New 2009 Prius - should I buy dealer's oil change and inspection packages

no absolutely not. the prius only requries visual inpsections and oil changes and a tire rotation every 5000 miles. let us go through your choices

1) buy the 'premium' prepaid maintenance plan, for 875 (prius chat) to 1350 (dealer) this will pay for all the scheduled maintence for 55,000 miles and 4 years. you will also get road side assistance, plus the 'major' intervals of 15,000 , 30,000 , 45,000 miles (about $79 - $122) per period.

2) the problem here is that toyota's major intervals, do not exist. for this reason you can buy the CLASSIC prepaid maintenance plan, which does not get a lot of coverage here, i just recently found out about it, for msrp $710, and you would still get toyota's road side assistance. this drops the service down to like 64 per interval, the only thing different about classic and premium is those special major service intervals.



compare that to what standard oil changes and tire rotations cost in your area. and when figuring out what to get, do not forget that you get the road side assistance, without the prepaid plan, and under standard warranty, you only get free tows to the dealer for warranty work.

at every 30,000 your supposed to change the cabin air filter and engine air filter, everything else i do not think you even have to check or replace, for 100,000 miles or something???

the coupons if you decide to get them will be preprinted with the selling dealers name, they still will work at every toyota dealer.

if you decide to get the coupons, im thinking you will get more value out of them if you ask for "5,000 mile service" vs "an oil change + tire rotation"

have them put all the services they are supposed to do on the invoice, that way you get your money worth.

i am not 100 % sure about the rules, but i think you have 4,500 miles to decide it it is worth to you to get the prepaid maintence plan.
that way you can take the car home, read the warranty booklet, to help you decide.

as long as you get the required service done, at the regular intervals and have proof then it is done (like receipts) you should have nothing to worry about, and you can forget toyota's plan entirely and take your car to the service center of your choice., if you keep all your receipts for all the oil and oil filters you bought, you could do the changes yourself, and would still be covered under warranty

 

A++ i couldnt have put it better

 

"The" dealer, or "a" dealer? Any Toyota dealer will provide genuine Toyota service; you don't have to take your car to the place you bought it. I don't use the dealer who sold me mine, but I *do* take it to a Toyota dealer as opposed to a quicky lube shop. There have been too many horror stories about the mistakes they can make. A dealer can at least be expected to know how to drive a Prius.

Note that there is a difference between "pre-paid maintenance" and "extended warranty". But no matter, because both of them are a waste of money. It's cheaper to pay for service as you need it. In 55 months and 32,000 miles I've paid a total of $240 for scheduled maintenance.

 

Note that there is a difference between "pre-paid maintenance" and "extended warranty". But no matter, because both of them are a waste of money. It's cheaper to pay for service as you need it. In 55 months and 32,000 miles I've paid a total of $240 for scheduled maintenance.[/quote]

to be fair, i think we should state that as $487.50 (to include your cost of maintenance + what the cheapest AAA membership would cost), so that would still be $222 less then if someone bought the cheapest classic plan...

or we could call it 744.16, this would reflect your $240 plus the 55 months of premium AAA membership, the 109.00 a year plan which includes free gas, 200 miles of towing service, and $50 refund for a broken window!, that would be $34 more then what classic would cost.
i wonder what the exact towing coverage is with toyota's Prepaid plan is


(yes the official pre paid maintenance coupons can be cashed in AT any toyota dealer for real toyota service)

p.s. i am still waiting for $380-$600 from toyota for sending my coupons back, heh


p.s. according to what richard said at the top of this post, if he did 32,000 miles in 55 months.. then he would of been left high and dry
with no more pre paid plan, if he bought it.. because he would of been over his 4 year period, with 23,000 miles of worthless coupons!!!!!!

 

just go to whatever shop you like, you probably only need the dealer for software updates, Technical Service Bulletins, Warranty work, changing settings, etc.

 

Prius are complicated and still rather new and uncommon. For that reason I like going to a dealer because there's a better chance that they will spot anything that needs fixing.

But who ever changes the oil *always* check the oil level yourself before you drive away. Anyone can make a mistake, and checking yourself can catch some serious mistakes before they become inconvenient and expensive.

 

For oil changes and other basic maintenance, the Prius is just like any other car (actually, the small, offset gas engine actually makes oil changes easier than most other cars). For these basic things, you don't need to go to the dealer. I think that a trusted local mechanic is better than a lot of those big chain shops, but it's also true that some versions of the big chain shops are good.

However, there are some things that are specific to the Prius, like the electric motor, the power-split device (sort of like a continuously variable transmission), and the A/C (it's electric, not belt-driven). For that reason, it's often better to go back to the dealer for these types of things.

OK. Now it's only fair to tell you that I don't follow my own advice. So far, I've taken the car to the dealer for every bit of maintenance. However, I'm seriously considering either starting to do my own oil changes or taking it to an independent shop for the next service. There's nothing in particular wrong with my dealer, but I'm a little sick of getting over-charged.

To answer your original question, it is not a good idea to get the pre-paid maintenance plan (there's more debate about the extended warranty, but pretty much everyone agrees that the maintenance plan is a loser for the customer). Another point that's related to this: when you make your appointments for service, take a look in the maintenance guide that will come with your car and tell the dealer exactly what you want. For example, at 5K, you'll want to make an appointment for "an oil change and tire rotation" and NOT "the 5K mile service." Dealers like to add a lot of unnecessary add-ons to their services. Perhaps with these add-ons, the pre-paid maintenance is worth it, but since the add-ons are a rip off, you don't want to get them done anyway.

 

I have never taken my Prius to a dealer. I am just your typical DIY guy in the neighborhood. At 15K, I will just probably check for transaxle oil level and that is all.

 

i called toyota today, they assured me that they mailed me a refund of 361.00 for 8 coupons down 3 left and cancelled the rest of the prepaid maintenance plan, i think ill sign up for AAA when the check comes!

someone told me you have to be a member of AAA for a year @ $50 in order to qualify for the $!09 a year plan. i really would like that $109 a year plan, because of the 200 mile tow they offer as i work 39 miles away

 

update
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they used the 361 towards next months car payment

thought they were going to send me a check directly, but no