In your opinion, is an official service worth it?

[arjanvirdi]

I know it's recommended, and keeps you in warranty, but thinking of how much you can save, if any faults are found, you can use your money saved to fix them. What do you do with your car, and what do you think is best in your opinion? I also do understand that Toyotas full service is major, and other's aren't. And how often do you service your car? Every 10k or per year? If not keeping warranty, would you still do it per 10k, or possibly 15k?

Toyota Price: £190/£310

Elsewhere Approx: £105/£170

First 5 years, 2 full, 3 interim, total cost:

Toyota:£1190

Elsewhere:£655

Saving:£535*

[CPN]

17 minutes ago, arjanvirdi said:

I know it's recommended, and keeps you in warranty, but thinking of how much you can save, if any faults are found, you can use your money saved to fix them. What do you do with your car, and what do you think is best in your opinion? I also do understand that Toyotas full service is major, and other's aren't. And how often do you service your car? Every 10k or per year? If not keeping warranty, would you still do it per 10k, or possibly 15k?

 

Toyota Price: £190/£310

Elsewhere Approx: £105/£170

 

First 5 years, 2 full, 3 interim, total cost:

Toyota:£1190

Elsewhere:£655

Saving:£535*

Not sure how you arrived at that Toyota price but my 3-year service contract (including its first MOT) at my local Toyota dealer started at £625 which is a lot less than even your "Elsewhere" price; never mind your Toyota price of £1190!!

(I also ended up with a total discount of 74.4% because of various screw-ups during the new car purchase process making my final purchase price of £160 for the service plan! 😉)

[CPN]

... and, for what it's worth, I would argue that if you are buying a brand-new car from the manufacturers Dealer Network which will arguably be the second (to buying a house for example) most expensive purchase you may make during your lifetime (whatever the manner of funding such a purchase), why would you NOT use that same dealer network to have your car properly serviced and kept within the terms of the warranty if you could afford the purchase in the first place??!! (as opposed to using some back-street mechanic who probably has no idea of the full technical functionality of your car... just to try and save money)

[Roy124]

CPN, our installation of a block paved drive, a conservatory and potentially a kitchen beat your new car 🙂

Other than that I agree.  My service plan works out at £26 per month or £858 and payments finish (but not the service) before my car is paid for.  If you are on a PCP, and many people are, then you really can't afford to go it alone.

[arjanvirdi]

27 minutes ago, CPN said:

Not sure how you arrived at that Toyota price but my 3-year service contract (including its first MOT) at my local Toyota dealer started at £625 which is a lot less than even your "Elsewhere" price; never mind your Toyota price of £1190!!

(I also ended up with a total discount of 74.4% because of various screw-ups during the new car purchase process making my final purchase price of £160 for the service plan! 😉)

The price mentioned was for 5 years (3 interim and 2 full services). The service plan offered to me was the same price, as buying the services individually, so I opted to do that instead. I do understand your points though!

[FROSTYBALLS]

Horses for courses.

Yes you may save £500 or so over 5 years, and you can use a VAT registered garage and retain the warranty. 

However, as Toyota has moved to digital service records, you will have to retain evidence the car has been correctly serviced according to schedule, and that equivalent standard parts have been used.

Plus once out of warranty in the event of a major fault where you may approach the manufacturer for assistance, you will not be shown goodwill or provided with help.

Additionally with the Relax warranty, which is a warranty extension provided with every Toyota service once the new car warranty has expired, and can be extended up to the car's 10th birthday, why would you not continue with dealer servicing.

The main advantage of a service plan, aside from spreading the cost of servicing, is that service costs are fixed at the time the service plan is taken out. You thus avoid any price rises. So by not taking out a service plan you will be subject to price increases.

 

[HS78]

34 minutes ago, CPN said:

Not sure how you arrived at that Toyota price but my 3-year service contract

The OP gave costs for 5 years of servicing, not 3. 

[CPN]

12 minutes ago, HS78 said:

The OP gave costs for 5 years of servicing, not 3. 

Indeed, as Arjan has just pointed out to me... don't know how I missed that the first time of reading... I plead old age... 😉

[Rosgoe]

I think I paid £700 and something for 3 services two minor and one major not sure if that included mot at year 3.

the thing is if you have all your services done at the main dealers the car will be worth more when you come to sell up to a certain amount of years ( say up to 7 or 8 years old then probably becomes less significant).

