McCoy Motors Lucan Bypass - dont bother

[gv1.3]

Just thought my conversation with them was interesting and wondered had anyone else had a similar response from a Toyota dealer.

I am thinking of buying an MR2 and was calling around to find out prices for work I want to have done once I have picked a car I like.

I have been getting service parts for my Glanza and the gf's Celica from this Toyota dealer for some time now so I gave them a call and asked for the service department. I told them I was looking for a price to have the timing belt changed on an MR2. The first question they asked was "is it a jap import", I said yes. I was then informed that "it is out policy not to carry out any work on jap imports". I asked why this was and was told "there are always too many modifications done to them".

As I am looking for a stock MR2 I explained that the car will have zero modifications and was again told "it is our policy not to carry out any work on imported cars".

I will no longer buy any parts from this Toyota dealership, if they are not interested in assisting me beyond selling me off the shelf parts then I wont be interested in spending money with them.

Do these dealerships still have so much money coming through their doors that they can pick and choose what jobs they feel like doing? I find it astounding that with the economy in shreds you can call a garage and be told that they do not want your custom.

Has anyone else ever called a Toyota dealership and been told that they do not work on certain cars? It would be interesting to hear from people who have.

I called Fitzpatricks Toyota in Kildare and they said they could do it no problem.

I hate companies that will take your money so long as there is no effort involved but as soon as they might have to do some work for your money they are not interested.

 

[Iain@CRD]

That surely has to be bollocks ... its wearing a Toyota badge regardless of where it orginated from!

Even if its got modifications ... whats the deal with a timing belt change with modifications? Baffling.

I'd be sending in a letter to Toyota.

 

[corofin12345]

this is so true man.. i rang toyota in galway (cant remember name) and was asking about a sandwich plate for the oem lsd gearbox.. the fellla (stephen) i was dealing with was so helpfull.. it was on his system an all and he said he can order it for me so i said id call up to him in the next week or so... plans changed so i rang there the next morning, got through to the same fella but he wasnt so helpfull this time.. he went on and told me they stopped doin jap import parts 3 years ago and i told him i was onto you yesterday wasnt i about this.. i got cut off, rang again and a woman answered saying there is noone by the name of (stephen) working here... stupid fookers!!!

dylan most places wont touch jap imports cause of the lack of good mechanics.. any tom dick and harry can plug in a diagnostic tool to check if everything is ok but if theres something a miss with an aftermarket part they will run away from it and cower behinds their laptops... at the end of the day its the liability factor incase they do something wrong while at your car..

 

[gv1.3]

but surely if the car is stock with zero modifications then it is just a routine timing belt change?
The other toyota place I called said it would be no problem at all, pricey as fooking hell, but no problem.

I have written an email to the owner of the dealership. Its unreal and I bet Toyota Ireland would not be too pleased that dealers are refusing to work on Toyota models. As you said Iain there is a Toyota badge one it.

 

[Iain@CRD]

but surely if the car is stock with zero modifications then it is just a routine timing belt change?
The other toyota place I called said it would be no problem at all, pricey as fooking hell, but no problem.

I have written an email to the owner of the dealership. Its unreal and I bet Toyota Ireland would not be too pleased that dealers are refusing to work on Toyota models. As you said Iain there is a Toyota badge one it.

Exactly, its a stock Toyota MR2. They must be timing belt changes on the UK models so why not the jap?

I bet the owner will not be pleased at all, he will be reading it like we are and thinking its completely insane that TOYOTA, who make the car in question are refusing to do work on it! lol

 

[gv1.3]

Its all very Irish lol. Seriously though it gets to me that there is this attitude in Ireland from a lot of people that is like "if its not an easy job and easy to make money then we are not interested in the work". I was trying to get a flexi welded in to my exhaust a couple of years ago and had to call about 20 places and they all said "we wouldnt be able to do that" - these were all exhaust places. If you require more than them selling you an exhaust and bolting it on then forget about it.


I would be happy finding a Toyota mechanic that has been laid off and giving him the money to do it. At least they might be interested in earning a few quid.

 

[corofin12345]

one of the reasons i do all my work myself.. try find a good local mechanic to do it for ya.. probably will be half the price of a dealership

 

[neilcliop]

@ gv 13 i went that toyota garage in lucan got few bits off um but was told they dont take any jap imports to do work on and i was like wtf i now the head mecanic in there and he says there well able to sort out modified cars its just the owner being a prick and not wanting to deal with the modified cars

 

[GT-TD04]

Try Toyota in Drogheda and ask for Rob at parts,he's on here somewhere i think as slammedmind

But i wouldnt get a main dealer anyway,over priced.Parts yes,labour no.

