Prius 30K mile service prices

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(devprius @ Apr 18 2006, 08:36 PM) [snapback]241816[/snapback]</div>

My Prius should come next week. Leesburg Toyota (in Virginia) charges the following:

$135 for 5k. 10K. 20k, 25k, 35k, 40k, 50k, 55k, etc.

$247 for the 15k and 45k

$576 for the 30k

These prices seem outrageous. For the maintenance from 5K - 55K the price adds up to $2145. This makes the auto care package for list price of $995 (and the better price offered here) sound good.

The 5K includes oil change, oil, tire rotation and adjusting the rear parking brake. Although I can easily fix pinball machines I cannot really fix cars and will need to pay to do it right (and neat). Even calling local places they want to charge $110 for the service.

Thanks
Michael Belofsky
Purcellville, VA

 

OMG... i just can't believe how these dealerships charge so much.

Why don't you bring your maintenance book to the dealer and ask them the price of each item. A lot of dealers will add things that are not needed to charge more.

The dealer I go to (Bay Ridge Toyota in Brooklyn, NY) offers a free 25 point check along with oil changes ($21.95 with coupon). That 25 point check pretty much covers most of the inspection in the maintenance book. I'll add whatever is needed according to the book. Then I will bring my Prius to a tire place and have them rotate the tires for $10. Most of the time, I do my own oil changes anyways unless is cold.

 

scotty's got it right there.

most dealerships come up with their own "30k service" which includes a bunch of unneeded (for you) moneymakers (for them).

never mention the words "30k" and "service" together at the dealership. look up what you need, call them up, and say you need an oil change, tire rotation, and a filter change with a basic inspection of relevant parts (CV boots, brakes, etc)

this cuts them off at the pass.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(devprius @ Apr 18 2006, 05:36 PM) [snapback]241816[/snapback]</div>

How about trying Art's Automotive in Berkeley?

http://www.artsautomotive.com/Hybrid.htm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(devprius @ Apr 19 2006, 07:24 PM) [snapback]242352[/snapback]</div>

Call me a cynic but it sounds like the squeeky wheel syndrome. The service manager will do what it takes to please the few that complain to Toyota so they will remain free to continue to rip off the vast majority that do not.

 

Well I am getting my 30K tomorrow. We shall see what it costs

 

I told a service advisor at Toyota 101 (in Redwood City, CA) that I wanted to do as much of the 30k service as possible myself, and only have them do the stuff I couldn't do. We looked at the list of 30k service items in the Maintenance guide, and decided I could do everything myself except the inspections. He was quoting $220 for the whole service, or $120 for just the inspections. After we talked a bit and he realized I was really not interested in paying for things I didn't need, he mentioned "off the record" that I probably didn't really need the inspections... He said that forgoing the inspections wouldn't affect my warranty coverage (that was probably off the record too).

I didn't need a tire rotation since I'm getting new tires, so I just paid for:

- Oil change $29.95 (I decided I might was well have them do it while the car was in for a service campaign)
- Cabin air filter $19.38 for the part only after 10% parts discount that most dealers have.
- Engine air filter $15.59 part only after 10% discount.

The engine air filter takes literally a minute to change yourself. It's the big black plastic box on top with the clips. You just unclip, lift up the cover and drop the new filter in place. The Cabin air filter takes about 5 minutes to replace, and there are instructions in the owner's manual.

Since I'm usually very "by the book" about maintenance, I felt a little unsettled about forgoing the inspections, but I figure it really isn't worthwhile to pay $120 for them when it's unlikely to find anything important, and my Jiffy Lube type place does some of the inspections as part of the $30 oil change I get every 5k miles. I figure at 60k miles I might want to do the inspections because by then some of the parts could start failing, but at 30k miles no.

Also note that the $90 "Minor Service" that they offer includes many of the inpsections, so that is an option for someone who wants to take the middle road, but it doesn't include all the 30k inspections. It doesn't include the filters.

The main revelation was that it doesn't make sense for me to do the inspections just to ensure warranty coverage. They may not be required (as the service advisor said), and even if they are required, it only matters if I experience a warranty problem in the 6k miles between 30k and the end of the 36k warranty, and the problem is something that could have been prevented with the inspections. Extremely unlikely... I'd rather spend the $120 on things that are definitely going to affect my safety and reliability like new wiper blades and better tires.

