$360 for 120k service on a 2010....fair?

Well, if you consider $900/hour to be fair, then there's not much else to say, however I'd be interested to learn how you come up with such an exaggerated figure. My observation (from my Toyota Dealer's bill) of a labour rate of $107/hour comes out to about $1.78/minute, or 3 cents/second! …and an hour for replacing/adjusting the real serpentine belt is much faster than I could have done it (with no tools, no workshop, but lots of skill, however!)

 

They charged you for an hour of labor, they did not take an hour. They took a couple of minutes.

As for you -- how many hours do you work to end up with ($107+tax) in your pocket ?
As an example, if your hourly wage is $25 then your take-home is around $20. You will now spend ~ 6 hours of extra work to pay for the belt replacement. And of course we have yet to count up the time you spent traveling back and forth to the dealership or your time there.

So is $($107 + tax + expensive belt) fair ? No idea, but it is foolish to pay so much money and time given the simple alternative.

The truly nice thing from my experience with DIY car maintenance is that the skills are learned quickly and carry over. My first Prius was the first car I ever worked on. While it took me hours the first time for relatively simple things, ever since it has been a matter best measured in minutes or perhaps quarter hours.

 

$25 an hour? are you hiring????

 

I find it very strange that unskilled or semi-skilled labor can be so expensive in the US. I like doing my own work if I am able, but the high labor rates have certainly motivated me to learn new jobs.

I want to sell my home in Albuquerque, and work is needed beforehand. The cheapest 'handyman' I found wanted $40 an hour. Forget that; my wife and I drive to Albuquerque every week nowadays to prep the house. I could take on more of my usual work instead and make more than the handyman charges, but I like the variety, knowing exactly what I am getting, learning along the way, and enjoying the satisfaction of a job done by me.

Oh, and my wife lets me buy any tool I want.

 

We had a guy redo about 50% of our cedar siding, all the south-facing stuff. He worked with one assistant. Fearless, walking around on 8-in-12 pitch roof. Quoted the job in advance, very reasonable. There was a screw-up on one face, I complained, and after a little beating around the bush: he pulled it all off, fixed everything.

I was painting while they were working. I noticed one or two more problem areas beyond the scope of the original scope: he took take care of them with surplus material, and when I was finally writing out the check I had to HOUND him to come up with a number for that extra work.

But this is getting to be old-school. Nowadays you'll set up an appointment at dealerships, supposedly to get something repaired, and when you get there you find out it's just the "assessment " session, not free either, and you're tied up for yet another day.

 

I don't think it's fair to compare DIY prices to a business....especially a specialty trade.

A Toyota dealer has to have all the tools necessary to service their cars. All those tools cost money. There's overhead costs, shop fees, rent, labor, insurance....and the list goes on.

When you compare the rates people pay to see the doctor (even for a simple cold), you'll think going to your Toyota dealer would be a bargain.

Just be glad there's a community like PriusChat to support those that are willing to do DIY.

 

I'm closing in on 8 grand for a tooth extraction, an implant, redo of root canal (on adjacent tooth) and a couple of new crowns. Been dragging on for two years now.

 

Absolutely

And if you hire a neurosurgeon to change the air filter it might be quite costly. The point is that it is entirely ridiculous to do so. Same with going to a dealership for trivial maintenance.

 

All those items indicated are easy to do, you just need time and patience for the spark plugs

 

Was it hard to change the belt?

 

no, theres a video on youtube

 

"serpentine belt"

where is that on a gen3 ??? I must have lost it ... let me replace it ... what is the part number

 

There isn't a belt on 3rd gen.

 

he knows

 

Ahh.

 

maybe he has a gen 2 motor in his gen 3...
ya never know they have to put the extra ones somewhere if they make too many