New member here ~~question for Aurion service

[YOGIZZ]

hello everyone, I just bought my Aurion SX6 last week from auction. Its a rental car, so there is no service book provided(I think the rental company serviced their car regualy by themself). My baby has done 40,000Kms, and dealer told me that next service is 45,000kms and costs $340. I think its a little bit expensive. Where you guys take your Aurion for servicing and how much for regular service.

PS: I had orded a new sevice book from dealer for $30, and bought NXT wax and wash gel (advice from DJKOR ) . Starting look after my baby!!! Nice to be a member here

[apg39]

Welcome first of all.

$340 sounds about right, if not on the slightly more expensive side. It includes a full auto transmission fluid swap & a few other major things hence the cost.

The previous service would be 37,500, so I say if you're not broke, get a quick 37500 service done & get them to check its all good, then get the 45000 done as scheduled if not slightly later, depending how quickly it comes about. Pretty sure the 37500 service was $130ish for me (Lithgow Toyota)

Edited December 15, 2008 by apg39

[DJKOR]

Wise choice of car mate. You should wait till you wax it with the NXT Wax 2.0. That stuff is tops. Anyways, hope you enjoy your ride. They certainly are a nice car.

As a matter of fact, this Wednesday I am taking mine in for it's 45,000km service. I didn't ask for a quote before hand; I'm kind of like that. I'll let you know how much it costs after I get it done. My last major service at 30,000km set me back $309 using my own oil and with a wheel alignment, so I'm expecting no more than $260 this time as I opted to get no alignment. On a side note, I think the centre I'm taking it to (Southside Wooloongabba) is running a holiday special of $195 for the major service. I guess I'll find out.

[YOGIZZ]

Welcome first of all.

$340 sounds about right, if not on the slightly more expensive side. It includes a full auto transmission fluid swap & a few other major things hence the cost.

The previous service would be 37,500, so I say if you're not broke, get a quick 37500 service done & get them to check its all good, then get the 45000 done as scheduled if not slightly later, depending how quickly it comes about. Pretty sure the 37500 service was $130ish for me (Lithgow Toyota)

Thanks for info. If $340 for a major service, its not expensive. Cos they told me that $340 for a regular service not major service, so I thought its little bit exp...

I have a friend who bought service products from Toyota dealer and serviced in other machanical centre, worth to do it for Aurion?

[YOGIZZ]

Wise choice of car mate. You should wait till you wax it with the NXT Wax 2.0. That stuff is tops. Anyways, hope you enjoy your ride. They certainly are a nice car.

As a matter of fact, this Wednesday I am taking mine in for it's 45,000km service. I didn't ask for a quote before hand; I'm kind of like that. I'll let you know how much it costs after I get it done. My last major service at 30,000km set me back $309 using my own oil and with a wheel alignment, so I'm expecting no more than $260 this time as I opted to get no alignment. On a side note, I think the centre I'm taking it to (Southside Wooloongabba) is running a holiday special of $195 for the major service. I guess I'll find out.

HOHO, I registered in this forum befrore I got my SX6, cos I really like your wildlife Aurion.

NXT wax 2.0 is really excellent stuff for black car, I can easy to see the different with Turtle wax, top range car care products.

Cos I am not sure $340 is major service or minor service, so could you let me know what include in your major service?

Whats the difference between major service and regular normal service?

[DJKOR]

Cos I am not sure $340 is major service or minor service, so could you let me know what include in your major service?

Whats the difference between major service and regular normal service?

The major services for the Aurion are the ones that occur at every 15,000km interval. In the 'Warranty & Service Book' it is listed as 'Maintenance for normal operating conditions'. The minor services are the ones that occur at the 7,500km intervals between the major services. They are listed as 'Additional Maintenance for severe operating conditions. I personally prefer to take it in for the major services, and I do the minor service myself (even though it doesn't get recorded in the log book). As long as you are getting the major services, your warranty will still be fine.

