1St Service Out Of Warranty, Less Than 60K & One Big Bill :(

[HoneyBear1980]

I have an 08 plate 2.2 D4D SR Toyota Verso. It had its last service in April just before the 3 year warranty ran out with no issues reported.

The car has just had its 60k service (not quite 60k on the clock yet) & Mr T has given me a bill for £315 for the service, £350 for new front disks & pads (on its second set already as first were badly scored after just a few hundred miles), £40 for new wipers, £52 charge to investigate a front wheel judder, & £650 for a new water pump!

Oh, & since I got the car back from the service the engine makes a deep booming sound whenever you release the accelerator which resonates with most of the interior trim.

S**t!!!!

I bought the Verso (my first Toyota) expecting it to last & be reliable. I'm now stuck with a car just over 3 years old which is terrible to drive (wheel judder & booming rattles) & will need more than £1,000 spending on it just to stop it grinding to a halt.

I'm aware that Toyota have been instructing dealers (article in Sunday Times last week - 4 page spread) not to fix (or mention to customers) any problems that occur during the warranty period that have not been raised as an issue by the customer. I suspect this is what has happenend in my case & i'm furious.

Seriously regret buying a Toyota now, I bought it on the reputation they built up over the years but I think they are just taking customers for granted & chucking out cars with poor quality components. A water pump should last more than 60k miles.

P****d off.

[cabcurtains]

£315 for the 6th service, what do you get for that? It doesnt even have a Fuel Filter involved.

£350 for front discs and pads is crazy, the parts are only £100.

£650 for the water pump, why did it need changing? Was it weeping and they advised? Or was it cream crackered?

£20 to fit Wiper Blades and half an hour to check the wheel wobble...

I think i would find a local garage going forward. The £100+ labour rate has made this bill silly money.

[HoneyBear1980]

They said the water pump was leaking but still working.

I will have a look at other garages - I have always had it serviced at Toyota thinking they were fair & trust worthy.

[unhappy2]

I feel you'r pain , that judder you feel on lift off will most lightly turn out to be gearbox bearings . I've had similar story with my Verso , dealer serviced from day one , ONE MONTH !!! after warranty ran out and bearings went , no matter what I said to dealer I still had to pay up to fix it , 18 months and 26k later I've had to do the same . From what I see that article was bang on . Toyota have totally lost their way , get rid of it quick !. Best of luck .

[Parts-King]

I'm aware that Toyota have been instructing dealers (article in Sunday Times last week - 4 page spread) not to fix (or mention to customers) any problems that occur during the warranty period that have not been raised as an issue by the customer. I suspect this is what has happenend in my case & i'm furious.

No they havnt, that is not true. What you are aware of is the newspaper report

Toyota have a fixed price promise for service and repairs. I would go back and ask them for the "fixed" prices, because for service and brakes etc, there are offers and fixed price deals. It does not look like you were offered these, have a word with the service manager and get them to re-quote you. Just like any other business, you will be quoted the full up price, but if you were having other jobs done at the same time, there is always room for negotiation

Kingo

[Jamesbelfast]

I think you have to ask the question why did the dealer quote the full up prices and not offer the Toyota fixed price deals in the first instance.

Apart from the cost it would appear the dealer in question isn't playing fair with his customers. If a customer has to go back and try to renogiate prices it doesn't say much for the business acumen of whoever is managing the dealership.

If it were me I would be contacting Mr. T customer services.

I reckon a good indpendent garage who specialises in Toyotas could beat those prices hands down.

[vsmuthu]

The Toyota parts seems to be more expensive than the parts for my Mercedes that I owned before, why they hell they charge the extornate prices for a car that is not a Luxury mode! My 55,000 miles verso has n-number of problems

1. a rattle when moving off,

2. too much vibration in the cabin on the motorway (worse than my Astra at 150,000 miles!) ,

3. incorrect fuel sensors,

4. incorrect speedo (always shows 5 miles more)

5. Scored disks

6. whistling turbo in cold (may be water pump by the looks of it)

list goes on..

This will be my last ever Toyota.

Looking the Zafira now, which has its own problems but atleast parts will be cheaper and cheaper labour rates.

[jedi134]

I'm sure there not all like that? You must have one of those that were made in China. :P

Freelanders seem to be more reliable these days :D

[Red diesel]

Okay - i realise the controversy about the Toyota Warranty issue - but is it actually possible that the car was perfect in April 2011 - meaning there were no issues to be addressed.

Your post suggests that the warranty was nearly up in April 2011 - but other comments in your post suggest that the warranty only expired much more recently.

Its worth raising the question with the dealer how you handed in a car driving okay (im assuming the brakes were working okay but were simply near the end of their serviceable life) but got it back with a noise - is it possible the garage went at something during the service???.

On some makes of car the waterpump is recommeded to be changed at the same point as the timing belt (if the car has a timing belt), Precisely because they do fail, and if you doing the t belt - your already doing a lot of the dismantling needed to change the water pump.

Does the 2.2 have a chain or timing belt* - if its a belt - Toyota often recommended a change of timing belt at 60 000 miles on many of its models.

(* i think it might be a chain but don't know one way or another for sure)

Red diesel

[HoneyBear1980]

@ Red D.

The warranty expired in April '11 - I had my 50k service just before it expired. Obviously everything could have been fine with the vehicle then, but I don't know that one way or the other. I trusted my local dealership to tell me if there were any problems however as clearly shown (& confirmed by the Toyota spokesman) in the Sunday Times article, all Toyota dealerships have been / are under orders not to highlight any issues that crop up under warranty if the customer is unaware of a problem & it's not an immediate safety risk. I guess i'll never know but I am very suspcious.

One reason why I wanted the 2.2 D4D engine is because it has a chain rather than a cam belt - I took this into account when working out its running costs. I didn't realise that the water pumps only last 3 years / 60k miles & would require an engine out job to replace. Basically the same cost as a cambelt change. I am very dissapointed & I wouldn't have bought a Toyota had I known their warranty policy upfront. Obvviously they don't want to make their position too clear to customers as it looks like a bit of a con...