Toyota Alphard not been serviced for 4 years

[mehvish]

Hi,

Would it be wise to buy a 2004 Toyota Alphard. It was imported in 2018 and was given a full service at the point of sale. the owner has covered just under 21000 miles since then and milage now is around 78000 miles. What sort of problems the lack of service could have caused to the engine?

Thanks 

[OldWellhouse]

If it makes you feel any better, I recently gambled on an '04 with no service history present and like you I knew it had a good service a few years ago, '17 in my case. I took it to a Toyota main dealership and it sailed through the service and safety inspection. It needed tracking done on one wheel and that was it. 

Good luck. 

[mehvish]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I phoned the local Toyota dealer in Maidstone, but he said they don't work on imports. How long have you had your car for?

[mehvish]

Apparantly, they used to until something went terribly wrong on an imported vehicle and they stopped doing them.

[mehvish]

Also just out of curiosity, how much did you pay for yours?Did you buy it private or from a trader?

[Alphard Club]

you would need to check for sludging. Toyotas generally do not like having oil skips... unlike german brands that do 20k, Toyota prefer 8-10k service intervals. I found Toyota engines get tappy on cold starts, I have own 15 Lexus/Toyota and do notice when they need a change. 

I  recently changed the oil on my Alphard as even though i only did 2000 miles since last change, i reckon the dealer used Mazola grade oil.. added proper sythentic

 

if you have  not bought then i wouldnt buy.. thats my brutal opinion.

[Rojie]

6 hours ago, mehvish said:

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I phoned the local Toyota dealer in Maidstone, but he said they don't work on imports. How long have you had your car for?

 

Many Toyota Main Dealers will not work on grey imports; but some will.

 

Shop around, or try to locate a Toyota specialist.

Most mechanical parts are reasonably available.

6 hours ago, mehvish said:

Apparantly, they used to until something went terribly wrong on an imported vehicle and they stopped doing them.

 

 

Hhhhmmm !

[Alphard Club]

Wouldn't have a dealer touch my car. i proved twice by 2 different dealers that they did not even do the service and skipped items on the service. Massive embarrassment to them and publicly announced it.

 

Find a decent garage as get their advice on skipped changes. If i bought a car with skipped changes then i would probably consider a oil flush (as long as seals are safe) and flush it out.

[Rojie]

1 hour ago, Alphard Club said:

Wouldn't have a dealer touch my car. i proved twice by 2 different dealers that they did not even do the service and skipped items on the service. Massive embarrassment to them and publicly announced it.

 

Find a decent garage as get their advice on skipped changes. If i bought a car with skipped changes then i would probably consider a oil flush (as long as seals are safe) and flush it out.

 

Were they approved Toyota dealers?

[Alphard Club]

Just now, Rojie said:

 

Were they approved Toyota dealers?

 

Yes. both Proper large dealer groups.

[Rojie]

5 minutes ago, Alphard Club said:

 

Yes. both Proper large dealer groups.

 

Shame on them.

I guess anyone living in your area needs to be very careful which dealer they choose !