Toyota Dealer put a timing belt on my Sc400
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Toyota Dealer put a timing belt on my Sc400
Yesterday I took my 98 SC400 in to the local Toyota dealership to have a timing belt installed. I purchased my timing belt online at Carson Toyota for much cheaper. The job was quoted at 5 hrs. labor for $455.00 which I did not feel was too bad after calling several Lexus dealers and Mom & Pop mechanics all of which wanted around $650-$750. The service advisor called to tell me the car was completed. He said there was some good news and bad. Good news everything went on perfectly and the car needed nothing more. The bad news is that he ACCIDENTLY quoted me the rate for a SC300. He said that because it was a V8 the labor is $200.00 higher. I laughed. I asked him if when he did the oil change last week is he knew my car was a V8 and going by the VIN # as well as the make and model listed on his invoice, where his confusion was. I even pointed out the SC400 badge on the trunk lid. I asked why the mechanic never bothered to bring this to his attention until after the work was completed. I told him there was no way I was paying anything more than I was quoted and agreed to. It worked. I also changed out the plugs with OEM, the serpentine belt, and the PCV Valve yesterday myself. Not to terribly difficult. Car runs great. The old timing belt looked BRAND NEW even with almost 97K miles on it. Makes me wonder if I really needed one in the first place. I guess it is still better to be safe than sorry with these interference motors.
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IMO I wouldn't pay. If you gave the ok to the advisor for the timing belt job at $455.00 and he tells you that you have to pay $200.00 more after the job is done without your approval, then you shouldnt have to pay the extra $. Talk to the service manager. Hope this helps.
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That pretty funny, 10 mins before getting on the forums I made a call to my local lexus dealership and asked about timing belt change on my sc300. They quoted me $650.00 for the job which I think is a little high since they also quoted $1300 for a clutch replacement? I guess DIY is the only way to go for a poor kid Wish they would of quoted 450 on it like they did you so I could of went nuts when they tried to pull that on me. Ne way kudos to u for putting it to them, I work in a car audio shop and I know that our sales people just ring up something close to what is going to be done to the car and we the installers just try to get the job done as fast as possible which in the end could mean we gave away $100 in labor.
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