For my 45,000km service, this is what is listed to be done:

The 30,000km service is pretty much the same except that the brake fluid is also replaced as well. I just fetched my receipt and found that my 30,000km service was actually $301.60 and that was with the $52.25 wheel alignment, bearing in mind I provided my own oil.

[YOGIZZ]

Cos I am not sure $340 is major service or minor service, so could you let me know what include in your major service?

Whats the difference between major service and regular normal service?

The major services for the Aurion are the ones that occur at every 15,000km interval. In the 'Warranty & Service Book' it is listed as 'Maintenance for normal operating conditions'. The minor services are the ones that occur at the 7,500km intervals between the major services. They are listed as 'Additional Maintenance for severe operating conditions. I personally prefer to take it in for the major services, and I do the minor service myself (even though it doesn't get recorded in the log book). As long as you are getting the major services, your warranty will still be fine.

For my 45,000km service, this is what is listed to be done:

The 30,000km service is pretty much the same except that the brake fluid is also replaced as well. I just fetched my receipt and found that my 30,000km service was actually $301.60 and that was with the $52.25 wheel alignment, bearing in mind I provided my own oil.

Thank you very much for detailed info..Cos I just orded my service book, so I dont know much about the service requirment of Aurion.

The Aurion owner's manual recommended that using 10-30W during summer and 0-30w in winter, what you used in your Aurion? Did you provid better oil for 30,000kms service?

[apg39]

Best ring around Toyota dealers anywhere & maybe Midas or Ultratune to get a range of quotes.

[DJKOR]

The Aurion owner's manual recommended that using 10-30W during summer and 0-30w in winter, what you used in your Aurion? Did you provid better oil for 30,000kms service?

In my opinion, the Australian winter is just not cold enough to justify using an oil grade lower than 10W30. If you really wanted extra assurance in winter, you could go for 5W30, but there really isn't a need. 10W30 is good all the way down to a temperature of -20 degrees Celsius, and the 5W30 is good al the way down to -30 degrees. To be on the safe side, you take (add) 10 degrees to this.

So if you think your car will experience temperatures lower than -10 degrees Celsius, then go for 5W30, otherwise you will be fine with the first. As for the oil I use, it all comes down to personal preference; everyone has different opinions. I use Fuchs Titan Super GTO 10W30. It is a fully synthetic oil and it only costs $39.99 for a 5L bottle. I change my oil at 7,500km intervals, so the price point is a good one. Have not had any issues with the oil at all.

[e240]

I wouldn't bother bringing your own oils.

Just ask Toyota to use their Genuine Toyota Oils. The 10w-40 Fully Synthetic is about $55 anyway.

Things I'd definately do

1) Change transmission oil (Use only Toyota ATF WS fluid)

2) Change Brake Fluid (They suggest their Dot 3, I strongly recommend at least a Super Dot 4 (or 5.1)

[e240]

Best ring around Toyota dealers anywhere & maybe Midas or Ultratune to get a range of quotes.

Urrrghhhh...Never to Midas or Ultratune...I'd rather do the servicing myself, which is actually VERY VERY EASY. LOL.

[Butcha]

I pay $120 for every service up until 60000kms or 3 yrs

[DJKOR]

I wouldn't bother bringing your own oils.

Just ask Toyota to use their Genuine Toyota Oils. The 10w-40 Fully Synthetic is about $55 anyway.

All personal preference mate. There actually isn't a "Genuine Toyota engine oil". Just a range of oils that suit their specifications. You will find a fair few service departments are using Castrol Magnatec or equivalent. I myself don't like Castrol oils, hence why I bring my own. Depends what peace of mind you want.

[dave262]

Best ring around Toyota dealers anywhere & maybe Midas or Ultratune to get a range of quotes.

Urrrghhhh...Never to Midas or Ultratune...I'd rather do the servicing myself, which is actually VERY VERY EASY. LOL.

Agreed there!

