Major Service

[headhurts]

I have just had my 2010 Avensis serviced and MOT.

I had a couple of issues and as the car has sold I did agonise over to pay for the major service or have an intermediate.

So a few things shocked me and I will share and hopefully get some useful comments.

The work was carried out on a Saturday, the following day whilst cleaning the car I decided to remove all items ready for sale, imagine my surprise when checking the spare to see stale water sitting in the well so no check on spare then.

On the MOT advisory was a screw in tyre so I decided to have a replacement tyre fitted.

The tyre fitter had trouble removing the wheel as it was stuck on, when off there was a fair amount of rust between alloy wheel and hub which he cleaned off for me, he was happy to say the wheel had not been off.

When I tackled the dealership they told me it was not required that the wheel be removed for this service.

My car is now 4 years old purchased new so it is possible and indeed likely that in 4 years of main dealer servicing the wheels had never been removed.

Does anyone else find this surprising and frightening?

So is it really worthwhile paying for a major service especially when several of the tick boxes were marked N/A.

Just makes me wonder what was checked.

[gazza1286]

Not surprised at all. The thickness of the padscan be checked without removing the wheel. Also the brake fluid can be swapped without removing the wheel. The handbrake shoes are designed to last the life of the car so they wouldn't have been checked.

The Dealership have access to a hoist so all of these can be checked without removing the wheels.

Brake slider lubrication isn't part of the service - it should be. But you'd just be charged more.

The technicians will all have had the same training and be working from the same tight work schedules so most Dealerships will probably be the same. Time is money and profit.

[headhurts]

So no wheel off is fine when I watched the tyre fitter with car fully jacked up wriggling the wheel made me wonder how I would manage with the car supplied kit.

I used to get the door hinges lubricated but that is no longer done.

Mostly my point is there seems to be very little between intermediate and major other than £200 of course.

But thanks for your view which is very useful but still makes me sad, I used to be a mechanic many moons ago but for sure things change.

[Heidfirst]

"Mostly my point is there seems to be very little between intermediate and major other than £200 of course."

On Toyota's Fixed Price Servicing scheme there is £80 between Intermediate & Full.

£190 between Intermediate & Full+.

You will of course have paid for your MOT (up to £54). MOT doesn't require checking spare.

[mcorban]

My last service on the E11 recommended replacement of the brake discs and pads on the rear.

I pointed out that it had drums and shoes, and the shoes were changed a month previous by myself

No harm to check your service report though. That said, i had some work done like cv boots previously by the dealer, and they came in alot cheaper than independents, and used genuine parts, rather than universal parts.

So it's a double edged sword, depends on the dealer i suppose.

[korat102]

No tyre rotation these days then? Dunno about the Avensis but my Verso manual clearly shows tyre rotation required on a regular basis. As for the MOT, I thought they DID check the spare if it was present.

[FROSTYBALLS]

I thought it used to be. According to the following site, unless it is fitted to the vehicle in place of one of the OE wheels, the spare isn't checked: http://www.motester.co.uk/mot-general-information/mot-information-for-motorists/prepare-your-car-for-the-mot

Interestingly, if a spacesaver is fitted in place of one of the normal sized wheels, it will be a fail.

Out of the 17 cars we've had, none have had tyre rotation carried out as part of a service.