Settle this dispute

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

 

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*

 

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.

 

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.

 

The guys a PUTZ. Spam him back!!!

 

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.

 

Even my last Ford POS didn't require tons of maintenance, just a bunch of repairs that would not have been covered by the extended warranty package that was offered.

None of the maintenance packages offered to me could possibly have saved $1000. And if an extra 10-20% in resale value is significant, you are trading cars much to frequently and losing much more than that in depreciation.

 

I don't trust my dealer to do oil changes properly. They overfilled the crankcase the only time I let them do it. They also forgot to torque three of the wheel nuts when they rotated the tires. My car will last longer if I do the maintenance.

 

Why don't you just report him to the PC mods, and let THEM deal with him?

You don't need to:
1) justify your decisions to anyone on this board, or
2) use a fictitious adversary to get everyone's opinion on this subject

 

you're correct, but it is an interesting exercise, and the adversary is anything but imaginative ... hah, i mean imaginary

i think a poll would have sufficed, but again, it's a great question even without the dispute



i'm with dogfriend, i was always skeptical of the dealer service, but after a Ford dealer stripped my oil pan drain bolt with the impact wrench, i said 'never again'

and this was after i told them NOT to change the oil


my car sees the dealer for "make good" service and that's it
if there's a recall or a "make good," i'll take the trip


as for the value of the prepaid service contract, the numbers just don't work in my favor

which is funny, because my car is a lease, my company reimburses me for all costs, including all maintenance and gas

... so i have no vested interest in the cars long term survival, other than being in the best possible condition to safely transport my son and i

... and i still don't see the value of a service contract, or time wasted at the dealership

what may be right for one, isn't right for another
i think most people make a decision, and then look for data to support that decision, rather than the other way around

 

Go easy on Rae. She makes a good point.

Tom

 

you can lead a horse to water ...