Disappointing Service From Toyota Main Dealer

[toyboata]

Hi All,

My 2009 Aygo went in for its 3rd service and its first MOT yesterday..

While i'm pleased it passed its MOT without any problems, I was annoyed with the service side of things:

They said it needed the following:

1) New engine air filter £40

2) New Pollen filter £40

3) Air-con regasing £75

4) New Brake fluid £38

Well first off - I'm sure engine air filters used to be included in the service price? & £40 seems expensive for an air filter?

2 & 3) The car doesn't have Air-con and so how can it possibly need regasing!? And because it doesnt have aircon, it doesn't have a pollen filter either! So they've clearly not checked the filter as there isnt one to check!

4) new brake fluid, I'd of thought the brake fluid was ok, however I decided to let them do that.

I told them I'll change the air filter myself, since I can get a genuine airfilter for £15 and I can fit it in less than 60 seconds, on my driveway with no tools at all!

Needless to say they also tried selling me a 3 year service plan which was another rip off... and when i said no to that, they then tried to sell me a new Yaris!!

I feel disgusted with this completely cowboy style running of a dealership!

Any opinions?

[Cyker]

IIRC the air filter and pollen filters for my Yaris were closer to a tenner so that is pretty bad! And fitting them does not need ~£30 worth of mech time each!

The regassing is the biscuit taker

Sadly I do find even within a dealer you get some dodgy people and some good people; My normal dealer service place closed down and merged with one from Barnet and moved to the A10 and when I first went there I got a guy who kept over-quoting me for stuff, even fixed price stuff!

In the end I asked to speak to the guys from my old garage and they were a lot more reasonable...

[dwilson]

Hi All,

My 2009 Aygo went in for its 3rd service and its first MOT yesterday..

While i'm pleased it passed its MOT without any problems, I was annoyed with the service side of things:

They said it needed the following:

1) New engine air filter £40

2) New Pollen filter £40

3) Air-con regasing £75

4) New Brake fluid £38

Well first off - I'm sure engine air filters used to be included in the service price? & £40 seems expensive for an air filter?

2 & 3) The car doesn't have Air-con and so how can it possibly need regasing!? And because it doesnt have aircon, it doesn't have a pollen filter either! So they've clearly not checked the filter as there isnt one to check!

4) new brake fluid, I'd of thought the brake fluid was ok, however I decided to let them do that.

I told them I'll change the air filter myself, since I can get a genuine airfilter for £15 and I can fit it in less than 60 seconds, on my driveway with no tools at all!

Needless to say they also tried selling me a 3 year service plan which was another rip off... and when i said no to that, they then tried to sell me a new Yaris!!

I feel disgusted with this completely cowboy style running of a dealership!

Any opinions?

Sounds worth a complaint to Toyota!

I was offered £6k for my 6000 mile 10 month old Aygo Go! a couple of weeks ago ......which I thought very low

David

[MikeSh]

Airfilters used to be a change annually/12k item, so part of the 'big' service. But I think these days they are more of an 'as needed' thing, so may well not be included. That said, 3rd service will only be a minor, so certainly wouldn't include it.

Brake fluid - used to to be recommended to change every 3 years, so that maybe right. But then again everything has advanced these days, so it may be over pessimistic.

No aircon ... well, it might have been fun to let them do it and see what happened. More seriously, it makes me wonder if your service info was mixed up with another car's or the mechanic actually even serviced the wrong vehicle.

I couldn't see anything wrong with the 3 year service plan. Fixed prices and 10% off anything else we need to get (though maybe not a new car). I did the math and it seemed a reasonable deal, so got it for both our Toyotas. Mind you, I do actually trust our dealer - mostly.

[johnny01]

I think you're right Mike - stuff like air filters are 'as needed' these days, I think the service schedule includes checking and if it needs replacing then it's an additional cost. Helps keep servicing costs down I imagine. My T-Pot Yaris didn't have an air filter for 4 years because I was only covering about 2,000 - 3,000 miles a year maximum and the dealership never insisted on changing it just for the sake of it, only when it was considered 'necessary'. Same with the pollen filter, I always said not to bother and they never pushed me for it. Always had the engine oil and filter changed yearly as well as brake fluid etc - never skimped on things like that!

I think the brake fluid is changed every 2 years on the Aygo so Toyboata's Aygo might well have been overdue anyway if it hadn't been done since new.

