[amalji]

Context

I have been a customer of Toyota in India from 2011 till date ( 2022 ). While my first ownership experience with Toyota - Toyota Etios Diesel (Toyota Etios Diesel VD Ownership Report. EDIT: 125,000 km up & sold) has been excellent in terms of customer support both from the dealership as well from Toyota, my 2nd Toyota Ownership - Innova Crysta Touring Sport 2.8L Diesel Automatic has been a case of hit or miss. In addition to the unprofessional attitude of the dealership, the experience is worsened by the deteriorating quality of Toyota's own email support ( voc@toyota-kirloskar.co.in )

In my past experiences, whenever the dealership plays tricks, Toyota generally comes to the rescue of its customers. Unfortunately the email support from Toyota doesn't seem to work as efficiently as it used to be in the olden times. The people who handle the email feels more like robots than humans and doesn't have a clue of what I am talking about. They seem to have zero empathy ( which was never the case earlier ) and is interested in just doing the procedures for the sake of it.

I'll try to mention high level bucketing of my bad experiences and then try to explain it. Later on, I'll try and quote similar experiences in team-bhp from the same dealership as well.

1. Adding non-Toyota items to service quote without the customer asking for it. If you counter them, they will try to pitch it first and if they understand that the customer won't take bullshit, they give up. It's a scam. They will try this with 100 customers, 10 might react and 90 might not even know what is happening just trusting the dealership blindly.
2. Missing out on replacements recommended by Toyota during regular service!
3. Denial of a problem before warranty and proactively bringing it as a problem post warranty ( The funny thing is that they forgot the fact that my vehicle was under extended warranty. )
4. Service advisors lying through their teeth even for very basic complaints reported.
5. Not owning up the mess they created with the 17" alloys and low profile tyres on a 2 ton ladder on frame vehicle.
6. Robotic Toyota customer care who doesn't seem to understand that it's a human speaking from the other end.

[amalji]

1. Adding non-Toyota recommended items to service quote

This has been a regular happening in Nandi Toyota, Kudlu gate. If I don't explicitly say that I do not want them to add anything other than what Toyota recommends for the x kms service, they will add a bunch of useless items to the quote boosting up the bill by 30%! Some incidents I can remember.

1. During the first 2 services in Nandi Toyota, Kudlu Gate ( 5k and 10k ) even I got scammed. Because I am not used to Toyota dealership scamming me in the past, I didn't look with a suspicious eye at the quote and just approved it. They scammed me with "Mech care" without explicitly taking my permission.
2. During the 70,000 kms service of Innova Crysta at Nandi Toyota, Kudlu Gate the initial quote given was 14487.74 INR + tax. They added items like Mech Care, AC Filter coating ( God knows what it is !), Injector cleaning fluid. I gave them a call and asked them to remove things not recommended by Toyota. Suddenly the quote became 10,760.44 INR + tax ). The scam would have increased the bill by 34.64% had I not intervened.
3. Once, I remember they trying to add some pollution prevention package with a hefty charge. I asked him why is it added and they told that if they don't do it, smoke will come. I said I have never seen smoke from the tail pipe of the crysta ( forget mine, not even the taxis that ply on the road ). He insisted that it will come if I don't do it. I asked him to share the directive from Toyota on the same and then he understood that I got his bullshit and silently removed it from the quote. Again, the culprit is Nandi Toyota, Kudlu gate.

After the first 2 experiences, I make it a point to be explicit in letting the dealership know that I do not want them to add anything other than what Toyota recommends for the service.

For the 70,000 kms service I was not explicit since I opted for vehicle pick up and drop and hence did not meet the service advisor. And the dealer went to the old habit - Scamming the customer.

