£199 For An Oil And Filter Change

[balli hi]

OK, i have just returned home after taking my car back to the dealer this morning , and i am happy to report that everything that should have been done as per the fixed price full service schedule has now been done, plus as a goodwill gesture the air filter has been changed and the tracking corrected.

The service manager admitted that there had been failings on the dealerships part, plus confusion in the servicing dept regards the new fixed price servicing schedule and the old, when i mentioned that the locking remote Battery had not been itemised on the invoice, the service manager stated that they only change the Battery every two years, i was armed with a copy of the new servicing schedule and pointed out showing him on the schedule where it said ' replace locking remote Battery ' so if iv'e paid for it i want it, and in any case as the car was in for its 4th service and going on what he had just said then it should have been changed anyway, not only did he replace the battery but he also gave me another for the spare, i then mentioned the tyre pressures and the coolant level, plus the fact that i had not been advised on my last visit as i had requested on the 4 wheel alignment check, he again admitted that there had been a breakdown in communication between the service desk and the garage and indeed that the alignment check had not been done, he reassured me that he would personally oversee and check along with the technician that everything that should have been checked on the new servicing schedule would be checked and everything that should replaced or rectified would be done.

After waiting a short while the service manager came out and told me that the steering wheel was slightly off center and that the tracking was slightly out, but if i didn't mind waiting another hour he would have the tracking corrected for me for free.

Also the floor mats had been valeted and the grease stain removed, the coolant level topped up and the tyre pressures corrected, they even checked and reported how much wear was left on the brake pads, so all in all i am now happy, although it shouldn't have necessitated a second visit to get what i had paid for in the first place, they were good enough to acknowledge fault, put things right and not charge me any extra for the air filter and the tracking, the service manager was polite to a fault and i was impressed with his attitude, so credit where credit is due, he has restored some faith that i had otherwise lost.

One other thing worth mentioning is that the manager agreed with me that the fixed price servicing menu is flawed and that the dealership had raised issues with Toyota regards the servicing menu.

you really have to check and make sure whether or not your car would benefit from the extra cost of the Full + Service, in that the plugs on my car are Irridium and changed at 60,000 miles, on the Full+ the plugs are supposed to be changed, so totally unnecessary, the downside is that the air filter won't be changed if you opt for the Full service only, BUT and most importantly the air filter only costs around £18 to buy so it doesn't warrant the extra £70 to have it changed on the Full+.

However having said all of the above regards the Full and the Full + Service, and as per my original post, i don't think £199 justifies an oil and oil filter change, so i personally will be looking elsewhere, but suffice to add is if you are happy to pay those prices and have used a dealership you can trust and are happy with, then continue to do so, or at least have a look at Toyota's service plans as it seems better value .

[Sandy52]

I have tried both routes for my car servicing and I will stick with Toyota dealers, at least for a while..

[Mooly]

Thanks for updating. It's great to hear you have got it all sorted to your satisfaction. You mention service plans... I'm on one and it does seem great value and I'm happy with mine and the dealer but the downside is that you don't get any paperwork detailing what has been done. I mentioned this to Toyota last year but nothing has changed.

I hope Toyota read this forum :)

[FROSTYBALLS]

With my service plan, so I would have some record of what work had been done during the services, I asked for, and got, photocopies of the completed service schedules.