What do you do (re servicing) as your car gets older???

[Cyker]

4 hours ago, Willss said:

Difficult one. Hopefully Main Dealer knows Toyota cars better but then you're paying a lot for this knowledge/experience (and the fancy showroom).  While the car is in the 10 year relax warranty it will keep going to main dealer, after this not any more. 

I must admit my experiences with my dealers have made me question how well they know their own vehicles; Their biggest advantage is they have access to the Toyota database for problems and fixes, but other garages can pay for access to that.

Outside that, they've shown adequate performance with servicing and MOT, but my experiences with giving them anything outside that has been quite poor and they are also quite inconsistent at following extra instructions/details.

I pretty much use them only for service now (And soon MOT with this car!), but will use other places or more usually my travelling mechanic for anything else, esp. things like clutches and brakes.

They have been improving a little, but trust lost takes a lifetime to recover as the saying goes...

[TonyHSD]

On the question:

 “ What do you do regarding service as the car gets older “ - 

Any Toyota owner who has option to take care of the their cars by themselves and don’t care about warranty a diy service and maintenance can be the best solution. If that’s not possible, then a local mobile mechanic or independent garage that has a good reputation can do it. 
About the parts , best practice is to use original Toyota parts bought from a dealer to avoid fake counterparts, or as alternative a high quality well known brands for aftermarket.
Blueprint for anything, Febi, First line, trw, moog for suspension parts, mann, hengst, knecht, mahle, Bosch for filters. Wipers Denso, Bosch, hella, Michelin. Spark Plugs Denso as good as oem or NGK. 
Lubricants - engine oil Petronas is good and anything you prefer really as long as is the exact spec in these cars should be 0w20 A5 or GL-5 GL-6 , for transmission fluid and  coolant best to use only original Toyota.


 

[Shared]

19 hours ago, Eddiefh said:

Could have got a new arm fitted at a local garage and still had change for a good meal out and a skin full of beer and taxi home 

For £500 he could have had a new arm fitted at a Turkish hospital, albeit a second hand new one.

[mcntosh]

I’ve been pondering this question as well. Once a car is ten years old (which mine soon will be) the only obvious advantage of a Toyota service is the extension of the hybrid Battery warranty.

The problem then becomes finding a good independent. Our previous local Toyota dealer lost the franchise recently and has become a used car and general servicing place. I’m wondering if any of their Toyota DNA has survived. Their prices seem to be a bit cheaper than the new Toyota dealer’s.

There’s always Halfords but I actually like my car and want to look after it in its old age.

 

[Willss]

On 12/23/2023 at 10:54 AM, MetManMark said:

I agree that it doesn't foster loyalty! What is the website to which you refer? I am not aware of this - should I have consulted this for my repair @Willss?

When you go to book a service online on Toyota website there is an option to book additional maintenance.

 

It's only got very common work as pre bookable options so I doubt your job would be on there as a priced option.

[MetManMark]

7 minutes ago, Willss said:

When you go to book a service online on Toyota website there is an option to book additional maintenance.

 

It's only got very common work as pre bookable options so I doubt your job would be on there as a priced option.

Thanks for explaining. I am clearly old fashioned (our kids would definitely agree) in that I tend to phone up to book my MOT / service.

[Willss]

7 hours ago, MetManMark said:

Thanks for explaining. I am clearly old fashioned (our kids would definitely agree) in that I tend to phone up to book my MOT / service.

I always book service directly as they are more flexible on the phone I just used the website to check pricing- I'm nearly as old fashioned!!!