3 Yr Service Plan - A Good Idea?

[SUBARMAN]

Mr T wants to charge me £625 over three years for two intermediate and one full services, paid over 36 months. This freezes the costs at today's prices, I understand. The cost of brake fluid in yr 2 is included.

But I have no idea what these three services would currently cost, in order to determine whether this is a good deal or not.

Can anybody help?

[mrpj]

http://www.toyota.co...nership&sr=Mall

2 x £119 + 1 x £189 + 1 x £39 for brake fluid change at 2 years = £466 at todays pricing.

Are prices going to increase by £159 in those three years? Are you feeling lucky?

I'd personally put £20/month into a savings account unless theirs is the Full+ at two years ,but even then!

[FROSTYBALLS]

Go back to the dealer and ask for a detailed breakdown on the cost, and compare their costs to the fixed price servicing costs (details on the Toyota website under 'owners' and 'car servicing'). I would also query the repayment period as the two plans I've had, have been over shorter periods (20 months for a 2 year plan, and 30 months for this latest three year plan).

I've just been quoted 510 pounds for my Auris for a three year service plan (same services - two intermediate and one major), which didn't compare favourably with the fixed price servicing costs. Went back to the dealer and had a revised quote of 433 pounds (including a free brake fluid change at the 2 year service).

Normally with service plans, you won't get a copy of the invoice for each service. Negotiate with them around this as a copy of the invoice will provide more info on what has been carried out under each service.

[johnan]

When I bought my second IQ with the then new 5 year warranty I took out the 4 year service plan because then there was not a "fixed price" service regime and the cost of paying £15 amonth over the period was less than the sum of the individual services quoted at that time.If I remember correctly the "big" service was to be something between £200 and £300, which is a huge amount considering the very little that is done, even if it is itemised on a printout. I don't notice £15 a month but would notice a bill for £250! John

[Hicardo]

They're taking the p*ss. Perhaps I'm naive in thinking this kind of lying doesn't happen with mr T...but alas. I was first quoted 490 odd, for a 3 yr service plan deal on my new IQ2. I was told the full price was 1x259 plus 2x169. Being mistrustful I contacted another dealer to find their first quote 460 odd. A call back to the first dealer and I suddenly had a price of 420 odd. To be honest...I wish there was just one menu price.

[FROSTYBALLS]

I think the introduction of Fixed Price Servicing by Toyota has done the credibility of service plans, which tend to still be based on dealer pricing, no good at all. Fixed Price Servicing has enabled the customer to challenge service plan costs and pose questions that dealers have little defence against. I think Toyota should be saying to their dealers that service plans should use Fixed Price Service costs as a baseline.

[SUBARMAN]

Thanks for all your replies.

I now have a revised plan for the cost of the three services at £466, to be paid over 30 months. I am saving what are called "efficiency packs" that the dealer includes in the service over and above the Toyota requirements. The salesman unfortunately could not describe what these were in any detail. Having pressed the point, I now get a free tank of petrol when I turn up for the first service "to keep me happy".

All very interesting....................

[chezwot]

My iQ2 is due for it's 30K kilometer service and I have been quoted 229 €, do they replace the brake fluid in the UK on the second service?

[FROSTYBALLS]

In the UK, I think most owners will have their services done under the Fixed Price Servicing regime, which was introduced in January. For the Full and Full+ services, a brake fluid change is listed as additional work - at an additional cost of 39 pounds.

[Hicardo]

Confusing though, when they're trying to sell you so called cheap service 3 year deals. In fact - most people are being ripped off

[johnan]

Any dealer service will be a rip-off, but they have overheads (they will say) which means they have to charge crazy prices for work that most owners could do themselves more thoroughly. But there is no coveted dealer stamp, or VAT rated garage stamp to protect the warranty if you do it yourself.

What gets me is being charged for work that should be done, but is not done.

It is an age-old chestnut of an issue but it still annoys me.

John

[telecasterisation]

I took out a two year service planafter one year of ownership and had the 30000 mile service done today. However, the paperwork states it was the 20000 mile service.

The vehicle has only done 18000 miles.

Which are 'big' full service mileages? It feels like I have been shortchanged.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Service intervals are every 10,000 miles or 12 months - whichever occurs sooner. Intermediate services are due at 10,000 miles/one year, 30,000 miles/3 years, 50,000 miles/5 years, etc. Full services are due at 20,000 miles/2 years, 40,000/4 years, 60,000/6 years etc. If this was your first service under the service plan, and the car is now 2 years old, then the 20,000 mile (full) service was due.

[Fizzydrink]

I've been Interested to hear your views on this.

I am about to put a formal complaint in to Toyota. I was quoted over £800 for the three years servicing in 2011, and had to pay the first £340 immediately for the first service, then £25 a month for the next couple of years. I signed up becasue I was told it would be cheaper than paying the full cost each year. But I did query it several times, especially during the second service in 2012. I was told then that the 3 years should have cost around £639. The plan was cancelled as my car was written off in an accident, but my local dealer phoned in response to my request for clarification on how much I'd paid for the plan - he actually told me that I was definitley worse off, and so were a lot of people because the price of servicing had come down. He agreed that I'd lost out but said that obviously Toyota couldn't compensate people because then Toyota would be really out of pocket!!!

