Customer Satisfaction

[RunningInPleasePass]

I've been driving a Toyota for nearly three years now, the first one an Auris diesel and now an Auris hybrid.

During this time I've also been reading these threads, and one of the impressions I have is that the glory days of Toyota customer relations are behind us now, they used to be the best but are now only average.

This is born out with the latest JD Power Survey that I've been reading.

http://www.whatcar.co.uk/car-news/overall-results/1206902

With my, admittedly limited experience of Toyota, I have to agree with these results, both the cars and the dealer service are average, neither poor nor outstanding.

What I do find puzzling is that Lexus, a Toyota brand, is so much better regarded, this shows that Toyota knows how to treat it's customers but only if you buy a Lexus and not if you buy a Toyota.

I know that most Lexus models are far more expensive then Toyota's, so I suppose the cars a better made, but this is no explanation for the inferior customer relations.

[Peter Sale]

I don't think much has changed in a long time. Although I reckon Toyota are good cars compared to others I have owned, I have never rated their customer relations when you have a problem.

In 2000 I bought an Avensis D4-D which went well, was good on fuel, but made a ghostly noise intermittently. It drove me mad and one day my wife went out but came back home due to the noise as she didn't trust the car. Car went to dealers more times than I care to mention, had my own courtesy car which I got to know very well. Toyota did nothing to fix it, only wrote a condescending letter to say the noise was 'like a clutch squeak, only less'. From this you would think it a little noise that you struggled to hear, probably when all was silent - no, you could hear it above the engine at 50 mph amongst all the wind and diesel noise.

In the end as Toyota GB did nothing I traded it in for a Honda Accord - that was a good car. Although I have gone back to Toyota and there are two outside, I have no faith in Toyota GB customer relations and haven't had for 13 years.

Being positive, it is all about being the right price, Honda have gone very expensive and are suffering as a result, Lexus charge such a premium. Of course, you could get a French car for much less but then your problems would really start - believe me. One car I put in for repair broke again on the way round from the workshop to the reception !

[FROSTYBALLS]

Think most manufacturers see the first point of call for owners as being the dealer, and the majority of manufacturer customer service set ups are pretty poor.

An experience I had with Mazda supported this - the coil pack and HT lead were faulty on our 8 month old Mazda 2. Coil pack was replaced, but Mazda customer services expected me to wait over 10 weeks for a replacement HT lead - only resolved when I insisted they fit the equivalent Ford part (car was built by Ford in Valencia).

Then again when I bought my 2006 Corolla and wanted a Toyota alarm fitted, Toyota customer services were quite good. The dealer insisted the alarm was only an option for the T3, and couldn't be fitted to the Colour Collection. I contacted Toyota customer service, who, after I quoted from the brochure that the Colour Collection was based on the T3, got all the required part numbers and telephoned the dealer with the details. Had the alarm fitted when I collected the car.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

My local Toyota dealers are cracking. So good in fact that my girlfriend bought a Toyota having had dreadful experiences from the local Honda dealer.

One could go further though; is it Toyota dealers who are average OR Toyota UK?

Addition: Having read the link it is odd that the Prius could fall out of favour for driver satisfaction so quickly. Maybe there are more owners out there suffering niggles and faults like I have.

[RunningInPleasePass]

My local Toyota dealers are cracking. So good in fact that my girlfriend bought a Toyota having had dreadful experiences from the local Honda dealer.

One could go further though; is it Toyota dealers who are average OR Toyota UK?

Addition: Having read the link it is odd that the Prius could fall out of favour for driver satisfaction so quickly. Maybe there are more owners out there suffering niggles and faults like I have.

As we both live in God's Own County I would like to know who your dealer is, it's always good to have a recommendation from a satisfied customer.

I would say Toyota UK are average, perhaps a little reluctant to listen to customer suggestions, spare wheels instead of gunk, 17" low profile tyres or nothing, and HUD spring to mind.

