Toyota Servicing - A good deal?

[PeteC2011]

I am a new Toyota owner and have a 2006 Avensis estate.

I am looking at Toyota's servicing options and I find them pricey.. I am aware of the essential gold and silver options for older cars, but still..

To find out exactly what I would get for my money I decided to put all checks/inspections/replacements for each service option in a spreadsheet for easy comparison. This included the gold and silver essential services, as well as the usual intermediate, full and full+ service options.

What I found surprised me.. the vast majority of things done on all of the service options are checks and inspections. If anything crops up on inspection am I really going to pay out for these? If I'm honest probably not - I'd probably just wait to see if they are picked up as failures on the next MOT. But in the long run is this just false economy?? Any advice??

I can see that the Full+ option offers all bells and whistles, but for my older car I'm probably more interested in the Gold Essential service. That said, it looks like all it really offers are oil/air/fuel filter changes - things I can easily do myself for about £70 (Oil change & filter £50, air filter £9, fuel filter 10).

I want to look after this car - it is in a good state, but can't help thinking Toyota are overselling the benefits of their servicing. To all existing Toyota fans.. Do you get value for money or are they charging over the odds?

Can anybody sell it to me - I'm need convincing?

 

Many thanks

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Not interested in trying to sell any servicing scheme to you - it is your choice.

The majority of any prescribed service schedule will involve checking items - whether franchised dealer, garage chain, or independent. Eg:

https://www.kwik-fit.com/servicing/information/whats-included-in-my-service

http://www.atseuromaster.co.uk/car-servicing?esv_medium=SEM_Brand&esv_source=google&esv_campaign=adwords_1D_UK_EN_SEA_GOO_B2C_BRA_SERVICING_NO-ID_EXA&gclid=CJr4kOT4_tMCFQwo0wodO4UBjg

As regards costs,

1).Toyota charge around £100 (silver) and £180 (gold) for Essential Care services (car under 2.2 litres).

2) For vehicles between 3 and 15 years old and under 2 litres, Volkswagen charge £164 for a minor service and £324 for a major service

3) Ford charge £149 for their Motorcraft service (equivalent to an interim service)

4) Vauxhall 3 year plus costs either £129 or £149 for an interim service, depending on model.

5) Halfords charge £155 for an annual service and £219 for a major service.

[fordulike]

Obviously this isn't applicable in your case, but carrying on having a car dealer serviced after the warranty runs out, can keep the manufacturer's goodwill gesture intact. Not sure how good Toyota is regarding this, but could come in handy if they were to pay towards big repairs, such as A/C or gearbox.

[Heidfirst]

57 minutes ago, fordulike said:

Obviously this isn't applicable in your case, but carrying on having a car dealer serviced after the warranty runs out, can keep the manufacturer's goodwill gesture intact. Not sure how good Toyota is regarding this, but could come in handy if they were to pay towards big repairs, such as A/C or gearbox.

Toyota are generally 1 of the best - look at how many AD series engines they must have fixed foc for head/gasket issues even beyond their original new warranty terms & we know that the bill for these could run to many £000s on just 1 car.

However, on an 11 year old car it is kind of moot as it is highly unlikely that they would cover anything under goodwill at that age.

At that age if you are happy that you can do everything required yourself to the appropriate standard & you have the facilities/tools d.i.y.

[PeteC2011]

Many thanks for all of your replies - seems Toyota are well thought of in terms of customer service, and the goodwill gestures had never crossed my mind but are useful to know for future. I guess like with any business it pays to be a returning customer so you can build up a relationship. Really pleased with the car so far - especially fuel economy - Thumbs up for Toyota! Thanks again