My new Tractor

[grid Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close grid]

Evening All,
I have a small problem with my new Prado and was wondering if any one had the same problem or knows of a fix.

The story goes like this.

3 weeks ago i brought a may 07 built auto gxl petrol v6 prado from Peter Kittle toyota here in Salisbury/, SA.
Now my previous car was a jackaroo and was not a great fan of what they call mechanics.
I just don't like the idea of handing over big bucks to a dealer/mechanic and deep down you don't know if they have done the job properly or at all with out standing over them.
I had this problem MANY times with our local Holden dealer.
So I brought the car in the 2 weeks I had clocked up the 1000km and had a few problems for them to look at.

1: On one occasion I could not remove the key from the ignition, it just wouldn't come out.
Knowing that there is a safety feature that you cant remove the key in park/reverse (i was in park).
So I moved the selector through the gears,then back to park and it clicked and came out.
Okay maybe a bit of grease for the dealers to look at .

2:When coming out of the Monato zoo (potholed dirt road) I was hearing something loose rattling under the car, I stopped and looked but couldn't see anything loose/hanging down.

3:When I drove my car on the test drive I noticed how quiet the engine was and was told by the sales guy that the prado has a quiet motor.
Now if I give it a bit of gas from stand still or more gas up a hill I get this very annoying engine noise.........Just like a tractor.

So i took my car in to get the 1000km service and told them about the 3 problems and was told it will be fixed in about 20-30 min.
So after doing the service I was told that they had a look at the key problem and found no problem.
They blamed me that I had to many other keys (about 6) on the key ring and it was pulling the key down?????

The rattle under the car they couldn't find ??

And they said they checked the engine on the computer and found nothing wrong.. didn't drive it to listen for the noise.

He said that they have had a few people complaining about the engine noise and the Toyota factory has changed the exhaust manifold to a different type and if a recall was done they will notify me.

I wasn't happy with there service and was going to wait and see if the problems came back (or got worse) and see if I needed to return to them with a follow up.

I brought the car home and got under the front and started hitting the under body and suspension with a open hand and found that the bash plate was rattling,I think it is where the grill sections on the plate are.

Last week I did some long driving and the engine noise is getting louder, so yesterday I spoke the manager of Peter Kittle and expressed my concern about the engine and rattle that I had found.

So this Monday back I go to get them to talk more crap to me.

Has anyone else had the same problem or does anyone know of a fix that wont stuff up my warranty?

Grid.

*Spelling/punctuation adjusted by Moderator*

[grid Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close grid]

My new Tractor Pt 2

okay i think i got my answer,just read the other post (CHK CHK Sounds in the engine)
any other info would be great.

Grid

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Re: My new Tractor

Evening All,

3 weeks ago i brought a may 07 built auto gxl petrol v6 prado from peter kittle toyota here in Salisbury/Adelaide. Grid.

Oh dear, right there is the biggest mistake I can see in your whole write up. Kittles are the absolute worst dealership this side of the black stump bar none. The number of horror stories people can relate here in Alice regarding Kittles defies belief but they are all true, I have first hand experience with them. They should have a little box on the service sheet asking what you want broken on the car whilst they are servicing it.

[McBAIN Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close McBAIN]

Grid, i think you won't be the first to have issues with dealer service departments... not bagging them all but you'll find quite a few threads in here where people have had issues! good luck at the next visit!

[xvprado Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xvprado]

Mate, your dealer did you give you the right advice on the engine noise, glad you found the thread. It is indeed a design issue with the exhaust manifold and it generally gets to its worst by 5000klm and then remains pretty much. My 04 with 80000 klm probably had no worse than you are hearing now. There was talk that Aust dealers were asking for a factory fix because they got a lot of flack over it, but they fell on deaf ears with Japan I think
The good part is that it has no adverse affect on the motor, as far as is known
As for the rattle and key....the joys of buying new I guess :shock:
Good luck with it

[speedcomm Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close speedcomm]

I dont hear the tick tick ticking anymore
Only when someone else who doesnt know says dude have you got any oil in your motor :wink: and I say yep just the Prado tick.

