Carmine was in for an oil and filter change last week. 2008, bought new, has 97,438 miles. Dealer said I need these 2 things done: 1. Brakes alignment. Said they are safe, but not aligned properly and working more than they need to. $160. 2. Gasket on exhaust is dry. Said this "may" lead to not getting my inspection sticker (that is due in July). $450. I live in MA, dealer is in NH (less than 5 miles from home). Suggestions? Ideas? Would anything that needs to be done with the 100,000 mile service tie in to either of these, and save me money by combining? I do not drive much any longer, likely will be 2025 before I hit the 100K mile mark. Thank you for your input.
Brake alignment? In your area, the only thing I can think of is cleaning and greasing the caliper slider pins to make sure that the pads wear evenly. Unless the exhaust system is leaking, I'd do nothing with it until it does.
Brakes alignment sounds fishy. Questions to ask: What was the remaining brake material on all 4 wheels? Different on the front ones inside to outside? What are they aligning? Disc brakes need cleaning of some surfaces and relube if the inner and outer pads are not wearing evenly. Drum brakes may have an adjuster mechanism to compensate for wear and it may need cleaning and adjustment. Neither of these require a toyota shop, any competent mechanic or even car owner with the right tools could do it.
Wow. Western Ma old stomping grounds . Do nothing my friend your car probably needs nothing for what they're talking about with the brakes the guy with the flag above probably has it right If you can't do this yourself which you can you may not want to then get an independent You don't want the dealer doing work like this good Lord it'll take longer to jack the front end up and take the two front wheels off to grease the slide pins but it is kind of important to keep that up especially in the rust area like Western Mass those slide pins will stick and your pads will wear so and evenly they look ridiculous and you don't want that happening while you're there at the 98,000 mi you have now you're at what 13 14 years old It would be relatively good intel to put a new set of brake pads on what should be very nice looking rotors if they're not slap a set of rotors on they're a whopping $27 a piece or something from reasonable sources not the dealer
Brake “alignment” is a new one, but Toyota USA does recommend a more in-depth brake service (compared to “visual inspection”), every 3 years or 30k miles. It’s noted in the Warranty and Maintenance Booklet. It would typically entail pulling the calipers off the rotors, cleaning and relubing the pads and shims, ditto for the caliper slide pins, ditto for caliper contact points, and maybe checking rotor thickness/runout. Attached is a summary of the Toyota USA second gen maintenance schedule I cobbled, in a spreadsheet table, easier to read than the Toyota publication which goes event-by-event.
It is a slow news day when we are talking about "brake alignment" and a "dry" exhaust gasket. More likely it is a low revenue day for the commissioned service adviser who does not know the correct terms to describe whatever the mechanic may have suggested. As an optional service.