 

WOW! I cannot believe the money people are spending! I am very picky about my cars, and I would never pay that much ($300 for a service)
At every 5,000 miles I get an oil change. I used to take it to local lube places, but I got tired of never knowing if they had the filter in stock, so I now go to Toyota for $24.99.
Since my factory tires went after 10,000 miles, I have free rotations at a local tire dealer, and get them every 3,000 miles as suggested by them since I do mountain driving.
At 30,000 miles my dealer said that the Prius didn't need any of the services that they normally perform other than the oil change and tire rotation, so that only cost me $9.99 ( I got a coupon from my dealer for my 1 year anniversary).

I am guessing that I need to change the air filter's someday soon, which I can probably do myself.
Quick question- is the cabin air filter always filtering, or only when on recirculate?

 

I just had my 30K service done last week. The service writer tried to quote a ridiculous price of way too many dollars (350 ish). I told him I had a Prius and only needed an oil change, tire rotation, inspection, and a new cabin air filter. I changed my ICE air filter at 25K. The air cabin filter was full of pollen, dust, and other various crapola. They charged $56 bucks to do this, $26 for the filter and $30 for labor. I'll be doing this myself from now on. My grand total 30K service was $86.00. I do bring my own oil.

 

Well I thought I would win the award for lowest cost 30k service, but I think $9.99 beats me!

I'm pretty sure the Cabin filter is involved with all air intake, not just recirculate. I hardly ever use recirculate and my filter was clearly dirty (although not clearly dirty enough to need replacement) at 30k miles. It also had bits of leaves and organic matter on it.

I think I will probably get into the habit of pulling the Cabin filter every 15k miles and shaking/brushing out the debris, just to maximize the life and air quality.

The Cabin filter probably doesn't absolutely need to be replaced at 30k, but for $20 it's less than the cost of a full service car wash, and it might reduce the need for dusting or cleaning the car.

 

Yea, I was thrilled when I got that coupon! Is the cabin filter pretty easy to replace? I know, I know I need to check out the manual.

My Escape was a pain in the butt to replace! I finally gave up and took it to the dealer, I was afraid I would break some plastic parts- typical Ford there were so many lil plastic pieces.

 

Yep, the Cabin filter is easy once you've done it once, and unless you're a real klutz you won't break anything. It's just a matter of removing the glove compartment and sliding the filter holder out.

 

I got a flyer in the mail for Kearny Mesa Toyota (San Diego, CA) Their prices are:

$59.95 for 5k. 10K. 20k, 25k, 35k, 40k, 50k, 55k, etc.

$159.95 for the 15k and 45k

$269.95 for the 30k

Bob Baker Toyota charged me $99 for the 15K as they had a special.

 

I had my 15K services done at Toyota of Nashua about two weeks ago. Originally, the service manager said $250. When I questioned what services they would be performing, he tried to pull out the Toyota of Nashua version of maintenance brochure. I showed him the Prius maintenance Passport and asked him to only perform those items listed there (less tire rotation, which I get done at GoodYear for free), and the price went down to $57 after applying 10% discount coupon I had received from them by mail.

 

Well- I have to agree with all that has been said. My 2004 Prius just went in for it's 30K check up. The first dealer, the one I bought it from, decided it would cost me $347. I said for what? They pulled out a pamphlet of check this and that, put in ADDITIVES to the engine, tranny and diffy, and a whole list of things that do not apply to the PRIUS!!!! I walked. Next dealer did the same thing, but this time I said - NO - I want only the service required by my manual, and I have already purchased and replaced the engine air filter (eBay, real Toyota OEM, for $24) and Cabin filter (same place $15, OEM). So - that boiled down to change the oil, rotate the tires and I asked them to replace the windshield wipers. $80 was the final bill, and it got it's second CPU update during the stay.

You have to be forceful with these guys or they push stuff on you that is not even relevant to a Prius - it is their standard "let's make money off the scared consumer" approach and it sucks. The last time I looked, I didn't need the coolant drained with an additive added, nor did I need the 4x4 transfer box drained and refilled. etc. You gotta be kidding - this procedure is the most misleading thing Toyota dealers do. So in the end, the dealer is trying to tell you that owning a low-maintenance Prius is no advantage to us. BS. Make them follow the book. It works!

 

I'm so glad I found this board. I'll be taking our 2004 in this week, to SF Toyota.

We did buy the service coupons, I'll be reading it tonight to be sure of what I paid for. It sounds like we're in the minority with the coupon book, eh?

b