GR86 Broken

[KobayashiMaru86]

It’s because dealers don’t want to pay the money for random cars to be abused. Cheap and cheerful is all they want.

When I run Skoda's and went in for work, I almost always had a choice and they usually had one of each of each range so Fabia, Octavia, Superb, Yeti, etc and all decent spec. Don't think I ever had a bad one. But once they got to 2k they weren't demos anymore and they went into the used lot.

I know it's a minor thing and there's always a cost but leads to other things and possible more sales. They need to stop being tight. I had an Octavia while my Mk2 Fabia vRS was in. When I replaced the Z4M after it, an Octavia was on the list, purely because of that demo. I then owned an Octavia vRS for almost 8 years.

 

[GregKNorfolk]

Sorry about the car Greg, I hope all gets sorted by Toyota soon.

I have a guilty pleasure though, I love the looks of the Toyota Aygo X. Especially in Exclusive trim in that metallic green colour that they do. Never driven one though.

Thanks.

The kind of teal colour is nice indeed, but the one I was given is officially called Ginger Beige...

My Mum has an old Peugeot 107 and it reminds me of it, in the old school way. Just modernised with AC, electric windows and Android Auto, plus all the electronic gubbins unfortunately (start-stop, lane assist, traffic sign recognition,etc) .
I quite like the 3-cylinder thump and the narrow tyres. Cheap and cheerful really describes it.

 

[OPC100]

Thanks.

The kind of teal colour is nice indeed, but the one I was given is officially called Ginger Beige...

My Mum has an old Peugeot 107 and it reminds me of it, in the old school way. Just modernised with AC, electric windows and Android Auto, plus all the electronic gubbins unfortunately (start-stop, lane assist, traffic sign recognition,etc) .
I quite like the 3-cylinder thump and the narrow tyres. Cheap and cheerful really describes it.

View attachment 28899

Ginger beige doesn't sound / look so good.

 

[Ecsrobin]

Thanks.

The kind of teal colour is nice indeed, but the one I was given is officially called Ginger Beige...

My Mum has an old Peugeot 107 and it reminds me of it, in the old school way. Just modernised with AC, electric windows and Android Auto, plus all the electronic gubbins unfortunately (start-stop, lane assist, traffic sign recognition,etc) .
I quite like the 3-cylinder thump and the narrow tyres. Cheap and cheerful really describes it.

View attachment 28899

It’s a slightly different platform now but Toyota, Citroen, Peugeot all shared the same city car design for many years which is why there’s a lot of familiarity.

 

[GRpirate]

I had the Argo x for three days when mine was in for the 20k service and A/C repair. I was doing up to some miles around 400 to 500 over the 3 days and I quite enjoyed it. Not much power of course but arguably better than the GR for cruising down a concrete motorway. Got 55 MPG average despite using all the power. I had a BMW before and also have a mini this was off the road for week and they gave me 440 before that on the service they gave me the 440D convertible was a nice experience but I like trying the basic cars as well. I might want to consider an Argo one day but not likely to be in the market for a new 440. I don’t think we can expect them to keep a fleet of coupe in case one of the 1500 odd sold develops a fault.

 

[GRMatt74]

Any updates on this yet?

 

[GregKNorfolk]

Had no news whatsoever since finally picking up the courtesy car Friday two weeks ago.

Tried to call earlier this week but call hung up during the "your call is important to us" waiting music bit.

Just called to ask what was happening and if Toyota made a decision or what. Answer is "most of the parts arrived yesterday and the rest arrives tonight. It is booked for Monday-Tuesday so it should be ready Wednesday".
Asked what was changed and if the block was part of it, and the response was a tad wooly so I'll see what the paperwork says.

More time in the old-school Aygo, revving everywhere so I can merge to dual carriageway as safely as possible. Then get the GR86 back for a short time before getting shot of it unless it's a fully crated engine swap that Toyota approved.

On the customer service front, it is yet more poor and largely woeful. I was told twice I would be informed of what/when Toyota GB reached a decision. But radio silence.

 

[Silver Fox]

Disappointing Greg. Hope it all gets resolved to your satisfaction.

 

[GregKNorfolk]

From last phone call, car was supposed to be ready Wednesday night. Got a missed call this morning saying they finished the road test and they are happy with the repairs, so can I come and pickup it up.

Fast forward to 18:00 and I'm in the posh reception, waiting in the queue. After a while, a guy came with the list of replaced parts and my key, we walked to my car and we exchanged keys.

Nobody was available to tell me what was changed in details ("It's all on the list"), or to tell me what was wrong.
From the list, it's one head and a chain mainly, with a new short block. Not exactly what I wanted but hey ho... I paid nothing, so in the grand scheme of things, it's alright.

Plenty of tyre dressing made the first mile interesting. And there's a massive bird sh** on the wiper arm.
And obviously my seat settings are all wrong.
And they did at least 40 mi road test to leave the fuel tank on two bars.

Maybe my imagination but there's definitely a slight tick at idle...

 

[sim61]

Good to hear you have your car back Greg.

Shame they didn't seem to want to tell you what was wrong.

