Free Inspection Check Experiences?

[Jaris]

Hi all

Just purchased a second hand Yaris a couple of months back and have just sent it through the free inspection check at my local Toyota dealer to get an idea of it's condition. It had it's last MOT almost a year ago which the certificate shows went fine with no advisories.

I was quite shocked when the inspection test came back with 8 Reds requiring attention. The most worrying ones being my two rear suspension springs being 'broken and corroded' and the 'anti roll bar link bushes' being 'split'. They have provided pictures of the above which admitedly show corrosion on the springs (although I'm not sure if I'd go as far to say they looked broken!) and pics of the 'bushes', although I don't really know what I'm looking for in terms of damage on those.

I'm not suggesting that the areas they've highlighted don't need attention, I just find it odd that they weren't highlighted as advisories on the last MOT but now they're saying these parts are broken, my car would fail an MOT and my car is "not safe to drive"? Do you think the dealership are purposefully painting a worse picture of my car so I will have the repairs done with them?

I was wondering what people's experiences of these tests are? Thanks.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Broken springs have become a commonplace issue in recent years.

Various causes are mooted - corrosion due to the use of salt on winter roads, owners driving over speed humps and pot holes too fast, the ends of tempered springs being flattened - apparently common on European manufactured springs (your Yaris was probably built in France), which allows the spring to corrode earlier than if the ends were 'pigged' -, etc.

With the last MOT the springs may well have been showing signs of corrosion, but not actually have been broken. The breaks may be towards the top of the spring and not immediately obvious.

You could always get a second opinion.

[Jaris]

Thanks for the reply. I considered going elsewhere for a second opinion but it's really too late to get anything done before my MOT is due anyway, so I'm thinking I'll just get my MOT done where I usually go, which is another local garage near me that I trust. So then if they come back with similar reports I won't have any arguements really.

But when someone gives you a report which has 'non-genuine mates fitted' as a red it made me question how severe these problems really were! Also the fact the person behind the desk kinda pushed for me to have the work done with them, even if with cheaper parts, made me question the whole process.

So I guess I'll wait til the MOT and post the outcome on here. Will be interesting to see!

[FROSTYBALLS]

Toyota has issued recalls in the past to check on car mats, which if unsecured, can ride forward and affect the operation of the brake and accelerator pedals. Caused a big problem for them in the US.

For Toyota having unsecured non-genuine car mats is an issue they take very seriously. Genuine Toyota car mats use a peg system that holds the driver's mat in place.

I've been in a car (a Mitsubishi) where the driver had the driver's carpet mat move forwards and jam the accelerator pedal open, and it was an 'interesting' experience - solved by the driver turning the engine off and coasting to the side of the road.

[Cyker]

Yeah, they keep throwing my driver's side rubber mat in the boot every time I take it for servicing, even tho' it is secured to the floor hook. I think the workshop mechanics have all been told that, if the mat doesn't say Toyota on it, remove it, regardless.

The ARB bushes on Mk1 and I think Mk2 Yarisusesises have a reputation for being a bit crap; Quite a few of us have had the advisory, had them replaced, only to get the same advisory again a year or to later!

The thing is, the rubbers tend to get a perished look on the outside very quickly, but the rubbers themselves are just fine and still do their job. You'll know if they need replacing as the suspension will clonk noticeably when hitting potholes and bumps etc., so most of us tend to ignore the advisory until that happens.

On my old Yaris, I swapped them out for some polyurethane ones (~£50 from superflex) and never got the advisory again in the entire time I owned the car.

Current Yaris is starting to clonk (!Removed! speed cushions! Hate them soooo much), and I think it might be the ARB bushes, but am going to double check them first as it's quite a lot of money for what's essentially a bolt and some rubber spheres! (£50 for the poly ones, but only £20 for a pattern part. The Toyota kit is over £80!! )

I share your suspicion about some of the things on the sheet tho' - I always get odd things; Last time it was the rear suspension bushes needed urgent replacement, but they looked okay to me so I ignored it. Come to the most recent service, and surprise surprise - no mention of it at all.

The classic other one I always get is that my windscreen wipers are smearing, when I know there's nothing wrong with them. (Silicone wipers; Best things I ever put on this car :D)

Some dealer's are pretty good, but my nearest one I only trust them enough to let them do the servicing and even then they seem to not do things like filters or fob batteries; Any other work I tend to take to the one further away or get my travelling mechanic mate to do it.

[Jaris]

^Haha, yep i had the wiper one also :)

I haven't had any noises to suspect there is something wrong underneath which is why I think I'll wait on the MOT result first.

Were u able to swap the bushes out yourself or is it a big job?

[Cyker]

The Superflex poly ones are a nightmare as you have to drop them in from the top, and that requires unbolting two nearly impossible-to-access brackets in order to move the anti-roll bar out the way of the front axles.

(I think it would be possible to do it without this, but you'd have to guess how much to saw off as the bolt they supply is actually for a Scion xB and too long for a Yaris if you're pushing it up from the bottom, as the excess will hit the front axles. It's pretty hard so you'd probably have to use an angle grinder or be sawing for ages!)

The Toyota and pattern part ones are much easier as they are the correct length and have nylock nuts at both ends, instead of a one nut and a hexhead, thus you can slide the bolt in from the bottom after jacking the car up; Maybe a 15-30 minute job vs a 30-60 minute job

If I ever have to do it again, I'm going to buy the bolt and nuts from Toyota/ECP and use the polyurethane and metal cups from the Superflex kit I think... best of both worlds!

[MikeSh]

Thanks for the reply. I considered going elsewhere for a second opinion but it's really too late to get anything done before my MOT is due anyway, so I'm thinking I'll just get my MOT done where I usually go, which is another local garage near me that I trust. So then if they come back with similar reports I won't have any arguements really.

So I guess I'll wait til the MOT and post the outcome on here. Will be interesting to see!

Probably too late for you this time, but you can take a car for MoT a month before the expiry and still retain that expiry date. If you do that and it fails you can still use the car as you have a valid certificate until the expiry date - and a month to get it fixed.

If it passes anyway, you're sorted :D

The proviso on that is that if the car is unsafe plod might pull you (but that is the case at anytime, regardless of MoT).

[Jaris]

So, I sent my car through it's MOT and it passed with no advisories! Not entirely sure what I should do now :)

[FROSTYBALLS]

Well its your choice. Either keep an eye on the areas advisories were issued for or wait until problems occur.

[Cyker]

Yup; Treat them as false alarms but areas to keep an eye on.

Split ARB links and broken springs would be an MOT fail, so clearly they aren't split/broken, and as said before you'd notice from the way the car handles if either of those had truly gone.

I was ignoring split ARB advisories for years (I think I got to 5 before I changed my car ) after the first time, until I decided to get polys!

It might be worth seeing if there is another Toyota dealer within a reasonable distance of you; While they might both be branded Toyota, I find there ican be quite a big variance in quality.

The two nearest to me are a Jemca-franchised one and a Hills-franchised one, and the Hills is by far the better dealer - Customer service standard is very high, and prices are far more reasonable, and the technical staff are really good (Alas it's double the distance!). The Jemca one is a disgrace by comparison, customer service sucks, their technical staff are either incompetent or Kwik Fit rejects, and they always try to over charge for parts and service, even tho' they supposedly take part in the fixed-price servicing scheme.