My friend took her car (1991 Mazda Eunos 30x) to Midas for general maintenance, with problems such as leaking coolant, shaking at idle, unable to start in damp weather, guzzling fuel and smoke out the exhaust. I knew from fact from doing a check-up of the car myself that it had worn plugs, old oil, clogged air filter, a faulty distributor cap and rotor, and 2 dead oxygen sensors. Only reason she got it serviced there is because of the warranty if it broke down elsewhere.

It came back from service, running only marginally better, and on a checkup of it myself, I found that the plugs had been replaced, as had the oil and coolant. However, the air filter had not been replaced, the plugs were replaced with the wrong temperature plugs, the oil was far too thick for the car and was making it extremely sluggish performance, and the coolant concentration was approximately 1%! The car could still not start in damp weather, which I knew was a result of a dodgy distributor, so I took it to an ignition specialist, who confirmed it had a major crack and a stuffed button in the distributor cap. I then fixed up all the problems, and the car has since run perfectly! Not impressed with Midas at all.

Ultratune, I had my old 1990 Magna TP surging at idle and pulled it in there for service, and they took a look and had the audacity to say "it's just the way these cars are, they all do it! All you can do is just put up with it"! I played around with some connections on the car, and tweaked a few adjustments and found a loose throttle position sensor screw. Fixed it up, adjusted, and all perfect! (as much as a Magna can be lol).

For these reasons, don't even bother with these service places! Do it yourself and you learn far more, and it costs half the price!

[robie]

I wouldn't bother bringing your own oils.

Just ask Toyota to use their Genuine Toyota Oils. The 10w-40 Fully Synthetic is about $55 anyway.

Things I'd definately do

1) Change transmission oil (Use only Toyota ATF WS fluid)

2) Change Brake Fluid (They suggest their Dot 3, I strongly recommend at least a Super Dot 4 (or 5.1)

toyota recommened this brake fluid as the seals are not compatible with dot4 brake fluid and dot 5 is synthetic n definately no good for toyota braking systems

wouldnt u kinda think ok toyta recommened dot 3 maybe theres a reason for that

Edited December 16, 2008 by robie

[YOGIZZ]

The Aurion owner's manual recommended that using 10-30W during summer and 0-30w in winter, what you used in your Aurion? Did you provid better oil for 30,000kms service?

In my opinion, the Australian winter is just not cold enough to justify using an oil grade lower than 10W30. If you really wanted extra assurance in winter, you could go for 5W30, but there really isn't a need. 10W30 is good all the way down to a temperature of -20 degrees Celsius, and the 5W30 is good al the way down to -30 degrees. To be on the safe side, you take (add) 10 degrees to this.

So if you think your car will experience temperatures lower than -10 degrees Celsius, then go for 5W30, otherwise you will be fine with the first. As for the oil I use, it all comes down to personal preference; everyone has different opinions. I use Fuchs Titan Super GTO 10W30. It is a fully synthetic oil and it only costs $39.99 for a 5L bottle. I change my oil at 7,500km intervals, so the price point is a good one. Have not had any issues with the oil at all.

Thanks for that info. I also would like to change my oil at every 7,500km intervals by myself. Could you upload some photos how to change oil? What tools I should buy before change oil? Thanks a lot~~

[YOGIZZ]

I pay $120 for every service up until 60000kms or 3 yrs

The previous owner did not buy the Service Advantage Package, so I am not eligble for this special service package.

[YOGIZZ]

Best ring around Toyota dealers anywhere & maybe Midas or Ultratune to get a range of quotes.

Urrrghhhh...Never to Midas or Ultratune...I'd rather do the servicing myself, which is actually VERY VERY EASY. LOL.

Agreed there!

My friend took her car (1991 Mazda Eunos 30x) to Midas for general maintenance, with problems such as leaking coolant, shaking at idle, unable to start in damp weather, guzzling fuel and smoke out the exhaust. I knew from fact from doing a check-up of the car myself that it had worn plugs, old oil, clogged air filter, a faulty distributor cap and rotor, and 2 dead oxygen sensors. Only reason she got it serviced there is because of the warranty if it broke down elsewhere.