My local dealer is better then average, but they let me down when the 12 volt Battery failed in my car, it took them over 3 weeks to source one when every other poster on here with the same problem was sorted out almost straight away.

[FROSTYBALLS]

At least we have Toyota GB to thank for the 5 year/100,000 mile new car warranty - the rest of Europe are stuck with the 3 year/100,000km new car warranty.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

At least we have Toyota GB to thank for the 5 year/100,000 mile new car warranty - the rest of Europe are stuck with the 3 year/100,000km new car warranty.

Well a quick search of EU Toyota websites shows this not to be entirely correct;

http://www.toyota.no/own/for_toyota-eiere/garantier/generelle_garantier.tmex

Norway even sees fit to offer a 300,000km warranty on taxis. Good idea. Might explain why you see many Prii taxis in some Countries, yet other places turn their noses up at them.

Sure the French website reveals a 5 years 60,000 mile warranty, but you can count on one hand the number of Toyotas in France. Maybe there's a connection?

http://www.toyota.fr/service/eurocare.tmex

[Lorna2]

At least we have Toyota GB to thank for the 5 year/100,000 mile new car warranty - the rest of Europe are stuck with the 3 year/100,000km new car warranty.

Well a quick search of EU Toyota websites shows this not to be entirely correct;

http://www.toyota.no/own/for_toyota-eiere/garantier/generelle_garantier.tmex

Norway even sees fit to offer a 300,000km warranty on taxis. Good idea. Might explain why you see many Prii taxis in some Countries, yet other places turn their noses up at them.

Sure the French website reveals a 5 years 60,000 mile warranty, but you can count on one hand the number of Toyotas in France. Maybe there's a connection?

http://www.toyota.fr/service/eurocare.tmex

But the 5 year warranty in France is only on the hybrids, the rest of the range still only gets 3 years

[FROSTYBALLS]

Yes - accept that Norway offers a five year new car warranty.

The Toyota France new car warranty is 3 years/100,000km - with extensions that one can purchase. It is the hybrid synergy drive warranty that's five years.

[PeteB]

I wonder if we have Hyundai and Kia to thank for Toyota's 5 year warranty?

[PeteB]

I must say I've found the dealer I've been using in Norwich for the last 11 years to have been excellent. I've bought 3 Prius (all ex-demos) and a Yaris (new) from them, had all my servicing (and a few on a company Prius I had some years ago) done there and bought most of my tyres from them. I've found them to be very competitive on price too. They always go out of their way for me when necessary.

A good example was when my Mk1 Prius 12v Battery failed, they ordered a new one only to find the wrong size had been delivered. As I then lived 100 miles away, they arranged for one of their staff to rendezvous with me on my way home from my parents on the Sunday and swap with the Battery in their current demonstrator. They then obtained the correct size for their demonstrator.

As a point of interest, soon after that my car was totalled in a crash, and I bought the Prius demonstrator that had donated the Battery. It was still in the car and going strong when I sold it 9 years later with 163,000 miles on the clock!

My present Prius T3 ex-demo was 6 months old with 3750 miles on it when I got it, and it's just had a 20k service and 2 front tyres, and has been perfect so far (touching wood!). They even lent me their plugin Prius for the day to play with (probably hoping I'd buy it - and I'd love to, if only it had a spare wheel - or somewhere to put one if I bought one separately).

[Grumpy Cabbie]

My car has let me down many times - the dealers haven't.

[FROSTYBALLS]

I wonder if we have Hyundai and Kia to thank for Toyota's 5 year warranty?

After the accelerator pedal recall of 2010, Toyota GB introduced the five year/100,000 mile new car warranty from June 2010, to help restore customer confidence in the UK. So the Toyota five year new car warranty was not in response to the warranties of Hyundai and Kia. The 2 year extension is a mechanical warranty.

