Quote:
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