My Concerns on this incident

• Customer gives the vehicle for a specific work. What gives the dealership the authority to add extra items to that list ?
• Why is it that the dealership is not showing transparency with the customer in being explicit that this is not part of the regular service and instead is/are optional items which the customer can choose to add or not ?
• Why is it that the dealership is lying through their teeth to convince the customer to go for a scam package?
• Even if there is a genuine requirement to control pollution, isn't it the responsibility of Toyota to take care of it proactively ( attleast during the warranty period )? In this case, it was clearly a scam by the dealer. So no point thinking about it. But, this kind of BS from a Toyota dealership is beyond my imagination!

The benchmark that I compare against

Never ever in the 1,25,000 kms ( 6 years - 2011 to 2017 ) of Ownership of my Toyota Etios Diesel have I ever been pushed into such scams. Etios Diesel was primarily serviced in Nippon Toyota and Amana Toyota in Trivandrum, Ernakulam and Wayanad. I do not know whether they have stooped to this level as well because it's been long since I did a regular service from Nippon / Amana Toyota.

[amalji]

2. Missing out on planned replacements

• During the 60,000 kms service the initial quote did not have brake fluid replacement listed. Brake fluid replacement interval in Toyota Innova Crysta Diesel is 40000 kms / 2 years. So, even though 40,000 kms have not passed it had been more than 2 years since the last replacement ( thanks to the low running during Covid times ). They missed it completely. The worst thing was that when I pointed it out to the service advisor, he mentioned that if it has to be replaced, it will come automatically in the software without even taking the effort to check the service manual or consulting with someone else. I insisted on replacing it and he replaced it.
• They missed replacing the AC filter in 60,000 kms service. AC filter on the Crysta has a replacement interval of 20,000 kms. I noticed only after a few weeks and then did not follow up since it was not a critical part.

The benchmark that I compare against

Never ever has such a miss happened in the 1,25,000 kms ( 6 years - 2011 to 2017 ) of Ownership of my Toyota Etios Diesel.

[amalji]

3. Denial of a problem before warranty and proactively bringing it as a problem post warranty

From the very first few days of ownership of the Innova Crysta, I starting noticing a "Gidu Gidu Gidu" subtle sound when going over certain kind of potholes. It was not irritating or loud but it was loud enough to grab the driver's attention and you could figure out that something is not working well.

Duriing my 5k service at Nandi Toyota, Kudlu gate I reported this sound. They did a test drive along with me and kind of put insulation tapes on the seat locking mechanisms and told that mechanically everything is fine. The steering has a slight play but I can ignore that since it's part of every Innova Crysta. I trusted them ( like I normally do with a Toyota dealer ) even though the sound was still there.



They added the above comment on the service invoice. I did not contest it since there was a mild rattle from the seats as well in addition to the "Gidu Gidu" subtle sound.

For the 65k service ( post the standard 3 years warranty ), they mentioned that there is a play in the steering rack end and that they will recommend replacement. The events that unfolded after that played a huge part in me losing trust in the ethics of this dealership - Nandi Toyota, Kudlu gate.

• Me - "it's fine. Go ahead and replace it. "
• The service advisor mentioned that it will cost around 8000 INR.
• Me - "Why can't it be replaced under the warranty?"
• Service Advisor - "Warranty is only for 3 years and it's over, Sir"
• Me - "The vehicle has extended warranty and it's still active. Please check it."
• Service Advisor - "Sir, did the vehicle have any frontal impact?"
• Me - "I remember replacing a clip in the front bumper for 500 INR. The only memory I have is that. "
• Service Advisor - "OK Sir. I'll check and come back."

After a few hours,

• Service Advisor - "Sir, the warranty got rejected"
• Me - "Why is that?"
• Service Advisor - "Because your car has a frontal impact, warranty on steering cannot be used."
• Me - "Are you saying that a bumper clip that got replaced due to a minor pull where the bumper locked against a metal piece near the gate while reversing is enough for Toyota to not respect warranty for a steering issue ? And that too, something which happened years ago!"
• Service Advisor - "Unfortunately, for steering warranty claims, that's our process"
• I said ok and hung up the phone.

The next day, I sent out an email to Nandi Toyota dealership asking for an explanation as to why the warranty was rejected.



