Service due, do I have to use a Toyota garage?

[JoolsMc66]

My car is coming up to 2 years old (I have had it a year) . I want to get it serviced but unsure of where I am allowed to get it done because of the warranty. The garage I purchased it from performed the last service a year ago, slightly worried as they are not a Toyota garage - is my warranty already void? This particular garage also no longer performs services. Any advice would be great

[Hybrid21]

If the garage you bought it from serviced it using Toyota parts to the service schedule and you have evidence, I would say that your warranty is valid Julie.

Personally I would recommend you have it serviced at a Toyota garage as easier if you have any warranty claims, etc  Maybe a bit more expensive but worth it for peace of mind 👍

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Provided you have proof it has been serviced according to the service schedule (eg service invoice detailed what has been done), or sooner, and using equivalent standard parts, etc, should be OK. Service intervals are 12 months or 10,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

[Yugguy1970]

Change the air filter:

 

[JoolsMc66]

Toyota have just informed me I have a 5 year manufacturer warranty. I can extend that annually, thereafter, if I get it serviced at a Toyota Centre. They are being a bit vague as to whether I can get it serviced (at my local garage for example) elsewhere whilst I am in the first five years. I do understand  your comments Hybrid21.

[Parts-King]

You can have it done anywhere, HOWEVER you must keep records and receipts of what was done, type and grade of oil and parts used. They WILL be needed if you have to make a claim, no service history, no warranty. 

You can extend year on year by having a service done at your dealer, it's called RELAX warranty, a 12 month warranty that is applied to your car for having it serviced at a Toyota dealer, you don't obviously get that by having it serviced at your local garage  

[Yugguy1970]

Yes so the first 5 years are the main warranty, where if you service it to the correct standards it can be done anywhere.  Then you can get on Relax for another 5 years but it must be at a Toyota dealer.

Our dealer is doing a quite competitive service plan which we might go on to.

[Bruce Lea]

6 hours ago, Parts-King said:

You can have it done anywhere, HOWEVER you must keep records and receipts of what was done, type and grade of oil and parts used. They WILL be needed if you have to make a claim, no service history, no warranty. 

You can extend year on year by having a service done at your dealer, it's called RELAX warranty, a 12 month warranty that is applied to your car for having it serviced at a Toyota dealer, you don't obviously get that by having it serviced at your local garage  

That's worth doing the service at Toyota just for the 12 months warranty

[JoolsMc66]

Thank you everybody for your help, much appreciated 

[Donrald]

On buying my Aygo X I subscribed to a 3 year subscription to cover the costs of servicing for 3 years. It was a special offer subsidised by Toyota with the promotion of the X. £15 per month. The Toyota dealer charge for an intermediate service is £220 thus a gain for me from day one. 
 

Whilst there is merit in using the main dealer take care with what they recommend needs doing on a service. With a previous car they tried to get me to buy new tyres when the MOT was due. National Tyres checked and said I was OK for quite some time. I was also advised at another time the suspension was corroding and would need sorting. Again at great cost. I got it done at National Tyres (Halfords). A good friend of mine took his Toyota in to the dealer recently for its MOT. It failed. He was told the suspension needed replacing at a cost of £900. He accepted this in good faith but the dealer did not have the parts. He waited but it got too close to the expiry of the MOT and still no parts at the dealer. He went to another franchise, not Toyota, who carried out MOTs.  It passed. He told them about the suspension. They advised it was showing some wear but not enough to be dangerous or to fail the MOT. He asked about doing it believing there would be a delay as the main dealer was not able to get the parts yet. No problem, within a couple of days, and using Toyota parts.

Whilst the dealer unite rightly points out items that are wearing and may need attention it seems they do it in a way to convince a customer it has to be done now. I suspect all other main dealers with different makes do the same.

[Hybrid21]

4 minutes ago, Donrald said:

On buying my Aygo X I subscribed to a 3 year subscription to cover the costs of servicing for 3 years. It was a special offer subsidised by Toyota with the promotion of the X. £15 per month. The Toyota dealer charge for an intermediate service is £220 thus a gain for me from day one. 
 

Whilst there is merit in using the main dealer take care with what they recommend needs doing on a service. With a previous car they tried to get me to buy new tyres when the MOT was due. National Tyres checked and said I was OK for quite some time. I was also advised at another time the suspension was corroding and would need sorting. Again at great cost. I got it done at National Tyres (Halfords). A good friend of mine took his Toyota in to the dealer recently for its MOT. It failed. He was told the suspension needed replacing at a cost of £900. He accepted this in good faith but the dealer did not have the parts. He waited but it got too close to the expiry of the MOT and still no parts at the dealer. He went to another franchise, not Toyota, who carried out MOTs.  It passed. He told them about the suspension. They advised it was showing some wear but not enough to be dangerous or to fail the MOT. He asked about doing it believing there would be a delay as the main dealer was not able to get the parts yet. No problem, within a couple of days, and using Toyota parts.

Whilst the dealer unite rightly points out items that are wearing and may need attention it seems they do it in a way to convince a customer it has to be done now. I suspect all other main dealers with different makes do the same.

Unfortunately very true Richard, and I have experienced this with most dealers including Volvo and Landrover.

One of the hazards of using main dealers 🙂

[FROSTYBALLS]

Aside from the above, whether a car has MOT advisories, faults, etc is dependent on the opinion of the individual tester, and opinions can and do vary.

[Parts-King]

MOT's, everyone knows best!

