Toyota Qatar sucks

29 Jun, 2008  Uncategorized

I hate Toyota Qatar. Yes. I said it. How can a country which buys so many Toyotas and Lexuses have such crap service?

As I lay on my bed, looking at my lime green ceiling in frustration I started to think about my choices. I could have bought a BMW, a Mercedes, a Porsche, anything! But Noooo, I had to be convinced that a Lexus is better.

The ES350 seemed like the best choice. Soft Leather. Quiet engine. 14 speaker system. Sat Nav. The list could go on. It also had a great A/C and since it’s Toyota, it would be reliable.

From the moment you enter into Abdulghani’s Toyota tower, you are greeted with smiling faces. They treat you as if you are the only customer in the room and make sure you’re satisfied. That’s it though. It ends there. Heaven’s gate turns into the Devil’s underworld once you leave the dealership with your brand new shiny car.

So I’m cruising down the road a few months later. I’m feeling good. I could have sworn that I saw the Fonz in the corner of my eye (it means I was having a Happy Day…). Right at the City Center roundabout in Westbay a Mercedes decides to accelerate and a rock flies out of his wheel and smashes into my glass. I long streak of a crack is in front of me.

My first thought was… damn roads that never finish being constructed in Qatar! Next was… “typical”. I’m one of those people that takes care of his car. I’m a clean freak so I dust it and make sure it’s nice and shiny. Why did this have to happen. After doing everything I needed to do to get the glass changed, I headed off to Toyota Servicing in the Industrial Area.

1) Have you tried getting in there? The road is busted up! Simply driving TO the service station demands a service. It’s unacceptable!

2) ONE service and repairs center in the WHOLE of Qatar? It’s always full, always packed, and it’s always a hassle! Aren’t they making enough money yet?

3) Lexus owners are treated like Toyota owners. i.e. rubbish.

4) There is no organization at all. No pre-booking. No ticketing service. No fixed schedule

5) Receiving your Lexus is like getting back a 10th hand car back. The steering wheel feels oily. The car is covered in dust. You’re just slapped with the key and told to leave.

I had to wait a MONTH for the front windshield to be replaced because they didn’t have any… When they finally DID replace it, it was defective. They said they needed to place ANOTHER order so I had to wait for another month. A month and a half later I drop it off there and I’m still waiting.

I wish that Lexus Japan would come over here and investigate. People are switching over to Nissan or even Chinese brands like Cherry! Abdulghani’s are very nice people… I just wish they had better management.

*sighs*

Update 1/6/2008: Finally got my car back. This time they only took two days. That means it’s taken around over 2 months to get my windsheild fixed. Sadly the car came back dusty (as expected), some oil on the leather (which I was able to wipe off), so strange liquid on the wooden dash (which I was able to wipe), and some strange tapping from the glass… Oh well..

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  • Tods

    I absolutely agree with your email and share your frustration. The after-sale service from Lexus in Qatar is simply unacceptable for a luxury car brand and I would (and have) discouraged people from buying Lexus in Qatar simply because of that.

    I am a Lexus RX350 owner and was previously a Mercedes owner. Like you, I bought the Lexus because of reliability etc. Mechanically, it has been excellent. However, when it needed bumpers replaced due to an accident, it became a complete nightmare which lasted for months. I share your views regarding the service at the Industrial Area and the whole experience of simply getting there. It is like nothing I have ever seen before and, quite simply, there is no excuse for it. As you say, they are happy to sell us the cars from shiny, state of the art sales rooms (and have even opened a new one at City Centre) and then leave us to the mercy of the incompetents in the Industrial Area for after-sale service.

    The work on my car lasted for about 2 months – with about 6 trips being made to the Industrial Area. In the end, we actually had to physically go into the workshop and stand over the workers to get them to fix it. Even then, they were putting the wrong parts on! Management is totally incompetent and really do not give a damn. It is an absolute joke.

    We felt the service was so bad that we complained to both AAA (in their shiny showroom) as well as Lexus in Japan pointing out (as you have) that they should come to see the damage that is being done to their brand in Qatar. We got no reply! They are not interested – as long as the cars are flying out of the showroom, nothing else matters!

    The service was so bad and the whole experience was so traumatic that if I need to get anything else done to my car, I will sell it and buy a Mercedes or BMW instead of going through all that again – at least BMW is on Street 1 of the Industrial Area!

    My advice: if anyone has a choice of car and is considering buying a Lexus, DON’T! Buy one that has good after-sale service as you will certainly need it with the idiots driving around this town!

  • Kei

    Thanks for sharing! I’m sure that everyone’ll benefit from more people’s opinions :)

  • novita77

    Kei, i remembered sometimes back you told me that you need to replace your windshield. Did not realized it would take that long.

