Toyota Fleet Irons Out Servicing Surprises
Toyota Fleet’s leasing customers are set to benefit from a new transparent pricing initiative for vehicle maintenance. The National Fleet Servicing programme, designed to make the Toyota range even more attractive and affordable to major fleet operators, will reduce SMR (service maintenance and repair) costs for companies choosing Toyota.
The scheme will overcome problems caused in the past by regional variations in the amounts charged by dealers when fleet vehicles were serviced. “We explored the situation with our dealer network and all agreed that it was in everybody’s interests to introduce greater predictability into maintenance pricing,” says Toyota Fleet’s General Manager Mark Hall.
The National Fleet Servicing programme seeks to ensure that pricing is approached on a consistent basis throughout the UK, at specially negotiated rates. “It should also help to build good relationships between fleet operator and dealer,” says Mark Hall.
A number of the major contract hire and leasing companies have already joined the scheme. From now on, when their vehicles are sent for routine servicing, this will be carried out according to a published national recommended tariff, with the maximum charge pre-determined by model, service mileage and region.
There are five pricing regions, including London and Northern Ireland. Any additional work beyond the standard service will be invoiced separately. Only genuine Toyota parts will be fitted, ensuring the vehicle is maintained to the manufacturer’s original specification.
The transparent pricing programme ensures that the full advantages of Toyota’s achievements to date in reducing the cost of running vehicles are passed on to fleet customers.
“We have established an enviable reputation for offering best-in-class maintenance costs, through competitive parts pricing and extended servicing intervals,” says Mark Hall. “This has been all the more evident since the introduction of models such as the Avensis, Yaris and the new Celica.
“It’s a fact that the effectiveness of our approach has been reflected in reductions in leasing and contract hire rates across the industry, but until now the full impact of the savings available has been obscured by inconsistent maintenance pricing. Now our customers can enjoy those benefits and National Fleet Servicing will stand us in good stead with prospective customers. We believe it is a major step forward in aftersales care.”
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