No oil change at 1,000km service!

Thats not so bad, Suttons Holden tried to charge me for an automatic service for my last SS commodore, when challenged, they assured me they did the service,, oh really... it 's a bloody manual box. Red faces all round.. Michael

Good advice Rosscoe very good advice.. especially if you have to deal with Holden...

Rick Blaine,,,, read my Post, LOL True... Michael

Michael... Commonwealth motors tried to charge me for a new set of spark plugs... for a T/D Jackeroo.....I played dumb and asked if I could do this at the 80,000 service & they said yes... I asked the guy if he could show me where the plugs were & they even tried to show me... Im sposed to take of the intercooler & they are under there. I made an official complaint...got the cost of the service back after threatening to take my story to the media....still went to the media.. stuff em

Dealers... Our Mitsubishi express van (bran new) is exactly the same as the 12 year old one we had before. Identical, to the stage where the seatbelt still get's jammed in the door every time you get in or out! (you'd think they could have solved that problem in 12 years!!!).
Same carby motor, same everything.

However this van has amazingly gained longer service intervals. When questioning this the dealer started blabing on about how new motors are much more effciant and fuel injections and computers and blah blah blah.
It's the same bloody carby fed 2.0L engine they've always used.. WTF?
Sounds like bulldust to me.

where do you get 10l of good oil and a filter for $50? certainly not in kal

Well it might be a tad shy, however I got 10L of Shell 15w40 Diesel oil on special and a Nipon filter (same as the 80 seires LC) for not much over $50 from Auto 1 last month. If you buy oil and normal retail it's damn expensive but I just buy it up when I see it on special. Save heaps on 10L sometimes.

gday jeff.
it is possible to run newer engines longer between oil changes not that i or many would.
even though your van uses the same engine as your 12 year old one theres plenty of changes internally.they now use different bearing coatings ect to allow for the longer oil changes.

Fair enough, I just find it strange that they change the internals of an engine that otherwise looks, runs and sounds the same and don't even fix the flamin seat belt!! :-)
Oh well.

Probably uses a different grade oil also that's better than what was available 12 years ago.

Leroy

Hey there mrs cubic zirconia, yeah it is possible to run longer intervalls with good quality oils like you said, but with the new diesel and the soot issues it is doing away with extended intervalls on diesels. You still can do it on a petrol, but like you , i wouldnt.. oil is cheap to change compared with the costs if you don't change it..... cheers buddy

ROFLMAO.
Good one Roachie!

Geez Roachie, your a nice type. Turn on your own kind. I'd bet you would even charge your own missus interest on the housekeeping money. LOLLOLLOLLOL hahahahaahhahahahahaa

C'mon Des,
Doesn't EVERYBODY???????????LOLOL

I needed that Roachie, Wait till I see you in June

Sorry Bob,
I don't think I'll be able to make that weekend now after my little outburst above......I think I've got to shampoo my hair that weekend!!!
Seeya.

Chicken!!!

What bloody hair!!!

G'day Steve, That mate of yours is a worry but I guess you can expect little from a person who expouses that he drives a Poo-trol. LOL
I thought he wore a toooopay anyway.

Steven,
That's exactly what I did, in reality. Except I did it before I took it to the dealer for its first service.
My mecahanic found an oil leak and even though I pointed this out to the people behind the desk, they gave me the keys back an hour or so later and said everything was fine.
What about the oil leak, I says.
Oh, the mechanic replies. We only do a visual inspection???? What did he think my mecahanic did - strip the engine!
In their defence they have looked after me since even though it took three return visits to finally get the problem fixed. Turned out to be a weeping welsh plug at the back of the block and not the rear main seal as I originally feared.
All's well that ends well.
I assume you know, that provided you can demonstrate that the vehicle has been service correctly as per the manufacture's recommendations, your warranty is not effected. For peace of mind, I would recommend that you use an authorised mechanic/worksop and that you get them to complete the service coupon. Just in case.....

Amen to that, David!
There are some shonky independents that I have come across in my time. Fortuneately,the guy I use is an ex-dealer service manager and is very, very big in attending manufacturer training session (at his expense).
He services most vehicle but because of his past connections does mostly one make.
Trouble with majors and dealers is just when you've developed that relationship the person leaves or gets promoted.

