Dealer Pre-paid maint. plan

When it's time to get new tires, you could get a brand that might last for 60 thousand miles for around $300. A battery might be changed two or three times in a car's life.

From what I've heard, the oil changes on a Prius are very easy, so it probably can be done for $10/change...someone correct me if that number is wrong. I've also heard the coolant needs to be changed only at 100,000miles.

I bought a Jack($14), torque wrench and ratchet head($40) and a wheel block($9) so I could do the tire rotations myself.

I guess that plan seems a little pricey to me, especially since the Prius seems to be much easier to maintain(and need less of it) than other cars.

 

Keep a log of the mileage and the gas used for at least 10 tank fulls, and then average them out. Fill up the same way each time, going to the first fuel click off, and then never topping off. Using just one tank full is probably not as accurate as the computer on the car.

On the prepaid maintenance plan, I would say they are too high. Your maintenance costs aren't going to be that high for the first 3 years anyway, unless you are driving 7,500 miles a month. You can get the tires rotated, an oil change, and filter changes for less than the $135 they want to charge you monthly, but you only need to do that every 7,500 miles. Some of us increase that to every 5,000 miles. If I do that, with my 80 mile round trip each day, I'll be doing it about every two to three months.

There isn't major maintenace required on the Prius until 100,000 miles, if I remember correctly. Check the manual, and follow it. Dealers often try to sell you unnecessary "Gold Plan" service under the guise of treating your car better, and charge you to check, adjust or lubricate "75 Items" like the alignment, lube the chassis, check the differential oil, etc. ... all things that you don't need to do or that, in the case of the Prius, include checks and lubrication of things that don't even exist. The manual includes the required maintenance to ensure your warranty is in force, and includes the manufacturer's "fudge factor" already. Anything more may be treating your car better at the expense of your wallet. Nothing wrong with it if you have the cash to spare, but if you have other priorities, its just wasting money.

I always take my cars to the dealers, but I know each time what is required by the manual, and that's what's done. No transmission flushes when they aren't recommended, no brake flushing unless its recommended (or there's a failure requiring it), etc.

 

You might not know this, but your fuel tank is not rigid, but a bladder, sort of like a hot water bottle. Has to do with reducing vapor or something like that.

Anyhow, sometimes this bladder will "fill" up after only 5 gallons, when it could hold 6 if you could squeeze more into it, but because of the design, that is not recommended. In cold weather, it may be less flexible.

I keep a log as fshagan recommended. I've noticed some tanks get over 50 and some say 30. I havn't averaged them all out yet, but the computer tells us about 42 to 44 which I believe.

 

Dr. Mike - is that a Silver Pine Mica Prius in your avatar?

I actually have a date now for mine ... 1/25. Waiting with baited breath ...

 

This is the deal with these plans,

If they didn't make the dealership more money they wouldn't sell them. Most dealers don't offer a prepaid maintenance plan.

That doesn't neccisarily mean however that you shouldn't buy one, if you plan to have the vehicle serviced exclusively by the dealer then it might save you some money.

BUT, lets say you sell the car or its totalled, is the plan transferrable or cancelable? You say the $125 a month would be a hardship, would you be able to pay for the maintenance when its required? I think the biggest maintenance on the Prius within 75K miles is like $400.

Does it include brakes?

Sounds too high to me...

 

It's a rip off peroid. Almost everything some car dealers want to sell you is a rip off. As much money as they make by selling these cars at MSRP they should be giving us free service. I take in my own oil and the dealer provides the filter and changes the oil and filter plus checking fluid levels for $19.95, and that's not the dealer I bought the car from. I can get my tires rotated and flats fixed free at a Northwest tire dealer, Les Schwab, even if I didn't buy them there. If I change my own oil I can buy the filter from the same dealer for $5.00 and I understand they are available on line for $4.50.

So I think at the price you were quoted for the service contract you would be wasting a lot of money. Besides that what if they do something you don't like and you decide to go somewhere else? Will they return your money? What if you move or sell the car? What kind of tires would this dealer provide you with? Most Prius owners upgrade to better tires when the originals wear out, or before.

As previously mentioned this car doesn't require much maintenance, not much to do until 100,000 miles. You've already taken care of the tire rotations and repairs. I'm betting, that on mine anyway, the brakes will last the life of the car.

Edit: My suggestion: Don't buy the maintenance plan and put the money you save to one side and after a year or so buy something nice for yourself and your family.

 

No, I it's a Matthew & Lina The car behind it is Millenium Silver. Picture was taken with a low res PDA

 

that is so not worth it.

my husband is a tech. he'll tell you straight out it's a ripoff. he does that stuff every day and can tell you it's worth much less than you'd end up paying in the long run with that plan.

not only is the dealer taking an excessive amount for the prepaid maintenance, but they're also guaranteeing your business for that much time and might see that as a free pass to slack off on their customer service...

tell em to go jump in a lake.