Do your own maintenance?

People make the choices they make for a lot of individual reasons.

I really don't take sides. Some people enjoy taking and doing as much maintenance themselves as possible. That gives them self satisfaction, and usually a cost savings, as well as the peace of mind that knowing however something was "done" was done to their own standards.

When I was growing up? My father did NOT do a lot of car maintenance or repair. Cars were well maintained but at the cost of taking them to mechanics and dealerships. Therefore I did not grow up with a lot of exposure to looking under the hood or doing a lot of maintenance myself.

Today? I wish I had a garage, or the infrastructure in space, and tools that would allow me to do more maintenance than I am able. Unfortunately I do not....public communal outside uncovered, cold, wet...parking spot. Makes even minimal maintenance projects difficult to execute.

This leaves me chained to a primarily dealership related service relationship. Yes there are advantages, and drawbacks, and dangers. I try to double check what is done, as much as possible.

For a lot of people too? There is a physical aspect as well. Some people have physical or health related conditions that preclude doing much maintenance.

 

The complimentary 2 years of Toyota Care probably accounts for a lot of the dealer visits that you see.

I've been rotating my tires all along and did my first oil change (after Toyota stopped Caring ) a couple of months ago.

That's when I found that there was no oil filter installed in its housing.

Long story short, Toyota doesn't do anything about misbehaving dealers and the dealer offered me a free oil change to compensate so I don't go to that dealer anymore and will do as much of my own service as possible, going forward.

 

People don't like getting their hands dirty.

 

The material for oil/filter change, coolant change, ATF change, air filter changes, battey change, brake work/flushes, ect...are on this site. If you have the tools, basic ability and inclination...do it yourself.

 

I did, but don't any more. I have the tools, diagnostic equipment, room. But I don't have a lift or the access to parts and shop manuals for the v. My next service will probably be the first one I pay for and I'll probably buy my own filter and oil and let a local jiffy lube type place do it unless the dealer sends me an irresistible coupon. Maybe every other one I'll go to the dealer.

 

i have more money than brains. and these bones are too old to go climbing around a car. guy down the street charges me $36., it's not horrible, especially when the temps are in the single digits.

 

Respectfully...and let's be honest...the Prius Owners demographics (as a whole) are not the most mechanically inclined.

 

spot on. and tend toward the twilight of life.

 

My opinion is that it is demographics. Generally speaking, those who purchase Prius are not into performance. People not into performance tend not to tinker. Just take myself, I used to do all my minor maintenance. Since, the Prius, everything is done at the dealer. I don't bother anymore.

 

I've gone DIY completely with this car, so far. Toyota Canada doesn't offer free service for any interval, so there's not that temptation.

That said, if something really complicated comes up, I've got no qualms about employing the dealership; it's good to keep in touch with them.

 

i can't even find the right cabin filter.

 

Easy enough: walk up to parts counter, tell them what you're driving and what you want. If you've been there before they'll store something like your phone number as an identifier, will know the vehicle.

Yeah I know, shopping online.

 

I always did mine until I bought a Prius. I don't want the hassle of removing and replacing the splash cover. Also, I don't like the cartridge oil filter element. If you don't mind those things then DIY is fine. If you DIY you can be assured it is done right. Oil filter and oil pan plug not tightened too much, etc.

 

Considering that I care more about my car than the dealer does, I do what I can:
Oil changes
Filter Changes
Tire Rotations
Bottle of Techron once or twice a year for the fuel system

Unfortunately, there are some things that can't be done without Techstream (e.g. bleed brakes) so I'll just have to bite the bullet when the time comes and let the dealer do it.

 

well, first of all, i'm not going to pay $38. for a cabin filter. then there's the problem of there being three different grades of cabin filters, and the parts guy doesn't even know it. what's a consumer to do?

 

>> Considering that I care more about my car than the dealer does...

+1

That's the key phrase that most people simply don't consider when blithely dropping off their cars at the dealer. Some of them do care about getting repeat business, hence they treat the car and the customer with care. And some don't really give a damn. Frankly it's tougher to sort out which ones are crooks than it is to do the work myself.

 

Which is why some don't particularly care about doing a good job in the first place...

 

Well, you do have a point there, presuming that folks are so ignorant about their cars that they don't know that they're getting screwed by the service center. And I certainly won't argue that there are folks out there like that. And service centers that prey on them.