[Manuuj]

Came to a friends house a few minutes ago and saw this Fortuner parked in his building. It looks like a new color to me. Its not Silver but a Champagne like a 'Warm Silver'. This is the color that i originally wanted also. Its Metallic and the car looks fab in it. Here is a pic

[Manuuj]

As the 13th of July rolled along the time for the Fortuners 60k service came up.

It had been taken for its 50k kms service on 15th of Feb 2012 with 49,585 kms on the clock and the cost had been Rs 4291/- at that time.

It had crossed the 60,000 kms mark with utmost grace on a recent trip. I was happy that it touched this mark on a river bed in the beautiful Corbett Park Reserve Forest Area and not in a traffic jam somewhere.

I had booked a slot for Friday the 13th of July and was given a time of 12:20 pm.

The ODO read 60,464 happy kilometers as we pulled in..


I arrived 20 minutes before time and parked up in the pre service inspection bay. Within minutes Manpreet my Service Advisor for the day greeted me and gave completed the formalities. I mentioned that i wanted the prop shaft greasing to be carried out as well a good inspection of brakes and tyres.

He made a note of it and we went inside to make the work order while a driver took the car away for its underbody wash.

The car was taken for its under body wash first..


Once the under body had been thoroughly cleaned it was taken to its Service bay.


I was happy to note that three mechanics were waiting there with all the necessary equipment and materials at the ready.

They first proceeded to carry out the normal service.
Battery was checked and topped up.
Wiper washer fluids were also topped up.
They replaced the Air Filter and the HVAC Filter and Oil Filter as part of routine maintainence.
Long Life Coolant was topped up.

They visually and manually checked all nuts, bolts, hoses and pipes for wear and tear. I stood by watching them and was very happy with their meticulous attitude. Upon checking the wipers they informed me it was time to have them replaced also. As the monsoons have lazily rolled in i agreed immediately.

They then hoisted the car up and removed all 4 wheels.

The brake disc was checked for uneven wear.. 0.05 mm un-evenness is allowed anything more is unacceptable.



Brake disc thickness also checked


All 4 Brake pads were checked and cleaned..


..and thickness noted..

They will last until the next service of 65,000 kms. They are my Original Set.

Rear Drum were also cleaned and checked


Tyre wear was checked as well as tyre tread depth.

Tyre wear front left


Tyre wear rear left


Tyre wear rear right


Tyre wear front right


Tread depth was checked..


..and found to be an acceptable 4mm. The Tyres will last another 10,000 kms.


Spare Tyre as good as new as only used once.


All the tyres were fixed back and Air pressure was checked


I noticed the large amount of suspension travel the Fortuner has..


The Engine Oil was allowed to drain while the car was up. The nut was tightened and the car lowered.

The Engine Oil which is common for Petrol and Diesel vehicles was added via an automatic delivery system. The Oil Level was checked manually with the dip stick also later.


to be continued..

[Manuuj]

I was curious to know about the Sedimenter problem that Diesel cars face at high altitudes. Have read many a Leh T-Log where people have faced problems due to water in accumulating in the diesel lines due to low outside temperature. It can be a real pain to remove the Water from the Diesel and the Sedimenter is used precisely for this operation.

I asked them to show me the exact location of the Sedimenter and the process for removing water from the Diesel lines so i may put it up for all to see.

Exact position of Sedimenter is under the Fuel filter behind the battery and Main Fuse Box..


1. Reach back and loosen this, the Sedimenter Outlet anticlockwise..


2. Pump some of the diesel out by pressing on the black round button on top of fuel filter


3. Tighten the yellow Sedumenter Outlet back securely clockwise till it does not move. Make sure not to overtighten


4. Repump the Black button on top of fuel filter a few times (4-6 times) after the tightening the Sedimenter outlet. This is very important as the car will not start easily if u do not do this.



Tuition over they informed me that as the car had taken too much time in this bay (which is for Express Service) it will be moved to the General Repair Bay for Prop Shaft Greasing.

Car was removed from Express Service bay..


and taken..


to the General repair bay for prop shaft greasing.


The Muffler Cutter had come a bit loose and was making some noise so it was tightened also.


The Prop Shaft greasing was carried out on all 6 points using a manual handgun which in my opinion worked far better than the hydraulic handgun they had used on past occasions.


Old dark grease is forced out..


New grease takes its place Some overflow indicates that the greasing is complete for this point.


The same process was carried out on all 6 points. it took about 20 minutes to cover all the points.

