I give my Vx five stars as it turns five years old. How time flies... I still remember August 2001, after months of thinking and hesitation, I decided to buy my first PDA. The Vx was the slimmest PDA in Palm's line-up at the time. All I wanted was a digital directory and notepad to replace the ever-thickening paper notes in my organizer. (Yeah, you should have seen how cluttered my organizer was before.) It should also be easy to carry, so I can bring up any info wherever and whenever I want. The Vx was really the right choice because of its light weight and small form. It had such excellent battery-life that I was able to bring the Vx on a weeklong vacation and use it normally without losing power. It performed the functions I expected it to do and much more. It's simple yet powerful. The applications I use most often, i.e. the address book, memo, date book, happy days, today, and others, still run well on it.

The Vx is antique compared to today's tech, but it deserves the five stars for its class.

Reception, service advisory, and billing are well organized in Toyota Marikina. However, some advisors and mechanics are not proficient.

On January 2004, I had my 1993 Corolla checked because of clanging sounds under the chassis. They suggested replacement of a lot of parts which amounted to over Php40,000. I bought Japan parts outside (because they're cheaper) and had them mounted in Toyota Marikina. The clanging persisted, and what's worse more sounds developed in the area worked at, and I had to return the car. Not happy, I had the car serviced in an underchassis specialist in Quezon City. They quickly identified specific parts (not mentioned in Toyota) which caused the unwanted sounds and replaced it with Japan parts which cost me only a few hundred pesos. This happened in the first quarter of 2004, and I have no underchassis complaints up to now.

Just last week, I had the car serviced for its 160,000-km maintenance! Since I was having problems with the idling RPM, I also had it checked. In addition to the maintenance, they suggested that I buy a carburetor kit worth over Php3,000 plus labor. Again, I thought it over and had the car checked in a carburetor specialist in Kamuning. They cleaned the carburetor and adjusted the timing for only Php600.

RECOMMENDATION: Bring your car to the dealership only for maintenance, and let them suggest what parts to replace or procedures to do. Don't have everything done at the casa. Once they give you an estimate, ask the opinion of other auto experts. It may take some time and patience to find a reputable shop, but it's worth it.

This review applies only to the specific advisor and mechanic at that particular time at Toyota Marikina, not for the Toyota dealerships in general.