Toyota Garages.

[Calisto]

Is it worth for peace of mind to take your beloved car to a Toyota garage every time it needs work doing to it?? Right now I am losing faith in my local mechanic, for examble he had forgoten to tighten the sump nut I may be me being petty but grrrrr do your job properly man!!!! but apart from this he is ok, any other time he has worked on my cars I have had no problems.

I then left Kiya with his brother who is also a "mechanic" (my usual mechanic is away on holiday) and asked him to flush and re-fill the transmision fluid for me.....6 hours later I get a phone call " I was unable to do the flush and re-fill, coz there were so many pipes I didnt know which one led to where" I am fuming to say the least!!!!!

So I was weighing up the pros and cons of having Toyota take over and keep her on the road. And the only down side to having Toyota look after her is the money factor, but you pay for what you get right ????? What would you guys and girls say were the pros and cons, or would you take your car to them in a heart beat ?

At the moment I am tending to lean towards going to my local MrT.

[Hou]

Well I do all my work myself where ever possible, where i cant i take it to our local garage my family have used for years

mr t is too expensive and can be just as bad tbh hun

[msherry21]

I'd agree with Hou here, just because there is a big Toyota logo on the front doesn't mean their any better, Just the same muppets in a different garage....and wayyy more expensive. Best thing is to ask around friends and family and see who they reccomend in your area.

There is nobody in my area I trust with my cars so I try and do it myself, Its not everyones cup of tea, but now that I'm learning more, I really enjoy it and the satisfaction of saving yourself £60 an hour is awesome!

[JappyBeast]

You just need to find a good local garage, mine is ok!

[Parts-King]

I'm always hearing how bad peoples perceptions of a dealer are, but having worked in main dealers for hundreds of years, lol, I can honestly say we have some fine technicians. Sure we have employed muppets with outstanding CV's, but they never last, they get booted out out the first opportunity, (Hire slow fire fast!) We have a number of Toyota master technicians who are outstanding. Not everybody is able to do jobs themselves, and your local dealer is more likely to know the product, rather than Fred in the shed who sees dozens of different models each day. Kingo

[JappyBeast]

I'm just tight and dont like paying dealers prices.

[GIDDLEPIN]

If your local mechanic "Forgot" to tighten the sump plug then he is not a mechanic he is a tos$er and a dangerous to$ser at that!!!

Word of mouth is better than anything when looking for "GOOD" as well as safe service, it doesn't necessarily have to be Mr T although I would recommend my local dealer to anybody as the service is second to none.

Ask around or dare I say it, ask on here if anyone can suggest a reputable garage or even a mechanic that does "guvies" ;)

[Karma Supra]

I would not trust Toyota with my car.....

They are not mechanics, they are fitters, and from talking to toyota mechanics they have considerably less understanding about how to work on a supra then I do, hence, DIY.

I once took my car to Toyota to get an engineers report on a problem on my car, so I could take someone else to court, the mechanic didn't have a clue what he was looking at so I "took it out of their care"..

All they managed to do was pick on the fact that the tyres were "low on tread" and the brake pads were "soon to be due a replacement" as well as get oily fingerprints all over the polished engine. for this they wanted £270 "labour"

[ferrariboyuk]

My local toyota garages are poo. Romford particularly wants knocking down. The trouble i have had with them is just unbeilable. The worst thing of late is finding a wheel nut hanging off once i got home. They 4got it. Add to this, they also forgot to give back my locking nuts and ended up putting my new direction tyres on the wrong way round. It took me 4 visits jus to get some new rubber fitted.

I have done some work myself to our gls with the help of a haynes manual. Saved about £150. Really enjoyed it.

[System~G]

I haven't taken any of my Toyotas to a main dealer in 7 years. And as of April, I stopped taking them to my independant "specialist" when he bodged the brakes to get our SC through an MOT. We discovered his bodge when we were on track

I now do everything myself regardless. Least then I know it's been done properly and to a standard I am happy with B)

If you are not technically competant or don't have friends that are, try find someone you can trust via word of mouth

[Vlad_E]

Dont bother with Mr T, they really dont have a clue, yours is an import too so they will add a few quid ontop, even though mechanically its exactly the same as UK car!

If you need stuff doing then you should let me know and ill do it for you, you just buy the parts

I then left Kiya with his brother who is also a "mechanic" (my usual mechanic is away on holiday) and asked him to flush and re-fill the transmision fluid for me.....6 hours later I get a phone call " I was unable to do the flush and re-fill, coz there were so many pipes I didnt know which one led to where" I am fuming to say the least!!!!!

WTF lol, pipes??? all you have to do is drain through the Autobox plug

[JustJJ]

Sounds like you are having a rough time with Mechs... I guess im lucky..

