30k Maintenance

[qqzj]

Originally Posted by Mattstermh

Just did my 60k maintenance at the local Toyota dealer I normally go to. They charged me $930... I'm never going there again.

$330 for parts and $660 for labor. They were kind enough to give me a slight discount.
Here is what I had done:
Plugs
Oil, air and engine filter (Mobil 1)
Diff fluid, AT fluid, brake flush

I'm honestly shocked. On the phone she tells me a total of $3xx and then I see this labor charge. Outta control

You are complete f***ed. Feel your pain. BTW, may I ask which kind of fluid they used for diff.? Thanks.

[MuseChaser]

Originally Posted by Mattstermh

Just did my 60k maintenance at the local Toyota dealer I normally go to. They charged me $930... I'm never going there again.

$330 for parts and $660 for labor. They were kind enough to give me a slight discount.
Here is what I had done:
Plugs
Oil, air and engine filter (Mobil 1)
Diff fluid, AT fluid, brake flush

I'm honestly shocked. On the phone she tells me a total of $3xx and then I see this labor charge. Outta control

My dealership is kind of weird; I have to talk them INTO doing maintenance. They told me that the oil only has to be changed every 12k.. I show them manual where it says 7500miles, but explain that I like to do it every 3k - 5k just to be safe. They grudgingly change my oil. When I asked them to change the MT oil and the diff oil, they tell me that nobody does that and it's not necessary. At 40k, I said I wanted the brake system flushed and the fluid replaced. Same thing... "not necessary." I showed them the manual, again, where it says every 30k. Oh well, at least I know that they're not trying to OVERsell me service!

Here's their prices, approximately..

Oil change (6 quarts synthetic, fliter) - $80
Brake fluid service - $99
Diff and MT fluid - $139

I'm at about 41k on the car now, and drive about 18k a year. I have NOT done the diff and mt fluids, but have kept up with everything else. According to the maintenance intervals in the manual, the diff and MT levels need only be checked at this point, and not drained and renewed.

The biggie in your bill was the plugs. I don't think the Toyota folks are as familiar with this car and engine as the Subaru folks, and probably followed the shop manual step by step, including lifting the engine to get at the plugs, and charged your accordingly. This is TOTAL conjecture on my part, but perhaps a Subie dealership or an independent with more experience with the engine would have been able to do the same service faster and cheaper. I don't really know. Actually, I should probably end ALL of my posts with ... "I don't really know."

From my perspective, I don't think you were taken ALL that bad. It's a dealership; they're in business to make money. You'll almost always pay more at the dealership, but you can take SOME solace in knowing that, in the future, they can't tell you that some problem was caused by shoddy work elsewhere. If they've done the work, they need to stand by it and usually will. I like the guys at my dealership; they do OK work, don't charge so much that I feel taken afterwards, and the few times when things weren't right they made it right w/out any argument.

Just some thoughts..

Barry

[Tcoat]

I am pushing 100K and have not had the tranny nor dif oil changed. I probably won't unless I start to notice a difference in their performance.
If really pushing the car on the track then you need to change it (and fairly often) but in a street driven car that is not used as a race car but just as a car the tranny and diff fluids are just fine for many many miles.


I change my oil at the recommended rate and no sooner. Again if pushing the car you may want to do it early but even at the highest recommended rate the oil on my street driven car looks about the same coming out as it did going in so 3,00 to 5,000 miles would be gross overkill for me. Ya, in the good old days of basic oil you needed to change it often but modern fluids last way longer. I feel a lot of people change them way more often then required because it gives a sense of doing something more than the reality that it needs it.


Other opinions will vary!

[Mattstermh]

I was just taken for a complete ride. Never heard of anyone getting charged $667 for labor at 60k maintenance. I even declined the rotation.

[pgranberg11]

So are plugs actually needed to be done at 30k?

I have practically the same mods as OP. I've done brakes, trans, diff, air filter, and oil already though due to track days/new clutch.

edit: misread the post another person stated plugs were done at 60k.

[Mattstermh]

I'm not sure if any of it was absolutely required. I got the car used and did it for piece of mind.

Regardless, she quoted me a third of what I paid.

[mhughett]

Originally Posted by Mattstermh

I'm not sure if any of it was absolutely required. I got the car used and did it for piece of mind.

Regardless, she quoted me a third of what I paid.

I thought the spark plug change at the dealer was $500-$600 by itself. With that included, I'm not sure the $900 bill was that far out of line for everything.

[qqzj]

Iridium plugs are scheduled to be replaced around 100k miles in other cars. In fact, many can run till 200k. There is absolutely no reason it should be changed at 60k.

[ryoma]

Originally Posted by Mattstermh

I'm not sure if any of it was absolutely required. I got the car used and did it for piece of mind.

Regardless, she quoted me a third of what I paid.

when you take your car into the dealership, doesn't the service rep give you a printed sheet that quotes the pricing? you only pay after the service is done. did that sheet also say $300? if that sheet quoted the $900 pricing, then you should have declined before they even brought your car into the garage. once you sign that sheet then that gives them the OK to touch your car. I am sure ALL dealerships do this. so since you signed, you screwed yourself over and can't contest it. however, if they quoted you $300 on that sheet and ended up charging $900, then you can have a point to argue on with the dealership manager.

[Mattstermh]

^ I didn't sign anything with a price quote on it. She quoted me 5 prices while I was on the phone (50, 60, 130, 200, 105, which I am fine with, even if it goes to $700)

Then I went in to pick it up after they closed (only the receptionist was there) and I had to pay to get my car

[~el~jefe~]

Originally Posted by kch

I got trans fluid on my face the first time because I didn't expect it to shoot so far. That stuff smells terrible.

Smells terrible, and as far as I remember, carcinogenic.

[Tokay444]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I am pushing 100K and have not had the tranny nor dif oil changed. I probably won't unless I start to notice a difference in their performance.
If really pushing the car on the track then you need to change it (and fairly often) but in a street driven car that is not used as a race car but just as a car the tranny and diff fluids are just fine for many many miles.


I change my oil at the recommended rate and no sooner. Again if pushing the car you may want to do it early but even at the highest recommended rate the oil on my street driven car looks about the same coming out as it did going in so 3,00 to 5,000 miles would be gross overkill for me. Ya, in the good old days of basic oil you needed to change it often but modern fluids last way longer. I feel a lot of people change them way more often then required because it gives a sense of doing something more than the reality that it needs it.


Other opinions will vary!

I should have taken pictures. I was shocked at the amount and size of metal particals on the magnetic drain plugs for both the diff and tranny, last weekend. I have 35,000kms on the ODO.
My maintenance manual states 16000kms OCIs. I let Toyota do the 16k ones and I do it myself every 8k in between.

Originally Posted by qqzj

Iridium plugs are scheduled to be replaced around 100k miles in other cars. In fact, many can run till 200k. There is absolutely no reason it should be changed at 60k.

The iridiums in my Mazdaspeed3 are recommended to be changed at 160,000kms, but in reality, I was changing them around 30,000kms, because that's what they needed. You don't know this unless you actually look at them.

[~el~jefe~]

Originally Posted by Tokay444

I should have taken pictures. I was shocked at the amount and size of metal particals on the magnetic drain plugs for both the diff and tranny, last weekend. I have 35,000kms on the ODO.
My maintenance manual states 16000kms OCIs. I let Toyota do the 16k ones and I do it myself every 8k in between.

Does the car come with magnetic plugs for both or you added?

[Tokay444]

Originally Posted by ~el~jefe~

Does the car come with magnetic plugs for both or you added?

The oe plugs are magnetic.