The car was then lowered and wipers attached.

Both front wipers were changed..



..as was the rear.



The wipers were pretty expensive and pushed the cost of this service up by an additional 3000/- The quality though was better by far than any of the reputed aftermarket wipers i have seen earlier. After all the Original sat lasted almost 3 years.

The Car was then taken to the Washing Area for a good rub down..



to be continued

[nilanjanray]

Really useful posts Manuuj!

Your ASC guys seem far more dependable and professional compared to the guys here. I had to blast a service adviser because he was trying to convince me that prop shaft greasing is not required for the Fortuner. They always try to take shortcuts if possible.

[Manuuj]

I have said so much in past posts about the level of washing provided at Toyota. Once again it was delight to watch the 'vanar sena' as they thoroughly cleaned my car like it was their own.

A display board that has information about the washing process..

..and materials used.

A display case for the various materials that are used by them.

A Work Instruction Board for the workers to help them select the correct type of cloth for each different part of a car.

Interior Shampoo begins..

Door pads and floor pads were shampooed and dried

The results are visible..

All mats were removed and taken for washing and drying

The exterior shampoo begins..

No area is spared

5 to 6 people are there on each process and take over the car

Engine bay is cleaned with pressure jet and then sprayed with a degreaser.

Hard to reach areas cleaned using a long brush. No area was left untouched.

Engine bay is dried using high air pressure to remove excess water and degreaser.

The exterior is then dried using air pressure and and soft microfibre cloths.

I can see the Fortuner smiling as it enjoys this pampering massage.

The Interior dressing is done..

and a industrial strength Vacuum cleaner..

..is used to suck up all the dust and debris the carpets accumulate.


Tyre polish is last to be applied and the car is handed over.

The total expense was Rs. 9817/- for parts, labour and tax. This was my highest Service bill to date but was mostly pushed up due to the Rs. 3000/- for the three wipers.

They had tried to charge me an additional 429/- as labor for the prop shaft greasing. I told my Advisor that it was part of routine 10k service and as such as they were already charging me 1280/- for the labor cost of service i should not be charged separately for prop shaft greasing.

He checked with his senior and he agreed with me. I was only charged for the grease but not labor for the job.

All in all a job well done by Galaxy Toyota again.

Smiling in the driveway at home after a day at the Spa

[Manuuj]

The break up of the bill was thus:
(all prices are inclusive of Tax)

60,000/- Service.........1280/- (includes washing and prop shaft greasing)
Washer Fluid...............57/-
Air Filter.....................1197/-
HVAC Filter.................1361/-
Oil Filter......................364/-
Engine Oil...................2035/-
Wiper Front RH............1360/-
Wiper Front LH.............1105/-
Wiper Rear...................880/-
Grease.........................142/-
Gasket Oil Pan Drain......34/-

Plus add to the above:

Service tax@ 12%.......................136/-
Value Added Tax@ 12.5%............706/-
Value Added tax@ 20%...............362/-
Edu Cess on Service Tax@ 5%......4.10/-

For a Grand Total of

Rs.9817/-

Therefore in the year 2012 so far i have spent
Rs.4291/- + (50 K service)
Rs.700/- + (55 K service)
Rs.9817/- (60 K Service)

This comes to Rs. 14,808/- for 15,000 Kms. (45k to 60k kms---January to July)

= Rs. 1/- per kilometer maintainence cost.

Quite Acceptable!

[Manuuj]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Really useful posts Manuuj!

Your ASC guys seem far more dependable and professional compared to the guys here. I had to blast a service adviser because he was trying to convince me that prop shaft greasing is not required for the Fortuner. They always try to take shortcuts if possible.

Thanks for your kind words Nilanjan. To be honest i had to insist they do this. The SA who is new was under the impression it was to be done every 40,000 kms.

I assured him he was wrong and even pointed it out to him in the Service booklet after which he relented with a confused expression. Maybe they dont carry out this till a customer insists. Most customers i fear are not even aware of Prop Shaft Greasing.

The thing is it takes time and labor which the workshops try to avoid as a Lift is tied up for about 30 minutes along with 2 technicians.

He then tried to charge me Rs 430/- separately for the labor of it which i refused him again. I told him it comes under routine 10k service inspection and therefore cannot be charged as an extra job. He relented after checking with his senior who infact had to check with the Service Head.

Ofcourse, if I were to take the car in specially for this job after an off road event where the Prop Shaft was submerged for a while in water, i would be happy to pay for the job.

