Sick Of Toyota

[PrinceOfDarkness]

Updates in bold below. Some of them are just niggles, but some are really frustrating...

I own a 55 plate 2.0VVTi T-Spirit tourer, and although it's got full Toyota service history and only 65k on the clock it's given me a number of niggly annoying problems over the years:

- Rough idle speed. When the car's ticking over it occassionally drops down to approximately 500rpm and the starts to judder as though it's going to stall. The dealer hasn't been able to identify a problem

- Occassional loss of power when accelerating. The car judders before finally "taking off". Perhaps this is related to the problem above? Again, the dealer hasn't been able to identify a problem

- Creaking clutch which has been replaced by the dealer after 2 attempts

- The engine warning light occassionally comes on for a while and then goes off again. The dealer can't find anything wrong

The dealer has now suggested replacing the lambda sensor at a cost of £300

- The oil warning light came on before the last service. Got to take it back to the dealer to check to see if it's burning oil

The oil warning light has come on again! At the last service they topped the oil up to half way and it's used it all in under 4000 miles!

- The car refused to start in January. Had to call out breakdown to get it going, apparently due to the engine being flooded even though I've just been driving quite normally

- The Battery died

- Although I paid for the full air-con service, it started to smell again after only a couple of weeks

- The car struggled to start whilst on holiday in the French Alps. Obviously it was cold, but other "less reliable" cars in the hotel car park seemed to be ok i.e. Renaults, Pugs, etc

To be fair, the car's never actually broken down, but I'm just sick of making allowances. It's a shame because I really like the car, but I don't think I'd ever buy another Toyota :(

Just to confirm, my 2005 Avensis has only covered 68500 miles and has full Toyota service history. I could have bought a 10 year old Focus for half the price and had less hassle

[T Sport 1978]

I own a 55 plate 2.0VVTi T-Spirit tourer, and although it's got full Toyota service history and only 65k on the clock it's given me a number of niggly annoying problems over the years:

- Rough idle speed. When the car's ticking over it occassionally drops down to approximately 500rpm and the starts to judder as though it's going to stall. The dealer hasn't been able to identify a problem

- Occassional loss of power when accelerating. The car judders before finally "taking off". Perhaps this is related to the problem above? Again, the dealer hasn't been able to identify a problem

- Creaking clutch which has been replaced by the dealer after 2 attempts

- The engine warning light occassionally comes on for a while and then goes off again. The dealer can't find anything wrong

- The oil warning light came on before the last service. Got to take it back to the dealer to check to see if it's burning oil

- Although I paid for the full air-con service, it started to smell again after only a couple of weeks

- The car struggled to start whilst on holiday in the French Alps. Obviously it was cold, but other "less reliable" cars in the hotel car park seemed to be ok i.e. Renaults, Pugs, etc

To be fair, the car's never actually broken down, but I'm just sick of making allowances. It's a shame because I really like the car, but I don't think I'd ever buy another Toyota :(

The problem is not Toyota, its your car and your dealer.

Have you tried to have your car looked at by a different Toyota dealer?

As an example, I fail to see how eml comes on and not throwing up a code?

Not buying another Toyota is of course your right, but you could equally buy a BMW for example with the same problems and have another bad dealer who can't diagnose a problem all the same, will you then conclude to never buy a BMW again?

Its just a mechanical device, its down to you to find someone who can help.

[PrinceOfDarkness]

The problem is not Toyota, its your car and your dealer.

There's a big sign outside the dealer's which says Toyota. There's also a Badge on the back of my car that says Toyota. Therefore the problem is with Toyota - it's up to them to ensure their dealers and cars are in shape. I appreciate that all cars have problems, but I've never experienced so many niggly issues with any of my other cars

Anyway, I've just been to see the dealer today for the oil consumption check. Whilst I was there, I also asked them to look at the engine warning light as it was still on this time (previously, it had gone off before arriving at the dealers). I also asked them to look at the poor tickover and acceleration again (3rd time). I actually advised them that I'd seen posts on here about cleaning the throttle body and this is what they also recommend to cure the problem. Regarding the engine warning light, the error code is P0136. Apparently an oxygen sensor needs to be replaced. However, my main concern was the potential burning of oil. Although it does seem to be using quite a bit of oil, apparently it's within tolerance so I'll just have to keep an eye on it

[T Sport 1978]

Well its up to you, it is well known that level of service, pricing and level of care can vary differently between dealerships/franchises and Toyota does not micro manage their day to day operations.

You can keep to your very limited field of vision or have a proper attempt in fixing your car with someone else then perhaps take issue with Toyota GB afterwards, its your car not mine.

[Jamesbelfast]

There's a big sign outside the dealer's which says Toyota. There's also a Badge on the back of my car that says Toyota. Therefore the problem is with Toyota - it's up to them to ensure their dealers and cars are in shape.

I would totally agree - here, here.

If the car is the problem then it must be down to poor manufacture - Toyotas fault.

If any dealer appointed by Toyota can neither diagnose of repair correctly - again Toyotas fault.

Sadly Toyota have performed very poorly in many respects and what was once seen as a respected marque has now slipped dramatically down the rankings when it comes to customer satisfaction.

I appreciate some dealerships for other makes have a poor reputation but that still is no excuse.:)

[T Sport 1978]

There's a big sign outside the dealer's which says Toyota. There's also a badge on the back of my car that says Toyota. Therefore the problem is with Toyota - it's up to them to ensure their dealers and cars are in shape.

I would totally agree - here, here.

If the car is the problem then it must be down to poor manufacture - Toyotas fault.

If any dealer appointed by Toyota can neither diagnose of repair correctly - again Toyotas fault.

Sadly Toyota have performed very poorly in many respects and what was once seen as a respected marque has now slipped dramatically down the rankings when it comes to customer satisfaction.

I appreciate some dealerships for other makes have a poor reputation but that still is no excuse.:)

So you have a 5 year old car here which I presume is out of warranty with problems, how is it Toyota's fault that the car is not the way it should be? How many things can go wrong with the car during 5 years of ownership? What happened to the warranty period when we are afforded the opportunity to correct ANY problems? How does Toyota honour a dealership/franchise (which is trusted to do Toyota's work) when they don't get involved with their day to day operations? Has the owner made a formal complaint with Toyota to make them aware of the ongoing problems? And if Toyota don't know about your problem then how are they responsible? Where is the owner's responsibilties? Has the owner asked Toyota directly for help in the matter if he feels that he has been short changed etc...?

If your dealer can't help, usually Toyota will as i have been there before. Get in touch with Toyota GB and explain the situation...

As for the stone cold "Toyota's Badge = Toyota's fault", you sound like you live in middle earth? What draconian pish!

[Flackadder]

Toyota should be able to fix the above problems. I would give the garage the opportunity to 're-assess' the remaining problems before contacting head office. There should be no need whatsoever to go to a different Toyota garage. If your garage do not know how to fix the problem they will investigate through main toyota database for solutions. Here, the car has a problem and so, it seems, do Toyota.