I have 3 options available to me nearly all the time.. DIY.. always kinda satisfying and more often then not my housemate gives me a hand ;) then there is highly aided DIY... in which I can ask my mate in advance for help.. he works at a garage... and so has access to ramps etc... and then there is Nigel... my mechanic.. who I really do trust with Skye... he hasnt given her back to me with any problems in the past... isnt too expensive... treats me with respect (as I am female..) and always shows me what he has done/taken off the car etc

but what peeps have said it true.... word of mouth and asking friends etc in the area is always good... i found Nigel cause he was recommended by another MR2 owner

[GT4 BOOSTER]

mine local dealership had my celica an hour diagnosing the abs light. told me a new ecu was required at around £ 1000 .

i had a bit pick n poke when i got home, turned out the previous owner had removed the 40 amp abs fuse in the hopes the light went out and didnt put it back , 1 new fuse later and a abs sensor all was good . total cost £ 86-50.

they seem to have a knack of thinking they are talking to pen pushing idiots who know nothing about engines and cars.

[Johndcfc]

Toyota dealer round me is alreet and always seem to do a good job, however they do try and !Removed! you on new tyres and brake pads etc.

£150 quid to supply and fit rear brake pads........erm no thanks.

[T600]

Toyota dealer round me is alreet and always seem to do a good job...

Is that Ron Brooks at Ilkeston?

If so they have a branch in Mansfield which I think is extremely good. I still tend not to use them for everything though as you just know that there are certain jobs that you can do far more cheaply yourself, or which are better dealt with by a specialist.

[Johndcfc]

Toyota dealer round me is alreet and always seem to do a good job...

Is that Ron Brooks at Ilkeston?

If so they have a branch in Mansfield which I think is extremely good. I still tend not to use them for everything though as you just know that there are certain jobs that you can do far more cheaply yourself, or which are better dealt with by a specialist.

Yep Ron Brook's in good old Illson ! They charged me 250 for a big service, lexus wanted 590 so it was a no-brainer.

Tis a shame the gold club on here isn't still running as they did 10% discount there

[T600]

Tis a shame the gold club on here isn't still running as they did 10% discount there

Thought it might be. They're streets ahead of the Lexus dealer I use too. Will probably use them for the IS next time round because, as like you say, the prices are so much better. Up until now I'd been carrying on going to Lexus because I wanted the right stamp, but I can't think it's worth it any more. There was talk of RB getting a Lexus stamp, but I think that's fallen through for now.

The staff are all top notch too - they remember your cars, treat you well, and I don't think they'd rip you off. That said, they go by the list prices of course, so if Mr T's price for say tires is more than the guy down the road then that's life.

But have you asked about the Ron Brooks discount scheme? 10% on cars over 3 years old if you join the scheme I believe. Applies to makes other than Toyota too as they've registered the Lexus on the scheme for me for when I need anything for it. Even got discount off the MOT for the MR2 which amazed me.

Anyway, top outfit; if you're anywhere near Mansfield or Ilkeston and aren't happy with your current MR T then I recommend them highly.

Unless Dale V is extending his offer to fit parts for free - or was that just directed at Calisto? I thought so ;)

[Vlad_E]

Unless Dale V is extending his offer to fit parts for free - or was that just directed at Calisto? I thought so ;)

not really, I always work on ANY of my mates cars for free

[Hou]

see, yet another reason as why hes my hero!

[T600]

Unless Dale V is extending his offer to fit parts for free - or was that just directed at Calisto? I thought so ;)

not really, I always work on ANY of my mates cars for free

In that case you're always welcome here in Ravenshead. Nice warm garage and with pit at your disposal mate.

[Karma Supra]

I'll just add, my local dealer is FANTASTIC when it comes to the parts department, the guys there are first class, and always willing to help, infact it was my local parts manager that bought ina copy of banzai for me to show me a car he saw for sale in the back that he saw and thought of me....

He was spot on I bought it and have never owned a car for so long! (my black supra TT lol)

[Andie_M]

Well, i use the Mr.T in Falkirk. Have done since I bought the car from them last year. I've not had any problems with them, or the service or prices they have given me. Got a nice little silver card that gets me a small discount off things which helps.

Car is going into them to get the front and rear brakes done. Disks and pads for £80ish, due to one of them is under warranty. Plus I don't have to pay labour as they are changing a part under warranty. So I really can't complain at all!

They are nice and friendly too. Only thing I don't like is the fact that I can't get an invoice from them to pay later. Apparently they will only give them to companies.

[Demonic Angel]

I ended up getting Kaori serviced at a Nissan dealership in Leicester (the Toyota garage saw fit to quote an extortionate rate for a 20,000 mile service)

Turned out the Nissan dealership down the road is an approved Toyota servicing centre and I got it over £100 cheaper, after much sweet talking the guy over the phone...

Top class service though, really quick and I'd definitely go back!

If I didnt have my FTSH to think about though, I'd definitely go to one of the local garages - my Dad knows a few good ones and they wouldn't take the mickey out of me, because I'm Dads daughter and generally speaking, you don't want to mess with my Dad!

[Calisto]

I have a new garage

They are called Toyo-tech and only work on Toyota's

To fit my new speedo cable will cost £30, they will pick Kiya up and drop her off ths wednesday.

No gasps of shock when I mentioned she was an import, the chap said they get all their import parts delivered next day from a place down south They get all there other parts direct from Toyota at trade prices.

Sounds very nice, and I am looking forward to a long happy working relationship with Toyo-tech.

[Hou]

If I didnt have my FTSH to think about though, I'd definitely go to one of the local garages

but lets be fair, does FTSH mean anything nowadays!