Car Dealer Ripoff

I've been happy with the dealer I bought my Dodge truck from ten years ago. Always had it serviced there (Murray Motors, Port Angeles WA) and never felt I'd been screwed over in any way. So when I moved away from there, I'd forgotten to be suspicious of car dealers as a breed.

I won't get into the $2400.00 brake job a dealer performed on that same Dodge truck here in Ohio. That one isn't resolved yet, but I'll post all the gory details here soon.

No, this was a simple starter problem, and in a Toyota, of all things. Toyota is one of the most reliable cars on the road. I'd never replaced anything on a Toyota, other than oil filters, as best I remember.

My Camry needed a new starter. The original one sometimes took several turns of the ignition switch to get past Click, and finally it stuck engaged and would not retract. The only way to shut off the starter was to disconnect the battery cable.

I pulled the starter, cleaned it up, and put it back in, but it wouldn't get past Click. Time for a replacement.

I stopped in at a NAPA parts store about thirty miles from home while on another errand (dropping off a Toshiba computer at a repair station because the power button works about as well as the Toyota's starter) to see if they had a starter on the shelf. They did not, of course, as Toyota starters are not a high-movement item, and to order a rebuilt there (well under $200 with exchange) would take a few days. I thanked them and said I'd try closer to home.

I needed to have the car working in the next couple of days, so I drove to the nearest Toyota dealer for the part. Didn't call first because the place is outside the range of my phone book, and I knew they'd have a starter in stock. They did. $357 plus tax!

(I noticed signs on the doors saying no guns were allowed inside. Now I know why.)

I told the man that the NAPA store could order one for under $200, but that I didn't have time to wait. He said, yeah, but this is a new one, and guaranteed for a full year and unlimited miles (or maybe it was ten thousand miles).

I'd have laughed in his face had I not been in shock. A full year, indeed! In nearly half a century of driving, this is the first time I've ever had to replace a starter in anything. What did I care about a one-year warranty versus 90 days for the rebuilt? And miles? Starters don't care about miles; they care about starts.

I considered walking out, but I did need to have the car running now, so I bought the damn thing and put it in. Good thing it works.