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

...!

Hi Manuuj,
Extremely useful & well narrated posts ! And thanks for the snaps too.
All I can say is that the Galaxy chaps are far more professional than what I have seen here or elsewhere. Simple example - washing the underbody first before the service checks begin. Should be a must for better examination of the U/C parts - but never seen done at the ASCs I have been to !
Pleasure to see the step by step process really.
Thanks for the sedimenter tutorial with the snaps which makes it easy to understand. I think the manual has also got the something written about it, Isn't there a black valve there which drains out the water on pumping ? Guess I need to check...
Thanks again for some wonderful reporting.

[nkrishnap]

@Guderian. I service my Liva with Viva Toyota in Bangalore. I have observed that they do a underbody wash first even before taking the car into the service area. One weird thing I see the charge is Windshield Washer fluid charges. They charged me 81.91 + VAT on this. I already use Sonax and keep topping it up to ensure its full most of the times.

This time I am going to ensure they dont charge me for this.

[sagarpadaki]

Manuuj, All i can say is these are the most professional service guys ever seen! The attention to detail is meticulous and they oblige to customer requests.

I am indeed impressed by the tools they used to measure tire tread depth,Brake rotor depth and measuring the brake pads thickness.

And the wash! all i can say is WOW! The quality of wash inside/out that they have provided for routine service is simply amazing.

To give you an analogy, I get my i20 serviced at Blue hyundai bangalore. Those useless chaps changed my brake pads at 15K kms even though it had more than half the life on it. I discovered this once i got my car home and checked the brake pads after cleaning them.During the recent 24K service they tried to change the Disk and pads again!! I asked them how can the pads wear out after 9K and disks in 24K and their stupid reply is -Diesel car saar.lots of power!.I denied it right away!

How i hope there was a good HASS like galaxy toyota in bangalore

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

= Rs. 1/- per kilometer maintainence cost.

Quite Acceptable!

Quite Acceptable?
You know what Don costs me to maintain? INR 2300.00 for his 80k km service at a road side mechanic for every 3k kms which is almost what your Fortuner cost you, plus, I get 25-26kmpl of petrol at Bangalore which translates to around INR 4.50 per km while your Fortuner costs you INR 1 per km for service and INR 5 per km for fuel totalling to INR 6.00 per km for ferrying 5 people in premium air conditioned comfort.

I m jealous.

[Manuuj]

Originally Posted by Guderian

Hi Manuuj,
Extremely useful & well narrated posts ! And thanks for the snaps too.
All I can say is that the Galaxy chaps are far more professional than what I have seen here or elsewhere. Simple example - washing the underbody first before the service checks begin. Should be a must for better examination of the U/C parts - but never seen done at the ASCs I have been to !
Pleasure to see the step by step process really.
Thanks for the sedimenter tutorial with the snaps which makes it easy to understand. I think the manual has also got the something written about it, Isn't there a black valve there which drains out the water on pumping ? Guess I need to check...
Thanks again for some wonderful reporting.

Thank you for your kind words Guderian. I was under the impression that ALL Toyota ASC's would have a standard operating procedure. The Sedimenter is very easy to use. Its just a matter of loosening the yellow plastic screw and pumping the fuel filter. I will check the Service Manual also for instructions.

Galaxy Toyota is the flagship Sales and Service Center for the TSG Group who are the countries largest Toyota Dealers. They are a very professional outfit and i haven't had cause for complaint in the last 8 and half years that i have been using their services. The only time there was some friction was at the time of the Fortuner's allotment.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

@Guderian. I service my Liva with Viva Toyota in Bangalore. I have observed that they do a underbody wash first even before taking the car into the service area. One weird thing I see the charge is Windshield Washer fluid charges. They charged me 81.91 + VAT on this. I already use Sonax and keep topping it up to ensure its full most of the times.

This time I am going to ensure they dont charge me for this.

If they use a Toyota recommended product i suggest you use that inplace of Sonax. The fluid concentrate that they use last quite long (actually depends on usage) and works quite effectively without clogging the lines or nozzles.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Manuuj, All i can say is these are the most professional service guys ever seen! The attention to detail is meticulous and they oblige to customer requests.

I am indeed impressed by the tools they used to measure tire tread depth,Brake rotor depth and measuring the brake pads thickness.

And the wash! all i can say is WOW! The quality of wash inside/out that they have provided for routine service is simply amazing.