[timberwolf]

I thought it was due to the brake "feel" recall? The USA had the so called unintended acceleration fault due to the design of their accelerator pedal - I thunk UK Gen 3s had a different design?

[johalareewi]

The extra 2 years warranty was across the board (not just gen3 Prius). It coincided with a lot of bad worldwide publicity largely due to the sticking accelerator issues.

[Parts-King]

When I first worked for a Toyota dealer (1977) we sold 100 cars a year if we were lucky, and the warranty manual had an entry once a week

Now we sell 1000 a year, and the complexity of the models is nothing like it was in those bad old days

In terms of percentage, the product is better today than it has ever been. You read forums to gain information, but the downside is you read the negativity about the brand, however forums are not real world. From the tens of thousands of Toyota customers, you have a tiny fraction of one percentage point come on to TOC and the like to bemoan the product. Toyota do not come on here to answer customer questions (at least not very often) and this is seen as aloof, but in reality all it would do is stir up feelings and they would be in a no win situation.

The vast majority of contact with Toyota is passed back to the dealer because they are in the best position to sort out problems, they are also usually legally responsible, if you have made a purchase from that dealer. This is how all manufacturers operate, maybe it is seen as passing the buck, but it is not

Now I know this post will bring all sorts of "well when I contacted them they were rubbish" type of stories, but for the vast majority of people (many tens of thousands each year) they are perfectly happy with their dealer, product and Toyota. it is not to say there cannot be improvements, but Toyota were the original companies who operated Kaizen-continuous improvement programmes, which they still operate today and have been copied by all the major companies around the world. They do listen to customers, but just because one person wants a digital clock, it does not mean it will happen, neither does it mean they have not listened

Kingo

[Chris Dance]

Hi Kingo, In reply to your write up, I am a Toyota owner who has had dealings wth 3 Toyota dealers. All 3 have been very good and much better than the Volvo and the dreaded British Leyland and Vauxhall dealers I have had to deal with in the past. I am disappointed with Toyota cars that have no spare wheel; and even if there is a place for a space in the car for a spare wheel the customer has to buy the spare wheel. I am just hoping that Toyota get the message from AA RAC and the majority of customers that cars should have a spare wheel. I hope new Gen 4 Prius will have a proper spare wheel. I am very intersted in the PIP but not without a spare wheel. We all have preferances for what we like on new cars but if drivers are complaining they cannot see the instruments surely that should be taken "on board" by Toyota; this must be a safety issue. I do like Toyota cars but I think there have been some retrograde design steps on some of the newer models.

[stompe]

Hi Partsking

Firstly i really value your input on here, but at the risk of being contentious, you are a bit biased, your never going to get complete satisfaction on any forum in my opinion, My first question is why do we get mugged off from Toyota regarding pricing and list of options?

2, How comes Lexus (which is part of Toyota) Exceed Customer satisfaction, While Toyota itself is slipping down the tables in the same Category?

I believe Toyota are lucky to be able to see this forum to continue this "Kaizen", they can only achieve this through our customer feedback. Why cant Toyota be a bit more open handed in Customer problems here is my example http://blog.toyota.co.uk/new-toyota-auris-your-questions-answered. I rest my case.

Stompe

[Parts-King]

Not sure what you are trying to say in the link Stompe???

Yes Toyota monitor their own blog, they do not monitor this site in the same way

For specific questions about spec, whats missing, what should be in the car then I suggest people contact Toyota directly as I feel it is lost on here

Lexus is a luxury brand, they sell a tiny propotion of cars compared to Toyota. Customer numbers are therefore tiny in comparison, I would expect to see more satisfied customers, just because of the brand / quality of the product

I will always give the other side of the debate where I can, thats not biase, just another perspective

Kingo

[FROSTYBALLS]

In 2009/2010 the US had two recalls, both around the same time - one was the accelerator pedal recall, which became worldwide and affected a number of UK models (eg some models of the Auris). Basically there were two makes of accelerator pedal - on made by Denso, which gave no problems, and another made by a GM subsidiary, which could develop play in the mechanism. It was after this accelerator pedal recall that Toyota GB introduced the 5 year new car warranty.

