Prepaid Maintenance Program & the actual cost of maintanence?

Hi ekan, welcome to PriusChat. Look in your Passport for the maintenance schedule. It's mostly oil and filter changes at 5K mile intervals. Rotating your tires regularly is good to keep the wear even.

That pre-paid plan sounds like a big profit to your dealer. If pre-paying means you will maintain your car better, have a look at Discounted Extended Warranty under Prius Accessories at the top of the page. You can buy the Toyota pre-paid maintenance through PriusChat for a lot less. $875 for the 4 year/ 55,000 mile Premium Plan. MSRP $1350.

 

Don't do it. For one, there is no lubrication of the chassis...that went out years ago....

We have a Honda dealer in town who makes it simple: using the maintenance schedule in the owner's manual--or using the "maintenance required" light's A, B, and C schedules--simply use the dealer for that service. If you buy the new car from them and do that from the beginning, the dealership will automatically extend your Honda's warranty to 7 years/100K miles.

That's it. All they ask is for your regular service business at their regular rates, which aren't out of line at all.

Let's see, $30 oil changes every 5K miles, over 55K miles that's 11 oil changes, that's $330. And let's face it: the "inspection" thing is crap. Either you're getting a real mechanic who knows your car inside out and whose eyes are always looking over the car for things he knows to look for, or you're getting the oil change guy who doesn't know anything. Either way, you're not getting a separate "inspection" service.

Rotating the tires: it MAY be $40. That's another $440.

$330 plus $440 equals $770. And they want 2x that up front?

My, they have no regard for you and they have no shame, do they?

Just pay the $70 out of pocket for those services. Remember, you may end up not being able to use that service provider down the road (if you move or whatever). Why pay them anything?

It's perfectly OK to say "no" to a salesman. Multiple times, if need be. It's also perfectly OK--in fact, sometimes required--to walk out on a salesman. "Well, I guess we can't come to an agreement here. Thanks for your time." And walk. It's that simple.

 

After 23K miles, I've paid my dealer for maintenance exactly ... $0. I've done most of it myself, even though I don't consider myself mechanically inclined. Oil changes are easy and can be done without lifting the car (though I do so with ramps to provide easier access by my large frame). Engine and cabin air filters take two minutes each and require no tools. I've rotated my tires every 10K, though to save time I've considered having a local tire shop do it (for less than the dealer). Virginia has annual safety inspections, so that takes care of the safety items. On the next state inspection I'll probably have the shop do the once-over on the non-safety items Toyota recommends inspection of.

Even for non-DIY'ers, I don't consider prepaid maintenance packages good values. If there wasn't profit in it for the sellers, they wouldn't be selling it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ekan @ Apr 10 2007, 12:36 PM) [snapback]420894[/snapback]</div>

If in doubt, look for galaxee's maintenance schedule. If you can't find her original post, I posted a couple copies. Did you see "inspect hand crank and replace if worn" on the dealer's recommended service list?