Fingers crossed for no more problems.

 

[OPC100]

Glad you have your car back, but it is a shame that the garage couldn't have a technician speak to you to explain exactly what was found and what they did when rebuilding the engine. It would certainly help give you that peace of mind that you want when something like this happens.

 

[GregKNorfolk]

Good to hear you have your car back Greg.

Shame they didn't seem to want to tell you what was wrong.

Fingers crossed for no more problems.

Shame indeed, but it's on par with just the black hole of information it's been.
I'm just relieved it was covered by warranty (compared to other similar cases in the US) and I can put the whole thing behind me.

 

[GregKNorfolk]

Glad you have your car back, but it is a shame that the garage couldn't have a technician speak to you to explain exactly what was found and what they did when rebuilding the engine. It would certainly help give you that peace of mind that you want when something like this happens.

It was getting late (10 minutes wait after arriving at 18:00 and they close at 18:30) and the was a sense of a push to get it finished and dealt with from them.

That definitely didn't help in my loss of confidence, hence the car is now on carwow.

Big Toyota dealerships are not geared for people interested in cars, it seems.
I gave up on them when they couldn't get new a replacement car for a week and "couldn't" tell me what Toyota GB asked them to do.

I'm just glad I'm not out of pocket and that's it. It's just been extremely poor on all front, but life's too short.
Vaccinated against buying a new car and getting glass-palace dealerships ever again

 

[Conscript]

That's a shame but I can see how the experience can leave you with a sour taste and a loss of confidence in the car. Do you think if maybe they'd gone to the effort of giving you a full report, and perhaps replaced the whole engine that you'd have kept it?

 

[GregKNorfolk]

What I told the guy from the dealership when I picked up the courtesy car three weeks ago tomorrow was:
- a brand new car designed and sold as a sportscar shouldn't fail at 9 months and 4500 mi and I'd like to understand why
- anything else than a new crated engine that went though the end-of-line testing at the engine plant is not what I'd want to be done on such a young car.

What happened and was decided by Toyota stinks, rightly for them, as repairing with the smallest spend. Replacing the block and only one head is what you'd do on a 15yo car you'd like to patch up, not a car like that....

BUT, Toyota's paying and I can only take what they deem sufficient. Hence why it'll be somebody else's problem (with full disclosure) very soon

 

[OPC100]

Oh dear.

Was it a case of 1 month ago you were loving this car and then with all that has happened in the last month, that was it, decision made?

A bit like when a relationship goes past the point of no return.

I know that we are just talking about a car, but it's interesting and annoying how shit happens that changes your plans just like that.

 

[Silver Fox]

Sorry to hear about all this Greg. Your feelings are totally understandable.

It's a real shame you were not provided with proper, transparent information to help restore your confidence in the car (and the brand).

In the unlikely event that any Toyota representatives are (a) reading, and (b) give a sh!t - can you not see how this lack of candour impacts on customer confidence? Both directly, and more widely as information is shared via social media and owner forums such as this fine place?

Toyota often score very highly in these owner satisfaction surveys. I dread to think how the lowest ranking ones perform.

Any idea what you fancy next Greg?

 

[GregKNorfolk]

Oh dear.

Was it a case of 1 month ago you were loving this car and then with all that has happened in the last month, that was it, decision made?

A bit like when a relationship goes past the point of no return.

I know that we are just talking about a car, but it's interesting and annoying how shit happens that changes your plans just like that.

Pretty much.

Once the car was away, I still received another piece that was slow through customs. I loved it.

But I can't spend my time driving and listening to noises and worrying, like in the drive home tonight. I work in automotive Noise & Vibrations, so I do it pretty much anyway.
I don't want to worry of what'll happen when I exit a dual-carriageway roundabout and rev in 3rd to 6800 rpm. Or if I find a deserted B-road.

I know the feeling is gone, it's becoming a back-of-the-mind worry. If I'm not going to enjoy it on the occasions I'm not commuting, what's the point?

 

[GregKNorfolk]

Sorry to hear about all this Greg. Your feelings are totally understandable.

It's a real shame you were not provided with proper, transparent information to help restore your confidence in the car (and the brand).

In the unlikely event that any Toyota representatives are (a) reading, and (b) give a sh!t - can you not see how this lack of candour impacts on customer confidence? Both directly, and more widely as information is shared via social media and owner forums such as this fine place?

Toyota often score very highly in these owner satisfaction surveys. I dread to think how the lowest ranking ones perform.

Any idea what you fancy next Greg?

It is a shame because the car is rather brilliant. But the dealership and Toyota GB attitude have been poor, so it's well tainted the experience. And the constant apprehension on actually using the car as it's designed well always be there, I know it...

When it went two weeks of silence and I had to ask for info, that was it to be honest.

Elise s1 or 2 have been on my wishlist for a while, so it's time now.

 

[v8s]

Real shame they haven't been fully transparent on what caused the problem, what they found etc. Makes a bit of a moclery of the award Autocar gave them.

AutoCar Best Manufacturer Award 2024 | Stories, News & Events | Toyota UK

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