Warranty issues... I've got a knackered 'box... NOW CURED!

GSB · October 10, 2003, 08:49

I dropped my MR2 in on Monday morning for its first major bout of warranty work, (other than the belt tensioner, which was done at the 20k service.)

The faults I reported to Mr T were:

1/ Whining gearbox - the gearbox sounds like a bag of bolts in a washing
machine and whines and clunks like hell between 20 and 40 mph, over this
speed the noise reduces.

2/ Creaking steering - The well documented creaky strut problem has been
bugging me for a couple of months... Time to get them changed.

3/ Corroded alloys - After 26,000 miles and nearly 2 years, mine are just
starting to go, so on with a recon set please.

4/ Corroded discs / hubs - Although they were nothing like as bad as some of
you guys have reported, my hubs did have the odd rust stain on them.

5/ Headlights - Whilst changing a lamp recently I noticed a hazy area on the
reflector directly above the lamp. This is the part of the reflector
responsible for dipped beam, which was quite frankly laughable.

6/ The joker in the pack - The Gearknob. The shiny leather finish was
peeling off the gearknob, so I warranty'd it.

All the work bar the gearbox was completed by Tuesday afternoon, no
problems, no questions, no grief. It was just done... even the gearknob.

However, I am told the gearbox has got a case of worn bearings. They test drove it and had a look at the gear cluster, which apparently is fine. Dont know why they are worn exactly, but they are going to try and get a new box for me rather than rebuild my one. The only problem is it'll be about a 3 week wait for either new parts or a new 'box to come in. In the meantime I'm told the car is perfectly driveable, if a little noisy...

Anonymous · October 10, 2003, 09:00

So all in all it was a pretty good warranty claim then - good to hear they even replaced the little things like the gearknob.

Anonymous · October 10, 2003, 11:14

GSB, details of dealer please.

GSB · October 10, 2003, 11:26

Quote from: "Emmanuel"GSB, details of dealer please.

Same place I always go:

Jemca Metro,
Seven Sisters Road
Tottenham
North London.

BTW, MR2 ROC members get a discount here...

zud · October 10, 2003, 14:13

That's certainly a bit different than my service yesterday. I only mentioned wheels and hubs....

They chose to clean and paint the hubs, rather than replace. Having said that, they look pretty smart, and unless MrT's solved the "rusting hub" problem, maybe they'll last longer than new ones(?)

And they just cleaned up the wheels as they're "waiting for toyota to change suppliers, rather than put new wheels on that will just rust again". I probably should have argued at this point, but my first thoughts were that they aren't that bad yet, and that if they request replacements now, they'll probably get here too early (it's still 6 weeks until the airfield day). They also claimed not to know about MrT getting wheels refurb'd for this problem. So I decided to give them a chance to find out about that and then go back in a week or two. I might be too trusting, but I think they'll sort it out.

Other than that, they were very helpful and did a good job... the SMT change is noticeably smoother, it drives a little slicker and it came back nicely washed. With a coutesy car thrown in for £155 I was pleasantly surprised! And last night I bought some carb (MAF) cleaner. s:D

s:D

Anonymous · October 10, 2003, 17:02

Quote from: "zud"And they just cleaned up the wheels as they're "waiting for toyota to change suppliers, rather than put new wheels on that will just rust again".

When I had mine changed a couple of months ago, we noticed at markiii's (during the mammoth spring-fitting session) that my new wheels had some Jap symbols printed/stamped on the inside of the rim. That would imply they were new, rather than refurb'ed (by Pristine in Milton Keynes?).

zud · October 10, 2003, 17:26

Thanks Phil, i think I'll go back sometime next week, mention the two options and try and get them to commit to something, rather than just leaving it open.

Anonymous · October 10, 2003, 19:14

Quote2/ Creaking steering - The well documented creaky strut problem has been
bugging me for a couple of months...

Did they re-lubricate the suspension mounts or replace them?

Mine were only re-lubed and are squeaking again - dman Dunstable shortcuts s:evil: :evil: s:evil:

Anonymous · October 13, 2003, 08:54

GSB - So you're in the same area as I then? I live just down the road from Seven Sisters. Wow - another member down the road from me and I didn't even realise! We should catch up for a beer some time...