It came back from service, running only marginally better, and on a checkup of it myself, I found that the plugs had been replaced, as had the oil and coolant. However, the air filter had not been replaced, the plugs were replaced with the wrong temperature plugs, the oil was far too thick for the car and was making it extremely sluggish performance, and the coolant concentration was approximately 1%! The car could still not start in damp weather, which I knew was a result of a dodgy distributor, so I took it to an ignition specialist, who confirmed it had a major crack and a stuffed button in the distributor cap. I then fixed up all the problems, and the car has since run perfectly! Not impressed with Midas at all.

Ultratune, I had my old 1990 Magna TP surging at idle and pulled it in there for service, and they took a look and had the audacity to say "it's just the way these cars are, they all do it! All you can do is just put up with it"! I played around with some connections on the car, and tweaked a few adjustments and found a loose throttle position sensor screw. Fixed it up, adjusted, and all perfect! (as much as a Magna can be lol).

For these reasons, don't even bother with these service places! Do it yourself and you learn far more, and it costs half the price!

Agreed!! My friend took his car(2002 Holden Astra) to K-Mart for minor service, the mechanic ask to change time belt, cam belt, brake fluid, brake pad, tyres etc, total price up to $1,000.. Cos my friend just changed brake pad in last service, so he just told them do the minor service. When we drove the car to another service centre, we had been told that the belts are still ok for next 20,000km and dont need to change it if you want to sell your car.

[DJKOR]

Thanks for that info. I also would like to change my oil at every 7,500km intervals by myself. Could you upload some photos how to change oil? What tools I should buy before change oil? Thanks a lot~~

Haven't quite got photos on me at the moment, but there was some discussion over here:

oil filter removal

In there you will also find this YouTube video which I have also added a step here. THis basically shows the oil filter replacement that you would do after draining the oil:

Please wait a few seconds for Video to Load!

As for the tools needed, all you really need is a standard socket set and one of these:

Toyota Oil Filter Wrench

[e240]

Not having a go at you in the original post - you're right, personal preference if you know what you want.

But for most people, its just easier (How often you see someone standing in Supercheap in the oils section and asking for help..LOL).

For most of the way these Camry's are driven, most modern oils ARE very good (synthetic or not), so it really doesn't make much of a difference. Anyway, Castrol is owned by BP and BP's brand of oils are actually very good, albeit underrated.

There are genuine Toyota Oils particularly the Synthetic. It comes in Toyota containers sold in the Toyota spare parts section. So far all Toyota dealers stock them. Rumour is that these oils are re-packaged Mobil 1 - but I cannot substiate that.

I wouldn't bother bringing your own oils.

Just ask Toyota to use their Genuine Toyota Oils. The 10w-40 Fully Synthetic is about $55 anyway.

All personal preference mate. There actually isn't a "Genuine Toyota engine oil". Just a range of oils that suit their specifications. You will find a fair few service departments are using Castrol Magnatec or equivalent. I myself don't like Castrol oils, hence why I bring my own. Depends what peace of mind you want.

[e240]

I wouldn't bother bringing your own oils.

Just ask Toyota to use their Genuine Toyota Oils. The 10w-40 Fully Synthetic is about $55 anyway.

Things I'd definately do

1) Change transmission oil (Use only Toyota ATF WS fluid)

2) Change Brake Fluid (They suggest their Dot 3, I strongly recommend at least a Super Dot 4 (or 5.1)

toyota recommened this brake fluid as the seals are not compatible with dot4 brake fluid and dot 5 is synthetic n definately no good for toyota braking systems

wouldnt u kinda think ok toyta recommened dot 3 maybe theres a reason for that

Nah, most dot 3 and 4s are cross compatible (and now 5.1 - Don't mistake 5.1 for 5). The difference between the Dot ratings are mostly the temperature tolerences with Dot 4 being higher (& more expensive - Super Dot 4 as opposed to Dot 4 has temperature rating equivalent to Dot 5.1. My reckoning is just that its easier to specify one grade and that Dot 3 is a more economical fluid well suited to the typical toyota demographics of mom/pop drivers. Also, they repackaged Dot 3 as a toyota brand as well.

