Went in for an estimate on the 30K service at the dealership. Estimate read $720. Included the oil and filter change, the engine and cabin air filter change and the addition of "conditioning fluids" to all the different fluid reservoirs as well as the rotation of the tires. May have been some other stuff added on as well. I took the estimate to a trusted local independent shop I've been working with for years and showed the estimate to them. The manager chuckled and suggested we look up what Toyota actually recommends at this point. They did the whole thing for $220. So far, the dealership has been fairly priced for the level of service provided, but I thought this was kinda out of line. The independent guy said adding a lot of accessory fluids at this point in the car's life was a little excessive. Maybe if it was at 100,000 or showing signs of leaking or something like that, but my car's been tight as a drum. Anyway, loving the car. It's been great.
I had a very similar experience. My dealership recommended several non-sensical items such as a brake fluid exchange and s hybrid battery cleaning. I refused all but the oil and filter change and went on my way...
oil and filter $100. air and cabin filters, tap out the dust and replace. or new ones $100. rotate tires $20. inspection/lubrication $50. 30k service total $270. spark plugs and all fluids at 120k. you may want to consider tranny fluid exchange now $100.
An oil change with filter should run at most $50 or so, and you can get very high quality oil and filter for less than $30 plus 10 minutes labor. Air filter can be bought online for $20 or less, cabin filter the same, and each one takes less than 1 minute to change out. I would never pay someone $60 for the labor to do 1 minutes work that requires no tools. As for all the other crap they recommended, there is no "conditioning fluid" that you want to add into any of your reservoirs. You use the fluid until it goes bad, and you have at least 50k until then(Toyota SLLC is supposed to last 100k or so). Toyota never recommends putting such fluids anywhere. For 30k maintenance you should pay less than 150 or so, and even that is a pretty high markup. No need to do anything that is not specified in your manual, pretty much ever unless you have problems or just want to. Transmission fluid is one thing I would consider and do myself, they will usually charge 100 for that. The only thing different from 20k and 30k is the addition of changing the cabin and air filter. It should cost maybe $60 more than the 20k maintenance. Some like to change transmission fluid too, but that is actually one thing Toyota doesn't recommend and dealerships don't do unless you hound them. Look through your maintenance manual before you take it somewhere to do maintenance. Don't do anything that isn't in there. It's all pretty much useless cash grabs. The mechanic won't rip you off as much if you know explicitly what your car needs done to it. Never do maintenance at the dealer unless it is free. The dealer is for very specialized repairs, everything else can be done by any mechanic or yourself. The dealer markup is huge. $720 for 30k maintenance is unethical and outrageous.
Thanks for the replies. I understand the above and was using the dealer for oil changes and such since they didn't seem that expensive and the facility is nice. I just feel a little stung at the 30K estimate with all the padding and may well take it back and have a discussion with the service advisor.
don't bother, nearly every dealer is like that. they win some, they lose some. there are a lot of naive customers waiting to be fleeced.
You can say thanks but no thanks, stick to the schedule as outlined in the Warranty and Maintenance Guide. Read it, bring it along when you go in. That said, the funny thing is, I think that price is about right, for what's in the booklet: this is the first in-depth brake inspection interval. Did they even mention a full brake inspection? If not, if it was just a flurry of flushes and treatments, it's might be time to try another dealership. An excerpt from the booklet: The main things: 1. Remove engine underpanel completely and change the engine oil and filter. Look over steering linkage and drive shafts, look for any leaks. 2. Inspect engine and cabin air filters, replace if necessary. 3. Remove the tires, pull off the brake calipers, lube the caliper pins, check rotor runout and thickness (likely overkill if no pulsing noted), check pad thickness, clean the pads/shims, reassemble and install all. Road test. Do a final check of rear wheels for excessive drag (rear brake assembly is finicky, can be problematic if rear caliper piston misaligns). 4. Check the two coolant reservoir levels, top up if down to low marks. Nobody should pay professional mechanics to do items 2 and 4; just check for yourself, save your money. And again, don't just slam in new filters at the interval, check them and replace only if necessary. I'm at 76K kms with our 2010, have yet to replace either filter. I do check them periodically: the engine filter has only the slightest patina of soot, still near-new.