I get an initial response apologizing for the inconvenience and then all of a sudden the warranty gets approved. The reason why I sent out that email was because I was 100% sure that there was no insurance claim made for a frontal impact ever on my Innova Crysta! The bumper clip replacement was just a 500 INR bill and I paid it from my pocket.

Now, the best part of the incident is about to come. The "Gidu Gidu" sound which was present on the vehicle from the first few days of ownership is gone for good now! Basically, this means that the steering play was the root cause of the sound. The dealership for some reason did not have the incentive to repair it under the warranty the first time it was reported. But once the warranty expired, the dealership became proactive in pointing out issues with my vehicle which has been existing for ever!

My Concerns on this incident

• Why is it that the Service advisor did not even check whether my vehicle has an active warranty before asking for money from me ?
• Why was he trying to push back on warranty using silly incidents ?
• Does the whole conversation also mean that most of the famed Toyota warranty becomes null and void post an accident ? PS: The vehicle is covered under Zero depreciation Return to Invoice Value Toyota insurance from day 1!
• Does the proactiveness of the service center change pre and post warranty expiration ?
• Why doesn't Toyota reply back with an explanation as to why the warranty was rejected ? Shouldn't they have atleast apologized for the lie that they gave for warranty rejection ?

PS: This is not the only incident where I got this kind of experience from Toyota. But those incidents are bigger and should be told in a different context. So, I'll add it to the other part of this thread.

The benchmark that I compare against

• The proactive recall by Toyota to fix the potential fuel leak issue on Toyota Etios.
• The proactive recall by Toyota to fix the suspension thud sound on Toyota Etios.

Both the above incidents helped me build trust in brand - Toyota that even if they mess up on something, they will own the problem and fix it proactively for the customer. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with the Innova Crysta Ownership. Instead what I see now is denial like in the case of the low profile tyres of the Crysta and the associated problems or the famous brake judder problem.

[amalji]

4. Service advisors lying through their teeth even for very basic complaints reported.

For the 60k Service at Nandi Toyota, Kudlu Gate, I made 2 additional request in addition to the regular service.

1. Change my address in Toyota portal since it's still showing my old address.
2. Continuous rattle with the Toyota OEM Accessory - DVR

The SA promised me that the address will be changed within a day and asked me to whatsapp him the new address which I did on the same day.
I was promised over the phone that the rattle will be fixed by a different company and they will come home and repair it. I thought maybe since it's an accessory, Toyota might have just rebranded another device and the original company might do the repair. Post the service I asked him when should I expect the vendor to do the repair and there was no response. After waiting for 10 days with no response or action, I escalated it further. I was told that there is no option of someone coming home and repairing it and that I will have to take the vehicle again to the service center. They did not even offer me a free pickup and drop as a compensation for the lie their service advisor told me. The address change was made in minutes after my escalation. So, the 24 hours waiting time that the service advisor told me was a bluff as well.

My Concerns on this incident

• The lack of empathy from the service advisor in not giving truthful information and bluffing to the customer just assuming that the customer will forget about the incident after a few days.
• Even when it got escalated, there is no effort from the dealership to compensate for the inconvenience caused because of that lie other than telling me that it was a wrong expectation set by the service advisor and to bring the vehicle to service center again.

[amalji]

5. Not owning up the mess they created with the 17" alloys and low profile tyres on a 2 ton ladder on frame vehicle.

I'll try to explain this as a timeline of events for the mess created by Toyota in deciding on the tyre size for Innova Crysta and how it impacted me as a customer during the multiple stages of ownership.

May 2, 2016 - Toyota Innova Crysta gets launched in India.
June 17, 2016 - The official team-bhp review for Toyota Innova Crysta (Toyota Innova Crysta : Official Review) goes out.

