30,000 mi dealer service scam?

Online
dpmarion
New Member
Member Since:
Jul 11, 2009
Posts:
2
Likes Received:
0
Location:
Hot Springs AR
Your Vehicle Year:
2010
Model: Prius III
N/A
My dealer charged me $160 for a "Complete Fuel System Service: decarbon service; clean the throttle body of all dirt and carbon deposits on throttle blad and air passages, then introduce a powerful cleaner into the intake & combustion chamber to removecarbod build up; install a fuel system flush into the fuel system to complete the cleaning process. Designed to improve overall drivability and fule economy. Also clean the injector tips to improve the spray patern and atomization of the fuel as it is sprayed into the combustion chamber."

That's not on the maintenance schedule but the dealer rep says it's recommended for my area (Hot Springs, Arkansas).

The dealer did not replace the cabin air filter nor the engine air filter - the rep said they were "clean" and didn't need to be replaced, even though replacement is listed in the maintenance schedule and he has checked those items off in my maintenance book.

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

didn't you already post this?

Yes. Writers pointed ou that my model wasn't identified. I have a 2010 II and was in the wrong chat room so I reposted it in the Prius iii chat room. My apologies. The responses have been all over the board and that may be because folks are thinking it's a different model.

On this board, "highly recommended" superfluous service with no demonstrated benefit is referred to as "cheap insurance". $160 seems like a pittance if you plan on keeping your car for 200kmi.

^^ That 'pittance' will keep repeating every 30k miles, along with additional superfluous charges. The total really adds up.

Having already run one 20th century car well beyond 200k miles, and with two others rapidly closing in on it, all without this service, I'm highly skeptical of its value. In the absence of actual need, the multiple reports of catalytic converter failure shortly after this type of service even give me pause about allowing it at all.

But I don't live anywhere near Arkansas.

I never did anything special on my last car and had it over 10 years and 305,000 miles. I had less than $1,000 in repairs including brakes.

Are you each talking about your Prius?

He could have flushed $160 pittance down the toilet and saved the trip to the dealer. Same results, less time and fuel wasted.

so hard to decide which unnecessary services are considered a waste.

Not really. Stick to what the Toyota scheduled maintenance guide recommends. If it shows visual inspection that mean you can do the same. If the scumbag dealer adds items to the list they are just trying to steal your money.

My theory is that the engineers that designed the vehicle are the best ones to decide what the recommended maintenance is. If they didn't say it is needed then it probably isn't.

That is an interesting theory. It's a shame that the maintenance schedule decisions aren't made by the engineers that designed the vehicle.

If we actually knew how the knowledgeable Toyota engineers who used their cars under the same conditions that we use our individual cars maintained their own cars, we would have some useful information. Unfortunately we don't know that. All we know is what the corporate suits want us to know.

And that's the optimistic view of what we would know if we knew what the engineers actually maintained their own cars.

maintenance schedule is set by marketing after reading competitors schedule.

That pretty well describes the process. Legal gets involved too. There is engineering input but they don't have final say by any means.

If Legal is involved, I would think there would be a bias towards more recommended service, rather than less.

Why did you agree to this unnecessary service in the first place?

People get conned all the time, even people smarter than you or I.

I can understand if they lie and say a part failed, but people should know that any type of flush is unnecessary especially at 30k miles. Just follow the factory recommendations and don't agree to anything not in the guide, that's all.

I agree, just follow the recommendations from Toyota for the Prius and nothing more.

Scumbag dealers pour it on thick when you take your car for scheduled maintenance. They make claims like.

“In this extreme heat we strongly recommend that you get your radiator flushed. We had a Prius last week that overheated and it cost the owner $3,000 in repairs.”

“On the current generation of Prius cars they are showing a lot of carbon build up in the intake. If you do not have that remove it will cause serious damage that will not be covered on warranty.”

“We notice the baby seat in the car. For your safety and the safety of your child we recommend that you have your alignment checked.”

There are many other lies and BS dealers throw out when you take your car in. The service writers are heavily trained to up sell you service. Most people see these people as an authority of what is right for you and your car. They never have your best interest in mind.

You got ripped off. If you didn't ask for the fuel service, I wouldn't have paid for it. The bad part is they didn't do what is required at that mileage interval, yet did something that is total crap, and profit for them. In reality, I'd bet they didn't do the fuel service at all, just charged you for it.
The service writer is an uneducated, loser, chump that can't get a real job, so he's telling lies for living and pretending to be an authority on Toyota vehicles.
You should have asked for an oil change, and done the air filter & cabin airfilter yourself. Its easy and you'd saved a crap load of money.
Why don't folks understand this?
Don't go in asking for a "service". They will service your wallet.