Calling A Good Ayo Mechanic.....

January 26, 2010

problems all round

26k miles, 2005 car.....

we now need a third boot seal as we had an ice rink in the wheel well

the gearbox (MMT) is clunking like mad - we had the software update allegedly some time in the car's past.....still making a terrible racket. it changed from 2nd to 1st so violently on the weekend that the wheels span at 15mph. as you can see from my previous posts the crappy clinky gearbox has played up before - we had the actuator(s?) replaced at about 7k miles.

the rear offside seat has come away from the frame - apparently a 400 repair job (never used the seat, not covered under warranty)...400 pounds! allegedly it is a little torn - i can live with this for now given i had a recaro seat retrimmed in leather for less

suggested 3rd....yes 3rd....water pump

the engine has an oil leak from some 'engine blanking plate' - never heard of this

(already had the head gasket replaced)

the leather wheel (thanks KINGO!) has still not been put on straight - allegedly the geometry.....still crooked

now.....we want to keep the car but are having a nightmare finding a garage....any garage....that can actually fix an aygo. if you know somewhere in London or near Swindon and/or can recommend someone who knows their stuff and can fix this stuff then please let me know......

the car has only been used to drive a daily commute (10 miles one way) or the odd trip down the M4. its mint on the ouside....but seems the mechanicals are slowly dying.

happy to travel to get this done or at least properly diagnosed....so tired of the same bllsht story and having to throw money at it when i know that the mechanics don't know what to do with it.

Anyone?

Please help....

February 1, 2010

problems all round
26k miles, 2005 car.....
we now need a third boot seal as we had an ice rink in the wheel well
the gearbox (MMT) is clunking like mad - we had the software update allegedly some time in the car's past.....still making a terrible racket. it changed from 2nd to 1st so violently on the weekend that the wheels span at 15mph. as you can see from my previous posts the crappy clinky gearbox has played up before - we had the actuator(s?) replaced at about 7k miles.
the rear offside seat has come away from the frame - apparently a 400 repair job (never used the seat, not covered under warranty)...400 pounds! allegedly it is a little torn - i can live with this for now given i had a recaro seat retrimmed in leather for less
suggested 3rd....yes 3rd....water pump
the engine has an oil leak from some 'engine blanking plate' - never heard of this
(already had the head gasket replaced)
the leather wheel (thanks KINGO!) has still not been put on straight - allegedly the geometry.....still crooked
now.....we want to keep the car but are having a nightmare finding a garage....any garage....that can actually fix an aygo. if you know somewhere in London or near Swindon and/or can recommend someone who knows their stuff and can fix this stuff then please let me know......
the car has only been used to drive a daily commute (10 miles one way) or the odd trip down the M4. its mint on the ouside....but seems the mechanicals are slowly dying.
happy to travel to get this done or at least properly diagnosed....so tired of the same bllsht story and having to throw money at it when i know that the mechanics don't know what to do with it.
Anyone?
Please help....

hi some advice you mite find useful.

1. The rear higher level brake lights usually crack by the jet washer and allow water ingress, also try the vent ducts behind the bumper they also let water into spare well. never had a boot seal leak.

2. go to your local toyota dealer and ask for the mmt system to be reinitialized takes them all of 15 mins, they usually need recalibrating to select gears correctly .

3. not much you can do about the seat really as they can only be ordered asa whole seat. mite i suggest a trim specialist if its only stitching.

4. there is a modified water pump you can get from toyota, can tell modified pumps ( black pulley) from old pumps ( metallic gold pulley) try that first.

5. any garage should be able to realign the steering again could be a 20 minute rectification.

6. hard to tell from the description about the engine leak need to know more really.

would like to help personally but unfortunatly live in birmingham.

regards toyote.kk

March 20, 2010

thanks for the advice, and thanks to a certain 'royal' member for the behind the scenes support.

got the car back from the third dealer last week having been armed with advice - seems the car is now up and running as it should be

am looking forward to getting the car back on the commute, already missing the mpg compared to my vw....

it has been a real struggle getting anyone in the dealer network to take the car seriously and i am complaining to toyota about how we have been treated by a 'lexus' service centre - pretty disgusted at how they have looked down on us and everything 'seems to be in your head' - we got the geometry done at the last place and went through the results - it was massively off.

anyway, hope this means we can rely on the car again - i hate the way its been his one dealer who has made it a pile of junk, just glad to have it back in one piece at last.

March 20, 2010

thanks for the advice, and thanks to a certain 'royal' member for the behind the scenes support.
got the car back from the third dealer last week having been armed with advice - seems the car is now up and running as it should be
am looking forward to getting the car back on the commute, already missing the mpg compared to my vw....
it has been a real struggle getting anyone in the dealer network to take the car seriously and i am complaining to toyota about how we have been treated by a 'lexus' service centre - pretty disgusted at how they have looked down on us and everything 'seems to be in your head' - we got the geometry done at the last place and went through the results - it was massively off.
anyway, hope this means we can rely on the car again - i hate the way its been his one dealer who has made it a pile of junk, just glad to have it back in one piece at last.

the oil leak comes from the black plate on the front of the engine block(it covers part of the oil breather system),i have sealed up a few and have seen it a lot but most are just a light oil sweat so its not worth worrie'n about.

i know toyota is lexus and so on but a toyota tec will know the common problems were as the lexus tec might not know what too look for if you know what i mean.

good luck with your car i hope its all sorted right this time.

March 20, 2010

Glad to hear you are getting the problems sorted. As with any car that has issues, it's not so much that the issues themselves are very bad, what makes the situation intolerable is not being able to get someone competent to sort them out.

Water leaks in particular can be very difficult to remedy if you don't know where to look and trying to locate them with a hose/sprinkler is not always effective as rainwater has the ability to find its way into places that a hose won't. The best sealent to use when sealing components against water ingress is the gooey mastic that they use to seal windscreens and it always remains flexible. DONT use silicone sealant as it will eventually lift and peel and the water will get in underneath.