Pink Coolant And Rusting Bonnet Catch

[ziauris]

hi,

I bought my auris about a year ago. They claimed it was fully serviced before I bought it. I noticed at the time the pink coolant was low, below the mark that says "low", so took it back to Toyota (Huddersfield) and asked them to fill it up. They told me it was not low and did not fill it up. One year on and I have just noticed a label on the bonnet that says it should be filled to the line marked B, but it does not say this in the handbook, so I did not know. Why this is not in the handbook is unbelievable.

I know Toyota dealership in Huddersfield will tell me to get lost if I take it back now, although I have only done 2000miles in it over the past year so it has definately not dropped since I bought it. I need to source some of this pink stuff. On eBay it is £10.99/litre or around £35 for 5 litres. Anyone know of where is the cheapest place to buy it. Just need some for the top up.

Secondly my bonnet catch is rusting. How do I go about cleaning it and protecting it from further rust. Was going to get a wire brush, to brush off the rush and then oil it. But wanted to check before I do this in case I break something.

Won't be getting any work done at the Toyota Huddersfield dealership! They even messed up the recall work I stupidly took it there for.

[bruce e]

You seem to be at odds with your local dealership (presumably where you bought it from) they could easliy have overfilled the coolant & charged you for it, they didn't & I presume they didn't charge for the check. My experience of three different T dealerships has been first rate, perhaps you wee unlucky?

As to the bonnet catch try Kurust & then oil it.

[ziauris]

I bought the vehicle used, a service was included in the price and they told me it had been serviced before I took the keys. I've even got the servicing list which has the tick box in the "check fluid levels" TICKED. I don't think they did anything and just ticked the boxes and took my money.

When I got it home and checked everything, I noticed the pink coolant was low so a few days later I took it back and told them the coolant was low, even below the mark that says "LOW" (it had some other problems as well - it has rattles all over the place - which they also refused to fix "not covered under the warranty" - useless piece of paper - doesn't cover anything). They told me coolant level was fine!!! So they lied to me and did not fill it up after I spent 25 miles driving there and wasting 3 hours of my time. Won't be taking it there for ANY work and probably won't be buying a toyota again. The quality seems to have gone downhill.

Anyway where is the cheapest place to buy this coolant, outside of toyota? Anywhere cheaper than 10.99 on eBay? Or is there any generic equiavalent like the Halifords, etc...

[FROSTYBALLS]

Think the Toyota coolant advertised on eBay is actually from the Burrows Toyota eBay shop (a Toyota dealer), and is about as cheap as you will get for the OE coolant.

The rust on the bonnet catch just looks like surface rust - so a gentle wire brushing, treatment with Kurust and an oiling afterwards should suffice (from your picture there does seem to be a lack of protective lubrication on the catch).

[Chris_munday]

Hate to be the bearer of worry but cars on a whole shouldn't drop coolant. There has been a massive issue with the head gaskets going on the auris 2007 models. Mine started loosing coolant and over-heating. Took it into a garage for an inspection which included a block test and they concluded the head gasket had gone. Fortunately they have some sort of warranty that they aren't too keen on publishing because there was a build issue with their engines they will do a 3 1/4 engine re-build under this warranty (about £6,000 worth of work!!!). I would advise taking it into your dealer and having the engine inspection done. it cost me £59 and saved me £0000's in repair bills.

[Awebb180]

Hate to be the bearer of worry but cars on a whole shouldn't drop coolant. There has been a massive issue with the head gaskets going on the auris 2007 models. Mine started loosing coolant and over-heating. Took it into a garage for an inspection which included a block test and they concluded the head gasket had gone. Fortunately they have some sort of warranty that they aren't too keen on publishing because there was a build issue with their engines they will do a 3 1/4 engine re-build under this warranty (about £6,000 worth of work!!!). I would advise taking it into your dealer and having the engine inspection done. it cost me £59 and saved me £0000's in repair bills.

