30,000 mile maintence

I am an Electrical Engineer.

That is true unless you’re dealing with scumbags. They sell on FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt). And many people listen because they have some respect for a car dealer. Here is an example:

Drpoehks receives a urgent letter claiming that his brand new 2010 Prius is due for scheduled maintenance and here is a 10% off coupon for the service.

He goes to the dealer and is told the total cost is $460. This number is high and Drpoehks is on the fence having it done. The dealer starts in with FUD. He tells Drpoehks that is scheduled maintenance and your warranty will be void if you do not have it done by an authorized dealer. The dealer claims that a Hypbrid is a very complex car and can easily be damaged by a person that has not been trained on how to work with the car.

Then they make up more lies like, they get one car a week in from someone that took their car to a local garage and caused major damage the customer had to pay out of pocket. While at the dealer they claim your seats have wrinkles and they recommend some leather softner that only cost $199. If this treatment is not done it will not be covered under warranty. They also try to sell you this new RainX product for your windshield that last 30 days and only cost $49. They will also point out our front right tire is low and we recommend nitrogen in all the tires for only $39

This are all typical lies that all scumbag dealers do when you bring your car in for repair. Way to many people pay for the entire package.

 

To be fair, it isn't correct to label people who work in dealerships as all scumbags. The folks who sweep the floors-wash the windows-detail the cars are hardworking underpaid individuals. I don't have much problem with sales staffs either. They just read scripts and follow the company policies.
The folks in mgmt who set the policies-the F&I depts-and the service writers/mgrs are probably decent folks with families and such. But at work they behave like scumbags preying on the weak and uninformed to extract money for worthless products and services. If you can live with yourself doing that kind of work, congratulations -- you behave like a scumbag. You're brothers and sisters are on the phones as I write scamming folks with health insurance schemes and defrauding elderly folks of their life savings.

 

That's weak. "I vas chust followink orders" Isn't an excuse. If they are conning customers they are scum.

 

But at least they are selling something. At the end of the sales process you have something -- a car. You may have overpaid but at least you have something of value for your money. Once you get turned over to F&I and down the road in service they are selling nothing of value for outrageous prices. From my perspective, that makes a difference.

 

The sales guys are not so golden. When one walks into a dealership they ask leading questions to find out how you plan on buying the car. If they find out your buying on monthly payments they realize you do not have a clue on what you are doing. This is their perfect customer and they know how to close the deal. They will get you into a 5 year lease or 7 a year loan to hit that target. They also add a lot of BS options in the price and still make your target.

If they find out your shopping on total price they back off because closing the deal is a lot more work.

 

Just had my 45K mile service today on my 2010 Prius III at a Toyota dealership (purchased the car in Dec '09, approximately 10 months old). I've put mostly freeway miles on it (avg 200 miles/day) and the car is still running great. I've done only synthetic oil changes every 10K and tire rotations every 5K, and the brakes still have 70% left. The exceptions are when they sold me on the electronic fuel injector (EFI) additive at about 30K and when I changed the cabin air filter myself after buying it online.

Otherwise, I shun all the interval services the dealership tries to sell me every single time I go. If they were necessary, the owner's manual would have them as official recommended services. My dealership usually does a good job, but they really need to find a new business model; these cars are so reliable that they only need minimal maintenance and not all the services they try to push. Anyway, just tell them exactly what services you want (having the dealership check off, stamp, date, and sign your owner's manual is a great gut check) and firmly refuse to give in to their fear/sales techniques.

 

What I resent about the stealership's service department is that they IMPLY (they dont say it directly) that me doing my own maintenance could void my warranty. This car just gives them the licence to throw in that "Oh its too hard to work on, it has computers and high voltages so theres no way a simpleton like you can do maintenance on it."

Ive done the majority of the work on every car I have ever had, and im sure as hell not going to stop with the first brand new one i've ever bought.

 

This is what you're supposed to do:

You: " I need an oil change"
Service guy: "Ok great, can I check the mileage on the car"
You: "Sure"
Service guy (might say): "You're at 30,000 miles, can we offer you our 30k service"
"No thanks, just the oil change"

And guess what, everything else except air filter, is complimentary under their multi-point inspection. In other words, it's ALWAYS checked. The 30,000 mile service is an absolute rip off.

 

There is something worse than a scumbag dealer selling you a $460 scheduled maintenance at 30,000 miles.

It is a scumbag dealer selling you a Toyota prepaid maintenance package for $995 when you buy the car. It covers maintenance up to 55,000 miles or 4 years. That is 5 oil changes and 1 air filter. A $280 package for only $995.

I hope many people read this thread and learn about all the scumbag moves dealers make.

 

But they wash and wax your car!

At least they are supposed to...

 

They also vacuum out your wallet, and you can count on that being done.

 

as to lawyers, there is a local one with a commercial he states "most people can't afford a lawyer, so we only charge if we win the case" (35%) and he won't take it unless he is sure he can win.

as to dealers, the big money isn't from sales it is from service. I worked for a GM dealer when I was in high school in the mid 70's. for almost 6 months the service department kept the dealership afloat. the owner chunked 1/2 the sales force and within 3 months were making agian.

the service writers get the most money from CP (customer pay) tickets not warranty write ups. do many pad things, of course they do. wouldn't you if you were able to get an extra $100.00 off some schumk?

fore warned is fore armed, do the home work and stick to your guns (no pun intended)

 

You are correct. The Prius does not have a transmission. It has a transaxle that is lubricated. I am a huge fan of preventive maintenance so I had it done.

I was able to get 305,000 miles on my last car with less than $1,000 in repairs by taking care of little things like this.

 

The OP has not answered what was done for $460. Sure, the cost may be staggering, but if they did a full fluid replacement, then the price would be appropriate:

Art's Automotive - 30K Service, 2nd Generation Prius

My local dealer does a bare minimum 30k service (LOF, rotate tires, both filters) for $200. But a place such as Art's will replace the transmission fluid (which should be done, IMO), flush the brake fluid and replace the coolant, which are all fluids that should be replaced about every 30k (maybe except the coolant) if you plan to keep your car past 100k. So, if the OP's dealer charged him $460 to replace all of the fluids and do the factory required 30k service, then the price is fair.

 

Great link. Many people have commented on the transaxle fluid in the forums and in that link he makes a point on how bad it looked at 30,000 miles.

I had it done at 40,000 miles and will have it done again at 100,000 miles. I strongly believe it will add a lot of life to the vehicle. I plan on getting 300,000 or better on this car just like my last.

 

Yup, the coolant change was a rip-off unless the car was at least 5 years old.

If the dealer didn't advise the customer before the service that the dealer was adding non Toyota-required services, then the dealer is a douche-bag and not to be trusted.

When a dealer pulls that non-sense, then you also have to wonder if they really did the work that they charged for.