Settle this dispute

[triumph1]

A member from the Gen III Prius board sent me this PM. He just keeps PMing me, has to get the last word in. Help us settle this.


How many agree with his statement on whether or not one would get more $ selling a car by it having had PREPAID DEALER B.S. maintenance? And all these "hours" spent on changing your own oil.

And all this "tons of maintenance apart from an oil change the car HAS to go to the dealer for anyway."


YOU: Spend who knows how many precious hours changing the oil of your Prius and save a couple of hundred dollars during the lifetime of the car. Keep in mind that Toyota warrant will be void by doing so. Of course, any car needs tons of maintenance apart from oil change, so you will still have to take your Prius every once in a while to the dealer and pay for the other services anyway. In the end, whether you sell it privately or trade-in, you end up with a car with a questionable value, because you decided to use an oil and OCI not endorsed by Toyota and I guarantee you I haven't met one single individual in this world who trust on buying car from those circumstances.

ME: Pay a whole bunch up-front for a 120K maintenance service (yes, it is a lot of money, but we are talking about 120K miles, so can you imagine how many hours playing changing oil during all those miles if I do it?), but, in the end, I will save at lest 1000 bucks (potentially much more) plus will end up with a safe car with much better resale value. According to Edmunds, cars with manufacturer's prepaid maintenance worth on average 10-20% more at the time of sale!

It was really nice disagreeing with you and good luck on those oil changes...[/QUOTE

[qbee42]

1) Doing your own maintenance does not void any factory warranty.

2) The Prius requires very little additional maintenance. What little there is can be done at the dealer or by anyone else qualified to do it.

Tom

[triumph1]

Originally Posted by qbee42

1) Doing your own maintenance does not void any factory warranty.

2) The Prius requires very little additional maintenance. What little there is can be done at the dealer or by anyone else qualified to do it.

Tom

There's 1 down, can I get at least 9 more folks with some common sense?

[F8L]

Who cares who did the oil changes? If someone is being that anal then they should be having a leak down and compression check done. That is the only proper way to diagnose how well the car was treated with respect to oil changes. Assuming that the dealer has some magical way of changing the oil which will extend the engine's life is pretty rediculous.

In the racing world I come from everyone changes their own oil and no one even bats an eyelash when purchasing a vehicle from that person. *shrug*

[triumph1]

Originally Posted by F8L

Who cares who did the oil changes? If someone is being that anal then they should be having a leak down and compression check done. That is the only proper way to diagnose how well the car was treated with respect to oil changes. Assuming that the dealer has some magical way of changing the oil which will extend the engine's life is pretty rediculous.

In the racing world I come from everyone changes their own oil and no one even bats an eyelash when purchasing a vehicle from that person. *shrug*

2 down, 8 to go!!

[MJFrog]

If you're going to trade-in your Prius for another vehicle, the dealer will do his own evaluation on its condition...they won't even look at the maintenance log.

If you're selling to a private individual, 98% are not going to look at the maintenance log. If they're concerned enough about vehicle condition, they will have their own mechanic check it out (and they should).

Maintenance log, and who it is that does the work is irrelevant.

[Jayhawker]

I see it both ways, but I have to agree with you. Once the car has over 100k miles, its value diminishes quite rapidly. Sure, whoever buys a used Prius with those miles might enjoy seeing the service history of the car, but I think the amount you saved by doing the service yourself will out weight any type of resale on a car with over 100k miles. KBB has an 05 with 125k miles for about 10k. I for one would never buy a Hybrid with those miles knowing the costly repair of battery pack.

If you keep your receipts (like I do) to show when you purchased things for servicing of the car, that goes a long way as well. I know for certain I will maintain my car better than someone taking it to the dealership. I will care for it more as it is my own car. I will torque nuts to spec, not with an impact gun. I saw them do it all the time when I was in the business.

[triumph1]

Originally Posted by Jayhawker

I see it both ways, but I have to agree with you. Once the car has over 100k miles, its value diminishes quite rapidly. Sure, whoever buys a used Prius with those miles might enjoy seeing the service history of the car, but I think the amount you saved by doing the service yourself will out weight any type of resale on a car with over 100k miles. KBB has an 05 with 125k miles for about 10k. I for one would never buy a Hybrid with those miles knowing the costly repair of battery pack.

If you keep your receipts (like I do) to show when you purchased things for servicing of the car, that goes a long way as well. I know for certain I will maintain my car better than someone taking it to the dealership. I will care for it more as it is my own car. I will torque nuts to spec, not with an impact gun. I saw them do it all the time when I was in the business.

Just 6 more- Keep 'em coming!

[KK6PD]

The guys a PUTZ. Spam him back!!!

[koa]

I think it's way more convenient for me to change my own oil. It takes me about 30 mins. I buy around six filters and crush rings from the the dealer parts dept. for a discount, a few cases of M1 from Costco when it's $10. off, along with some of those oil boxes. To make an appointment, check-in, wait or drop off takes way longer. Also, I have better coffee, magazines, music, more TV channels, and more comfortable seating than the dealer.

I just cut the bar code from the filter box, write the date and mileage on it and put it in the glove box. Receipts are just receipts for the work done whether from the dealer or someone else. The dealer uses the prepaid plans to generate additional income. Do they prorate if you cancel the plan if you sell the car before the plan expires? Are they transferable to new owner? It could make the car more appealing if it was transferable, but I doubt you would sell the car for anymore than doing the work yourself.