Kluger 80,000 km Service

[viper33]

Lol rice racing you make some good points but some very bad ones too

Leave the servicing to toyota while its under warranty, if **** goes wrong you have proof that its been serviced at toyota and so they'll take care of it

If theres leaks or things wrong with the car which you may miss, but the "****ty first year" won't will lead to getting it fixed for free while its under warranty rather than you never realising until its out of warranty and then try and blame it on toyota

And LOL at toyota using inferior parts, yes coz the **** you buy from china is really a lot better for your engine than stuff made by the company who made the engine

I do however agree that once its out of warranty a lot of basic service items can easily be done at home and you can save yourself a lot of money

[RICE RACING]

Lol rice racing you make some good points but some very bad ones too

Leave the servicing to toyota while its under warranty, if **** goes wrong you have proof that its been serviced at toyota and so they'll take care of it

If theres leaks or things wrong with the car which you may miss, but the "****ty first year" won't will lead to getting it fixed for free while its under warranty rather than you never realising until its out of warranty and then try and blame it on toyota

And LOL at toyota using inferior parts, yes coz the **** you buy from china is really a lot better for your engine than stuff made by the company who made the engine

I do however agree that once its out of warranty a lot of basic service items can easily be done at home and you can save yourself a lot of money

LOL@ you fool

The Denso IT2 scan and ECU reset tool is actually made in China!!!! Not by Toyota in Japan ;)

And YES Toyota stealerships use crap engine oil on a bulk workshop contract! fact! you will only get garbage oil put in your car on your factory service ;)

You WILL only get snot nosed apprentice who just had a pull at lunch time in the toilet working on your car, good luck to you, you will need it and your warranty IF you take it to a stealership to get serviced by a kid and rubbish bulk oil put in your car.

Believe what you want to believe, I know cause I deal with all the stealers across all brands and train their kiddies for a living so I am qualified to tell you how it is. If you want to make yourself feel better on the internet then go ahead, but dont come crying later as someone did not tell you what is happening behind your back at your local stealership.

SERVICE IT YOURSELF!

[11/16Aurion 12Kluger]

I have to agree with Rice Racing here.

If you want your car serviced with "care" and with parts of a known quality then do it yourself, if you have the capability of doing so.

I have owned many new cars during my 60+ years and the number of times services were not done correctly greatly outnumber the few that were.

Add to that damage to the car whist being serviced by the caring individuals ranging from oil stained seats & mats, steering wheel, door handles through to body scratches and dents.

If you are extra lucky your car will get to be driven for a 60k plus "test drive" by the extra caring service personnel as well.

If you dare to complain about any of this you will first be accused of being a liar and then will be hit with a myriad of other well rehe****d explanations that they use to cover such circumstances in the past.

A person friend is a service manager at a dealership, not Toyota, and he openly laughs at the game they play with their victims.

You may get your moneys worth with your dealership service but the odds are against you.

Read up and do it yourself, not just for the savings.

I have a new Kluger... I must take it to Toyota to have it serviced by a young apprentice who could not give a frig and who knows what oil they will use??... most likely the 20-50 that they can get at bagain rates?? I have to do this so my cars warranty will still cover items protected by that "careless" servicing. What a bloody joke and a rip off.

Are you aware that in the USA Toyota owners can service their own cars without having any affect on their warranty??? Why do Toyota Australia not trust their customers in the same way?? RIP - OFF

Edited August 2, 2012 by KX-R & ACV40R

[Jhiony TKG2010]

I have a friend who used to work for Toyota as a mechanic. Yes, what Rice Racing said here is true. Newbie mechanics were insensitive to the car owners when servicing their cars, i.e. careless attitude. He had seen some inappropriate practices in the workshop but fortunately he was the opposite! I service my other car being a Corolla like changing oil and filter and other maintenance I can do. With this car, I will let the dealer touch it if its a major work in which you require special tools and skills. So far spent $740 to replace a leaking water pump, fuel filter, new coolant and wheel balancing.

My kluger is now out of warranty and may attempt to service the basic maintenance from now on..

[viper33]

Letting owners service their car is a pretty dumb idea, yes there are plenty of people who are very good at diy jobs but there is a much larger number of people who dont know a spanner from a ratchet and the manufactures can't cover their ****** ups under warranty

"Oh my mate said its ok to fill up radiator with water, *siezes water pump* takes it back to toyota expecting them to fix it under warranty".