I took out the 3 year service plan, fixed prices, discounts and even a free MOT thrown in for good measure for the 3rd year and a half price one for year 4, with no increase in labour costs. If you're keeping the car for 3 years then it's financially a winner :D

I was thinking the same thing about the air con. Let them book it in, then when they wheel it into the bay to re-gas it and realise their mistake, claim some compensation (like a free MOT) for the hassle of having to take a day off work to bring it in etc. Might be worth a try, not that I condone such actions of course ;)

[Phil White]

I work for an indipendant garage and we would have charged about £130 inc vat for a big service on an Aygo which would include a comprehensive check of brakes, lights steering and suspension. A full look at tyre condition and tread depth including spare wheel and tyre pressures. Also antifreeze strength and a brake fluid test.

parts would include oil and filter, air filter and spark plugs and a check and report of pollen filter condition.

As for aircon regas, we charge £45 inc vat.

We hear so many customers who are not happy with main dealer servicing as they don't seem to be interested in customer satisfaction which is vitally important in our opinion.

[johnny01]

Hi All,

My 2009 Aygo went in for its 3rd service and its first MOT yesterday..

While i'm pleased it passed its MOT without any problems, I was annoyed with the service side of things:

They said it needed the following:

1) New engine air filter £40

2) New Pollen filter £40

3) Air-con regasing £75

4) New Brake fluid £38

Just looking at the service schedule for my Aygo, it clearly states the air filter is replaced after 4 years or 40,000 miles. It also states brake fluid should be changed every 2 years so that should have been part of / chargeable with the full service after 2 years. So, apart from the air con issue which is somewhat of an oddity, your brake fluid should already have been replaced last year and due again next year along with the air filter. Unless of course you are experiencing 'abnormal' driving conditions causing the air filter to become dirtier than it should be but this is something I would ask the garage to comment on and justify why the air filter is dirty. You really need to check your paperwork to find out what you have paid for and what was done.

I have just spoken to my local Mr T and they confirmed that brake fluid change charges are additional to the charge for a full service, but if you were on a service plan then the brake fluid cost is included in the plan. They have been in contact with Toyota themselves to try and get them to clarify the wording on the website. It all seems a little complicated to me so maybe the dealerships are also getting confused as to what's needed and what's not...?

Hope this helps :)

[Parts-King]

When Toyota launched Fixed Price Servicing, all previous service schedules were superceeded to the new FPS schedule. The wording on the Toyota website is ambiguious to say the least but I can confirm brake fluid changes are NOT part of the FPS schedule, there are additional charges

Kingo

[johnny01]

True, sorry I should've made my wording a little clearer. The brake fluid charge is added to the 3 years servicing costs and this is then paid for over the 3 years, so you don't have to find the additional £39 on the full service to change the brake fluid because they've already factored it in to the total cost. It is indeed an additional charge. :)

[AYGOSTU]

I have always had service plan on my Aygo since the day i bought it. I have just booked in for my 60k service.. im covered until 130k miles on the service plan.. fixed price and all included (it has saved me a fortune as its discounted and fixed). I think its a great deal. I also got a free MOT thrown in and a half price aircon service. I have never had any issues with my Toyota Dealer, they treat me so well and give me exact details of what will be done and what has been done at service time.

It sounds like your dealers are a bit 'shoddy' or maybe they dont care about customer service.

[Spazmoid]

I'll certainly be checking the price of service parts before mine goes off for it's first service - so far, I've found Peugeot to be the cheapest for parts.

Then when it rolls in for the service I'll simply tell the dealer that the x,x,x,x,x parts do not need replacing as they're new.

[dwilson]

I'll certainly be checking the price of service parts before mine goes off for it's first service - so far, I've found Peugeot to be the cheapest for parts.

Then when it rolls in for the service I'll simply tell the dealer that the x,x,x,x,x parts do not need replacing as they're new.

I don't think you will have a problem James with your first service. Mine has just had that done and cost £98.96 against their quoted fixed price of £99.

My only quibble is that the only numbers they gave me to check were for the tyre tread depth and when I measured them afterwards their measurements were very inaccurate. I used a digital vernier caliper which I know to be accurate and precise.

David

[billystop]

Hi guys,

Just been quoted 350 for two new tyres,front pads and a pollen filter.

I'm in one of those fixed service schemes,it was my 20000 mile full service.

Obviously said no,did the tyres myself(energy savers on my diesel meriva are still going strong after 20000 miles) and ordered the parts.I paid 25 for Toyota pads and 10 for the filter.

Just done the pads,they were at 53% worn not 80 as quoted.looked at the air filter,dirtier than the pollen filter that they had said needed changing.oil and filter looked clean so took the rest back to the stealers and got a a refund for the service and cancelled my plan.thought I'd share and hopefully save someone a few quid!

Sales/management were lovely in fairness.

Dealership in colne.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hello Andrew - welcome to Toyota Owners Club.

Your profile shows you have a Toyota Surf !

If you do have an Aygo, I'd suggest editing your profile.