The 25,000 mile free service from Toyota.....

10k and therefore you get two free.

 

Funny how 2 years of free maintenance sounds great! Even funnier when you find out it is 2 free oil changes. LOL


iPhone ?

 

Having them do their multicheck and rotations every 5k is worth it when new. Some have gotten the dealer to do the first oil change at 5k and the second at 15k. Besides there are reports the mudflaps don't fit well on 2015s.

 

i tried to get the mudguards instead of the service too. they laughed at me.

 

One of the (many) things that they talked about in Elon Musk's semi-authorized bio is that OEMs make a lot of their profit from servicing the vehicles....not selling them, and if you consider the fact that a Yorkshire Terrier can quote the profit margins for most cars....there's some truth to that.

OK....
So....
WHY would the mothership "give away" 24,000 miles worth of "free" service to their vehicles?????

Hint: It's not benevolence!!

Very few people read the warranty book these days. That's why during any given week you will read posts in this forum with some variation of the following theme:
"My dealer says that I should have __________ done to my car? What do you think???"
I've even seen this before the free maintenance period has elapsed on the car.

Even at my rather humble blue collar labor rate, my time is worth something, and having to check the car over to make sure that some dealer's 'lubrication apprentice' didn't leave the cap off of my motor, or over stress the oil filter door, or put the wrong oil in, or put too much oil in, or leave the cap off of the brake cylinder reservoir, strip the oil pan drain bolt, forget to put oil back into the motor, forget to tighten the lugs, over tighten the lugs, or any of the other things that I have seen in this forum - well, lets just say I'll just do the maintenance myself, thank you!!!

As far as the great oil debate?
Your call, but here's my advice: (current street price: $0.02)

If you've been driving for more than a year, and the average number of times that you've checked your oil each year is in the single digits then you should consider a 5,000 mile oil change interval, and forget what all of the "experts" out there say.
The reason of course would be that your car would spend many fewer miles operating with more than a quart missing from the sump.

Good Luck!

 

you wouldn't take the free mud guards?

 

Sure!
As long as they don't install them.

What are OEM mud guards going for on eBay, and how do I keep a straight face when trying to sell them???

 

With the same face you use selling the throw rugs, door edge guards and tint Dealer adds for $1,250.

 

well, two oil changes and 3 'look overs' is probably worth $250., i wonder if they ever change the cabin filter if it's dirty at 15,000.

 

I'm at just short of 25k now and I've had my oil changed exactly 6 times and paid nothing. And I paid nothing extra for this when I bought the car. It may have been a distributors package since all the dealers around here seem to offer lifetime oil changes. Gets you in the habit of using their service. And there will be times after warranty when they will charge you for the major services with the high margins.

Wife's car bought through another distributor only got the 2 oil changes.

They tried to sell me lifetime maintenance, I declined all extras.

My preference is for the 5k interval and 1k initial change and I was prepared to pay for those extras. I haven't have to.

So it seems to me it all depends on the distributor and the dealer and what you bought when you bought the car.

 

i'm not sure there are any 'distributors' outside of the southeast?

 

I wonder the same too. I always thought there was a break in period before 1,000 miles on new engine. Trips me out when I was told its at 10k that they change the oil. I myself letting the dealer do it for the maintenance record but after that I will service it between 6-7k. But I also advise anyone who service their car them self to keep recipes of purchase and a record of date and mileage worked on in case you have to disputes something with Toyota one day. Helped me with my GX470. Lexus corp cover the bill.

 

You only got 1 Oil change free if you chose to use synthetic oil.... What a BS for the $695 plan and they don't give out loaner car as well like Mini, BMW, Benz, Lexus

 

Actually you get two full synthetic changes and five tire rotations along with multipoint checks and the plan is free on a new car.

 

Believe it or not, last inspection/oil change (18K on clock) overdue on time, not miles the dealer actually wanted to change the cabin filter that I put in 5K back. And it is one of those expensive carbon filled ones. I declined the offer. Got home and pulled the filter. Guess what, looked almost new to me. A couple of small flecks of leaves here and there. I shook it out and put it back in.

You have to wonder how many people fall for the cabin filter gimmick. Granted, if you don't change them, they can get pretty nasty.

 

We're around 56000, all maintenance DIY, have yet to change either air filter. The engine one is more or less pristine, the cabin one's collected a bit of stuff and I've blown it out a couple of times. I guess our air is very clean, but I'm sure if I did dealership maintenance they'd both have been replaced at least once by now.

 

Mudguards are overrated. We've had them fore and aft, for 3 decades of Hondas. They could more aptly be called mud accumulators. I resorted to taking ours off spring and fall, and hosing out the invariable mud poultice.

When we got our Prius, sans flaps but with bodywork mimicking a shallow mud flap, I thought: let's give it a try. Worked out fine.

 

I just bought 2014 Prius v and was really surprised to see the owner's manual. The 1st oil change at 10K miles?! No way!! The 5K mile service's major item is tire rotation and "driver's side floor mat" inspection!! Give me a break, Toyota!! I will have my oil/filter changed at 1000 miles once break-in is complete. After that, I will stick with 5K miles oil/filter change. Changing oil/filter is the cheapest insurance for me.