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Just had 1st service done after 1 year

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by raspy, Jul 6, 2017.

  1. raspy

    raspy Senior Member

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    Just wanted to share my experience, and have a couple of questions.

    The Toyota dealer gave me a new Yaris hybrid as a loan car whilst mine was serviced today. I was surprised how much more dangerous it felt than my Gen 4, as I'm so used to not having to look down at the dash, but straight ahead at the road using my HUD.

    Second, the steering of the Yaris felt so much more direct than my Gen 4. Turn the wheel and the car moves. Getting back into my Gen 4, well whilst it felt more comfortable and smoother, it also made me realise the Gen 4's steering feels a bit like a boat.

    I wouldn't give up my Gen 4 for the Yaris though. When the service was done, I got an email where there is a video of the technician going round the car, and explaining what's wrong with it (if anything) and you get an option to accept the work or to reject the work in terms of additional costs.

    Despite me filling up my screenwash till it was almost overflowing last night, they still billed me for screenwash!

    I really didn't have time today to squabble with them when picking the car up, as I was in a rush to get back for a meeting.

    A couple of questions based upon tyres & brake pads. The visual safety report shows my front tyres have worn 50% in 9,300 miles over a year. The dealer reckoned I'd have to replace the fronts within another 6-7,000 miles. Is that what other owners are finding? 15k for these Toyos seems a bit short.

    Even the rears are almost 40% worn. I have set the tyre pressures to the recommended levels since new. Is this wear because I drive (slowly) over 50+ speed bumps every day in my drive in London?

    When it comes to brake pads, I keep hearing that brake pads on Prius last a really long time because of regen braking, yet the service shows my pads have worn 33% on the front and 41% on the rear (assuming that pads are approx 12mm when new) - I do brake gently and early as much as I can, so was surprised.

    Next service is due in 12 months/10k miles, and they told me it will be £335 (434 US Dollars)

    Finally, just noticed that the technician in the video said tyre depth of 6mm all round on the back, and 5mm all round on the front, which is higher than what's been reported in the paper documentation. The dealer says they will attempt to determine which of the figures they have cited is correct.

    Oh, and no paper service book anymore. It's all online. If I want a paper service book with a stamp, I'll have to pay and extra £12.
     

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  2. raspy

    raspy Senior Member

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    An update. The tyre depths they put on the paperwork was wrong. It's 5mm on front and 6m on the rear.
     
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  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    For the tires, I would get a tire tread depth gauge, verify for yourself what the remaining tread depth is.

    Similarly for the brakes, percents are very vague, and that seems way too fast. 3rd gen fronts are 10 mm when new, rears 9.5. I'd suspect 4th gen is the same. You might be able to a rough measure of the outer pad depths, just reaching through the wheel. Or at least eyeball them.

    And you get a video report? This sounds like a real cash cow! Personally, I only darken their doorstep to visit the parts department, or for warranty/warning light stuff, never for routine maintenance.

    .
     
  4. eric1234

    eric1234 Active Member

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    Agreed. I wouldn't trust a thing that came from a dealer that just charged you for filling window wash, after you'd filled it yourself.

    In my GEN III 2010, which I owned for 6 years and 130,000 miles, the only service activity was oil changes, with coolant flushes at 100,000 miles (and tires, but I don't recall exactly when). I'd second the vote to stay away from that dealer. If it's at all possible, I'd recommend that you perform your own oil changes...
     
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  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I'm really not sure, but get the sense Toyota UK:

    1. Doesn't even publish a maintenance schedule.
    2. Insists on dealership service, to avoid voiding warranty.

    They need an owner's revolt methinks. :cautious:
     
  6. raspy

    raspy Senior Member

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    Indeed. Sadly, I need to get it serviced at Toyota, since it's leased from Toyota.
     
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  7. raspy

    raspy Senior Member

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    Thanks. I was really excited when I got the link on my phone to view the video report, until I realised they'd sent me a video report for another customer's car (a silver 2014 Yaris) - Go figure. It was when I picked up the car and showed the Toyota person their video report that it wasn't my car being shown, he admitted he'd probably been too trigger happy when pasting the link when sending it out, and he resent me the correct video report. If they can't even get this right, I wonder if I can trust them to do anything competently?
     
