maintenance fee

After reading this, I am cherishing the coupon my Toyota dealer sent for a free oil change. Of course, I'm going to have to prompt them to extend the expiration date since "Fiona" won't need her first oil change until the end of May, but I think I can jolly them into it - especially if I suggest to them that I'm interested in a long & happy relationship and would just HATE to have to look elsewhere. . . .

 

I paid $32.96 at Capitol Toyota in San Jose (CA) for the 5K service. The Prius don't need anything beyond what an Echo or anything similar. I think dealers that cahrge more are just trying to cash in.

I laugh at these lists they pull out as a)they never do all the stuff b)some of the stuff they list can't be done on the specific vehicle.

I am not aware of any chassis areas that require any lubing on a Prius, nor any other modern car.

I also had the oil changed at 1K adn it cost $32.88. WIll see what happens at 10k miles, but will most probably be the same.

 

Someday, a law will be passed to protect consumers from this kind of theft. Its a variation of the classic bait and switch technique.

The dealer has a PRODUCT they call "5,000 Mile Service", "10,000 Mile Service", etc., that is entirely separate and distinct from the manufacturer's recommendation for service. They SOLD you services the engineers at Toyota did not recommend. They SOLD you a product that was different than what you asked for.

Open the manual to the pages on recommended service. Go to the dealer for your 10,000 mile service, and ask: "How much to do this?" and point to the page. If they say "Our 10,000 mile service is $139" hit them with the book. Just kidding.

Instead of becoming violent, say to the service writer (who is on commission, so will take some convincing): "Listen, I want to continue to bring my car to the dealer service department, because I think you guys are great. But I will not pay for anything more than the engineers at Toyota have determined is needed for my car. So, in my reading, the only thing I need for the next 90,000 miles is an oil change and oil filter every 5,000 miles, and the cabin air filter and engine air filter at 20,000 mile increments" (or whatever the manual says about the cabin air filter and engine air filter).

Then ask again "How much to ..." look at the page "... change the engine oil and rotate the tires?"

They will do the safety inspection any way ... because they can get MONEY from Toyota for any warranty work done on the car, and they are anxious to get that money. They will do the safety inspection any way because they don't want to be sued if something goes wrong and they were the last to touch the car.

If the price is too much ... over $40 would be my limit ... drive away. And then call the service manager and tell them what happened, and why you are at the other dealer's service department.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fshagan @ Jan 21 2007, 01:37 PM) [snapback]378776[/snapback]</div>

Wouldn't it be considered to be anti business by free marketeers and economic conservatives? They will complain that this is just another unnecessary government regulation.

 

To the OP, you could also try Toyota Sunnyvale (where I bought mine). I received an email coupon from them for a $10 oil change which I just recently had done at 15K miles. I think my 5K mile oil change at the same dealer was <$40 total. I had 10K oil change done at Central Toyota in Los Angeles since I was there for E3 and I think it was also <$40 total.

If part of the work you had done was tire rotation, a Goodyear tire store should do it for free for you. I've done this before w/the Prius and another car w/Goodyear tiers. Toyota Sunnyvale wanted $20 or $30 for that.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Jan 21 2007, 10:11 PM) [snapback]378834[/snapback]</div>

What's the catch for the free tire rotation? Can anyone running Goodyears just come off the street and get it done free without buying anything else?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Jan 22 2007, 08:57 PM) [snapback]379367[/snapback]</div>

I'd done it several times on my old Maxima that came w/Goodyear tires and once on my Prius. I think the theory is that they want to find something wrong w/the car so that they can fix it, but since the car's under warranty I haven't had any issue.

 

I had a similar experience here in NJ. I found out that if you go in and ask for a specific mileage maintenance, you get screwed. I complained and they took $80 off my next two services which made the price for oil/filter/tire rotation about $30. I did bring my own Mobile 1 & filter.

By the way, there have been posts complaining about over filling of the crankcase. My solution is to bring them 3-1/2 quarts of oil and ask for the containers back. I'm all right as long as they drain the old oil out.