My Toyota Experience.

[Blackzze]

My Stivo goes next week ...............

Overall Iv'e been very happy with the performance of the car, and you just can't beat the sound of 8K RPM on song.... this i will really miss :(

I just got my drivers seat belt replaced today, the second one in 3 years, it seems to cut through where it goes through the buckle, to an unroadworthy condition ...... I am 5'7, 65kg...... sit in a proper way in the seat (arms just bent etc etc) so a normal size guy.... im not a courier, I use about 1 tank of fuel every 10 days.

My seatbelt took 7 weeks to arrive, 3 bookings -for a total of 5 dealer visits...... the belt costs around $400.

I really don't expect to replace the belt every 18 months... out of warranty and a cost of $400.

I wrote to toyota in my survey, asking them to look after the belt out of warranty in the future, and they never replied.

If toyota were after "continous improvement".... they would look at this problem and try to really fix it.

The stivo has had its fair share of issues, overall the car has been ok. I have has Synchros, cables, ECU-recall, alternator and 2 seatbelts attended to under warranty.

Service with these cars is often soooooooo hard, it took toyota 2 years to finally agree that the shifting in my gearbox was sh*te..... So i got 1 year of nice driving. They tried to blame me for the alternator - i have replaced the stereo system.... Im a qualified electronics tech, and have installed over 300 car systems.

They have a pretty good product, which I will not buy for a long time, until they put in a few more bucks to the service dept....or never.

Last April to June quarter (3 months), Toyota made 4.45 BILLION US$.....more than $50,000,000 per day. they really should put an extra desk girl here and there, I have waited 45+ minutes to collect my car after service 3 out of 5 times.... the car is ready, they just cant get the paperwork done in less than 45 minutes.

So.... This is being replaced with a Polo GTI, in silver with a hole in the roof.... once we see 15,000K's, im looking at ECU, goes to about 140kW and.... 340NM of torque.... I know im cheating with a turbo.... but its just too easy to breathe on these engings, and the car comes in under 1200KG.

Im really hoping VW are nice service guys... they give you a loaner, which is a start, and I also reckon because they don't do 100+ cars per day, they just might pay some attention to the customers they have.

Sorry for the long winded post, but we all know who reads these things, and i wanted to get 3 years of my first Toyota ownership "experience" off my chest.

Cheers guys,

Pete.

[MR22ZZ]

Considering the troubles you had with the clutch and gearbox, the fact you are walking away with a good feeling about the car is a real testiment to how good the cars are when they FINALLY get it right. Just a shame they took so long to sort things out for you man.

Good luck with the Polo :)

[Suprathai]

Quite unfortunate I guess mate.

My whole family has always been with Toyota and recently Honda...we tried, Mitsu, Ford, Nissan, Holden and they gave us way too much trouble. I'm getting rid of my rolla, and tossing between a sportivo or the older Audi A3 1.8T.

Cheers

P.S. Soaring petrol prices hurt me cause I initially wanted a supra

[Saiya]

Out of curiosity, do the new facelifted Sportivo's suffer from the same problems?

[kelvin33]

congrats on your new buy..

[redvvtli]

Excellent post,

I like the Stivo, but am also thinking of the Polo GTI. What sort of changeover price did you get on the Stivo. You can PM me if better. Would appreciate any guidance.

thanks

Eck

[KaZe-]

eerrmm true true the sportivos have alota problems i will get rid of it soon and get my evo9!!! soon!! ^^ b

gl man!!

Steve.

[Blackzze]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Hmmm.... Evo9.... I wont be racing KaZe!!

Saiya, the facelift stivo has most of the mods done, best check with an owner of the update models to be sure.

[KaZe-]

^^ evo9s are sloooow :P

[coladuna]

Out of curiosity, do the new facelifted Sportivo's suffer from the same problems?

I had a facelifted Sportivo, which I ended up selling after 6 months and I can confirm that it did have the same problems. I got so sick of crappy gearbox and dealing with Toyota about it. Ended up not really needing a car so sold it at a good price in two weeks.

[Northy]

you will be happy with the polo, saw/sat in on at the motor show and myself and SB were very impressed WV cater for everyone from the grannys that drive with there knees in the engin bay to people like myself who are 6"+ and 115 odd kg's, good luck :)

[Blackzze]

Thanks Northy, Yes.. tilt AND reach steering wheel.... hmmm dreams :P

Once the Vdub is run in and chipped..... i will pay a visit! It made me smile, just in stock form driving it :D

[harris0nz]

good choice its now time to choose a turbo car or a vtec hahahahahhaa

[sportiyo]

gee! everyone is selling, r u guys just joking or r u guys serious???

[ZEEROLLA]

Thanks Northy, Yes.. tilt AND reach steering wheel.... hmmm dreams :P

Once the Vdub is run in and chipped..... i will pay a visit! It made me smile, just in stock form driving it :D

nice car the polo gti and priced well too. How much did you end up payng for it? I think its direct competitior is the Mitsubishi Colt Turbo, don't like it but its mechanical specs are impressive. its just not quite an EVO :P

[Blackzze]

Just under 30K ZEEROLLA- with roof and metallic paint. Yeah, the looks to me are a little 'wimpy'..... its only a little bigger than a getz!!

Zee, going from the corolla to this..... it's a shoebox with a really nice interior and ride...... but the whistle as boost builds.... and the exhaust crackle on downchange...... it's so wrong AND right for many reasons I agree it is far from evo! In 6 months i see: 1200KG, 145KW & 320NM....and it should last. I see this more than the looks of the polo.