His profile says he has a 1.6 Auris so head gasket issue isnt applicable to this vehicle.

Alex

[Parts-King]

Fortunately they have some sort of warranty that they aren't too keen on publishing because there was a build issue with their engines they will do a 3 1/4 engine re-build under this warranty

Where have you been, Mars? It is the most talked about thing on this forum and the internet in general. Hardly keeping it secret is it? ;)

Kingo

[Chris_munday]

Fortunately they have some sort of warranty that they aren't too keen on publishing because there was a build issue with their engines they will do a 3 1/4 engine re-build under this warranty

Where have you been, Mars? It is the most talked about thing on this forum and the internet in general. Hardly keeping it secret is it? ;)

Kingo

If you actually read my post properly it said "They aren't too keen on publishing"...... "They" being the key word. I hardly think toyota head gaskets are "the most talked about thing on the internet in general" either. Sorry to point out your ignorance but if you weren't so rude I wouldn't have felt the need!

[bruce e]

Fortunately they have some sort of warranty that they aren't too keen on publishing because there was a build issue with their engines they will do a 3 1/4 engine re-build under this warranty

Where have you been, Mars? It is the most talked about thing on this forum and the internet in general. Hardly keeping it secret is it? ;)

Kingo

If you actually read my post properly it said "They aren't too keen on publishing"...... "They" being the key word. I hardly think toyota head gaskets are "the most talked about thing on the internet in general" either. Sorry to point out your ignorance but if you weren't so rude I wouldn't have felt the need!

Perhaps I'm being a little obtuse but who are you referring to when you say "They"?

A quick search here for "diesel head gaskets" produces ten pages of response. That's a lot in my book.

Why so angry? Kingo has been a very helpful to many members of this forum in the past, perhaps you just had a bad day!

[Chris_munday]

Fortunately they have some sort of warranty that they aren't too keen on publishing because there was a build issue with their engines they will do a 3 1/4 engine re-build under this warranty

Where have you been, Mars? It is the most talked about thing on this forum and the internet in general. Hardly keeping it secret is it? ;)

Kingo

If you actually read my post properly it said "They aren't too keen on publishing"...... "They" being the key word. I hardly think toyota head gaskets are "the most talked about thing on the internet in general" either. Sorry to point out your ignorance but if you weren't so rude I wouldn't have felt the need!

Perhaps I'm being a little obtuse but who are you referring to when you say "They"?

A quick search here for "diesel head gaskets" produces ten pages of response. That's a lot in my book.

Why so angry? Kingo has been a very helpful to many members of this forum in the past, perhaps you just had a bad day!

Helpful or not, no need to be rude when all I was doing was trying to be helpful (Thats what forums are for). By "they" I am referring to Toyota. Not had a bad day at all been enjoying the sun :). To be honest this is going a little off topic so I'll stop here.

[Red Yaris 54]

Fortunately they have some sort of warranty that they aren't too keen on publishing because there was a build issue with their engines they will do a 3 1/4 engine re-build under this warranty

Where have you been, Mars? It is the most talked about thing on this forum and the internet in general. Hardly keeping it secret is it? ;)

Kingo

If you actually read my post properly it said "They aren't too keen on publishing"...... "They" being the key word. I hardly think toyota head gaskets are "the most talked about thing on the internet in general" either. Sorry to point out your ignorance but if you weren't so rude I wouldn't have felt the need!

Perhaps I'm being a little obtuse but who are you referring to when you say "They"?

A quick search here for "diesel head gaskets" produces ten pages of response. That's a lot in my book.

Why so angry? Kingo has been a very helpful to many members of this forum in the past, perhaps you just had a bad day!

Helpful or not, no need to be rude when all I was doing was trying to be helpful (Thats what forums are for). By "they" I am referring to Toyota. Not had a bad day at all been enjoying the sun :). To be honest this is going a little off topic so I'll stop here.

I think that it is a good idea that you do stop there!

