What did the dealer do to my car??
 

Pardon the clickbaity title (but not really - it was quite intentional)

My FRS is about a year old with 8000km now and I took it in for its first service. Toyota did their 'extra care protection' service which was all the basics - oil change, fluid top up inc. power steering, tire rotation.

When I got back into the car I immediately felt a noticeable difference in the steering. It felt a notch heavier and just more pleasing in my hands - I was also getting noticeably more feedback through the wheel and feeling rougher pavement which I always thought was a bit lacking before. I checked the tire pressures and they were right at 35psi - maybe just one (definitely no more than two) psi more than what they were at before. I figured that had to be it, but can one psi really make your car's steering feel all that different? Or would the tire rotation change have anything to do with it?

Do the front tires have more tread now?

The combo of the rotation (depending on how worn they were) and the changed pressure could most certainly give you the difference in feel.
There is no power steering fluid to top up so if they charged you for that you need to have words with them.

Hmm..interesting. I wouldn't think my tread would be all that different given that I have about 8000km and am only a occasionally aggressive driver, but I do suspect the rotation is probably the most likely explanation

Yeah I shouldn't have said they topped up power steering fluid, it was just one of the levels they checked.

What tcoat is saying is that the car has electric power steering, so if they try to bill you for filling it or flushing it or "checking the levels", you need to talk to them because there are no fluids involved in the power steering on this car.

Did they add some more electricity to the steering maybe?

I reckon the "power steering fluid level" just happens to be on their generic checklist .... and just got "checked off". No worry.

As far as the steering feel ...... I agree with the above posters ...... mostly due to different tires on the front, some due to the increased tire pressure.

:slap: ....... that's for the click bait thread title........:D


humfrz

Right yeah, it should just be a generic list.

Either way, I'm quite happy with it right now!

Wow, a tire rotation? 5000 miles is a lot before rotation. Your tires would be way different front and rear, and side to side depending on your driving habits. That is why you need to rotate them constantly, especially sports cars and 4x4s. I can't believe this is a "what did they do" post.