As far as I'm concerned, given that this is a financial agreement, this is financial mis selling.

[FROSTYBALLS]

When I bought my First Auris in October 2009, I took out a two year service plan with the supplying dealer - 307 pounds in total (about 15.34 per month for 20months). The service plan for my second Auris covering the first 3 services is 433 pounds.

As far as I'm aware, service plans are between the customer, the dealer, and the company funding the service plan (ie EMAP) - the only involvement Toyota has is to ensure this type of service is available.

Given the costs of my two service plans, you have paid well over the odds. Admittedly my latest service plan has been aligned with the Fixed price Service scheme - which has pegged the cost.

I've written to Toyota previously re the relationship between service plans and the Fixed Price Service scheme, but all I got was a quick phone call thanking me for my interest.

Think that service plans do tend to be a 'profit area' for dealers - not just Toyota dealers - and people need to be really careful and investigate the actual cost of servicing before signing up to a service plan.

[Parts-King]

Service plans in themselves are not a profit area per say, what they do is to link the customer to the dealer for a period of time instead of the customer wandering away and geting Fred in the shed to service his car

The plan is like a piggy bank, you put money in the pot and by the time you need a service you should have enough money in it to pay for your servicing costs. There is nothing dodgy about them, you know how much you pay in and its easy to work out how much the servicing costs, I'm not sure how one could be mis sold?

Kingo

[FROSTYBALLS]

"Service plans in themselves are not a profit area per say, what they do is to link the customer to the dealer for a period of time."

Generally accepted. However, there does seem to have been instances where owners have signed up to quite expensive service plans - eg Fizzydrink above having a 3 year plan costing 800 pounds.

[Parts-King]

It depends what is built into the plan and we don't know what was in Fizzydrinks plan, it could have included all MOT's for instance or brake fluid changes and the like. I can see where he is coming from, but we have to compare apples with apples, not all service plans are the same, and some run by big dealer groups are often their own and tend to be more profit driven

Kingo

[Fizzydrink]

My service plan most certainly did not include MOT's (although think the first MOT was given free as an incentive to sign up), it just covered the basic service (nowadays the fixed price deal) with parts etc on top.

The reason I consider it mis selling is that (like PPI, for example) it is a financial services agreement, with all the associated Financial guarantees, and I was told by Toyota that this would be the cheapest way to get 3 services. Evidently not the case, so it was mis-sold.

Also, as it was started before fixed price servicing, it wasn't easy to see how much servicing would cost at all.

[tarquin]

My service plan is £12/month for 4 yrs but i get 4 services for that. Which is £146 for each

David

[Lorna2]

I've got a service plan for my Yaris, and I find it to be good value.

I had one before on my other Yaris too, which even included the big service as I took it out after that car got its first service. It worked out the cheapest way for me to get the services.

Misselling? Really? I don't think so!

[Fizzydrink]

Misselling? Really? I don't think so!

So you think £800+ for 3 services is a good deal? And that being told by Toyota that this would be cheaper than NOT having a service plan (which Toyota themselves have told me isn't true) isn't mis selling?

I'm not talking about all Toyota Service plans being mis sold, just some for a certain period before they introduced fixed price servicing. I do have a service plan on my current Yaris, £14 a month. I think THAT'S good value.

[Lorna2]

Misselling? Really? I don't think so!

So you think £800+ for 3 services is a good deal? And that being told by Toyota that this would be cheaper than NOT having a service plan (which Toyota themselves have told me isn't true) isn't mis selling?

I'm not talking about all Toyota Service plans being mis sold, just some for a certain period before they introduced fixed price servicing. I do have a service plan on my current Yaris, £14 a month. I think THAT'S good value.

I was talking about the Toyota service plans in general, and from my own experience. I didn't pay anything near £800 as I've had 2 Yaris. Yours must have been a much bigger model than your current Yaris

[Fizzydrink]

It was a TR, same as the current one. But it was older.

As my posts above said, the servicing should have cost around £600 over the three years.

[FROSTYBALLS]

I think dealers need to provide a more detailed breakdown of what a service plan covers. For example, with my 2012 Auris the original service plan just detailed:

1 X 10,000 mile service due Oct 2013

1 X 20,000 mile service due Oct 2014

1 X 30,000 mile service due Oct 2015

Then the total cost of the service plan.

If they had detailed the cost of each service and whether any additional work was included (eg. MOT, brake fluid change at 2 years, etc), one could then be sure what one is buying, and raise any query if need.

My revised service plan details the services as above, but also includes the use of 0W-20 oil, and a free brake fluid change at the 20,000 mile service.

Service plans are sold on the basis that they save owners money. Sometimes though, owners are faced with making decisions with very little written information upon which to base those decisions, and I have seen more than one example on the TOC forums where owners appear to be paying too much for their service plans.

This isn't limited to just Toyota dealers.