Thanks for the perspective David. I am staggered by the variety of responses to this post. I have posted below more fully my reasons for looking at using a private workshop. Guess I'll see how it goes.

I think it just comes down to how much you care about the vehicle and want to protect it or just use it and get by with the minimum cost.

Sorry if I came across sounding like dealer bashing. As you say there would have to be good and bad in all workshops, dealer or private. A post like this may draw out more of the horror stories than the good ones. That is the nature of the beast. For the 99 satisfied customers there is one customer who had a problem and that is probably who will be making all the noise!

Will you be at Berri on June long w/e?

Steven

The Toyota petrols are 10,000K intervals but the diesel are all mandatory 5,000K interval

nah fraid not got the sevice book in front of me and the 5k oil changes are in brackets which means only neccessary for severe operating conditions the sticker on the air filter also sais every 10k although this is the first place I have been that only gets 10k services and i guess they dont care when they offload vehicles at 60k

All businesses get friendly when the new bank manager walks on to their premises....hahahahahaha

G'day Willem,
If only they knew the truth........
You know what they say.......a plumber's house will have leaky pipes;
A mechanic's car will spit and fart;
and a Bank Manager's bank account will be severely devoid of cash!!!
LOLOLOL

Allways serviced my own vehicles, even a few new ones in the past and now I have a small fleet and it takes time but you have just reinforced my thought to keep doing it. Might spend some service money on a new 2 post hoist to make it a little easier.

Steve, ol' buddy, ol' pal, ol' mate......once you get that hoist, I'll be over every weekend to gaze up in awe at my beautifully tucked undercarriage!!!! Of course as a form of payment for letting me use the hoist, I will help you glue all the bits back on that have broken off your fleet of tojos during the previous week.

Hi Steven
As Phil said "Running in oil" change at 5000 thats what I was told on our 90 TD, stay genuine on the oil filter lots more than $19 but packs of 10 are cheaper than singles.
I'm in the TLC Vic & they have an arrangement with a dealer- no apprentices, trade prices, have a work shop day twice a year, the guys are into 4wd and know the sort of things we do we do with them & what to look for when servicing, never been charged for a checkup after every trip we've done, have had 3 items replaced under warranty no hesitation.
As David said build a relationship with the service people & I would also check out TLC SA , most dealers have a courtesy car or will drop you off
at work etc. Also don't forget the service after 2500klm if worked heavy.

Cheers

Steven,
Your dilemma is common, and we are fellow South Aussies!

"I am looking at going to a private workshop for my regular servicing."
OK, your dealer will look after you well if you get them to do the work. If you go elsewhere, they will not support you. Fact is that the Prado TDs are probably the most reliable 4wds on the market. That 1KZ-TE motor has been around for 10 years and has no major reliability issues. Your choice: dealer vs private vs DIY. I personally DIY, but thats your choice, and if you DIY, then you take a (slight) risk.

"I cannot see the point in putting clean new oil in a motor with a dirty filter for the sake of a $19 part!" Genuine filtersare dual stage and discount price is $35-40. Only buy genuine. I change the filter 10k and the oil at 5k because the book says so. The oil in these engines is cleaner than any other diesel I've owned. I can see no problem here.

"he indicated that Toyota go minimalist on the maintenance these days." I can't agree - 5k servicing is not minimalist. Service a Tojo by the book......

"the plan is to keep it 6 to 8 years" Yeah - maintain it properly. My Prado Td is on a 10-20 year plan.

"Davids comments above about Dealer Service Bulletins" I know David personally, and have a very healthy respect for everything he says, but on the practical side, I understand the Prado TD has been a very trouble-free vehicle, so there is not much out there in bulletins. I would also like to say that there are some private workshops as well as dealer workshops that I would not use.

"This shop is only a general mechanic " Prado Tds are very simple to service.

"Castrol Magnatec FMX in my engine" Its a CF grade oil commonly used in workshops for the Prado TD. I use a CF-4 or CH-4 oil. Its fine.

So in conclusion, you need to be happy in your own mind. Dealer servicing with peace of mind about warranty, and I'd suggest CMI in Adelaide as an option that most of my friends have been happy with. Or if you go with private servicing, then your personally recommended mechanic would have to be a fool if he couldn't service a Prado TD. Stick with genuine filters, parts and coolant.

