Toyota service - brisbane

[gspy4u Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gspy4u]

Use to use Sci Fleet Albion as well. Were good to us and reasonable prices. However, overtightened front diff drain bolt so had to be hammered and chiseled out (that was fun) and again overtightened filler plug of Transfer box resulting in cracking it. Not discovered until on holiday trip at Dubbo, thank goodness for JB Weld.

Ross Llewelyn, well here's my experience from them. Getting RWC for our R32 Golf when we sold it to a friend, sat upstair for 2 hours watching the idiot mechanic pull almost all the plastics off in the engine bay, then proceeded to do the same to the inner guards. Finally had enough and asked what the idiot was doing to my $65k car and was told they were trying to find the engine number. ARRRRRR, said if they didn't know where to find it why didn't they just ask instead of ripping off everything for hours.
No2. Jet pump failed in rear tank (didn't know anything about these at the time). Car towed there, left over night, picked up to be told it was a bad batch of fuel, that it "smelt" funny, that they drained all the fuel and it was now OK. Told them i was leaving for an Interstate holiday towing our tandem caravan and I didn't want to break down again. They said, yeh all fine that will be $280 for that thanks.
Filled car up, left for holiday, and guess what, got onto 2nd tank was out in the middle of no where and same problem happened. Luckily managed to get it going and fill up with fuel (took almost an hour to fill) and had to keep filling up every 300k's or so to avoid it happening again. Found out the problem myself and fixed it myself as they had no idea of what the problem was but were happy to take my money to drain my tank. So NOT HAPPY.

So no matter where you go, it all depends on the mechanic that works on your car that day.

[mickmac_42 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mickmac_42]

So no matter where you go, it all depends on the mechanic that works on your car that day.

My thoughts exactly.

[Trevc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Trevc]

I've been critical of Sci-Fleet Kedron in the past with regards to service, I've found it pretty second rate.

However recently I had the car in at Sci-Fleet ALBION and have had first rate service.
Without going into the details of the issues I had with car, Mitch and Byron? from the service desk, and Shane from the workshop
took me out to the car and showed me the problem and explained how it happened and how we can fix it.

They submitted an out of warranty claim to Toyota on my behalf which had a fair outcome, and I again felt like a valued client.
It was very refreshing, and if there are any minions from Toyota or Sci-Fleet monitoring these forums the Albion team deserve a pat on the back.

no affiliation etc.

Trev

[Night Rider Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Night Rider]

Anyone had and dealings with Toyota dealerships on the Northside other than Albion?

[Richoson Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Richoson]

A further comment is that even though these are all large dealerships if you can form some sort of relationship with a particular person who cares, then take the time to ask fore them, pre book, and most all show some manners and respect, you will be surprised at the difference.

See ya on the tracks, Richo.

[Mark.Brisbane Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mark.Brisbane]

You can get warranty service wherever you like

I'm fortunate in a way that my Prado is out of warranty & I can take it to whom ever I please. .....

Just a point on this. Even if your car is under warranty you can get it serviced wherever you like. Under the consumer laws in Australia the work has to be carried out to an acceptable standard. A merchant can't tell you where you have to get it serviced for the warranty to be honoured.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Extended warranty can be different to the standard warranty. We got genuine Toyota extended warranty, and the vehicle for the first two years could be serviced by any licensed workshop. During the extra 3 year warranty it had to be serviced by the dealer we bought the vehicle/warranty from. Also for any warranty issues, replacement parts needed etc it had to be done through the dealer. We couldn't take it to say Ultra tune or some one to say get the gear box fixed under warranty. Not sure if the rules have changed since we bought ours new in 06.....Cheers Steve

[Rogerthatv2 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Rogerthatv2]

Scrub this, found that Toyota run 2 warranties to make it confusing... Extended warranty to be serviced by Toyota and Extended Factory Warranty Insurance. Just to keep us on out toes, lol.

[keencdk Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close keencdk]

I am on the north side and used torque toyota at Brendale for 10/20/30/40/50,000km services. They basically changed the oil, I reported the 1500rpm rattle on each of the 30, 40 and 50,000km services and they kept saying it was dodgey fuel and recommending I buy fuel additive from them and only use BP ultimate and Castrol Vortex. This despite Toyota having issued a bulletin and fix for the issue. At the 20,000km service they flashed the CPU I think, and as soon as I drove away there was a high pitched pinging noise that they didn't fix despite asking (bad fuel again apparently) at the 30, 40 and 50,000km service.

Anyways, for the 60,000km service I changed to Sci-Fleet at Albion. When I checked in they knew instantly what the fix was for the 1500rpm rattle and said they do the Toyota fix plus something extra as they have found the Toyota fix was not fixing it as well as their fix. They suggested the service manager come for a test dirve with me to hear the high pitched noise, however when I explained it he knew exactly what it was. I also asked them to flash the ECU to the current software and that was no worries for them at all. They even pointed out that once on the current one you can't go backwards and it may use more fuel, which I knew already from PP

Picked up the Prado and the rattle is gone, the high pitched noise is gone and it is more responsive thanks to the ECU reflash. They were really organised for dropoff and collection, everyone I spoke to knew what they were talking about, and the annoying noises that have been through 3 services with no resolution are all fixed.

Coming out of the capped price servicing I was not going to spend my money getting a service done at Torque, but now that I had a good experience at Sci-Fleet Albion I will go there.

[keencdk Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close keencdk]

Regarding the extended warranty - if you get the Toyota factory extended warranty you can service anywhere. If you have a dealership extended warranty you will be stuck with their dealership or branch of dealerships for servicing.

[bluem00n Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close bluem00n]

Hi BigBen, better late than never, definitely +1 Motorama at Moorooka. I purchased my 150 from them over a year ago and I've had it serviced by them at every interval. The experience, both purchasing & servicing, feels clinical and it's gives reassurance that the car is being well looked after.

It's slightly out of the way, so you'll either need a pickup/dropoff mate or you can hire a car from them for ~$50.

[Trevc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Trevc]

A further comment is that even though these are all large dealerships if you can form some sort of relationship with a particular person who cares, then take the time to ask fore them, pre book, and most all show some manners and respect, you will be surprised at the difference.

See ya on the tracks, Richo.

Richo

This is 100% correct. I've had some cooling issues with mine and Shane and his team have been outstanding in fixing it, ably supported by Evan and the boys 'out the front'.
I believe both parties (me and SF) treated each other with manners and respect and we worked together torwards a solution.
I was ready to write-ff Sci Fleet due to poor experience at Kedron but with my recent experience at Albion I cannot recommend them more highly.

Trev

[stevensr34 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close stevensr34]

I live in Taringa so have been using Sci Fleet.....all good so far

wow - you must have been lucky with them then... I've had major issues, and my neighbour has had worse ones with them...

My problem: They replaced the clutch, but neglected to seat the transfer lever in the correct location, so on arrival at Big Red, could not move the lever AT ALL. The Birdsville mechanic found and fixed it for free, luckily, but our schedule was 1/2 day behind after that...

My neighbours problem: They had a service before a major 4 week trip, but the mechanic forgot to refill the V6 with oil, so when they took it for the final test drive, it seized up, and needed a new engine! So much for the 4 week camping trip...

So - Beware!

[PPAL Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close PPAL]

So when they tested the battery did they test Volts or Cold Cranking Aamps? CCA's is more important for the main battery

Why MUST a Prado be serviced by a Toyota dealer to maintain its warranty?

It doesn't - but will be less hassle if a claim were to arise. Else Toyota could claim that serving was not done right. They would have to show how. During warranty the serving is capped (subsidised). No one else can do it for that price.