Quoting the comments from GTO regarding the Tyres and Brakes -

Originally Posted by GTO

215/55 tyres on 17" rims which wear a neutral design. Lower variants have 205/65 R16 shoes (check out the 16" rim design in Sankar's post). Both are a step up from the older Innova & its 15" rims. While the 17" size looks really neat, personally, I'd prefer 15 or 16 inch wheels on an MPV. Reason = taller sidewall = superior ride quality + wheel is less prone to damage on broken roads. Even with the Innova Crysta, the lower variant should be riding noticeably better than the top-end, thanks to an enhanced sidewall height of 15 mm. This pic is of the rear wheel - look at that drum brake inside! On a car as safe & expensive, all-wheel discs ought to be standard:

3 November 2016 - A thread for Toyota Innova Crsyta niggles (Niggles & issues with the Toyota Innova Crysta) was started on Team-bhp with multiple tyre, alloy and brake issues reported in there.

Quoting GTO's comments -

Originally Posted by GTO

What on earth is happening? First, Honda had build issues with the City and now the hallmark of reliability - the Innova! These are among the most powerful 'car' brands in India.

I'm not worried about the tyre problems as they're the simplest to fix. At the time of reviewing the Innova, I'd mentioned to Toyota that 17 inchers on a people mover is a terrible idea (should be 15 or 16 with tall sidewall tyres). Nor am I worried about the touchscreen ICE.

But what really gets my goat are the frequent air-con issues in your car, so many parts replaced, brake issues, premature rattles & vibrations. Toyota had better get its quality control in order. The Innova Crysta is a very expensive MPV and the only reason that 7,000+ customers a month are paying the premium is reliability & durability. Clearly Toyota has slipped up in quality and that's honestly unpardonable.

Sankar's Innova was back in the shop last week:

And this is how his brake discs looked in less than a year of usage:

I too thought, the tyre size issue would be the simplest problem for Toyota to solve. Just replace the costlier 17 inch tyres with the cheaper high profile 16" tyres! And they did solve that ( only for a few months though ).

23 January 2017 - Toyota dumps 17 inch wheels for 16 inches (Toyota Innova Crysta ZX dumps 17" wheels for 16". UPDATE: Back to 17") on their higher variants

GTO rightly applauded Toyota for listening to their customers and making this change.

Originally Posted by GTO

Excellent move . This shows Toyota's proactive nature. Most manufacturers would just stick with the spec they offered at launch, but Toyota took note of customer complaints and switched to the more practical rim size.

11 September 2017 - Toyota makes a U-turn and reverts to 17" wheels but with tougher sidewall tyres. (Toyota Innova Crysta ZX dumps 17" wheels for 16". UPDATE: Back to 17")

21 December 2017 - I get the Toyota Innova Touring Sport Diesel Automatic delivered from Ravindu Toyota, MG Road, Bengaluru. Even though, I pleaded with them to replace the 17 inch wheels with the cheaper 16 inch wheels, they replied there is no way for them to do it without me paying for it.

1 January 2018 - My first new year drive with the car resulted in the tyre sidewall getting torn (Toyota Innova Crysta ZX dumps 17" wheels for 16". UPDATE: Back to 17").

Originally Posted by amalji

I went for touring sport which comes with 17". And I've already faced my first side wall tear within 2500 KMs.

Out of the show room, the tyre is filled with a bone jarring 45 psi of pressure. And this is not just for me. Many others reported the same pressure. Every single undulation on the road is felt inside the cabin. I'm curious as to whether Toyota is experimenting with a higher air pressure at the cost of comfort. I brought it down to 33 psi on all tyres ( recommended tyre pressure as written on the doors ) and within 2 days, my side wall is gone when it hit a small debris.

Lesson learnt: The 'unbreakable robust Innova Crysta' with 2 tons of weight has flimsy low profile tyres which has to be cared for like a baby. From then on, I make it a point to no longer drive it carefree like I used to do on my Etios.

I took it to Ravindu Toyota and they initially recommended replacement of both the Tyre and the Alloy and I asked them to claim Toyota insurance. After their conversation with the insurance advisor, they said that since the functionality of the alloy is not impacted, only the tyre can be replaced under insurance. I was fine with that since I was more worried about the structure taking a beating than the scratches on it. I re-confirmed with them that there is no compromise on the structural integrity of the alloy wheels.