[Spiro Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Spiro]

Rattle

Hi,

I too had a rattle emanating from under the front of the vehicle for quite a while. At each service I would mention it to toyota and they would find nothing wrong.
It drove me nuts and was a real time-burglar. I even took all the bashplates off and drove around to see if they were the cause.!
Then I found that over my favourite set of test bumps that the noise would not occur if I had the brakes applied, even lightly. Then same bumps, same speed, same line, same direction, but no brake application on my part and I'd get the clanking/rattling sound.

I demonstrated this to Toyota on their own favourite bumpy road around Waterloo. Toyota found that the front brake pads (both sides) moving around in their caliper housing(s) was causing the problem. They reset them and applied some brake grease (sorry, didn't ask exactly what type of grease)to the backing plates/brakepad back to reduce the movement. At the time they said that some movement is acceptable to allow for proper clearances and would not agree to using shims, as I suggested (but I'm no expert).

The grease application stopped the noise. However they recently replaced the brake pads (they were due for replacement) and now the exact same noise is back under the same conditions described above.!

I'll be mentioning this at the next service, but I'm over it, much like the quirky exhaust noise that has been mentioned on this forum, which reminds me of my old HX 202 Kingswood (long departed) with the leaky manifold.

I also saw & heard another 120 Prado travel over some bad bumps/potholes near Oberon recently and the exact same noise occurred.

The prado has got good sound proofing, so the noise cannot be really heard with the windows up.

Cheers,
Spiro.

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

G'day Spiro,

That brake goo is available at SuperCheap Auto, it also stops squealing brake pads. It's like a greasy glue stuff, it's made in the USA and it's great. I haven't had to use it on the 120 yet, but used it a bit on my old Saab coupe.

Drew.

[grid Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close grid]

My visit to Peter kittle toyota

On Saturday afternoon I rang Peter Kittle and spoke to the general manager.
He was all very apologetic about what has happened and said he will get his service manager to ring me to look into the problem.
5 min later he rang and also has apologetic about what had happened and told me he will ring me on monday(23rd) and make a booking to look at the noise.
SURPRISE SURPRISE He didnt ring.
I went back to the dealer today with no appointment and steam coming out my ears at the lack of care and service by these morons.
After spitting chips at the service manager and going for a drive he said he can hear engine noise but not the exhaust/manifold noise(this guy must be deaf).
I was then hand-balled back to the general manager in his office I was told that there is no noise and the Prado has a certain characteristic engine noise about them (tractor noise in my eyes).

After a very calm(god it was hard keeping my cool) talk I was told they are not doing anything to help or look into the problem but said for ME to write to Toyota with my problem and he cant make any promises to my complaint.
So I came home today and got the screw driver out and took the crappy number plate surrounds of and will be throwing them back to them in the next couple of days
I was told CMI totota look after there customers (someone please correct me if i am wrong) and have the car booked in next Tuesday to look at it.


So the moral of the story:
DONT BUY ANYTHING, DONT GET YOUR CAR SERVICED BY THESE **** ***** AT ****** TOYOTA.

You will be sorry if you do.
Grid.
P.S keep a look out for me on the road a Charcoal grey 07 gxl petrol Prado with big letters on the back window:************* LEMON SERVICE.
as they have lost my service.


I accept all responsibility of all that is said in this email
Grid a very unhappy customer.

*punctuation, spelling and some "ahem" references changed by moderator*

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Re: My visit to Peter kittle toyota

On Saturday afternoon i rang peter kittle and spoke to the general manager. He was all very appologetic about what has happened and said he will get his service manager to ring me to look into the problem.5 min later he rang and also has oppologetic about what had happens and told me he will ring me on monday(23rd) and make a booking to look at the noise.SURPRISE,SURPRISE HAD DIDN'T RING.
I went back to the dealer today with no appointment and steam coming out my ears at the lack of care and service by these m***s.after spitting chips at the service manager and going for a drive he said he can hear engine noise but not the exhaust/manifold noise(this guy must be deaf)
I was then hand-balled back to the general manager in his office i was told that there is no noise and the Prado has a certain characteristic engine noise about them(tractor noise in my eyes).
After a very calm(god it was hard keeping my cool)talk i was told they are not doing anything to help or look into the problem but said for ME to write to Toyota with my problem and he cant make any promises to my complaint.
So i came home today and got the screw driver out and took the crappy number plate surrounds of and will be throwing them back to them in the next coulpe of days
I was told CMI totota look after there customers (someone please correct me if i am wrong) and have the car booked in next Tuesday to look at it.


