I'm not a fan of dealers, but I have to say that the service dept. at our local Toyota dealership (Greentree Toyota/Scion in Danbury, CT) is phenomenal. They actually split the sales and parts/service ends of the dealership (and they're actually 5 miles apart).
Here's the link to their website: http://greentreemotors.com/markup.aspx?markupid=48752
Things I like about the parts/service area:
- The prices on parts are competitive, whether you're picking them out yourself or their part of the service. I don't feel like I'm being ripped off on the parts end.
- 10% discounts for services on Monday (Ladies Day) or Friday (Men's Day)
- For basically anything more than a brake change, they will drive to your house in a loaner, pick up your car, leave you the loaner, and return your car when you're done. It looks like there's a $25 charge now, it used to be free. Even so, I'll pay the $25 for never having to leave the house!
- I've never had a problem getting a loaner
- No appts. necessary, just drop-in
- Service writers (there are about 8 of them) are polite and knowledgeable, and treat the customers with respect. This isn't the case where they have a couple of good ones, I've worked with all of them, and they're all good!
- I can take their 30K/60K/90K service sheet, cross out items I don't want done, add items I do want done, and there are no issues
In addition to these items, we had an issue with the intermediate steering shaft on our RAV4. It would intermittently clunk. Toyota had everyone replacing struts, strut mounts, etc. but nothing fixed it. I kept going and documenting it while it was within warranty, but it was inconsistent and I couldn't reproduce it when driving with the techs, and finally the service manager. Finally, the service manager said that we've done a good job documenting the issue, just wait until it gets really bad (even out of warranty), and then bring it in. The warranty expired at 36K, I brought it in at 42K when the issue became really bad. By that time there was a TSB out for the issue, and true to their word, they applied the TSB with no cost to me.
To sum them up on the parts/service side I think they're very fair in their pricing, they don't add on unnecessary work, and they treat their customers with respect. They treat us the same whether my wife drops off the car or if I do. These types of things make an impact, and when we have to replace our Odyssey, I'd strongly consider a Sienna not because I like them better (I don't), but because the dealership experience is so radically different (I have to travel 50 miles to get a decent Honda dealership). I do a lot of my own maintenance, but it's nice to know when I don't have the time/expertise to do it myself, I can hand them the keys and trust that it will be done right, with quick turnaround, and at a reasonable price.
On the sales side, I think most dealerships would do well to treat someone who knows what they're talking about with respect. If you want to try your games with someone who doesn't know what they're doing, that's fine. But once someone knows what they're talking about, comes armed with information, don't insult me by telling my that my invoice off of Edmunds is $2,000 off. Like many here, I have no problem with a dealership making a reasonable profit off a new car sale. We bought our RAV4 for $500 over invoice when they first came out, and we got to order it exactly how we wanted it. To me, that's a reasonable deal. You may not make a ton of money off of me, but don't think I won't tell my car buddies (and family members, my wife and I do everyone's car shopping for them) about how great your dealership was to work with.
The dealership documentation fee/advertising fee really gets me, too. When I negotiate a price, I specify that I want it all in, minus tax, tags, and registration. Don't give me a price and then add on $350 with the dealer fees. Same goes for add-ons like bedliners, I'm happy to do that stuff after the sale, but don't appreciate these items being mandatory.