Toyota "Express Lube", not so express after all

I've never had my "Express" oil change take less than 1.5 hours on my 4Runner...

 

Too long. they don't have enough people. You can go to any Toyota dealer. Otherwise you can enter the data yourself on Toyota's user website.

 

Just find a local mechanic to do it and then go to Toyota.com/owners. Thats where all dealer work is recorded and you can make your own entries in it also. Sure helps when you eventually bring the car to the dealer they look at that and see you take care of the car yourself and don't bother upselling you with a bunch of nonsense.
You have to register on the site to use it.
Besides unless you have the dealer use synthetic oil they are using there vat oil which is probably the worst stuff you can put in your engine. That and they overfill the oil every time.
If you don't believe me next time the dealer does it check the oil dipstick. It will be a quarter on an inch above the fill line.

 

I have never had a problem with our dealer here in Wisconsin (going on 8 years of service with them). Make a reservation couple of days in advance. Drive 8 miles to dealer, get oil change, tires rotated drive 8 miles back home all in 45-60 minutes total. I can not complaine at all.

 

Folks... If you don't know how to change your own oil you're a really easy target...

Auto shops make so much money off of people who don't know anything about their car...

If you're on PriusChat, good for you, that will save you huge in the long run...

Next step is to use PriusChat to learn how to do minor work that takes less than a half-hour, like oil changes, air filters, light bulbs, wiper blades, 12v battery, etc. The better you get at these kind of simple tasks the better your judgement will be when an auto business that's secretly going broke unfairly and unethically tries to put their problem on you by pushing a huge and unnecessary bill on you!

 

For 15 years I did all the maintanance, oil changes, air filters,all new hoses, thermostats, belts, Plugs, wires and ect. on my small fleet 9 dodge maxi-vans, put over 450,000 miles on each van, put on about 150,000 on each van a year. Then sold and buy another one to replace it, went thru many vans in 15 years. so when I sold my small operation and retired I told my self I was not going to be getting grease on my self any longer. So if it cost me a little extra for the dealership to work on my car so be it. You are right, it is best to know a little bit about the car you are driving and be able to fix things if you wish, then you will know if your car is runing properly and what to expect.

 

My service is still on the dealer's dime. So far the selling dealer has been the only one to touch the car. No, the Express Lane doesn't seem to be any faster & yes, they try to pull the same stuff but I've got no real complaints.

 

I still have 2 1/2 years on the dealers dime also. They never try to sell anything other than what I ask for. Oh! they might suggest every once in a while but are never force full.

 

It's not really the dealers cost. They bill Toyota around $80 under ToyotaCare. So maybe $25 worth of synthetic oil (high side) and the lowest cost labor for 30 minutes to do it and rotate the tires. They are probably making $40 gross profit which means any Toyota dealer is happy to do it.

 

Well... if you change your oil yourself you can be certain that it is at exactly 3 1/2 quarts... Most oil changers, including the dealers, think an extra half-quart or 4 quarts total is ok. But I noticed significant loss in MPG when that happened. Also too much oil in the crankcase can make your throttle body dirty or broken and some people who get their throttle body cleaned end up having to replace their catalytic converter. So that's a couple thousand dollars worth of avoidable repairs if you change oil to the exact amount of 3 1/2 quarts...

 

Whoah... U-serious??? Maybe read this: Oil overfill caused complete shutdown | PriusChat

 

I'd edit that to read: "the amount required to put the oil level at the high mark on the dipstick is exactly 4.4 quarts", and add:

There are two marks on the dipstick. There's nothing sacred about the higher mark, ie: it's not the ideal. Anywhere between those two marks is fine. If your engine's not consuming any oil mid-way between the marks is fine. For most engines, if there's any oil consumption, having it a bit under the high mark is good.

Cheap insurance against oil loss between changes is to put the oil at the top mark, but that's all.

 

Checking your own dipstick is more responsible than assuming the dealer will do it... Most all dealers overfill by 1/2 quart...

 

Years ago my dealer had a "60 minutes or it's free" deal on oil changes. After they gave me a couple of free ones, that offer mysteriously disappeared. They did have problems with volume for awhile. But lately they seem to have worked that out. I'm usually in and out in under an hour. I have no complaints. Some things I will do on my car. But I have neither the set-up nor the desire to change my own oil.