McCarthy Toyota Paarl - Service

Combination of 3 incidents resulted in me deciding to share my personal experience with McCarthy Toyota Paarl.

Incident no.1 I had my Fortuner serviced on the 3rd April 2019 (180,000km) and during the service day the consultant phoned me and indicated that my air conditioner gas needs to be refilled at an extra cost of +/-R550. I had a think about it and considering that it close to winter I decided not to give the go ahead and rather wait for summer for the refill. In October I drove past a wheelalingment and tyre franchise and advertising refilling of air conditioning units for R425, I proceed to take them up on their offer and instructed the technician to refill my air conditioner unit. After about 10 minutes the technician called me and asked if my air conditioner wasn’t working, I indicated it was working but McCarthy Toyota Paarl indicated that the unit needed to be re-gassed. The technician smiled and informed me that there was nothing wrong with the unit gas levels and he will only proceed with the service/balancing of the unit and that will only cost me R200.

Incident no.2 In December 2019 I entertained my brother from the USA with trips across the Western Cape. In ensuring that everything was in-place I checked the Fortuner tools in the side storage at the back. In doing so I damaged the fuel flap release cable plastic unit with the emergency triangle unit, resulting in me not being able to release the fuel flap to refuel. I proceeded to McCarthy Toyota Paarl and requested what it will take to fix the broken plastic unit. McCarthy Toyota Paarl service personnel called the workshop manager (I think) and he advised that you cannot buy the plastic unit alone and I had to buy the total cable at a cost of +/-R650, the installation will also require the removing of the left side seats and carpet and that will take +/-3 hours at a cost of +/-R1,500 (no firm quotation). I indicated I will buy the cable first and with my next service they can install it. I collected the part after 2 days and on closer inspection of the cable I realised that the plastic unit can detach from the cable and proceeded to connect it to the existing cable. It took me 15min to do and the fuel release flap was fixed. In sharing my bad experience with friends they indicated that there is a cable company in Paarl that actually could have sold me the plastic clip only, this was disheartening to hear.

Incident no.3 In January 2020 I planned a road trip to Etosha National Park and had my vehicle serviced for its 190,000km service on the 8th of January2020. When I collected my vehicle, the service assistant made me sign a factory recall invoice that I need not pay for. I inquired what it was for and she was not able to explain exactly just indicating it was something on the airbag on the steering wheel that needed to be replaced. On the morning of the 9th I filled my tank with diesel as we were leaving for the trip, I tried to reset the trip computer and realised that all the functional button on the steering wheel was not working (the hooter was still working), I phone my wife and indicated that when they do the service call she must advise them that the buttons on the steering wheel was not working and I will only be back in the country in 12 days’ time. It should be noted I used the controls on the 7th due to a long trip from Elandsbay, so something must have happened between the 7th afternoon and 9th morning. On returning from my trip a visited McCarthy Toyota Paarl the workshop person immediately indicated that they did not work anywhere near the unit that was defective and if I wanted it fixed they can do it at a cost of +/-R5000 – R7000. Needless to say I was a bit upset and indicated that there is a great possibility that they could have damage the unit considering it was in the general area where they worked and it was perfectly fine on the 7th. He indicated that is impossible and I can take it up with the dealer principle if I wanted to (why I was then talking to someone with no decision authority I do not know), I indicate that it was my last day of holiday and I’m not prepared to end it arguing about something that I know would not result in a positive outcome. I phone around and found a replacement part for R650, I know it is not Toyota original but for the price I concluded the part can break 10 x and before I get to the price quoted. It took me 45 minutes to replace including taking pictures to ensure I do it correctly. Next time it will be more like 30 minutes. So I resolved the problem and everything is working fine to date.

In conclusion I now know that my expectation of a reasonable honest service company is not aligned with McCarthy Toyota Paarl business ethos and I will never do business with McCarthy again. The local farming community and friends indicated that I should consider Malmesbury Toyota for any dealings with an official Toyota dealership because they do not try to milk you dry.

I tried my best to stay neutral in relaying the incidents, so if some aggression/emotions were observed, I’m sorry.

Kind regards LC