Cheers
Phil
2002 Prado TD

Also, it might be worthwhile flicking through the archives of the 2 lists that deal with 120 series:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/120scool/ which is an LCOOL group and
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/90series/ which is the longest running Prado group.

Cheers
Phil

Thanks so much Phil for your "deconstruction" of my comments. You have virtually crystallised much of my thinking. I will probably be fine whichever way I go as long as genuine parts are used. I am starting to lean back towards Dealer service but it seems the more people you talk to (not just on the forum) the more points of view you get, sometimes conflicting.

My dealer has several yards. One of them is about 6 doors up the road from the private workshop that I am thinking of using (and about 1km from work) while the other is 15mins drive away. I was originally dealing with the Business Manager at the closer dealer but during the negotiation he moved to the other yard. I followed because I had built a rapport with him. It was a reasonably complex leasing deal and I did not want to have someone else take it over. The car was eventually delivered at the yard further away.

When I got the tyres changed over I was chatting to the guy there who I have also built up a relationship with (previous sets of tyres) and he told me about the differing service standards between the two workshops in this dealers two yards. The one from which I had the car delivered had a better reputation even though neither was stellar!!
The guy I originally had the dealings with has now taken over as Sales Manager of the closer yard and I dropped by to see him in the last few days to tell him how happy I am with the car. He is quite accomodating and of course is encouraging me to now have the car serviced at his workshop rather than the one further away wher the car was delivered. He has also offered me his own car as a courtesy car whenever mine is in service (which at 5k intervals will be often!!).

My only reservation in this is bad reports about the quality of the workshop (nothing concrete of course, just reputation). But I could equally be taking pot luck with the private bloke down the street based only on 1 friends recommendation. AAAHRRRGGGG!!!!!

You also pointed out something which makes it a bit easier though - the 1kz-te is not exactly a difficult beast! A ferrari it aint! Am I worrying too much? Should I just give it to the nearest dealer and be done with it?

I am by no means an anal retentive type person but I do want to ensure that a $60K investment is looked after properly. After my ramblings above I guess the point is that something like this is never cut and dried or simple and I just need to bite the bullet and get the job done and deal with any problems as they happen!

Thanks for the tip on the Yahoo groups, I am subscribed to the 120 group and have had a flick through the 90 group. Good stuff in there!

Thanks for the advice.
Steven

Not a bad option there Steve!

I do 25,000 clicks a year so that is a service about 5 times a year or every two months. Get the local bloke to do the simple oil changes and get Toyota to do the biggies. I'll check the book but these are probably every 20,000 or 40,000 km. Might just be a good compromise.

Agree totally with your point about learning to be able to do as much as possible myself but I am living in a unit with virtually no facilities. It is hard enough finding a suitable place to wash it let alone service it. Ahhh.. the joys of city living!

Let me know when it is servicing day at your place and I'll slip mine in among your fleet. I sure it would blend right in!!!!! Right next to Roachie's!

Cheers

Steven

Yeah Aandy!

I wasn't talking visible chunks perhaps!! But you never know do you. Unless these things are assembled in a cleanroom there is always the possibility of some foreign particles getting in there. The main part of the run-in seems to be "scoring the bores". This, and the seating of other contact parts, would obviously involve some abrasion which logically may produce particles which are presumably to be borne away by the oil system. I would like this to be removed at the earliest possible time! I know that it has filters and stuff and is designed by some of the best brains on the planet but IMHO an early oil change cannot hurt!

Remember they are building hundreds if not thousands of these things per week and of course costs is always a consideration. I bought Toyota partly due to their quality control reputation.

Perhaps I should have more faith! It has been top notch so far up to 1,600kms.

Steven

Refer to my answer above Aandy, i have cut open lots of filters from new cars and usually find some swarf etc.. The best effort i have seen was on a toyota corolla, it was only 5000k old and had problems, ended up dropping the sump and found a large rag in the sump totally blocking the oil pickup..

In my current role we deal directly with oem manufacturers and i must say that the standards are heaps better than in the past, but you will always get some contamination, it is not usually a prob, thats what the filter is for.