There was a thing in the newspaper the other day about a guy whinging that toyota won't pay for his leaking injectors coz the car is not under warranty, but the dealership paid 30-50% of the costs and he was still whinging. Nothing to do with this but just goes to show that there are people out there who love blaming manufactures for everything not realising that the dealership subsided the cost eventhough they didn't need to.

Im normally one of the first people who recommends everyone do their service work themselves, but if its under warranty then its better left to a place with an ABN which can stamp your book

And I'd be willing to bet that an apprentice can do your service much better than you can, they do 3-8 services each every day on the same models, they know what to look for and what to do and not do

Yes occasionally mistakes will happen, but are you telling me that you've never made mistakes?

Just cause you shine every bolt on your car doesn't mean you take more care of your car than an apprentice who can knock off a service in 30 mins

Its not that hard to take your own oil in and ask them to fill it up with that instead if you're not happy with the oil they use

Also the oil they use is not inferior at all, its what recommended, if you wanna go ahead and run race spec fluids in your car then thats your wish but the dealership only needs to put in the recommended spec of fluids

[viper33]

And are you telling me that if you do the same thing 5-10 times everyday for 5 days a week for a whole year you will still provide it the same amount of attention and care every time?

Coz yes a lot of apprentices have a careless attitude to servicing cars, but thats because they know it like the back of their hand

And yes this occasionally leads to mistakes like loose sump plugs, difference is if they leave it loose the workshop pays for a new engine, you leave it loose you pay for the new engine

[RICE RACING]

And are you telling me that if you do the same thing 5-10 times everyday for 5 days a week for a whole year you will still provide it the same amount of attention and care every time?

Coz yes a lot of apprentices have a careless attitude to servicing cars, but thats because they know it like the back of their hand

And yes this occasionally leads to mistakes like loose sump plugs, difference is if they leave it loose the workshop pays for a new engine, you leave it loose you pay for the new engine

I am telling you or anyone you are a fool if you think someone else will take the care you yourself can, simple.

Trust someone else at your own peril. Most lube mechanics HATE their job as they are getting screwed by the stealership, pumped for every minute they spend on a job, no care is taken as you have been told by another contributor of senior years experience of dealing with these clowns. You too would hate life being paid $15 an hour and being micro managed as to how long you too a crap for in a toilet at work........... think about it.

You and anyone who is relying on a stealership to do your own work anyone can do at home are playing Lebanese roulet with your engines and your families life.

Take charge and responsibility and be a real man, send the woman in the kitchen to cook and clean and YOU go out in the shed and get off the itnernet and do some real mans work and service your own car! your woman may even think you are a real man and give you a special reward when you get back in the house ;)

Free tip for the day.

Don't bring up a new generation USELESS, do it yourself, and put the stealerships out of business, they sure as hell do not deserve to be ripping off Joe average cause he is too scared to work on his own car, like our forefathers did :)

[RICE RACING]

BUT ............. IF you think a 15 year old high school drop out who cant read or write being overseen by another 40 year old grease monkey who hates life and his job, is a better option than you then that is your own free choice, as Clint Eastwood said famously I cant respect a man who does not know his own limitations.

So best for you to accept you are scared and useless and let the stealership bend you over with their "quality services" LOL (that is a computer laugh for those who dont know, I only use it to communicate on a level familiar with the generation useless :) )

[viper33]

You don't seem to come off as someone whose spent time in the trade, if anything you sound more like a service advisor or admin person at a workshop who is just assuming based on stories you've heard or things you've seen

Nice work on assuming my profession too btw, too bad i actually happen to be a mechanic

There is nothing manly about leaving a sump plug loose on your car and having a seized engine while the car is still under warranty

Yes apprentices and qualified mechanics hate doing services, but that doesn't mean that they drive your car in, wash the engine and drive it out

You do realise that most places have some sort of way for every tech to clock on to jobs and that if a car comes back with a problem the techhy could lose his job?

