About a month ago I got a coupon in the mail from the car dealership where we purchased our used 2004 Toyota Sienna. The coupon flier had several coupons, one which included a “special discount price” for a timing belt change. For those of you who have never paid to have a timing belt changed, it’s somewhere between $400 and $500 from the dealer.
Now, for most things I don’t take my automobiles to the dealership for auto maintenance, but for the timing belt many people have recommended I take it to the dealer. I guess a lot of work is involved for this process so I guess it’s the best option. Anyway back to my coupon for the “special discount price” on a timing belt change.
The coupon said the price for a 6 cylinder car was $479. Since I never even called anywhere else for a quote I assumed the coupon was a good deal. Only one problem I found, the coupon expires on the 30th of April and the first chance I could get the car into the shop was the 1st of May.
I thought it would be worth a call to see if the dealership would honor the coupon even though I would be a day late. For some reason I took the approach that I didn’t have a coupon and asked how much they charged to change a timing belt for a 6 cylinder Toyota Camry.
The lady checked the computer for a price and came back with a quote of $429. Do you see something wrong here? Had I taken my car in last week with my coupon I would have paid an extra $50 just because I had the coupon.
The appointment isn’t until tomorrow so I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I hope they will honor the quote. I’m not sure if the lady I talked to made a mistake or what but I’m going to be upset if it costs more than $429!