10 February 2020 - While performing the 40,000 kms service at Nandi Toyota, Kudlu gate, I asked them to perform wheel balancing on all 5 wheels and while they were performing it, they mentioned that the spare wheel cannot be balanced due to a dent in the alloy. This was the same wheel which went through the tyre replacement. I gave them a history of what exactly happened with my last insurance claim and they were feeling sympathetic but was mentioning that nothing can be done about it now since the incident happened long back. I did not have the time or energy to fight with them. So, I decided to replace it on my own.

19 June 2020 - Replaced the spare alloy wheel from Nandi Toyota, Kudlu Gate. Cost to the wallet - 19,504 INR.

As mentioned by many others in the forum, I too had the brake disc issue which causes the steering wheel to vibrate violently while braking. The solution is to skim the brake discs. But then, the problem will come back again if you are someone who brakes hard frequently. The root cause is that Toyota inadequately designed the brakes for the Crysta. It cannot handle the heat generated when you try to bring this 2 ton vehicle to a stop. So, I never bothered about it. I also used to have a steering vibration post 90 kmph. I thought this might be something to do with this brake disc bug or wheel balancing issue. So, ignored it for most part of my ownership.

21 September 2022 - During the 70,000 kms service I asked them to go ahead and perform the brake disc skimming. They performed this and the steering vibration while braking is gone for good. But, the steering vibration post 90 kmph persisted even after wheel balancing. So, on further investigation I was informed that this is due to dent in alloy wheels. So, I requested them to put the best 2 wheels at the front. That's when I got the shocker. All alloy wheels have a dent! I requested them to replace the alloys under warranty to which they mentioned that warranty cannot be claimed for alloys. I read through their warranty terms and conditions and figured out that alloy wheels are not excluded from warranty.

24 September 2022 - I send an email to voc@nanditoyota.com, voc@toyota-kirloskar.co.in on September 24 2022 with the following content.



I got a few ( 2 - 3 ) calls from Toyota ( possibly their triaging team ) who repeats the same questions and promises me that someone will call me from Toyota within 24 hours. Till date, no one has called me.

28 September 2022 - From Nandi Toyota, a person ( not mentioning his name to protect his privacy ) called me and told me that warranty will be tricky to claim but he will explore the possibility of claiming insurance. I sent him all the details of my Zero depreciation Return to Invoice value Toyota Insurance and he mentioned that he will call let me know the details within a week.

It's been 44 days since I first raised a formal complaint with Nandi Toyota dealership and with Toyota directly. Toyota haven't proceeded beyond their triage support after 1.5 months of reporting the problem. Nandi Toyota has not come back with the insurance claim option for this situation.

My concerns on this incident.

• The fact that Toyota decided to use 55 profile tyres on a 2 ton 7 seater ladder on frame MPV. I have driven vehicles for lakhs of kms. Never ever have I come across a situation where all 5 alloy wheels have some deformity or the other in just 75,000 kms of driving. And I have been very gentle with the Crysta unlike how I abused the Etios because I experienced the weakness of this vehicle first hand within the first month of ownership.
• The Limitations of Toyota warranty explicitly mentions tyres, battery, refrigerant, lubricants, parts made of rubber, windshield wiper inserts, consumables, key fob batteries, wiper blades, gaskets, brake discs etc as not covered under warranty. But nowhere is it mentioned that alloys are not covered under warranty. Why is it that Toyota is denying warranty then ?
• Why does the Toyota email support not respond other than the first triage response. This was not how they used to be years before. I sent 3 follow up emails after that for them to wake up. But, no real response yet.
• If they believe that the alloys got damaged due to a pothole, why is it that they are hesitating to replace it using the much taunted Toyota zero depreciation insurance ?
• Why did Toyota remove Tyre and alloy cover as the default option for Toyota zero depreciation insurance ? You have to now ask for it explicitly to get both of these covered. I have been religiously asking for it every time I renew my insurance since I know that this is the weak link of Crysta?
• Why does the dealership ( Nandi Toyota ) not own the mistakes of previous dealerships even when the vehicle is on warranty and under zero depreciation insurance from Toyota? And why do they break on promises made to customer ?
• Why does Toyota charge 19,000 INR for a single alloy wheel ?

