Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior Is the dealership ripping me off?

I just got my Injen CAI RD. So i talked to the guy who sold me the car and told him if they can install it. He talked to the mechanic and told me it would be $140. Because not only will he install it, but he would program the ingen chip to it so more air can go in. Do you guys think thats way too much for it? Thanx

I'm sorry. I just can't stop laughing. You're joking, right? Ask him to show you the "Injen Chip", then you would show him the $$$. Installing the CAI should take no more than 1/2 hour if he knows what he is doing. On average, mechanics charge 60/hour, which means $30 at the most.

LOL i dont mean the Injen CAI chip. I mean the actual ingen chip . He said that the guy would put it into the computer and program it .

Oh, my bad. But, what heck is the ingen chip? Any website with some info?

No , he just said that he's gonna have to reconfigure the computer so it will let more air in. And that the "check ingen" light will be on cause it knows its letting more air in that its supposed to but he said its ok.

I think he is meaning to say "ENGINE" AND NOT "INJEN"

[ 09-11-2002, 04:03 PM: Message edited by: Steven ]

WHAT???? Do you mean "Engine"? As in the the thing that makes your car move????

Unless it is an actual chip that he is using to tap onto your ECU, he is full of it. For $140, I highly doubt that he would install a chip.

To clear the "Check Engine Light" (CEL), all you need to do it disconnect the negative terminal of your battery. It is highly recommend that you disconnect it before installing the CAI.

"ingen chip" Now, I can't stop laughing again. Here I am thinking there is a new chip out that I don't know about.

FYI, there are devices out there that will tap our ECU. S-AFC and Venom 400 both retails about $300. There are also some ECU piggybacks out there too.

Trust me, you don't need any "chip" for your CAI. I have the Injen CAI for almost two years. No problem at all. And most of the people I know have Injen CAI, and none of them have "ingen chip". Hahahahahahhaha...I'm sorry, I had to do it.

Take it to another shop. It should only cost around $30 to $40 bucks. Good luck.

OK sorry i mean "engine" . He said that to make it work better he would have to configure the engine. Hook it up to the computer and i guess mess with it. He also said that its better that way, cause if i do a simple instalation i might get 6-8 more horsepower. But if the configure the "engine" with it, that it would jump to 17-24 horses. I dunno what to do

bud, it sounds like he is blowing some smoke up your ass.

so, for $140...
1) he will install the INJEN CAI

2) reset your ECU (by removing the battery connection durring the entire install... as the CAI install instructions recommend)

3) program your ECU with settings that you car will most likely learn (or even overwrite) it's own settings during the first week of driving around with your new CAI

4) dyno your celica so as to prove to you about the new 17-24hp increase

5) give you a certificate that says your engine modifaction was done by an official toyota dealership and do NOT void any engine warentee what so ever

I say go for it!

BTW, TRD's excuse for why they havent made an intake for the celica is, "we havent found any noticable performance improvments by adding a CAI"... but then again - your guy works at the dealership as a mechanic (fixing/repairing cars with genuine toyota parts) and not at TRD as a performance engineer (testing several situations/numbers and modifing engines to improve performance gains).

...

it just sounds a little fishy... thats all Im saying

We set it for friday so i have till then to think about it. I just dont see why its so much. But if programing it is worth iti might do it , i dunno.

ever wonder why your car feels so much better after a major service at the toyota dealership?
... they unplug your battery and let your ECU reset itself back to stock... and then after a few days of driving around, your ECU learns your driving behavours and automatically tunes itself to match them.

ever hear people talking about how after the first week of driving with a newly installed TRD Exhaust... that it seems to perform much better then it did in the first week... thats because your ECU had to learn the new setup.

ever wonder why you see so many people talk about getting a Check-Engine light after installing a new CAI? ... thats because they didnt follow the instructions and disconnect thier battery terminal before/durring the install (this resets your ECU)... without disconnecting your ECU, your car finds that there is a MAJOR change to the system and then flashes a warning light notifing you of that change (the "Check Engine" Light comes on to tell you that something major has changed in your engine system... its NOT nessasarily telling you that there is a problem)

if you do get this precedure done at the toyota dealership - ask them to run an ECU checkup and print out both BEFORE and AFTER the install.

so that you can see the changes for yourself...

it might also be a good idea to reset your ECU before heading off to the dealership that morning.

...

BTW, what are you paying him for? $140 for 2 hours of $60/hr work? how many Intakes has he installed into toyota cars before?

...

yeah - im the sceptic

The dealer said 140 straigh up. He didnt mention how long the procedure would take.And this was around 1-2 and he said it would of been ready by 4. Also said that , that guy has done many CAI .Im gonna go to the other toyota dealership here and check them out and see what they say. Ill let you guys know what happens. Laters

This is a Toyota dealer? I have never heard of a dealer willing to install aftermarket parts. Especially the Injen CAI, which doesn't have a CARB number. In other words, it is illegal.

Thats what i was thinking. But when i called him up he said he had a guy that can do it. So when i whent i got a hold of my dealer and he took the car and the part himself and talked to the guy. So its a thing between them 2. Thats where i think their trying to screw me over.

i would say install it yourself you'll save more money that way and you will know exactly what part is what on ur intake...thats what i did on my gt and i think its much better then paying all that money for someone to install it