Mention a minor defect, customer thinks you want to rip him off. Customer comes in with a knock, just had an MOT elsewhere, track rod end hanging off

MOT Testing is very subjective and will always throw up anomalies, I suspect the vast majority will be just fine, but one persons minor defect will be another's fail

How many people have you heard of going to a fast fit centre and being told they need all 4 shock absorbers changing, everyone has heard that story, I suspect it does happen but not at every centre or that often

If you don't like the outcome of an MOT, challenge it, you have the right of appeal 

[Hornet3D]

3 hours ago, Donrald said:

On buying my Aygo X I subscribed to a 3 year subscription to cover the costs of servicing for 3 years. It was a special offer subsidised by Toyota with the promotion of the X. £15 per month. The Toyota dealer charge for an intermediate service is £220 thus a gain for me from day one. 
 

Whilst there is merit in using the main dealer take care with what they recommend needs doing on a service. With a previous car they tried to get me to buy new tyres when the MOT was due. National Tyres checked and said I was OK for quite some time. I was also advised at another time the suspension was corroding and would need sorting. Again at great cost. I got it done at National Tyres (Halfords). A good friend of mine took his Toyota in to the dealer recently for its MOT. It failed. He was told the suspension needed replacing at a cost of £900. He accepted this in good faith but the dealer did not have the parts. He waited but it got too close to the expiry of the MOT and still no parts at the dealer. He went to another franchise, not Toyota, who carried out MOTs.  It passed. He told them about the suspension. They advised it was showing some wear but not enough to be dangerous or to fail the MOT. He asked about doing it believing there would be a delay as the main dealer was not able to get the parts yet. No problem, within a couple of days, and using Toyota parts.

Whilst the dealer unite rightly points out items that are wearing and may need attention it seems they do it in a way to convince a customer it has to be done now. I suspect all other main dealers with different makes do the same.

It is always a gamble when choosing where to get any car serviced, dealership not.  I worked for a national service company that you would think you could trust but there was a quota of tyres that needed selling which was applied to every branch. 

At the branch I worked at there were two MOT testers and I soon noticed that one had a much higher failure rate than the other.  I looked deeper into and found the favorite failure was for a faulty steering rack and he failed around six racks to every one failed by the other tester.  When the branch was expected for it's MOT compliance I managed to have a chat with the government inspector and casually asked about steering rack failures, his comments were very enlightening.  For the steering rack to fail there had to be signs or an actual leak of fluid.  Evidence of a leak, such as staining or damp patches was not enough to fail the rack as the rack could have been repaired but the signs of the leak left.  To my mind around 60% of people having their car tested by the branch were having to pay for a steering rack they did not need.

[haelewyn]

All in all, having the ten year warranty + free breakdown service if I do maintenance at the official dealer.. I wouldn't consider an other garage who will do it for a bit less.

Dealers know the flaws in their products, will be faster to check and find something proactive. 
If there is a complaint , they will be faster to understand , diagnose and repair the car. 
So at this time, only dealers for me.

What would make me change my mind : if the dealer is proving to be incompetent, if the price in an other place is half or less.. or if the other garage would do the work for free.

[Puglet]

From my experience you just need to find a good garage, be that a franchise dealer or independent, over the years I had good and bad experinces with both, not that dealt with them that much cos after main warranty run out I done the routine servicing myself, cos surprise surprise even Ford managed to fudge up a routine oil change on my car years ago. The other side of the coin, we had issues with our Peugeot 108 when we first had it and knowing the reputation of their dealers in surveys was fearing the worst, but fair play they were spot on and sorted out a few warranty issues without any hassle or needing to haggle.  Same with the independents, when I needed them for jobs needing special tools etc. find a good one and they can even try to save you money or do small jobs for free.

[JoolsMc66]

It seems such a mine field! We normally use a sole trader who has looked after our cars for years, nothing flash but always does a good job. Never owned a car under warranty before! Just want to get it right and not be penalised for doing something that would jeopardise the warranty conditions. Appreciate all your comments

[Hornet3D]

A lot depends on the actual dealership, whatever the brand.  When I owned my Honda CRV, I used to do a 200+ mile round trip to have it serviced and the MOT test done as I did not trust the local Honda dealership thanks to really bad service when I owned a Civic.  I then had a problem with the Battery which was still covered under a warranty agreement I had paid for, so I went local for just a small job.   Once again there was a problem and I complained not expecting for it to have any effect but, minutes later I was sat in the branch managers office drinking coffee.   I explained that the problem was minor, but I was so upset because of the history of my dealings with the branch.   He not only sorted the problem and apologised but told me he understood as he had been ashamed about the level of service offered by the dealership when he took over.  For the next three years I had any work on the CRV done at the local branch and the work was first class and everyone most helpful.

Happily, my dealings with the local Toyota have been every bit as good as my dealings with Honda and the only reason I changed was Honda did not really offer what I thought was a good alternative to the Aygo.

[Puglet]

Understand when you say minefield, had few occasions when you just find a good independent and then they stop trading for whatever reason so search starts again, even when we bought our last new car a Peugeot 107 years ago, after a few years the local dealership closed and would had travel miles to next Peugeot dealership, but found a good local independent for when needed.

Things we so simple many years ago, when we bought a brand new Ford Fiesta that only had 1 year's warranty from new!, did Ford have no faith in their products, if only they knew that car lasted over 25 years with just regular servicing, no major issues and was sold running and with MOT. 

Over the years I have often bought service parts from dealerships cos they can be competative or even cheaper than mainstream parts and reliable quality, the parts peeps always been helpful and friendly, my dealership issues always been with the sales and service depts.