The dealers (every dealer) uses the maintenance interval "enhancement" model to boost profits .. my local Nissan dealer is the worst. Remember the service department (and used car sales) is where the money is made at a dealership. The service people in many dealers make money "up-selling" the customer. I'm a firm believer in teaching others the "art" of simple maintenance. Learning how to check tire pressure and oil level -- change air filters and cabin filters is so easy and gets one involved in the vehicle. Denso filters are so cheap online -- I buy them for all the cars and switch them out yearly. If you want to go with OE Toyota air filters and cabin filters .. as well as wiper inserts ---- all available on e-bay from dealers at prices that make them too cheap to not replace. The air filter on a Prius is so easy to replace ....The cabin as well. We do the trans refresh at 100k -- and follow the other recommendations with the coolant and the plugs. You can get the plugs as well for around $42 bucks. There is noting else to do .... the dot 3 fluid is not like the 4 and can stay in the system longer. We switch it all out around 150k when we do all the pads -- around 5 years. The Toyota coolant can be bought online for around $22 inc shipping .. keep it in the garage in case you need a top up (unlikely) .. and give it to your independent mechanic when you do the refresh. Only need about a gallon. Find a good mechanic -- none of this is hard, I maintain a fleet of cars -- so my mechanic allows me to bring my OE parts bought online -- and it saves him the time to get crazy parts for some of our imports. I would rather have the correct plugs for the car vs take the risk that they install the wrong ones -- hand you independent the correct one and tell hime to add his typical plug makeup to them ... you both win and the cost is properly fixed.
Amen! Well, I would inspect them yearly, replace as needed. Nearing eight years, with our northern west coast climate, I've yet to change either. We're garage stored, low mileage, the wipers still look like new. That's not too excessive. For what it's worth: Toyota Canada recommends tri-yearly or 48K kms. I would do the first drain-and-fill (equals refresh?) around 90K sooner. What the heck is plug "makeup", lol. Dry thread spec is 15 foot/pounds torque (the spec is really buried in the Repair Manual, not with the spark plug info, way off with the valve cover info); with thin application of anti-seize I'd use maybe 12~13. I'm leaning towards dry threads now though.
In my area the cabin filters are dirty enough every year to replace .... same on the air filters for the engine. We are putting 15-20k on them. It's not worth the trouble just checking for $20+ dollars -- they get replaced. We get many years out of the inserts - Again -- it's climate and use. DOT 3 will last a long time in an unopened system -- we flush anytime a system is opened ... but if nothing is needed 5 years has been fine. 2 years with DOT4 Yes -- simple drain and fill -- is a refresh. That's what we do with coolant and transmissions .. no flushing. The fluids have looked very good at 100k and 200k ... I'm not sure it all that necessary on the Prius .. but, it can hurt if done correctly. I wanted to say .. uncharge. Typically shops make some profit on the parts. if that the price to pay .. pay it.
Just returned from dealer for 30k service, purchased 11/27/17, all highway miles at lower speeds. After looking in the owner's manual, should have been (as Mendel illustrated) an oil change, tire rotation, eyeballing a few things. When I dropped it off, they said, "That's a big service, the 30k" and gave me an estimate of $285 US. Once they had it in the shop, started getting the texts; need fuel injection service-$109 +tax, throttle body service-$49.95 +tax, a/c evaporator service - $79.95 + tax and rear wiper blade $9 (almost never used). The total of all would have run the bill up over $540. Why chase a customer away with such greed? Reading this thread, I guess this is typical. Love the car and I appreciate all the wisdom you all share.