I don’t think that there are such things as back street mechanics these days as a lot of independent garages are usually set up by mechanics who have worked for mainstream dealers and are more than up to the job of repairing the vehicles in fact I know of 2 or 3  independent garages that are more knowledgeable than the main dealers and a lot less hourly rate.

when my corolla is out of warranty I fully intend to get it serviced at an independent garage that I know and trust.

just a thought if you add up all the cost of the services on your vehicle over the years will probably amount to a new engine anyway! 

[Rosgoe]

1 hour ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Horses for courses.

Yes you may save £500 or so over 5 years, and you can use a VAT registered garage and retain the warranty. 

However, as Toyota has moved to digital service records, you will have to retain evidence the car has been correctly serviced according to schedule, and that equivalent standard parts have been used.

Plus once out of warranty in the event of a major fault where you may approach the manufacturer for assistance, you will not be shown goodwill or provided with help.

Additionally with the Relax warranty, which is a warranty extension provided with every Toyota service once the new car warranty has expired, and can be extended up to the car's 10th birthday, why would you not continue with dealer servicing.

The main advantage of a service plan, aside from spreading the cost of servicing, is that service costs are fixed at the time the service plan is taken out. You thus avoid any price rises. So by not taking out a service plan you will be subject to price increases.

 

Does that relax warranty apply if you have the manufacturers 5 year warranty

[FROSTYBALLS]

Just now, Rosgoe said:

Does that relax warranty apply if you have the manufacturers 5 year warranty

The Relax warranty applies from when the new car warranty ends and you continue to have the car serviced within the Toyota dealer network - whether it is the previous 5 year warranty or the current 3 year warranty.

[Rosgoe]

1 minute ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The Relax warranty applies from when the new car warranty ends and you continue to have the car serviced within the Toyota dealer network - whether it is the previous 5 year warranty or the current 3 year warranty.

 

1 minute ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The Relax warranty applies from when the new car warranty ends and you continue to have the car serviced within the Toyota dealer network - whether it is the previous 5 year warranty or the current 3 year warranty.

Thanks for that Frosty might consider continuing to get it serviced at Toyota although the car will probably outlive me!

[Kevin Reid]

1 hour ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Horses for courses.

Yes you may save £500 or so over 5 years, and you can use a VAT registered garage and retain the warranty. 

However, as Toyota has moved to digital service records, you will have to retain evidence the car has been correctly serviced according to schedule, and that equivalent standard parts have been used.

Plus once out of warranty in the event of a major fault where you may approach the manufacturer for assistance, you will not be shown goodwill or provided with help.

Additionally with the Relax warranty, which is a warranty extension provided with every Toyota service once the new car warranty has expired, and can be extended up to the car's 10th birthday, why would you not continue with dealer servicing.

The main advantage of a service plan, aside from spreading the cost of servicing, is that service costs are fixed at the time the service plan is taken out. You thus avoid any price rises. So by not taking out a service plan you will be subject to price increases.

 

I agree with the benefits of a dealer service if you have issues after the 5 years. I have ms a Mark1 Corolla Verso and when it was identified that it was burning oil at the major 7 year service, Toyota advised it was a known issue by that time and they replaced the head and pistons and catalytic converter FOC. So worth getting the dealer service to maximise the warranty and as I found…beyond!

[Catlover]

If as the the original poster, Armani, says, if you save £535 on services in the first 5 years then something serious goes wrong and you have to take it to a Toyota dealer for repair £535 will amount to 7 hours Labour, not a lot is it.

[Auris James]

I have a 3 year service plan on my 2015 Auris. Cost £720 and believe includes free MOT's.

When I next get my MOT done in January, may cash in my paid for 2 year warranty and go for the relax warranty after a service in January. It's peace of mind and nice knowing have some coverage.

James.👍

[Catlover]

15 minutes ago, Auris James said:

I have a 3 year service plan on my 2015 Auris. Cost £720 and believe includes free MOT's.

When I next get my MOT done in January, may cash in my paid for 2 year warranty and go for the relax warranty after a service in January. It's peace of mind and nice knowing have some coverage.

James.👍

Hi James, if you got a service plan, why cash it in, what benefit, because if you have Toyota service you get the Relax warranty. That’s what I thought anyway. But you must have some knowledge to indicate it would be better.

[Davidhee58]

The Toyota Relax Warranty may be not same as the original 5 years or 3 years warranty, a lot of parts and components are not covered.