So the moral of the storyONT BUY ANYTHING, DONT GET YOUR CAR SERVICED BY THESE *********** AT*********** TOYOTA.

You will be sorry if you do.
Grid.
P.S keep a look out for me on the road a Charcoal grey 07 gxl petrol Prado with big letters on the back window:********** LEMON SERVICE.
as they have lost my service.


I exept all responsibility of all that is said in this email
Grid a very unhappy customer.

I understand how you are feeling totally. Kittles are the worst dealership, end of story. Nobody in their right mind would have them touch there vehicle here in Alice and when I heard that they had bought a dealership in Adelaide I thought those poor buggers who buy from them down there.

[Richo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Richo]

Agree that Kittles are cowboys adn I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole!

I have my vehicle serviced at Northpoint Toyota and to this date I can't fault them. They even helped me with a warranty repair that was outside the warranty period.

[Guest Close Guest]

It certainly sounds like you feel you have been treated unjust.

I havent experienced said dealers work before so cant comment.
I personally use CMI and have been very happy with them, I have my 06 Grande in for its 20k tomorrow actually.
It has a click in the fridge lid (when you lean on it) and the sunroof seems to have developed an issue with its closing (clutch sound).

My personal experience from dealing with clientele for over 28 years, the angry clients that yell get the worst service.
No offence meant by that, but just worth thinking over.

I find a polite, courteous contact gets me a lot more than coming in all gung ho and standing over them.

I know its hard, but in reality i think most here will say courtesy gets you a lot further in the beginning.

I had a recent client currently that we just couldnt please, to a point we returned his money & left him with the goods after he wasted over 35 hours of our time.
We simply said, "Yours for free, dont call us again"....

Well he did, and complained and complained, even after we had 3 independent people inspect and say nothing was wrong at all... Its off to court now, and we have the lawyers ready to go for the throat and claim costs...

Not meaning to sound rude, but the manifold noise is well documented and known in the v6.
The rattles and things are very hard to prove, and the dealer has probably listened and not heard it due to the terrain driven over. Sadly they dont get to drive with you all day till it happens, and only have a limited time to find it. Very hard for them on their part.At the end opf the day they believe they have tried to find the issues in the time allowed, when in fact the issues have not presented themselves perhaps?
A difficult situation on all accounts?

Maybe you need to meet up with some other owners and perhaps try test driving some other vehicles to see what you think of the noises/feel?
There is a few local pradopointers near you and some of us a bit more south, maybe worth a try to offer you another perspective?

[pcm_120 Member Find all posts View Profile Close pcm_120]

Hi Grid.

I have been using CMI in the city since new and they have been very helpful. I’ve had a few warranty issues and they have listened and fixed them all.

Good luck with it.

Paul.

[grid Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close grid]

Thanks for all your reply s ,It was the last straw today as i went back in to the service department and got a copy of the letter from toyota stating that there is a problem with the exhaust noise ,they know about it but if they are going to fix it they will contact us.....until then you must put up with your new tractor :shock:
Also called back in to the front office and spoke to the twat that sold me the car.This morning i had great delight in taking the stupid plastic number plate surrounds that advertise there crap business,snapped them in half and gave them back to the sales guy and said i wont be back for anything(not even a valve cap),you have treated me like crap and i will tell everyone.
Now during his sales pitch to me he promised the world(and also promised to be looked after by all there)as i said at time of sale i don't mean to be rude but i was told the same by my holden dealer when i brought my jackaroo,and the same as now, once they have your money you are no longer looked after.
Yes i understand what you mean about keeping your cool but i have spoken to these people 6-7 times in the time i have had the car.And apart from the sales man sucking up my bum to get me to buy the car i have spoken politely to them but i don't think they know what customer service or satisfaction is as i have spend good money buying there product and suppose to be standing by there product they sell.

thanks again for your reply s and help.
now its time to move on and enjoy the car and find a new dealer later that will do the job.
Peter kittle will still be in business in years to come but one day they will fall flat on the face,then we can all have a good laugh at them.

Grid.

[Guest Close Guest]

Go and have a speak to Roland at CMI service in ADelaide.

I had mine in there today, very helpful, fixed all the issues.
(The sunroof has a stripped gear ?? (never jammed anything in it?) and they have ordered a complete new unit, including Glass & all mechanicals from Japan to replace it with.