Decent Toyota Service Dealer

[barrycoll]

After having a Smart car for a couple of years, I discovered the delights of the Toy IQ.

And with the IQ came the discovery of a wonderful small but fully authorized Toyota garage in Nth London, Twinspark Motors....it was never any waiting, first name terms, no hassle sorting out warranty work on IQ despite, vehicle being out of warranty.

Dealer was so good, I then bought a new Gen 3 Prius (solar roof) instead of a new Golf. Then there was the problem of buying a space saver wheel, when all the main dealers, hearing the cars reg number, said the usual brain dead response, of "none available for this car"!...groan

However my small garage said, no problem', and supplied a space saver, and even fitted it for me

Now this year, coming up for my second Prius service, I phone to find that all the numbers are now defunct, and the dealership has gone belly up...........I am devestated, to say the least.

My local one is now Jemcar, which doesn't fill me with great trust

Does anybody have any suggestions please??????

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I guess you're after one in London. My dealer are spot on but about 200 miles away, or do you pass this way often?

[sushd]

My local one is now Jemcar, which doesn't fill me with great trust

Imagine being surrounded by Steven Eagall in every direction for 20 miles out!! Spoilt for choice

They "forgot" to do the HHC when the Prius was in for service last time.

Then a parts manager at one of their centers told me that the Prius Gen 2 Battery cannot be interchanged with a non-AGM Battery (in fact I asked him if I could fit the IQ Battery (which is almost identical to the Prius battery in Ah/CCA other than that it is non-AGM) in Prius or vice versa . This is what he said in his email:

Also the Prius battery will not charge as it is not designed to take charge from the alternator.

Therefore these batteries are different and won’t be interchangeable.

When Letchworth center was with Hills (now Steve Eagell), I used to get the Prius serviced from there. No complaints! Hills have a center at Woodford Green too.

Not sure if the OTSOs are suitable for hybrid servicing!

[barrycoll]

Oh dear, maybe I should have headed this piece "Half Decent Servicing"

I am now thinking that maybe a day trip somewhere (once a year) to get an out of London service (Cambridge???), and a bit of shopping while waiting.....but Yorkishire is just a bit far, and I did think of St Albans but Sush has put the bock on that....

How can I even rely on 0-20 oil???

[Joseph D]

Oh dear, maybe I should have headed this piece "Half Decent Servicing"

I am now thinking that maybe a day trip somewhere (once a year) to get an out of London service (Cambridge???), and a bit of shopping while waiting.....but Yorkishire is just a bit far, and I did think of St Albans but Sush has put the bock on that....

How can I even rely on 0-20 oil???

If you want a nice trip to Bournemouth, I can recommend Westover Toyota. 516 Wallisdown Rd, BH118PT. Much better than my (at the time) local, Lancaster in Colchester.

[sushd]

Oh, I forgot to add another memorable incident that I had with Steven Eagell (in fact this was my very first experience with them):

Wanted to change the headlight bulbs from stock to the then new NIGHTBREAKER / XTREMEVISION ones, so bought a pair of H4s after checking in the user manual, fixed up an appointment at the center ... having agreed to pay £15 as labor.

Handed over the keys at the scheduled time, was told it may take an hour, fine .. waited 45 minutes ..... only to be told by the service manager that the technician assigned to do the job says that the headlight bulbs I had given did not fit as they are the wrong specification!!!

Well, it was very embarrassing for me to correct both the service manager and the technician that GEN 2 has H4 bulbs as standard specs. for headlights!!! It took just 15 minutes more to have the new H4 bulbs duly fitted ..... somehow!

Do the dealers put 5W-30 in my Gen 2? I always tell them to ... but do they?? I have no clue .... the invoice doesn't mention the oil specs.!

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Do the dealers put 5W-30 in my Gen 2? I always tell them to ... but do they?? I have no clue .... the invoice doesn't mention the oil specs.!

It should do, mine always does.

[Duffryn]

I've always been well satisfied with Westlands Toyota at Hereford, they're a small friendly outfit on the A49 2 or 3 miles south of the city, nice folk, nice coffee, easy to talk to techie etc. etc. And Hereford is a pleasant enough place to spend a day in and around.

[barrycoll]

Yes, my now defunct Twinspark Motors, always listed 0-20 oil on the workshop invoice....a fat lot of good it has done them!!

But one wonders just what has happened to all the skilled guys who have worked there

I will put the info from this post in my favourites, to refer to for my next service if Jemcar (whose website reviews are far from flattering) dont deliver

[barrycoll]

Hills of Bishops Stortford look interesting, and wondering if there is any experience of them from you folks?

A loan Hybrid for the day, and a drive to Cambridge for a wander around, could be OK

[sushd]

Do the dealers put 5W-30 in my Gen 2? I always tell them to ... but do they?? I have no clue .... the invoice doesn't mention the oil specs.!

It should do, mine always does.

The only entries in my service invoices state the following wrt engine oil:

1. Toyota Genuine Motor ZDB/OIL (Steven Eagall)

2. Engine Oil (Hills)

Guess every dealer has their own way of invoicing as far as "item description" goes!!

[barrycoll]

"Interesting experience" at Jemca, and very different to my now defunct one man band Twinspark Motors, AND Alan Day VW..

as for most Toy dealers, all smoked glass & mirrors.....service check in these days seems to be young girls, and not VW/Audi public school chappies, so I added a complaint about a rattling sunroof when half open, to the service, nothing was written down...

was due to pick the car up the next day, to avoid the rush hour, but got a phone call from Toy, which seemed more marketing than anything else...wanted to know whether I wanted new Wiper Blades, whether I wanted my brake fluid changed, whether I wanted a new pollen filter and an a/c service, whether I wanted a wheel alignment etc etc..but I said thanks, but no thanks, although I would like my sunrrof to stop rattling...ah, he says, that is normal I am afraid, and wanted to know whether it happened only when I was driving, so (feeling that I was losing the plot here) I suggested that it didn't rattle when the car was stationary...ah ha, he says, well this is the same as windows, which will also rattle when they are half down....but mine dont rattle I replied..

as my blood pressure was climbing towards the red zone, I suggested that I will just pick up the car, and lets forget about the roof..

picked up the car, and then was told that rattles in sunroofs are only guaranteed for 18 months or 20000 miles, (!!!) which left me open mouthed, and felt like a white rabit with a large watch would appear at any moment....talk about thinkng on their feet !!

...anyway, I asked to see the service manager, a very pleasant 'girl', who poured oil on troubled waters by saying that if I could leave the car with them for a couple of day, and phone the customer relations manager whose number she would give me, and complain to them directly, then possibly Toy would pay for a strip down and rectify, which really would have made real sense to tell me in the very first place

(having had trouble with the panoramic sun roof in my last Golf, which was repaired by VW for £1350 just as gthe warranty expired, I didn't want to go there again)

the service sheet notes that 0-20 oil was used, and the car came back washed, and hoovered, but with a rattling sunroof

cost was £218 for a second year service