To give you an analogy, I get my i20 serviced at Blue hyundai bangalore. Those useless chaps changed my brake pads at 15K kms even though it had more than half the life on it. I discovered this once i got my car home and checked the brake pads after cleaning them.During the recent 24K service they tried to change the Disk and pads again!! I asked them how can the pads wear out after 9K and disks in 24K and their stupid reply is -Diesel car saar.lots of power!.I denied it right away!

How i hope there was a good HASS like galaxy toyota in bangalore

I was very impressed with their meticulous attitude also sagarpadaki. I run an Engineering Company and so appreciate the importance of correct tools.
Even the way the tools were stored was impressive. After use they were cleaned and then put back in their boxes for safe storage.

The tools were also from a very reputed and expensive manufacturer "Mitutoyo". Similiar tools can be had for 1/4th the price from a local manufacturer but the workshop uses genuine "Mitutoyo" measurement tools which really impressed me. It demonstrated that their commitment to Total Quality Management (TQM) is not just empty words.

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Quite Acceptable?
You know what Don costs me to maintain? INR 2300.00 for his 80k km service at a road side mechanic for every 3k kms which is almost what your Fortuner cost you, plus, I get 25-26kmpl of petrol at Bangalore which translates to around INR 4.50 per km while your Fortuner costs you INR 1 per km for service and INR 5 per km for fuel totalling to INR 6.00 per km for ferrying 5 people in premium air conditioned comfort.

I m jealous.

The Fortuner is indeed easy on the pockets as far as maintainence costs go. It was a big reason for me to go for it. A similar service for our Range Rover is upwards of 65,000/- (minimum).

You can add another 1 Rupee to the Fortuner maintainence costs for tyres also. My stock Dunlop Grandtreks should be up for replacement by the time the Fortuner hits 70K Kms. I suppose i shall be replacing 4 tyres which should cost around 50-60 thousand Rupees. Each tyre costs approximately 12-15 thousand.

Average aproximately comes to Rs 0.70-0.80 per km for tyres

The Fortuner gives around 12.0 as an Average Fuel Economy. An 80 liter tank should last about 960 kms and at Rs 41.28 per liter which equals Rs.3300/- for a tank up.

This means the Average Fuel cost is Rs.3.5/- approx per km.

This Service cost was Rs.10,000/- as it included a part that was changed after 2 and a half years of usage. The average cost for the 5k and 10k service is Rs. 700/- and Rs 4500/- respectively. This means an Average cost of Rs. 5000/- per 10,000 kms.

Which means Average Service cost is Rs.0.50 per km.

An total approximate Running Cost/KM therefore comes to:

Fuel: Rs 3.5/-
Service: Rs. 0.50/-
Tyres: Rs. 0.80 (lets say..Rs.1/-)

Total is:Rs.5/- per KM for Fuel, Service and Tyres.

My just turned into a

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

If they use a Toyota recommended product i suggest you use that inplace of Sonax. The fluid concentrate that they use last quite long (actually depends on usage) and works quite effectively without clogging the lines or nozzles.

Toyota uses a 3M based detergent for the windshield washer fluid. By the way Toyota sort of has a tie up with 3M as that is what used for all the cleaning, washing and interior dressing of all the Toyota Cars. Will note to use this one next time around. Anyways Sonax would suffice for another 5k kms and the odo is at 11,600 kms.

They even have 3M underbody coating as well. Though I still prefer going to the 3M car care to get special attention for the car. Not that the service center is bad, just that the 3M is better for me.

[Manuuj]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Toyota uses a 3M based detergent for the windshield washer fluid. By the way Toyota sort of has a tie up with 3M as that is what used for all the cleaning, washing and interior dressing of all the Toyota Cars. Will note to use this one next time around. Anyways Sonax would suffice for another 5k kms and the odo is at 11,600 kms.

They even have 3M underbody coating as well. Though I still prefer going to the 3M car care to get special attention for the car. Not that the service center is bad, just that the 3M is better for me.

3M products are of a high Quality and based on good R&D. I also use 3M products for the Cars at home on a regular basis. They are atad bit on the expensive side but then u get what u pay for.

[sagarpadaki]

Manuuj,noticed that you have not used your spare tire at all. What is the reason? Is the spare wheel not an alloy? If you had used your spare wheel also during rotation then i am sure your overall tire life would have increased by another 20K thereby lasting till 90K.



And 65K for a paid service for the Range rover?!! Why so costly? Can you give a brief breakup of the costs?
And how much does your bently cost for a paid service?