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  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    wow, you have the same crappy dealers as us?:p
     
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  9. raspy

    raspy Senior Member

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    It appears so.
     
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  10. eric1234

    eric1234 Active Member

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    I'm not familiar with UK Leasing laws, but in the US, that is not usually the case. (Although dealers would try to have you think otherwise). It may be worth the time to carefully read the lease (long and tedious though it may be) to confirm whether that's *actually in* the lease, or if that's merely what your dealer is trying to make you think.

    Again, I'm admittedly ignorant about UK laws, leases, and automotive warranties, so none of what I've said may apply... ;-)

    Best of luck,
    Eric
     
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  11. CoastRider

    CoastRider Active Member

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    Raspy, your tire tread depth measurement may actually be more accurate than you think. I also had the Toyo's on my Prius. At 12,500 miles, I replaced them with new Michelin tires. The man measured the tread depth on the Toyo's while I watched, and they were already close to being 50% worn. I've seen comments in the forums where some members have only gotten about 28,000 to 30,000 miles on their Toyo's. (And maybe some guy has gotten 80,000, who knows, LOL.) I expected I would maybe get 30,000 to 35,000 on them, but I just didn't like anything about Toyo so I replaced them. (And the tire shop paid me 20 bucks for each tire. Good riddens! :))

    Regarding oil changes, hey guys not everybody can do their own work at home. Many are unable, or just don't want to, or might be elderly, or are little tiny women, or live in an apartment that doesn't have a garage, etc. So it's a little bit unfair to throw out a blanket statement like, "stay away from dealers!"

    I actually have good comments about my dealer. I've been going there for over 25 years. With three different Toyota vehicles. It's in Southern California, and they are the largest volume-selling Toyota dealer in the country. Now I'm sure some people may have a gripe with their service dept, but I've been very fortunate and lucky to have very good service every time I went there. There is an area where you can sit outside, by the service bays, and sometimes you can see them perform the work. And I watch them closely. I believe the place is still owned by Roger Penske, the auto racing car owner, and that dealership is very clean and modern and efficient. The service advisors have never tried to "upsell" me, and never recommended any unnecessary maintenance.
     
    #11 CoastRider, Jul 6, 2017
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2017
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  12. kithmo

    kithmo Couch Potato

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    A couple of years ago I had a tyre wear report on my old Prius+ (v) that quoted tyres of the Yaris size, when I queried this they said the technician had entered the wrong car details on my report on the computer, makes you wonder what other wrong data they had entered.
    I also got charged £1.50 for screen wash top up on the Gen 4 service earlier this year even though it wasn't full and I managed to get another half a litre in when I topped it off.
     
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  13. raspy

    raspy Senior Member

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    The supplying dealer is brilliant and I wish I could have serviced the car with them, but they are the other side of the country from me, so have to use a dealer in London. Glad to hear you've had a pleasant experience in CA.

    Why did Toyota stick such short lasting tyres from the factory on these Gen 4s?
     
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  14. raspy

    raspy Senior Member

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    Awful.

    BTW - Does this forum automatically convert my T-Y-R-E-S spelling to T-I-R-E? I feel like I'm going mad this evening, as every time I write tyre in a post and post a reply, when I read the posted reply, it's in the US spelling format!
     
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  15. CoastRider

    CoastRider Active Member

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    I don't know Raspy. Some factory tires might be better than others? Some owners seem to get very long mileage out of their factory tires, but they probably drive them until they are bald.

    Many years ago, I had a Toyota vehicle that came with Goodyear tires. And another one came with Firestone tires. I only got 18,000 miles out of those tires! They were horrible. I could have kept my Toyo's for a couple more years, but the tire shop was offering a $100 rebate on the Michelin tires. So I went ahead and got them. 65,000 mile Treadwear.
     
