Toyota Essential Care service

[cass1]

My Prius is 5 years old now. contacted Steven Eagle re this and was e mailed a 3 year service plan with Promise of reduced MoT cost as part of plan. 

On receipt of the plan I saw that the oil quoted in the service pan was 5W30PFE as opposed to 0W20.

I queried this with Stephen Eagle and the reply was as the vehicle is over 5 years old this was recommended. how ever I could convert to a normal service where the 0W20 would be used. As you can imagine there is a large price hike of about £120, but that includes Battery fob change and cabin air filter I was assured.

I have decided to have my brake fluid changed , hybrid health check and both Toyota recalls addressed instead.

The Devil in in the detail.

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

From your post it isn't clear whether you have just been provided with a service plan quote or been quoted for a service under Toyota's recently introduced service regime, Essential Care, for vehicles over five years old.

Toyota have also revised the costs of their Fixed Price Service scheme, and revised what is included within the Intermediate, Full and Full+ services.

The price difference between the Essential Care service and either Intermediate or Full services isn't £120.

So, as you've said the Devil is in the detail, what have you actually been quoted for ????

See https://www.toyota.co.uk/caring-for-your-toyota/service-and-maintenance/car-servicing.json

[cass1]

The gold service is £180, the oil is 5W30, I was quoted to upgrade to the correct 0W20 I would have to revert to a "normal service" which would include a cabin filter and Battery fob, which would be £300

[FROSTYBALLS]

So presumably Eagles are charging a bit less for the Full service, and presumably you're having your car serviced using the mileage based servicing regime (ie. every 10,000 miles) as opposed to the time-based regime (every 12 months), as a Full service isn't due at five years.

[cass1]

The bottom line for me is that this dealership will only service the vehicle on aToyota Essential Service plan using 5W30 oil.

There is a potential drop in economy for the vehicle on a thicker oil.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Ignoring the Essential Care service, and reverting back to the standard servicing regime, is the vehicle due an Intermediate service or a Full service? If you're having a Full service when only an Intermediate is due, you're wasting your money.

[Heidfirst]

22 minutes ago, cass1 said:

The bottom line for me is that this dealership will only service the vehicle on aToyota Essential Service plan using 5W30 oil.

 

that's a short-sighted dealer imo. All 3 Toyota dealers that I have used would even let me supply my own oil if I wanted & deduct an appropriate amount for doing so. It's now on a service plan as it was a bit of a no-brainer (1 Full, 1 Intermediate & 2 MOTs for iirc £330 - admittedly it isn't a hybrid).

[Cyker]

On a slight tangent, (And I can't remember if I've asked this already!) but does anyone know what the difference between the Silver and Intermediate services, and the Full and Gold ones aside from a sizeable number of £££'s??
 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Part way down the following page is an Essential Care comparison that one can download - https://www.toyota.co.uk/caring-for-your-toyota/service-and-maintenance/car-servicing.json?utm_source=ToyotaOwnersClub&utm_medium=ForumLinks

The comparison states what the silver and gold services cover.

[Cyker]

No, no, what I'm asking is the difference between the pairs; For instance, on paper the Intermediate and the Silver services are identical and I'm confused as to why there is such a big price difference!

Is the oil used cheaper? Optifit air filters??

Service carried out by interns rather than main mechanics??

Maybe older cars are easier to work on so they don't require as much mechanic time??

Because the price difference is not insignificant!
 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Other manufacturers have similar schemes for when the car is outside the new car warranty, and generally this is when owners consider moving away from main dealers. Ford, VW and Hyundai definitely have similar schemes.

Think the main reason would be for the dealerships to be able to compete more effectively with the independents, rather than offering a lesser quality service. Also Essential Care services comply with the extended warranty requirement of having cars with extended warranties serviced inside the Toyoita dealer network.

[johalareewi]

You could just do pay as you go servicing rather than a plan.  That way you can have the oil you want, but without the key fob, cabin filter, etc.

 

[jgodfrey]

This is interesting. I wasn't aware of these lower priced 'Essential Services'. A service price of £100 (which includes a HHC) is very reasonable for cars over 5 years old, although its disappointing that they don't include the 0W20 oil. But as has been said before you could always supply your own oil which is about £45 for 5L...

[FROSTYBALLS]

The Essential Care scheme (not Essential services) has only recently been introduced. The non use of 0W-20 oil may be the decision of that particular dealership, rather than a standard feature of the scheme.

[Cyker]

Yeah, it was rather conveniently introduced round about the time they raised the prices of all the normal services, those cunning gits 

I'm pretty sure it was deliberate because I think a lot of people like me would have stopped servicing their cars there if they were forced to pay the elevated rates. It's good Toyota realised that, but it's still a nasty gouge to new owners and people who don't know about the Silver/Gold services :(

 

[jgodfrey]

I seem to remember when I first bought the Prius an interim service was about £110, they are now charging £180 for this, which is steep considering how few serviceable parts there are. The Essential Care services seem to be good value considering they include a HHC. Next time my car needs a service I'll opt for this option I think! Has anyone else had one done yet?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Back in 2010 Toyota dealers set their own costs for servicing, and prices could vary a lot between dealers. From memory and by checking back through TOC threads Toyota's Fixed Price Servicing scheme was introduced late in 2011.

[jgodfrey]

On ‎05‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 4:29 PM, jgodfrey said:

I seem to remember when I first bought the Prius an interim service was about £110, they are now charging £180 for this, which is steep considering how few serviceable parts there are. The Essential Care services seem to be good value considering they include a HHC. Next time my car needs a service I'll opt for this option I think! Has anyone else had one done yet?

Had the Auris and Prius done this month and opted for the Silver Service on both of them. No issues to report, Jemca Reading used the correct 0W20 oil and we were charged £100 for each one. Decent value IMO :-)

[Santii]

Hi jgodfrey.

very reasonable! Did you these outside of any plans etc? How long did the servicing take?

living in north London it maybe I need to organise this properly...

[jgodfrey]

On ‎30‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 4:57 PM, Santii said:

Hi jgodfrey.

very reasonable! Did you these outside of any plans etc? How long did the servicing take?

living in north London it maybe I need to organise this properly...

This was outside any sort of service plan. I'm a bit sceptical of service plans to be honest so just do pay as you go servicing. Not sure how log it took but I dropped it in at 8 and got a call at 2pm to say it was finished. Mostly its just a vehicle check and an oil change so I would have thought 2hrs max?

[Santii]

 

Hi jgodfrey.

Thank you!

excellent. Also becoming a converted sceptic!