Think if people wish to raise issues with Toyota, the Toyota Blog is the place to do it, rather than Toyota Owners Club - as with the Blog, you are in direct touch with Toyota.

[Sagitar]

I can't disagree with anything that Kingo says and it must be very difficult to satisfy all of the people all of the time.

With my local dealer (from whom by the way I have bought my last four motor cars and had all my servicing done) I have had many, many more good experiences than bad, but I could still list four or five instances of them failing to meet my reasonable expectations.

I have had far less contact with Toyota corporate and my experiences have generally been good but they did manage to rile me quite severely with their off handedness during my recent change of car.

Are they listening? I don't have enough evidence to draw wide conclusions, though I have yet to find any independent acquaintance who thinks that losing the spare wheel is a good idea.

Do they communicate well? Pretty well most of the time but not always and not in the kind of detail that I would like. e.g When I asked whether the HUD was the same as that in my previous car I was told "yes". But it isn't - it does not include navigation information and that was quite important to me. Similarly, the reversing camera does not provide the very helpful vehicle placement information that used to be there. The liberal use of the (if fitted) note in the users manual can hide a multitude of sins. In the end it is my own fault. I didn't do my research well enough, but it doesn't make me feel good.

It's the human condition isn't it?

[stompe]

Not sure what you are trying to say in the link Stompe???

Yes Toyota monitor their own blog, they do not monitor this site in the same way

For specific questions about spec, whats missing, what should be in the car then I suggest people contact Toyota directly as I feel it is lost on here

Lexus is a luxury brand, they sell a tiny propotion of cars compared to Toyota. Customer numbers are therefore tiny in comparison, I would expect to see more satisfied customers, just because of the brand / quality of the product

I will always give the other side of the debate where I can, thats not biase, just another perspective

Kingo

What im saying is that Toyota brow beat you into accepting what is totally wrong in principle, like the Brake incident which was denied right up to the press got hold of it, As regards to Lexus which stands for Luxury Export to United States, it might be prudent to adopt there strategy at Toyota, But do they care much about our Uk market? my feeling!!! not much as for the dealers we can plainly see there very hit and miss.

[RunningInPleasePass]

Perhaps Toyota should merge the Lexus and Toyota dealer network, that way we could all enjoy the better dealer experience?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Don't think merging the dealer networks would work - would probably improve the Toyota dealer experience a bit, but dilute the Lexus dealer experience more.

Don't think that dealerships with more than one marque on one site work particularly well.

With a Renault/Kia dealership by me, which has one showroom, I'm sure most people bypassed the Renaults for the Kias. They've recently begun selling Dacia as well - still from the one showroom.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Don't think merging the dealer networks would work - would probably improve the Toyota dealer experience a bit, but dilute the Lexus dealer experience more.

Don't think that dealerships with more than one marque on one site work particularly well.

With a Renault/Kia dealership by me, which has one showroom, I'm sure most people bypassed the Renaults for the Kias. They've recently begun selling Dacia as well - still from the one showroom.

I agree and disagree. I don't think more than one marque works well BUT Toyota and Lexus are one of the same, whereas Renault and Kia are not.

I think Toyota could be losing customers at the top end of their range and Lexus might not be catching them at the lower end. If there was a combined dealers - carefully done and laid out with some element of partition, then anyone wanting to move up from an Avensis could walk round the corner and look at the Lexus and vice versa. As it is, said customer could walk out from Toyota and pop in the BMW dealers.

I also worry when a company starts competing with itself. The Prius and CT200h for example. Wasn't such nonsense the downfall of British Leyland? Triumph competing and undercutting Rover, Austin, Morris and vice versa. A race to the bottom if ever there was.