And don't give me the **** about me caring more about my car then a mechanic, thats a given and i never disagreed with you there

Caring is not the issue, having the knowledge and skills is, coz shining your car every weekend isn't gonna make it run better

The majority of people out there wouldn't know which end of a spanner to hold and would only create more problems for themselves

I'll make this short:

If you can or want to service your own car, then absolutely do it, its great and you'll save money, but make sure you read up on what you need to do and are confident in doing it and have the tools required and leave it to a workshop till the cars out of warranty

[RICE RACING]

You don't seem to come off as someone whose spent time in the trade, if anything you sound more like a service advisor or admin person at a workshop who is just assuming based on stories you've heard or things you've seen

Nice work on assuming my profession too btw, too bad i actually happen to be a mechanic

There is nothing manly about leaving a sump plug loose on your car and having a seized engine while the car is still under warranty

Yes apprentices and qualified mechanics hate doing services, but that doesn't mean that they drive your car in, wash the engine and drive it out

You do realise that most places have some sort of way for every tech to clock on to jobs and that if a car comes back with a problem the techhy could lose his job?

And don't give me the **** about me caring more about my car then a mechanic, thats a given and i never disagreed with you there

Caring is not the issue, having the knowledge and skills is, coz shining your car every weekend isn't gonna make it run better

The majority of people out there wouldn't know which end of a spanner to hold and would only create more problems for themselves

I'll make this short:

If you can or want to service your own car, then absolutely do it, its great and you'll save money, but make sure you read up on what you need to do and are confident in doing it and have the tools required and leave it to a workshop till the cars out of warranty

I rest my case, you are a tool.

[RICE RACING]

I will agree with you on one thing...

If you don not own a tool kit, do not know what a socket, spanner, shifter, torque wrench is (let alone own one) THEN you need to give up dreams of doing your own work, you will need to keep having high school failures working on your car using sub standard oils, and getting bent over paying off the dealer priciples Yatch & Holiday houses ;)

It is a sad world we live in today that people can google and wiki their way through life and think that this is "skills" and hard core yet most probably as viper33 eludes too can't do basic mechanical work.

SO be realistic, dont be foolish, if you want to learn then its not hard, remember a failed group of society are actually working as "professionals" on your car, and they are not the smartest bunch on earth, just know that when you drop off your pride and joy at any mechanics or stealerships to have work performed.

[Andrew357]

I see people throwing around 'facts' but with little to no evidence besides their word.

Sounds like Jesus when he was preaching the word of 'The Lord'

Edit: Look what happened to him; 4 nails, a thorny crown and a rather large wooden cross.

[viper33]

^ Not sure who you're referring to but i don't think i said anything that isn't backed up

Have a bit of a closed mind don't you rice racing, anyone who argues with you must have no experience with cars coz your the ultimate service god

Sounds to be like a toyota dealership sacked you for sleeping on the job and you're trying to get back at them

[RICE RACING]

LOL @ Stealerships

One day you can improve your self and get off award wages mate ;)

[gtw]

@RICE RACING..

(I just signed up (planning to get a Kluger) because I felt compelled to offer a dissenting voice. It comes with caveats, but essentially you tar many people with the same brush.)

I worked as a Toyota Service Technician many years ago. (First caveat of my response - this was pre-2000, so bear this in mind). We had a small shop, but I can safely and CONFIDENTLY say, we were very very careful with how we proceeded with our servicing. I was young then, but I was not careless, neither was the other team members, and the boss was indeed strict on quality and professionalism. I am pretty disgusted that you (RICE RACING) vent so terribly about people that have followed the path I initially took. I enjoyed it, I cared about peoples cars and I did a good job.

What you dont allow people to identify RICE, is some of the other benefits of having Toyota techs service. And, there indeed ARE some. You wont get this all the time, granted (and this is the second caveat - not all experiences are equal, not all techs are capable) but anybody who, day in, day out is working on a brand will get used to the unique conditions that that brand/models have.

For example, Camry's used to have a problem where the oil filter rubber used to stick when it was being screwed on. Someone who didnt know this, was at risk of screwing on the filter, not assessing if the rubber gasket was seated correctly, then starting up, and loosing oil, potentially damaging the engine. Its a SIMPLE little problem, easily fixed by applying oil to the gasket when installing. Someone who doesnt get the Toyota service bulletins, who doesnt do this day in, day out might not be aware. There was a number of issues like this that others may not be aware of, and prolong potential problems.

Everyone knows you get a better deal from an independent service workshop, right? But then again, you also run into potentially the same issue. A brand aligned workshop may detect a problem that an independent might not. Those savings wont be so nice if the cost of repair is high.

