Servicing My 2

[dreaming05]

Would appreciate some thoughts on my first service for the 2.

Part of the reason i bought this MR2 was the fact it had a very good service history with Toyota / Lexus garage (just the one garage, think Lexus bought the site off Toyota dealership or something).

Anyway, i have been going to the same mechanic for 10 years previous to buying MR2 and his workmanship is excellent, the price is very reasonable and hes always willing to help if have needed him in a hurry for MOT's etc. My problem being i trust him with my 2 without a doubt , but he stinks,has a very small back street garage and to be honest i don't think he even owns a stamp with which to stamp service book :D.

Local Toyota garage on the other hand have a huge workshop with every tool under the sun, obviously used to dealing with 2's but when i enquired about mid service wanted £100 just to check oil, water and belts ! God only knows the Toyota (U.K) Managing Director would probably take an intrest in share prices if i asked them to give me a price for a 40`000 service judging by their mid service cost!!!!

(that was a micky take at MR T's prices by the way!, i'm not a snob)

Money aint the issue here to be fair, just wondered if you was looking to buy a car that went to a recoqnised dealership then all of a sudden back street garage book stamps would it put you off buying the car?

[boundsw]

Ive never brought a car just based on the servie history.

Yeah thats all good for people who dont really know what they are doing, as they can be sure its been looked after !!

But i would like to think im ok under the hood and could spot a potential 'nobber'. Usually the knowledge of the seller gives you a good idea as to whats happend to the car !

So no, that would no really bother me....my 2 has none !, an i do all the work on it myself !

[T600]

Hi dreaming05.

I think that would put some people off - I'd be one of them. When I worked on my own cars I probably wouldn't have minded that too much; I'd have gone by the state of the car. Now I no longer have time for that I always look for a fully stamped main dealer service history.

I might be tempted to use a non toyota garage for any extra work required, but I would always get the services done at the dealers.

To reduce the cost, go gold and find a dealer that will give you a TOC discount.

[boundsw]

ooohhhhh......conflicting opionions already....lol

[AE82 GT]

My 2 has a 80% Mr T service history but some of the S/H shows smaller independant garages. I think so long as it has over 50% Dealer S/H then it dosent really matter.

the whole point is the car has been looked after and you have a book that proves it. they all use the same oil / plugs / filters ...... dont be fooled you will find they do!

besides which lets be honest it is not rocket science to change basic service parts.

[Bobby-H]

Hi dreaming05. 

I think that would put some people off - I'd be one of them.  When I worked on my own cars I probably wouldn't have minded that too much; I'd have gone by the state of the car.  Now I no longer have time for that I always look for a fully stamped main dealer service history.

I might be tempted to use a non toyota garage for any extra work required, but I would always get the services done at the dealers.

To reduce the cost, go gold and find a dealer that will give you a TOC discount.

←

MR T is a rip off and they dont do half the things recommended in the service manual. They wanted £180 to service my car and that didnt even include spark plugs!!!!

[m4rk scotland]

think about it, toyota take on a load of trainee's you know them, you last saw them when they dropped out of school at the end of 4th year and you stayed on. mr garage owner has to know his **** to go it alone or at least have some other skills, book keeping etc so is more likly to know his stuff, probably not as up on the actual car cos he works on all sorts. best finding somewhere where u know the mechanic. and use toyota if your gonna need parts you cant get a hold of easyly, id rather have a fsh than a patchy toyota service history.

[T600]

You're implying that the Toyota service is sub standard Mark. I don't accept that that is generally true. Maybe it is with other brands, but in my experience that's not the case with Toyota.

Toyota work hard to maintain both the quaility of their production and their dealers. We know the process works, because despite the fact that some people have problems, Toyota has a well justified reputation for reliability. In the JD Power surveys the brand that has most often been in P1 above Lexus is Toyota.

I don' t doubt that some local garages may be perfectly competent. If I knew a really good local garage then I might be tempted to use them.

As the owner of the car you're able to tell whether the non Toyota garage is competent. But when buying a car which doesn't have full Toyota service history, you probably don' t know anything about the garage that serviced it. So for resale purposes I'd argue that FTSH is worth having.

You've probably got to think about how long you'll keep the car though. If it costs you an extra £50 a year for the Toyota service over a number of years, then maybe the difference in resale value isn't going to recoup that cost.

[m4rk scotland]

hmm, i see your point, iv come from a renault and a peugeot so not exactly the best.

i see what you mean about not knowing the previous owners preferred garage. i have had good service from the toyota dealership i went to in edinburgh.. just assumed it was a 1 off really

[dreaming05]

Can i just say at this point, when i went to local Mr T garage for price on intermediate service the guy actually said " I'm covering this site today, and i'm sure my manager would back me up on getting the service cheaper if you came down to the Glouester garage"

Have never dealt with a Toyota garage before but based on cold hard cash facts they seem dear although fall back on fact they are a service stamp some maybe too tempted not to ignore.

[T600]

You're right there. Despite what I said above, I know there are differences in quality between different dealers. And they're not cheap - the price of engine oil. for example, is shocking.

I used to have a Boxster which used Mobil 1 and the Porsche dealers charged a ridiculous amount for it. So many owners would negotiate to take in their own Mobil 1 in order to avoid paying the Porsche price for it. Don't know if anyone has tried a similar tactic with Toyota?

They usually invoice oil in tenths of a litre - 72p per tenth litre of 'Bulk Engine Oil' on my last bill and they used 45 of them. Isn't that to stop you thinking £7.20 a litre for oil! Ages ago I questioned the price on the Celica's service and was told that 72p was the price for a litre and they had used 45 litres. Must be all the hydraulics those VVTLi engines.