First thing I did when I got the car was replace the brake fluid with Castrol Super Dot 4 and never had any trouble.

[YOGIZZ]

Thanks for that info. I also would like to change my oil at every 7,500km intervals by myself. Could you upload some photos how to change oil? What tools I should buy before change oil? Thanks a lot~~

Haven't quite got photos on me at the moment, but there was some discussion over here:

oil filter removal

In there you will also find this YouTube video which I have also added a step here. THis basically shows the oil filter replacement that you would do after draining the oil:

Please wait a few seconds for Video to Load!

As for the tools needed, all you really need is a standard socket set and one of these:

Toyota Oil Filter Wrench

I am ready to buy tools for servcing. How about the oil filter? Can we use standard one? what do you recommend?

[apg39]

Best ring around Toyota dealers anywhere & maybe Midas or Ultratune to get a range of quotes.

Urrrghhhh...Never to Midas or Ultratune...I'd rather do the servicing myself, which is actually VERY VERY EASY. LOL.

Agreed there!

My friend took her car (1991 Mazda Eunos 30x) to Midas for general maintenance, with problems such as leaking coolant, shaking at idle, unable to start in damp weather, guzzling fuel and smoke out the exhaust. I knew from fact from doing a check-up of the car myself that it had worn plugs, old oil, clogged air filter, a faulty distributor cap and rotor, and 2 dead oxygen sensors. Only reason she got it serviced there is because of the warranty if it broke down elsewhere.

It came back from service, running only marginally better, and on a checkup of it myself, I found that the plugs had been replaced, as had the oil and coolant. However, the air filter had not been replaced, the plugs were replaced with the wrong temperature plugs, the oil was far too thick for the car and was making it extremely sluggish performance, and the coolant concentration was approximately 1%! The car could still not start in damp weather, which I knew was a result of a dodgy distributor, so I took it to an ignition specialist, who confirmed it had a major crack and a stuffed button in the distributor cap. I then fixed up all the problems, and the car has since run perfectly! Not impressed with Midas at all.

Ultratune, I had my old 1990 Magna TP surging at idle and pulled it in there for service, and they took a look and had the audacity to say "it's just the way these cars are, they all do it! All you can do is just put up with it"! I played around with some connections on the car, and tweaked a few adjustments and found a loose throttle position sensor screw. Fixed it up, adjusted, and all perfect! (as much as a Magna can be lol).

For these reasons, don't even bother with these service places! Do it yourself and you learn far more, and it costs half the price!

Agreed!! My friend took his car(2002 Holden Astra) to K-Mart for minor service, the mechanic ask to change time belt, cam belt, brake fluid, brake pad, tyres etc, total price up to $1,000.. Cos my friend just changed brake pad in last service, so he just told them do the minor service. When we drove the car to another service centre, we had been told that the belts are still ok for next 20,000km and dont need to change it if you want to sell your car.

Didnt say you had to use them...just get a price idea.

From everything I've already heard, I wouldnt let them touch my car.

[DJKOR]

I am ready to buy tools for servcing. How about the oil filter? Can we use standard one? what do you recommend?

I personally would buy from Toyota Spare Parts. Being a car of it's age, I'm kind of like that; it's more of a comfort thing. It only cost around $19.65 from Toyota, and for 7,500km-15,000km of travel, it's not big. Personally though, it is up to you. On my old Camry, I would use Ryco/Repco/Silverline, but I would also change the oil and filter after 5,000km intervals since the engine kept dirtying the oil. For some reason, I don't feel comfortable putting that on my Aurion. If you do go that route and buy from Repco and the likes, you will be looking for this part number or equivalent:

Ryco Oil Filter - Part Number: R2648P

[e240]

but I would also change the oil and filter after 5,000km intervals since the engine kept dirtying the oil.

Dirty Oil, in a way is a good sign. It means that the oil is holding particles (especially combustion by products) in suspension and moving them out of the engine into the sump (to be drained)