Fact of the matter is, there are pro's and con's of doing it yourself, and there are the same having someone else do it for you. Its not black and white. That is a shame, because it makes life hard when deciding how to proceed. But on balance, you would have to argue that FAR more cars are serviced via dealerships or brand aligned workshops (at least in the warranty period) than not. And cars are not blowing up, left right and centre, right?

So, while RICE RACING does have some validity to his message, lets be a little sensible and mature about it.

He is right, servicing is generally pretty easy. If you take the time to understand your car, frequent forums such as these and ask questions and maintain awareness, you are probably going to do OK. Better if you can get access to a hoist - its FAR FAR easier to service a car and be aware of a cars underbody when you can easily see and get access to components. Its a lot harder when you are lying on your back with limited working room.

PS: Doesnt the service invoice state the oils used, including viscosity? Last services I had done certainly did (Subaru dealerships), which should remove some of the concern about what oils are being used?!

Anyway - this is off topic, and I dont want to hijack the thread. I personally dont intend to engage in a discussion on this, I just wanted to put an alternative viewpoint and leave it at that.

Cheers!

Greg.

[Buglat]

• @ Rice Racing, I have a Kluger KX-S and interested to maintain it myself. Is there a way you can pass this knowledge to me? my email address is nyunzal@yahoo.com
  

[BigBad64]

I realise this thread's getting a bit old but it's still relevant. I just had the 70,000 km service done on the 2009 Kluger KX-R AWD which is the first one off the fixed price of $170 so I was waiting with baited breath for the cost. Pleasantly surprised at only $258. However...................................

I also was glad that I asked how much the next one was going to be as the 80,000 km service is $730. I was a bit shocked at that until I read this thread. Welcome to the world of 4WD/AWD's I guess.

Anyway, the prices (valid until 30/06/2013) for servicing of Klugers at Frankston Toyota in VIC are;

10,000km / 6 months - 60,000km/36 months = $170

70,000km / 42 months = $258

80,000km / 48 months = $730

90,000km / 54 months = $308

100,000km / 60 months = $695

(I haven't got the prices for 110,000km on as they only photocopied the page relevant to me)

It's interesting that in the service description for the 80,000km service it says "Replace transfer oil - AWD" & "Replace rear differential oil - AWD", yet it doesn't list a different service price for the 2WD/AWD models. I'd be asking a question if I owned a 2WD.

When I bought the Kluger new I signed up for an additional 3 years / 60,000 km warranty that (of course) obliges me to service it at Frankston Toyota for the full period. If I had my time again I'm not sure I'd bother looking at the costs.We always click over the 10,000km before the 6 months is up which is a bit of a pain, the services seem to come one on top of the other.

Do people recommend sticking with this extended factory warranty seeing as I've paid for it, or am I better off forgetting about it and sourcing a decent local mechanic that I trust who will do things a bit cheaper, and maybe come out ahead over all?

.

Edited January 8, 2013 by BigBad64

[CROCO]

personally mate I would stick with the exended factory factory warranty, you never know when you will need it ,after all you have paid for it , and I would also stick with toyota servicing, you might save your self a little bit of money and I know some places like ultra tune etc say they do log book servicing that doesnt void your warranty, but I would still stick with toyota servicing, at least you know they cant come back at you and say your warranty is voided because your car hasnt been serviced by toyota, if you need a warranty claim you have that piece of mind, so I think the exended warranty is a good thing and worth sticking with.

[BigBad64]

Thanks for replying David. I think I'll take your advice and stick with the Toyota dealer servicing.

Cheers.

[Yenchy]

Hi

Not long ago I had 240,000 service $735. And remember them telling me to make sure the fuel tank was < 1/4 full. When I asked them why they explained the tank had to come out to replace fuel filter.

Overall though Kluger is not bad on servicing costs.

Yenchy

[JETURBO]

Hey chaps

Just about to click over to the mighty 80,000kms on my 2011 kxs can anyone tell me the oil weight from factory, the part numbers for the plugs,petrol,oil filter

Thanks in advance !!

[JETURBO]

Oh and when is the auto 5 speed need to be serviced ?

[JETURBO]

Anyone ?

[wilsact]

Anyone ?

HI mate,

Can't help you out with much in your questions....but as far as I am aware the auto oil is one of the sealed for life types that are meant to last for the life of the transmission.

Whether that is a good or bad thing remains to be seen. I know some service centres advise doing the auto oil every 40,000km or so.