[amalji]

After being a customer of Toyota for close to 11 years and our family owning 3 vehicles from Toyota during this time, I have kind of given up on Nandi Toyota, Kudlu gate and Toyota Kirloskar.

Specifically with regards to the alloy wheel issue, I'll be sending them a notice soon and then follow it up with a Consumer court case. I understand that India's consumer protection laws are not very strong and it can be a very depressing experience. But, I've decided to still pursue that option more from an ethical stand point and since I believe that being a team-bhpian, we have a responsibility to fight against these manufacturer's unethical practices regardless of the pain one have to go through.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[sparks4077]

Thank you amalji for this very timely post. I am in the market for a new car and was considering the Hyryder or the Innova crysta (purely wife's choice). Since I live around the area of HSR, the Kudu gate service center was one of the options I was looking at. I have been driving Marutis since 2008 and wanted to move to another brand giving the same "peace of mind" ownership experience and hence was looking at Toyota.
Did you try any other service center and if so, was the experience any better?

[DicKy]

Was waiitng for this thread as your Innova experience has been muted compared to the Etios ownership thread.

True that TKM has been robotic regarding their customer care. Everything should work like clockwork, so much that one out of box request or warranty claim throws them off-guard. They then fumble and go through processes before taking any decision.

Last service of my Etios D they had sneaked in OTHERS- Instrument panel, gloss Mech Care, gloss AC Duct Cleaning and Disinfectant all adding up Rs.1500+ extra. Dad didn't check properly as we did a tyre change, balancing and alignment alongwith the scheduled service. Next service is scheduled the coming Saturday and am looking forward to what all they are trying to sneak in this time. Can't believe these are the same guys who pre-covid used to say, " No need sir, this will easily go another 10k kms/ No need to replace the whole part sir, we got child parts. "

Service has been done exclusively at Nippon Enchakkal and Kazhakootam

[Vid6639]

I have always been servicing at Ravindu Toyota for my Corolla. However in 2015, I had to go to Nnadi as I didn't have the time to go so far to Avalahalli Old madras road.

I stay on Sarjapur road and Nandi Toyota is 15 mins drive away vs 1.5 hours for Ravindu. However I always preferred Ravindu over Nandi.

In 2014 when I decided to try out Nandi, I got a bad vibe at the time of dropping the car. The SA kept putting in stuff in his estimate and when I questioned him why all this is needed, he said we need to check first as these parts are usually common. HE basically wanted to change multiple suspension components and shocks on a 50K kms old car.

Nandi Toyota was the first place I encountered the AC disinfectant scam which they fooled me with.

Nandi Toyota gave me a final estimate of Rs.40K for a 50K kms old Toyota that had no issues in driving and no complaints reported. I took the car out of Nandi with just the basic oil change and AC disinfectant scammed and gave it to Ravindu a month later to confirm.

My old SA confirmed nothing was wrong with the car and it was all rubbish from Nandi Toyota.

The suspension struts were finally replaced 3 years later at 70K kms vs the time Nandi wanted to do them and insisted they were bad.

If you don't want to get ripped off, stick to Ravindu. Even the SA and chief mechanic have remained for 11 years my car is going to them.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

If you don't want to get ripped off, stick to Ravindu. Even the SA and chief mechanic have remained for 11 years my car is going to them.

I have had the same pathetic experience with Ravindu all the three times my car has been for service so far. However during the last service I told on the SAs face that instead of expecting a commission on these extra he can just tell me what that amount is and I would send it to him directly. After that he didnt add any add ons but still tricked me to change a camber bolt and messed up the alignment.

