3 things I learned after visiting Toyota Service Center

My Toyota passo 2013 Model (2016 import) started giving a light grumbling sound while applying brakes. I had not visited any workshop since importing this car. I was just doing routine oil and filter changes and everything was going perfectly fine for last one and half years.
After discussing with some friends, I decided to visit Toyota service center for brake pads inspection. Toyota Walton and Toyota Cantt Motors are two nearest centers from my office. I visited Toyota Cantt Motors and got my car's front brake pads replaced but I learned following three lessons in this visit:

1. Take Appointment before your visit

   Toyota service centers give discount to customers who take prior appointments. I didn't know about this but luckily I called them before leaving and got an appointment. I came to know that you get 10% discount on labor and 15% discount on parts if you have taken an appointment. If you plan to visit any Toyota service center, better call them a day before your visit and get an appointment.

2. Do not purchase parts from Toyota

   It was my first experience visiting any of Toyota service center. I have heard that they charge extra on parts but I did not have any first hand experience. The overall experience of my visit was quite good. I was greeted by a staff member who took my personal details and my car's history. He then asked me to take car to service area for inspection. One of their service man then took a ride of my car along with me to understand the issue. One service person is then assigned to work on my car. He directed me to one of the bay areas and lifted my car using the lifter. He removed all the tires and then inspected both front and rear pads. He showed all of them to me and told me that it is better to replace front ones. I had a look at them and decided to replace them as pads seem quite thin and as I was already hearing a screeching sound so I decided to get them replaced. He took me to Toyota's parts purchase sections which was within their garage. The guy gave me pads and told me that price is Rs. 14000. As I have come with appointment so I'll get 15% discount so price for me is Rs. 11800. I called a friend and he suggested to better check I.A traders which is a well-reputed shop across the road in front of Toyota Cantt Motors. I returned brake pads to Toyota parts section and told them that I don't want to purchase from you as price is very high. He argued a bit saying he can give more discount but I told him that I don't want to purchase. I went to I.A traders and asked for genuine Toyota Passo break pads, he gave me a pair and quoted price of Rs. 7000/-. I asked him for a discount and finally got it in Rs. 6800. I took it back to Toyota service center and showed brake pads to Toyota service guy asking him if these are genuine and same to the one I was getting from Toyota parts section. He checked them and said yes these are the same ones. I got them replaced and took my car back and lesson that I learned was not to purchase parts from Toyota service center.

3. Let someone else drive your car :)

   This might sound funny but this is another lesson that I learned. I imported my car in January 2016 and I have been driving it for about a year and half. During this time, no one else has actually driven it. When I got this car, it had genuine mats in it that were fixed with car floor. On suggestion of one of my friend, I went for rexine floor matting of my car where they removed car seats and fixed a rexine sheet on car floor. During this process, they also remove floor mat locks holding floor mats at their positions. At that time, I also put extra rubber floor mats on top of genuine ones to protect them. But I didn't notice that this extra matting has got stuck under my accelerator decreasing pedal space. For about a year and half I have been driving with two mats under my gas pedal making it hard for me to press it to its limit. I used to think that my car does not accelerate quickly because I have turned ECO mode ON to improve fuel economy. Good thing about it is that my car's fuel consumption was excellent and I was getting 20+ km/liter during this time :)
   When Toyota service person took test drive of my car, he stopped the car and asked me, how do I drive this car as it is so hard to accelerate it. He removed both mats from the floor and asked me to either cut their top right corner or get them fixed.
   On my way back from Toyota service center, it was very difficult to drive car for me as I was not used to driving without mats under the pedal. Car was accelerating very quickly and then I learned that slow acceleration was not because of ECO mode rather it was the EXTRA padding under the pedal.
   So let someone drive your car and look at it from another perspective :)
   
   
   Disclaimer: This post is just to share my personal experience. Toyota might have some very good reason to sell parts at higher price and there might be difference in quality that I am not aware of.