Overpriced 30k Service

Does anybody think that $279 for 30K service is too expensive,,,besides me? All that is involved is lube oil and filter, check fluids, cabin air filter and tire rotation.

This is the only time the car has seen the dealer except for the first "free" oil change. When mentioned that I ran synthetic oil,,, they said,, oh,,,that is $89 more! I said $89 more or $89? She "corrected herself and said,, oh just $89. $89 for an oil change!

I had them do the service since I was there,, except the cabin air which I had already done. (Cabin air filter service was $50! The filter cost me ~$15 from the same dealer,,, and it takes what,, 30 seconds to do?)

They did find a nail in a tire that they fixed, for $20,, not to bad considering the cost of everything else!

The bottom line is,, this is the last time this car will see the dealer unless it needs warrantee service. I will continue to do LOF every 5k and will take it to my trusted independent so that they can begin to learn on them. I understand that dealers need to make a profit,, but when you drive into a covered heated reception area, with 6 "service advisors" sitting around trying to lever more money out of people you realize that it aint coming out of my pocket again!

Icarus

 

Wilson Motors,,, Bellingham, WA We are in the our in between season.

Icarus

 

We picked up the car tonight,,,the tab was $281 before taxes.

Here is the breakdown Labor for 30 k service,, $180

Included, lof, tire rotation, replaced engine air filtrer, torqued steering and suspension components (really?) Inspect, ball joints, bake lines, exhaust system, fuel lines, tank band, fuel tank vapor vent fuel cap gasket (really?) radiator core and condeser, coolant, steering gear linkage and boots, cleaned (really?) and inspect brakes linings/pads.

Parts,,, engine air filter $20.44
w/w solve (whats this?) 2.50
Oil filter (Not too bad!) 6.48
gasket (drain plug?) 1.26 (copper washers sure are expensive)
oil (synthetic) 6.25 25.00
Total parts 55.68

Tire repair (nail) 19.95

Now the really interesting parts,,

Hazardous waste fee $1.11 (I have no problem with this)
MISC SHOP SUPPLIES 12.00 This is listed as everything from hacksaw blades to carb cleaner. (in fact carb cleaner is listed twice on their misc list,,, clearly people have complained about this before! Carb cleaner, choke cleaner, and carb SOLVENT! who knows what the difference is,, not to mention the fact that no Toyota that I know of has had a choke or a carb in 20 years!)

So we dropped the car off at 8:50 am,, at 9:45 they called to say it was done except for repairing the tire (they wanted to authorize the repair) So the way I figure it, they worked on the car for about 1 hour,, plus taking the tire to the tire shop. So the shop rate is ~$180 an hour?

Now I am not naive, in fact I know about flat rate tables and I understand that shops need to cover their overhead. I also realize that times are tough in the car biz these days,, but I think that trying to make it all up on the backs of potentially unsuspecting customers is un ethical if not criminal. In defense of the dealer,, they did give us an estimate before we started,, but I think that they bounce the number up high enough to make some real money,, but not high enough to get people pissed off.

I can take my car to Jiffy lube and have a LOF for ~$30,,, tire rotate from the tire store ~$20 Les Schwab will do it for nothing even if you haven't bought the tires there! For $100 I can get a soup to nuts inspection by a GOOD independent garage. As a matter of course, my normal shop, that does German, Swedish, and Japanese cars does a pretty complete inspection with routine LOF service for ~$50.

I think this is the last time the car will see the dealer,, unless some warrantee issue comes up. (They are scheduled to to the TSB on the Aux input audio system,,, the one that makes the I-pod squeal. I had to request that,, they weren't offering)

Icarus

 

You're getting ripped off quicker than I. Why don't you take the car elsewhere?

Icarus

PS Too many people have been BS'ed into thinking that the dealer has to do the routine service to keep the warrantee valid,,, not so!

T

 

I don't take the Prius to Jiffy lube,, or any other car for that matter. The best purchase I made in the last few years was a hand operated vacuum pump. I was very skeptical until I spoke to my European car guru. He said that is all they use in their high end shop.

Stick the hose in the dipstick hole,, pump the handle a few times and in about 5 minutes ALL the oil has been sucked out. Spin off the filter, spin on a new one,,, pour in the new oil and you are done. You never even have to get your hands dirty.

As a test,,, the first time, I pulled the drain plug to see how much oil was left. Not one drop came out after I pulled the plug! I'm sold. Never worry about stripping a drain plug thread or being caught without a new gasket.

Icarus

PS Jay,,, that was US $$!.

 

Patrick,,

I don't use jiffy lube,,, I don't trust them except for detroit iron. I do it myself,, except when I am travelling. The hose that comes with the vacuum pump,, (brand name escapes me now,, but you can find them at most marine dealers) is ~1/4 diameter,,, and goes in as far as it can go,,, into the bottom of the pan. You can feel when it bottoms out. After it has sucked the bulk of the oil out,, you can move it around to find and vacuum any residue. Really does work great.


The washer fluid thing is complete BS! I keep mine full,, if it was down more than 1/2 cup it would have been a lot. As I suggest,, It is not going to darken the door of the dealer again.
Tony