However I agree that building a long term rapport might work out better as it had been the case with Maruti earlier for me and now Skoda.

The issue with Toyota service in my view is that they are used to two extremes of customers, one side being rich politicians/govt vehicles who wont give a hoot about the add ons and neither care about the service quality, and on the other side cabbies who would get the bare basic work done at the dealership and also expecting to cut some corners on spares. The educated/enthusiast customer lies in the middle, which is a tricky area for obvious reasons since our expectations are high and we dont agree to getting fleeced.

I believe this overcharging is a sort of a disease that goes across the industry due to both migration of people and increasing greed of the management. It wont be a hard guess that a Maruti/Hyundai dealer would have shared this system of charging extra with a friend who runs a Toyota dealership and that becomes a new practice at the latter. Similarly, a service advisor jumping ship between these two places can bring in his best practices along.

At the end of the day, the whole industry is going to dogs. The only respite with Toyota or Maruti is that their vehicles are pretty reliable and apart from regular maintenance and some scheduled wear and tear repairs, we hardly need specialised maintenance on the vehicles for which the ASC would be the only place with the right resources.

My Crysta had rusting issues due to leakage of battery acid and when my dad who is also a mech engineer took it into Nandi express service last month for attention, the SA just charged him 500 rupees for some protective spray without even cleaning the whole area. So I can imagine what would happen to a customer from a non engineering or automotive background.

End of the story, we live in a screwed up service industry and the only way out is to do DIY in the longrun. There is ZERO concept of a 'trustable' service advisor who wont scam you. Everyone catches the diesase sooner than later and their symptoms can be widely different, except that the only outcome is that the customer loses some extra money, or gets substandard work done after haggling.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by audioholic

However I agree that building a long term rapport might work out better as it had been the case with Maruti earlier for me and now Skoda.

Actually this is the key. Once you have a rapport and the guys don't change you are rest assured that you will be taken care of.

However when the staff keeps changing it's damn difficult to keep a rapport.

I was having a long term rapport with JSP Ford Kudlu gate and now since 2 years the guys there all left. The SA keeps changing and even the service manager has changed twice in 1 year.

[Turbanator]

In my many years of communicating with any manufacturer, Toyota has been the worst. Not now, not yesterday but forever. I don't know when OP got a reply from Toyota that sorted the query. They will continue asking if we need to- 1. Make a complaint or 2. Make a suggestion; either way, they are not bothered.

It's only due to the quality of their products (which appears to have taken a hit, though) our visits to the dealerships are mostly for service only. And, by now, most staff at MGF Toyota (local preferred dealer) know about our company enough that they dont add anything. If some new service advisor sends us an inflated estimate, I text him back this link, and he does not speak a word and corrects on his own.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...g-service.html (Toyota dealer scam - Upselling optional extras worth Rs. 9,000 during service)

[NYMEX]

The quality of Toyota parts has definitely dropped, and cost have become too high. Additionally, the SA have very little knowledge about the mechanical engineering behind the automobiles.

In Feb 2022 while driving on the highway, suddenly a turbo whining like sound started in my 2010 corolla (12+ years old & 80,000 kms). The dealer at Dehradun & Delhi both could not figure out the reason despite long test drives. The one at Delhi declined to check the gear oil at my suggestion because it was 'not required' & 'too expensive'. Anyways the car was barely being used, so this problem got ignored till July 2022. I then got GL drained in front of me at the local mechanic and discovered 1.5 liters (instead of 2.1L) gear oil in terrible condition. This was replaced with 2 liters of new API GL-4 compliant gear oil (~ Rs. 500 + Rs. 200 labour= Rs.700) after which the sound has disappeared, and gear shifting has become smoother

The dealers are habitually increasing service costs with non-essential addons because 99% of the customers are NOT:

1. reading the manual
2. interested in gathering info about maintenance their expensive vehicles
3. checking & verifying the estimates thoroughly before servicing