment.

Oh, it's great. Like, great, great.

Love it. Make it about the customer's fault for sure.

Well, it is your fault.

Yeah, totally. So notwithstanding the fact that if I did make an appointment, I would have to wait almost a month to get in for my oil change. Right. So we go back somebody who drives.

100 miles a week.

Yeah, yeah. So we service every six, eight weeks.

It's way overdue at that point.

Yeah. So even doing it next week instead.

Of this last week, she'd have to really plan ahead.

Yes. So the. So we get back in and then this guy comes up and he's like, well, I'm going to take your information down. It was a porter. And that was another thing that was really interesting. More porters than advisors. So I don't know that I'd ever seen that before. There were roughly five people in this non appointment detention line. And of the five advisors, how many do you think were really riding cars?

The thing I love about that store is the arrogance of it all.

Yeah.

It's so arrogant. And they, they really.

They'Re really stuck in a time bubble.

Yeah. But of the five advisors, two were actually helping people out. So this porter says here I'M gonna take down your information and then I'm gonna have you guys go inside. They'll call you when it's time to write you up. So it was like a pre write to the write up. And I don't know about you. Anytime I'm separated from the car and it's not written up, like I feel like I'm falling into the abyss. Like that's just a terrible place to be. Yeah. So this is about, this is 10:15 by the time we get out and we go into the waiting room and after a little while we actually get. I get a phone call on my cell phone. I can see the guy dialing and he was super helpful, super sweet. He's like, hey, I'm so.

Say his name.

Okay. He's like, I'm so sorry about the wait. I know it's a little bit crazy here and you know, we just, we've really gotten, we've really blown up on Saturdays and, and this, that and the other thing is like, I see you're due for, you know, 30,000 mile checkup. And I'm like, yeah. And you're like.

And I know, I looked at the website, you're booked out three weeks. I just thought I'd come in and be a pain in the ass.

Yeah, so. So I didn't say that exactly. But the thing that was just amazing.

To me just wanted to see what number one in the country's like, right?

And then so we go through it and I'm like, okay, so let's get it done. He's like, he tells me the price, all that other stuff and he's like, and by the way, I just want to let you know that your vehicle will not be completed until 5 o' clock today. I think he actually technically said between 4 and 5. This was at 10:25 in the morning. So got there at 8:45.

What's interesting about this story is you drove that's a ways 20 minutes. Yeah, but you're not, it's not like a shuttle drive. Like they're not gonna have a shuttle to bring you back downtown.

No. So.

But literally there's a Toyota store downtown.

Yeah, there is. That's true.

An odd loyalty to that place.

Well, it was also, I mean part of it was, you know, you asked.

Me for $25,000, would you go spend.

The day Long ago Toyota, you pay not to go. That's so funny.

Where I'd want to spend my Saturday.

But literally if there's any Toyota dealers in the, in the greater Los Angeles area that can do an oil change and tire rotation in less than eight hours or nine hours, I'd be interested in.

Here's plenty, I'm sure.

But that's crazy. I've never heard that before. That was like. That was the most extreme condition. All I could. All I could think of as I was leaving is like, they sell a bunch of cars, right? They sell 2,3000 cars a month. And how many people a day do they make so mad that they don't ever come back? Like, I'm out. I won't go back. But I can't be the only one that feels that way.

Well, they clearly don't care.

They don't have to, I guess. I don't know what the deal is, but it was so disappointing. The whole thing was just terrible to me. Never seen anything like it.

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