Kingo is a well respected and very helpful contributor to this forum

To accuse him of being ignorant is totally out of order.........Maybe you should reconsider your attitude to other forum members and show a bit of mutual respect?

[Parts-King]

If you actually read my post properly it said "They aren't too keen on publishing"...... "They" being the key word. I hardly think toyota head gaskets are "the most talked about thing on the internet in general" either. Sorry to point out your ignorance but if you weren't so rude I wouldn't have felt the need!

Ignorant? Rude? You want ignorant and rude? I can do that for you no problem, but I would not stoop as low as you on an open internet forum ;)

It was you that jumped to the conclusion of head gasket failure, despite the OP having a 1.6 Auris which DO NOT suffer head gasket failure

Yes Toyota have had issues with head gasket failure (as have a lot of other car manufacturers) but the Toyota response has to be the best of any manufacturer, actually admitting to the issue and extending the warranty to 7 years, would you see that from many other manufacturers? No of course not

So, if you have been on Mars, just type into Google "Toyota Head Gasket Failure" and it should show about 6 million results, the same can be said on TOC, it is a hot subject.

So next time before you jump on your high horse perhaps you could actually assist the OP with correct information and get your facts right before calling people rude and ignorant........just a thought ;)

Kingo

[ziauris]

Just to update: The cheapest I can find for Toyota pink super long life coolant from Burrows is £~£7.50. The price seems to fluctuate wildly depending on the dealership, Huddersfield want £~9.50, Bradford want £~11! Bradford refused to price match Huddersfield or Burrows unless I get a faxed confirmation of price from Huddersfield/Burrows, even though Huddersfield and Bradford are part of the same Group (RRG)!!!!!

The cheapest undiluted pink i can find is http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mobil-1-Antifreeze-ADVANCED-Anti-Freeze-Coolant-Car-Pink-Red-1L-OAT-G12-G12-VW-/140981610410?pt=UK_Vehicle_Oils_Lubricants_Fluids&hash=item20d328a7aa which is undilted and so better value for money, but am a bit nervous about using it.

I looked at the USA site and 4 Litres of Toyota pink SLLC is £18. Another example of rip off britain and rip off toyota!

[Red Yaris 54]

Note that Toyota Super Long life Anti Freeze/Coolant has a life of 10 years in new Toyotas whereas the Mobil on sale at eBay is only good for 4 years

Surely worth keeping to OEM standards even if it is slightly more expensive

Also the Mobil must be diluted with water.......Caution not to use tap water as this can contain impurities which may cause internal engine corrosion and scaling :(

Shipping costs from USA would make the price unreasonable

[ziauris]

Note that Toyota Super Long life Anti Freeze/Coolant has a life of 10 years in new Toyotas whereas the Mobil on sale at EBay is only good for 4 years

Surely worth keeping to OEM standards even if it is slightly more expensive

Also the Mobil must be diluted with water.......Caution not to use tap water as this can contain impurities which may cause internal engine corrosion and scaling :(

Shipping costs from USA would make the price unreasonable

I was not thinking of buying it from the USA, I was demonstrating that Toyota pink coolant in the USA is £18 for ~4 Litres. Here the same costs you £35 or more!!!! Rip off Britain or treasure island as the dealers call it.

[Red Yaris 54]

Note that Toyota Super Long life Anti Freeze/Coolant has a life of 10 years in new Toyotas whereas the Mobil on sale at EBay is only good for 4 years

Surely worth keeping to OEM standards even if it is slightly more expensive

Also the Mobil must be diluted with water.......Caution not to use tap water as this can contain impurities which may cause internal engine corrosion and scaling :(

Shipping costs from USA would make the price unreasonable

I was not thinking of buying it from the USA, I was demonstrating that Toyota pink coolant in the USA is £18 for ~4 Litres. Here the same costs you £35 or more!!!! Rip off Britain or treasure island as the dealers call it.

Pricing structures on the Global Market make the prices charged for items in USA and UK impossible to compare.......To so attempt is irrelevant in the case of motor vehicle service items