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  16. mmmodem

    mmmodem Senior Taste Tester

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    Yeah this forum is weird with the auto correct. If you type "P r i u s v," it likes to reformat it to some long phrase explaining what a lower and upper case v is in Prius terms to avoid confusion. All it does is piss me off.

    T y r e s

    Anyway $5 for windshield wiper fluid? I think that buys me 2 gallons worth and in California will last me 4 cars. Does the UK have magical windshield wiper fluid called screenwash that perfectly clears a the front windows. That's just a crazy amount of money to charge.
     
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  17. raspy

    raspy Senior Member

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    I suspect my 100% urban use, and driving over speed bumps, and driving around all sorts of roundabouts (traffic circles) is accelerating the wear.
     
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  18. raspy

    raspy Senior Member

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    Ah, we are being nudged to write a certain way..

    Yes, it's magical here, hence the fantasy pricing.
     
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  19. Hoddie

    Hoddie Member

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    Had my first service (15,000 km) here in Belgium last week. Booked the slot over a month ago and drove into the dealer with just 15,009 km on the clock. Took them 50 minutes and I had two free coffees while I waited. Like the OP, they also charged me for putting some screen wash in even though I'd topped it up that morning. At least this dealer only charged me €5 for the privilege, whereas the main Toyota-owned dealership here charged me €25 every time, even though I complained every time...

    I didn't receive any info on tyre wear or anything else really, but for €177 I'm not complaining.

    As an aside, when in the UK last year I was involved in a road accident outside Rochdale near Manchester. I have family in Halifax so I immediately called the Toyota dealership in Bradford (nearest one) to see if they'd mind me getting the car towed there for them to start work on. This was a Saturday afternoon but luckily the dealership manager was in and I was passed through to him. He agreed that so long as I could get there for 5pm I could stick the car in their customer parking, which is locked out of hours, and without prompting even offered to ensure they'd start work on Monday morning to give me the best chance of getting my ferry back home later that week. I spoke to the manager in person when I arrived and double checked everything with him, especially querying the body work because it was in a right mess - he assured me they had a shop within the group and that body repair wouldn't be an issue.

    I turned up late on Monday afternoon to see how things were going, and was told by the service manager that there was no way they'd be able to fix my car, and that they couldn't deal with body work in any case as they didn't have a shop on site. I explained what the manager had told me on Saturday and he just shrugged his shoulders and told me the manager wasn't in that day. He then gave me 5 minutes to get my car out of the car park. So I ended up driving my seriously beaten-up car, with a busted front-left wheel, out of the Toyota dealership and onto the road. It cost me a small fortune to divert the pick-up to Bradford on the say of the manager, all for nothing. This delayed me getting the car back to Belgium by over a week.

    This will almost certainly be my last Toyota vehicle and it's all because of the amateurish service given by the various Toyota dealerships I've dealt with. Toyota Anderlecht - Toyota group owned - was an absolute shambles. I wouldn't trust them to service a skateboard never mind a €30k car. It took them two attempts and about 4 months to get my car somewhere near sorted, and I experienced the worst customer service ever during that entire period. Staff going home early despite appointments, outright lying, light fittings clearly installed incorrectly, so obvious even I noticed, and 3 different members of staff - including the service manager who hadn't even heard the noise - trying to convince me that the 'repaired' front-left wheel (the one that impacted the crash barrier after the accident) was in fact just transmitting normal road noise. Only after I insisted that an engineer take a look did they accept they'd not repaired it correctly. At this point they blamed the insurer for not authorising the expensive repair, something the insurer was happy to deny in writing. They even gave me the car back in a dangerous condition knowing my next trip was through the Swiss Alps!

    About three years ago, in October, I enquired at Toyota Zaventem - another Toyota-group owned dealership - about buying a set of winter tyres for my old Prius, and about the costs of them swapping them twice a year and storing the other set when not in use. They eventually got back to me the following April...

    Only my local dealer - Montana - gives me hope that not all is lost with Toyota.
     
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  20. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    does toyota u/k not recommend 5k services for ty re rotation and other inspections?
     
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