Benefit of documented dealer oil change vs DIY?

I change my own oil and keep my own documentation in the form of a spreadsheet. I also keep a hard copy file folder for receipts of any expenses beyond basic oil and filter costs.

The only advantage, as you say, of having the dealer perform the maintenance is that they have online records of the maintenance for future buyers to view.

In my opinion, as long as you can show future buyers the documentation of the car's maintenance history it does not matter if it is by the dealer or DIY.

This is the first new car I have bought in quite a few years. All of the used cars that I have bought in the past have relied heavily on the maintenance documentation provided by the sellers. I would be willing to pay more for a well maintained vehicle with documentation.

 

Go online to toyota.com/owners and join. That is the same service log the dealer uses and you can put all your diy stuff on there too. I have everything I have ever done to the car on there.
It iis the service history for the car based on it's VIN.

Here:

Login

 

Keeping either DIY records or Dealer accessible records only shows prospective buyers that the car was maintained. DIY just indicates that you are mechanically inclined. My experience with Prius People has been they could care less who, as long as it was done. Most actually think it requires less maintenance than it really should get. Commercial buyers only look at mileage and condition. Maintain it at or better than schedule, fix it when it's broke and your good.

 

I use to change my own oil and DIY on my last car. For the Prius, I've been taking advantage of Toyota Care and like the idea of having the dealer document every single service done to the car (they've even documented when I brought the Prius in to remove a screw/tire patch). Doesn't dealer-performed service also appear on CarFax reports?

Just for sheer convenience and personal time constraint, I'd take it to the dealer rather than DIY these days; I rather spend the little time I have on the weekend on something else productive. From a buyer's perspective, depends on the buyer. For me, I like the peace of mind and convenience of punching in a VIN and looking service performed on a vehicle rather than wading through a sea of receipts or looking at a possible doctored Excel record sheet. Will it raise the resell value? Probably not significantly, but you can certainly use it as a selling point to negotiate a higher price.

 

Will it save you a buttload of money?
Probably not.
Will it make a difference when you trade your car in?
Not a bit.


There's not going to be any difference if you trade it in, because the stealer is either going to keep it and sell, or auction it off. YOU'RE going to get ACV minus 1-3 thousand dollars regardless.
If you sell it privately and the car's condition shows that you're a competent maintenance freak, then there might be a little bit of a benefit in your record keeping, but another buyer might prefer dealer records.....so it's a wash.
As stated above, the overall condition of the car and the year and mleage will predominantly determine it's street value.
If you have a room-temperature IQ, a few tools, and some documentation, and if you're willing to spend some time tinkering with your car you will nearly ALWAYS be better off swinging wrenches on your own car.
NOBODY will be more interested in making sure that the job is done RIGHT than you.
You're also not going to try to sell yourself unneeded maintenance.

Good Luck!

 

I do my own service on my prius. I would be willing to pay more for one like mine. I don't trust dealer to use right oil, they overfill it. Don't check transaxel fluid ever, some even change oil without changing the oil filter. My record show I bought the right oil, and filter. I think a lot of buyers would know after meeting me that I did a better job than any dealer would do considering it is my car.

 

I record all the maintenance info here, too.
Toyota Owners Official Web Site: Service Coupons, Owner's Manuals, Service Scheduling And More
If you ever sell the car, you can print the info and give it to the new owner.

 

The problem with storing everything at Toyota Owners Online site is, according to the site support, once the new owner creates a new account with the VIN the only items that remain are the dealer entries. As to the question as to why, the response was that the dealer service entries were the only ones certifiable.

So all of your DIY entries are no longer available. Keep good documentation somewhere other than the Toyota site.

 

Nothing definitive, but:

Doing your own maintenance | PriusChat

 

The benefit of dealer oil change is obvious when there is a dispute about warranty coverage in a gray zone area.

 

That's why you print it out, if you sell the car privately.

 

You can do your own maintenance and document it yourself at ToyotaOwners.com

 

Yep, see post #9 ^^^.

 

Just be sure to remember to print it out before your info is deleted.

 

Yep see post #3.

 

I'll do as much of the maintenance on mine as I can. I don't trust the dealership or most mechanics in my area (I've tried a number of them without good results). I just had my Audi Q5 go thru its first dealer service, and they overfilled the oil by a half-quart. I took it back and made them take out the extra oil.

It is important to keep a written maintenance log to prove you've done the work.

 

You may have brought them oil but I suspect the reason so many people are seeing drastic overfills at the dealer is they are using the dino vat oil and are using the hydraulic pump gun that feeds oil from the vat. It has a dial indicator on it but most are notoriously inaccurate. And like most dealer
lube lines they don't care enough to check it after they pump it.

I would be highly suspicious they were giving me the vat if I brought them oil in a bottle or paid for higher end oil out of a bottle and then saw it was drastically overfilled.