GR86 "Change of circumstances"

"A song in which Joni complains that 'they paved paradise to put up a parking lot', a measure which would actually have alleviated traffic congestion on the outskirts of paradise. Something Joni singularly fails to point out, perhaps because it doesn't fit in with her blinkered view of the world. Nevertheless, nice song."

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Silver Fox said:
I'm actually experiencing one. A change of circumstances, that is.

I've joined the mile high high mile club. For the last almost three years since collecting my GR86 I have had jobs which have been predominantly home-based. Consequently, I have been using my GR86 for fun and leisure and have averaged under 3k miles a year.

I started a new consultancy role on 1 October which means I will be travelling more. A lot more. I've already done c.1k miles since that date and can expect to be travelling up and down the whole of the UK once or twice a week, plus weekly office visits which is a 110 miles round trip.

The GR86 is reasonably comfortable for long journeys and I will be receiving a fairly average pence per mile business use recompense, but I seem to be constantly filling the damn thing up (not huge fuel tank), and I'm wondering if something else would be better to use. Company car is not an available option. I can use the train sometimes but the sector which I work in makes that generally quite inconvenient due to location factors.

So a question for other high-milers: Did you/are you getting fed up? I am pondering a change after almost three excellent years with the GR86, not gonna lie.

I suppose one option is keep the GR86 and get a workhorse for the business use, but I'm not a multi-car owning sort of person really. Lack of space and other things to spend my time and money on - I just like to have one car.

So perhaps I need something with better economy (or at least better range), and perhaps something more suited to the motorway slog.

Thanks for reading - thoughts welcome.
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Silver Fox said:
Took a good day and a half including travel time for what should have been a two hour while you wait appointment. Got my MOT certificate but no other paperwork (service docs, health check, itemised invoice, warranty extension etc ) so will be chasing that up.
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*Sigh*

A brief update.

Had an automated email through with the warranty extension over the festive period, but still no service paperwork, health check, nor invoice.

Plus I have had no response from the dealer in relation to my request for the above, nor any acknowledgement or response to my query about the logged MOT failure that should not have been (due to the test being aborted as described in the other thread).

I contacted them on 24 December, so even bearing the Christmas break in mind they have had ample opportunity to respond to me by now.

So I have had to escalate to a formal complaint to Toyota UK, which I really do not like to do.

I shall keep you all posted!
 
After escalating my concerns to Toyota GB and leaving a negative review on Google yesterday evening, miraculously the site's service manager got in touch fairly early this morning and provided:
  • My vehicle health check video/photos
  • The vehicle check document
  • My service invoice
  • An assurance that he had contacted the DVSA about the MOT fail logged against my car, and good detail relating to this.
Which was all I wanted.

It is a shame I had to complain to get this, but the ongoing, pervading enshittification of - well, everything - means that this is increasingly the norm for us all.

Have a pleasant evening.
 
I’m relieved I didn’t get a service plan and so be obligated to use my local dealer. My only contact with them after picking up the car was to sort out a rattle coming from the roof. To be fair to them, they did resolve the noise but also scuffed my rear bumper in the process. They couldn’t remedy the scuff so ended up swapping bumpers with the demo car!
 
paulR said:
I’m relieved I didn’t get a service plan and so be obligated to use my local dealer. My only contact with them after picking up the car was to sort out a rattle coming from the roof. To be fair to them, they did resolve the noise but also scuffed my rear bumper in the process. They couldn’t remedy the scuff so ended up swapping bumpers with the demo car!
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Have to say, reading the almost universal negativity about Toyota main dealers on here, I'm also feeling relieved that I didn't bother with a plan, and in fact that I've elected to go completely independent for my servicing.

I was considering maybe returning to Toyota after year 3 to maintain the warranty, but I think I'd actually rather give that up so I can keep going to a trusted independent.
 
KobayashiMaru86 said:
I want to go Indy too. Finding a good one is tricky in South Wales.
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Set aside a day's holiday each year for an annual pilgrimage to Abbey Motorsport.
Hell, @CPH6R does it from Denmark I believe, so it's not too crazy an idea! If you're lucky they'll even feed you bacon or sausage sandwiches while you wait.
 
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