GSB · October 13, 2003, 10:21

Quote from: "zud"They chose to clean and paint the hubs, rather than replace. Having said that, they look pretty smart, and unless MrT's solved the "rusting hub" problem, maybe they'll last longer than new ones(?)

Same on mine, not sure what sort of paint they used but it looks very-very good.

Quote from: "Lusaka"Did they re-lubricate the suspension mounts or replace them?

Mine were only re-lubed and are squeaking again - dman Dunstable shortcuts.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think they may only have lubricated them. The creaking has disappeared, but theres still a rattle from that area when I drive over any bumps. I only told them about the steering on the morning I took it in, so it's the most likely option. The warranty work isnt complete yet though, so I'll get them to take another look when they sort the gearbox.

Quote from: "Ender"GSB - So you're in the same area as I then? I live just down the road from Seven Sisters. Wow - another member down the road from me and I didn't even realise! We should catch up for a beer some time...

I actually live over in the docklands, but I work in Enfield. Jemca Metro is a bit out of my way but it was recomended to me by a fellow ROC member about 2 years ago. (ninjinski2002, is he still around?) They did some sterling work, let me watch the guy working on my car, and later took and active interest in the Roadster Owners Club. Their parts man Ian Le Count was the guy who finally cracked the TTE exhaust supply problem for us, (back in the days when you couldn't get one for love nor money via toyota, Several members approached thier local dealers, to no avail. It was a very sorry state of affairs. Ian sorted it out in about 2 days...) and as far as I know they are still the only main dealer to offer an automatic discount to MR2-ROC members. Personally I think they're pretty good, they dont give me any BS, dont turn their noses up at my EU import like some dealers, and they dont seem to mind my H&S exhaust either. (In fact I think they quite liked it!) So I'm happy with them.

Always happy to meet other members and have a few beers, any excuse to consume Stella and talk about cars is more than welcome...

Slacey · October 13, 2003, 12:41

Quote from: "GSB"
Quote from: "zud"They chose to clean and paint the hubs, rather than replace. Having said that, they look pretty smart, and unless MrT's solved the "rusting hub" problem, maybe they'll last longer than new ones(?)

Same on mine, not sure what sort of paint they used but it looks very-very good.

There seem to be a few people who have had them painted by Toyota now, instead of replacing them as mine were - new directive to save costs?

Quote from: "GSB"Always happy to meet other members and have a few beers, any excuse to consume Stella and talk about cars is more than welcome...

I can vouch for that! Need to return the favour still...

GSB · October 18, 2003, 18:30

Quote from: "Lusaka"
Quote2/ Creaking steering - The well documented creaky strut problem has been
bugging me for a couple of months...

Did they re-lubricate the suspension mounts or replace them?

Mine were only re-lubed and are squeaking again - dman Dunstable shortcuts s:evil: :evil: s:evil:

Apparently there is a bullitin for this problem, that states that they should try lubriction first and see if the customer complains again, I have, as they still rattle over bumps, even though the creaking has gone, so they're going to take another look at it...

GSB · November 27, 2003, 10:28

Well, after a lengthy wait for a new gearbox, Its finally been fixed...

They actually managed to get me a complete new box from Japan in the end, rather than the rebuild they were going to do (as specified by Toyota GB s:roll: :roll: s:roll: ) Its nice to be driving in a (relatively) quiet car again, the whining diff bearings were driving me mad!

Also, as I'd previously complained about the noisy steering and awful handling, and the initial cure didn't really cure the problem, they also did a four wheel alignment check (free of charge and without me even asking them - yep its a first for me too!) They found the nearside front to be out of spec.

Once again, post aligment adjstment, its a different car. ( I had it checked last in Oct '02...) Gone is the awful tramlining on un-even roads, the turn in is much improved, as is my confidence in the car to actually get me out of the other side of the corner when I go into a little over-commited s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:

I think I'm going to get it done on a 6 monthly basis from now on, as its easily one of the most effective maintenance tasks you can do besides making sure your tyre pressures are right every few days... And besides, going round corners is this cars forte, if it cant do that, well I may as well buy an MG-F...