    At last you get your car windshield fixed now.

  • sweet30

    This is concerning cause I just signed contracts to get an IS 300. hmmm…In South Africa, I drove the IS 250 and never had an issue with after-sales service so this is quiet shocking. Its actually interesting how the products differ as well. In SA, your service intervals are at 15 000 and the cost of maintenance (including brakes) is covered for 5 years or 100 000km.When you drive your car in for a service, you get it back in 4 hours and for that 4 hours you get a car to drive around. While that is amazing, one thing has to be remembered the car is 40 000 riyaals more in SA for the smaller engine. So where you taking a hike in price in SA, you getting excellent service.

  • Kei

    well I’d gladly pay 40,000 QR MORE if it meant that I was treated nicely.

    I mean, yes I’m saving 40k but in the longer term, my car gets taken care of less and I end up spending more on repairs.

    Now so far I’ve only had to spend 200QR (that’s around how much the service is) but I’ve got with many many days without a car during repair.

    Even the service takes a MINIMUM of a day. You drive it there to the industrial area, who takes you back?

  • sweet030_2

    Kei, Completely agree with you on the service.

    Tell me why are you paying so much for the service – is the 2000 riyaals for a period of time or 1 month or is it more expensive because of the model you are driving?

  • Kei

    It wasn’t 2000 it was 200 :P

  • sweet030_2

    *shew* thank goodness. You nearly gave me a heart attack!~!~!

  • John Stewart

    Hi guys, appreciate your views on Toyota after-sales service. Since it is already at the end of 2008, could anybody please advice how’s Toyota after-sales service nowadays? Is it getting better or is it just the same story as we had in the past?

    I plan to buy an SUV for family use (yeah, for safety reason for sure) and have been considering either Land Cruiser or Armada. I agree, technically, Toyota is superior than Nissan, yet, considering the level of after-sales service, I just don’t want to get lots of headache down the road.

    Thanks a lot for your kind advice.
    Cheers, John.

  • Kei

    hi John, I’d say that it’s still at the same level at the moment.
    Toyota is fantastic, it’s just their after-sales here in Qatar…

  • John Stewart

    Kei, thanks a lot for the information. Looks like Nissan is going to be the chosen one then…
    Again, thanks a lot….
    Cheers, John.

  • A.W.

    So which cars have the best after-sales service??

  • Kei

    VW is pretty good, they give you a temp car and or drop you off home at least.

    Suzuki sales on Airport road is rubbish.

    Oh, I don’t know about their after sales, but Al Mana (Jeep and Dodge) have great sales service.

  • A.W.

    Two questions:

    Anyone know anything about after-sales service on Volvos in Doha? And another question — do any dealers lease (not rent) at reasonable prices? Being sent to Doha for two years (renewable) and hate to buy a car and then be stuck with it. Thanks.

  • Kei

    sorry I don’t. But a friend who’s bought two hasn’t complained so far.

    Some car rental companies do lease out. I recommend just giving a call to a few and seeing how it goes.

  • MOHAMMED MAHMOOUD

    DONT PURCHASE ANY TAYOTA VEHICLES. THE SERVICING OF THIS VEHICLE IS ONLY CHEATING PEOPLE. I request to the consumer court to take action against TAYOTA SERVICE CENTRES in QATAR.

  • Ali Lari Car Number 224344

    Dear Complain Manager

    My name is Ali I have complains regarding my car Rav 4 2001 model plate number 224344. I have taken my car to Toyota Industrial Area Work shop branch Doha Qatar since ten to make full check up and give me estimation of what are the problems in the car after 48 hours they called me and informed the what are the things needs to be repaid in the car and he gave me quotation of Qar 9000 I have agreed to go head and repair all the problems. The in charge person told me it will take only three to four days and now this is the day number 10 and still I haven’t got my car. Even though you have recently opened three cars repairing work shops in the heart of the capital.
    I would kindly like to check why all this delay

  • Savy Alot

    Good idea to post under this “promising” title (“ilove…”), probably the only way to discuss something like this. Just wandered what is going on in that (fortunately small) part of the world, as I left a year ago. No bad feelings, but this reminded me exactly how things were, like being there. I will think twice and more before I go back ever. Incredible how big the diference can be just short distance away – in UAE. God bless you all survivors, take care.
    I am moving now to other readings in a related site which you cannot see from where you are. Novita 77 – 2010 – 20xx, hello to you and the Q-livid gang.

  • http://www.iloveqatar.net Kei

    Well thats why there are qataris like me trying to make Qatar a better place.

  • Dileep kumar t.m

    i like toyota

    To:Too

    Yo:young

    Ta:Toyota

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