Toyota Relax TCs - 25.05.21_tcm-3060-2286757.pdf

[FROSTYBALLS]

29 minutes ago, Auris James said:

may cash in my paid for 2 year warranty

It is the purchased extended warranty he may cash In

[FROSTYBALLS]

4 minutes ago, Davidhee58 said:

The Toyota Relax Warranty may be not same as the original 5 years or 3 years warranty, a lot of parts and components are not covered.

Toyota Relax TCs - 25.05.21_tcm-3060-2286757.pdf 103.62 kB · 0 downloads

Auris James' car is outside the 5 year new car warranty - he has an extended warranty.

[Auris James]

This is the thing. Do I keep my paid for warranty up until April 2023 or cash it in and possibly only get £250 back and go for relax. Dealer was very keen for me to do so, so may well, as stated in my interest to stay with the paid for warranty. 

James👍

[MikeSh]

1 hour ago, Auris James said:

Dealer was very keen for me to do so,

When a dealer is keen I'm very suspicious 🤔

[Stopeter44]

9 hours ago, Auris James said:

This is the thing. Do I keep my paid for warranty up until April 2023 or cash it in and possibly only get £250 back and go for relax. Dealer was very keen for me to do so, so may well, as stated in my interest to stay with the paid for warranty. 

James👍

You'll have to check the T & C of the Extended Warranty vs Relax. Before ordering my Yaris, I went around in circles trying to figure out if my best option was :-

• Sign up for 5 year service contract (including the French equivalent of MOT (year 4)) that implicitly gave me an extended warranty until the end of the service contract, or
• Just buy 2 or 3 years of Extended Warranty, and pay the services as I go along.

The problem was determining what my annual Kms would be. The service interval in France is 12 months or 15k km. Lockdown curtailed our driving, but it looks like I am closer to 20k, or even beyond it, per year. The dealer finally said he believes the best deal is to sign up for a service contract about 6 months before the end of the 3 yr / 100k km guarantee period.

The problem, as I saw it, with the service contract is that it amounts to a loan to pay the services over, say, a 5 year period. The cost, however, is based on the number of services needed. It's complicated to decide if your annual mileage means that services are required more frequently than once a year. If your service contract does not have the requisite number of services, then you'll need to continue to pay off the loan, and stump up for the extra service or services. Which at best is annoying.

Thanks to FB I have looked over the conditions for the Relax contract (in France) and it appears that the warranty extends for a year or 15k km after Toyota Service, which is nice, because I am certain that the prior wording said that the car was guaranteed for 30 days after each service ! The French Relax only applies to Toyota Hybrid vehicles, whereas in the UK it appears to cover all Toyotas.

 

[Yugguy1970]

I would want to know if my indy had genuine knowledge and experience in hybrid drivetrains as they are very different than a standard ice and standard gearbox.

[AJones]

10 hours ago, Auris James said:

This is the thing. Do I keep my paid for warranty up until April 2023 or cash it in and possibly only get £250 back and go for relax. Dealer was very keen for me to do so, so may well, as stated in my interest to stay with the paid for warranty. 

James👍

You will have to dig out the extended warranty paperwork and compare the terms and conditions, but I was under the impression the extended warranties provided far more comprehensive cover.

I'm not sure what to make of the Relax warranty, the sales messaging is that it's simple and straightforward, no complicated requirements, extends your coverage upto 10 years etc But the Terms and Conditions are as long as your arm and there's a great long list of exclusions, particularly on anything which has failed because of wear and tear, which makes me wonder how much use the warranty actually is because when a car gets 5+ years then almost everything which fails is wear and tear, so not covered under the T&Cs. Some posters talk about the goodwill aspect, but there's no guarantee with that, it's at the whim on the company. 

Personally I'll get mine serviced at the dealer while it's under the manufacturers warranty, by which point hopefully we'll see how Relax is working in practice, whether it is comprehensive, or whether it's being applied to the letter of the T&Cs.

[Goinker]

I guess the main point about using an 'Independent' is that any software updates or recalls will not get done, and that's where the dealership network has the edge. As I'm awaiting delivery of my first Toyota, I've no experience yet of the efficiency or cost of servicing, though I'd imagine it's competitive with most other 'Main Dealer' servicing costs. As my car will be a Hybrid, I understand (correct me if I'm wrong!) that if you continue with Toyota servicing for the full 10 years, it also extends the warranty on the traction Battery from 10 to 15 years. No idea how much a replacement traction Battery is now, never mind what the cost might be in 10 years time, but I doubt it'll be cheap, so Toyota servicing might be worthwhile if you intend keeping the car long term. At my age (74), this car might be my last, as I have no idea how long either the car or myself may last!!🤣

                                                                               Keith.