Have you decided on an 2 yet?

 

[gv1.3]

Does Rob work there? I bought my hks ssqv off him many moons ago.

Havent decided on one yet, I have had the brother out test driving a few for me and have made a short list. I fly home tonight so I will go and take a look at the ones he has seen and see if any of them fit the bill.

 

[GT_Irl]

@ Dylan, I would only use main dealers for getting parts, toyota here in Cork are very good/helpful in fairness. When it comes to working on the car I personally felt more comfortable employing mechs who have experience with imports (even if it is just a mundane timing belt job!). Not only are they WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY cheaper, I also found them to be much more thorough with their work. Kieran.s and Gedis for example from here. Just a thought mate You have tonnes of handy mechs with vast experience with imports near you. Please keep going with the MR2 idea...one of the best looking toyotas mader imho!

edit: by mechs I mean private mechs or garages specialising in imports

 

[wesgt]

i've come across this too many times, most toyota dealers are shite!
let us know how that letter turns out!

 

[Phil]

ed (username 12345678) is a handy mechanic with a fountain of knowledge to fall back on (his father was qualified as a toyota master mechanic)

i can understand the dealerships policy, but i cant understand that once you tell them that this car is not modified/one of the imports they are have aimed the policy avoiding, why they dont say, alright if it is 100% stock thats fine, but if we run into difficulties due to uprated parts that where unknown to you you may well recieve a car back in pieces.

lets just say they could cover their backs with the policy whilst also making money from genuine customers/cars like yourself dylan without too much hassle.

its actually a case of them being soo lazy they dont even want to make a decision based on individual circumstances, so they blanket ban certain models/or jobs.

its a complete laugh.

Phil

 

[Gryzor]

Came across the same problem at Shelbourne Motors just outside Portadown. I asked for a price for replacing CV gaitors, said they didn't touch jap imports..very poor, as its a straight-forward job.

 

[aiki_joker]

Same in Aberdeen, the parts are available to all dealers, trouble is dealers can pick and choose what they supply. Some are lazy and do not supply the relevant parts. Some do not know the system well enough to process import orders efficiently. Others are more than happy. I called up toyota Aberdeen to source some parts. No luck with some of them. Called Toyota Elgin and been going to them for parts for years, really good. The guy even gave me some exploded views from his Toyota software. Toyota have a warehouse in Belgium with tons of import parts there. - This whse is worth mentioning when looking for import parts. I have even got quotes for parts for some Land Cruisers imported from Saudi Arabia!!

 

[GT-TD04]

Does Rob work there? I bought my hks ssqv off him many moons ago.

Havent decided on one yet, I have had the brother out test driving a few for me and have made a short list. I fly home tonight so I will go and take a look at the ones he has seen and see if any of them fit the bill.

Yep,he's the parts manager,sure he could get you sorted

Cool,keep us updated

 

[Brendanlez]

I took a mates Corolla up to Kellys Garage here in Donegal, to get a quote done after a fella ran into the side of him, it was a 95 Corolla and I understand that the work that needed to be carried out if done by a main dealer it would exceed the book value of the car, but I just wanted a quote as this is what the insurance company was looking from him. The reply I got was " that car is not worth the fixing". I explained to him the situation and he didnt want to know.

This is a garage we purchased 3 Landcruisers (05,07 & 08), a 99 Toyota Dyna, a 08 Hiace, & a 07 Lexus 220d Sports, all of which were brand new at the time of purchase. the Lexus and 07 Landcruiser were ordered together and yet he still didnt want to know, even though this was a matter of months after these 2 were ordered.

My personal view is that when the economy was good in this country it ruined it as many people had money to spend with out worrying about the customer service as they usuallyu changed within a year or two anyway thus car dealerships lost all knowledge of what customer service is

 

[SupaStu]

I get all my parts from Toyota in Campsie in Derry, and the parts guys are really helpful, and are now expert in finding 4efte's on the system without my chassis no. lol

However I did get them to re-gas the Freelander aircon and this was no problem, full regass, test etc for about £75. No problems or complaints with them, however i try to do all the work myself or get a friend to help out if its something more difficult.

 

[Jay]

I got fucked off with paying too much for too little or hitting brickwalls like you did. Get the spanners out and get stuck in Dy.

 

[gv1.3]

I got fucked off with paying too much for too little or hitting brickwalls like you did. Get the spanners out and get stuck in Dy.

Normally I would Jay but I read a guide to doing the timing belt on the MR2 and the lad said it took him 40 hours!! It looked pretty complicated to be honest.

Thanks for all the input lads appreciate the comments and advice.