30,000 mile service (aka dealer trying to bend me over)

[suaveflooder]

Originally Posted by B-R-Z

I can't believe people actually pay that kind of money to maintain their cars at a dealership, or anywhere.

The last time the dealer touched my car was when they still owned it, and I plan to keep it that way.

EXACTLY!!!

I've already swapped all those fluids out well before 30k (tranny and diff)

I put in a fuel enjection cleaner every 5000 miles, and clean the MAF when I clean the air filter….MAF cleaner is $10 or so. It's just regular maintenance for me.

You should just be able to use carb cleaner on the TB unless there is electrical in it…then MAF cleaner should work there as well.

All pretty standard stuff IMHO. I've done this on all my cars as regular maintenance. Pick a time of year and just do it all. It might sound a bit excessive, but it keeps everything fresh. I usually do all my fluids every other summer. I don't race and the car is pretty much highway driven so it is more than enough.

[stugray]

Originally Posted by B-R-Z

I can't believe people actually pay that kind of money to maintain their cars at a dealership, or anywhere.

The last time the dealer touched my car was when they still owned it, and I plan to keep it that way.

For all of you telling the OP to screw it, you DO know that the service is required to maintain your warranty right?

There was a nighmare problem with the Camry/Solaras where engines were just blowing and the dealers were giving owners a really hard time replacing the engines under warranty because Toyota was claiming that the oil changes were done improperly and causing an engine sludge problem.
Their excuse was horseshit, but a lot of people had to pay out of pocket for a new motor.

The only ones who got the engine replaced under warranty without a hassle were the ones who had all of their oil changes done at the dealer and on record.

If you skip a scheduled service interval, they can hassle you if you need warranty work later.

So if you do decide to do your own service, keep a logbook, and all of your receipts (with dates).

[OoLong]

Originally Posted by stugray

For all of you telling the OP to screw it, you DO know that the service is required to maintain your warranty right?

There was a nighmare problem with the Camry/Solaras where engines were just blowing and the dealers were giving owners a really hard time replacing the engines under warranty because Toyota was claiming that the oil changes were done improperly and causing an engine sludge problem.
Their excuse was horseshit, but a lot of people had to pay out of pocket for a new motor.

The only ones who got the engine replaced under warranty without a hassle were the ones who had all of their oil changes done at the dealer and on record.

If you skip a scheduled service interval, they can hassle you if you need warranty work later.

So if you do decide to do your own service, keep a logbook, and all of your receipts (with dates).

Plus one on this. Warranty guidelines are black on white paper when you signed it. But still, some of the services are marked up like crazy, I know everybody gotta get paid but still... $70 for a cabin filter? seriously?

[funwheeldrive]

It also looks better for resale value if you have all of the maintenance records for your car.

[B-R-Z]

I use nothing but OEM oil filters which kinda shows I keep up with oil changes. They should have a record of all of my filter purchases. Its bs if they decline warranty repairs if there are no service records. They need to be clear in telling people they can't maintain their own cars.

[Lavalover]

Would a catch can help keep the throttle body clean?

[B-R-Z]

I'm about to hit 30k, I wonder if I should clean my TB. Is there any diys on the boards for this ?

[sluflyer06]

Just FYI at my local dealer they only want $77 in labor to swap the transmission and differential fluid. I bought 4 quarts of Motul Gear 300 and so grand total through the dealer for that will be about $160.

ALSO***** Does nobody look at the FACTORY maintenance schedule, which is the ONLY one that matters??? Below is copy/paste from Subaru.com on the items that they call out to be replaced (I left out inspections) There is no "cleaning of throttle body" in there. The items in the FACTORY maintenance are the ones anyone concerned with warranty retention should care about.

30,000 miles

Replace a/c filter
Replace engine oil
Replace engine oil filter
Replace air cleaner element
Replace brake fluid

[radroach]

Yep I had the same deal. Subaru do really well to hide their dealership service costs up front. You're thinking something like a $200-300 bill, and then blam you're stuck at the dealership with a $675 bill.

My 30k service was:

Oil change $70
coolant flush job $110
coolant $20
brakes fluid flush $70
brake fluid $30
tire rotation $20
fuel system $20
fuel system induction service $100
engine maintenance kit $30
ethanol treatment service $35
diff fluid service cost $85
Diff fluid $22
shop supplies $15
Tax $50

skipped air filter (was clean I checked) and cabin air filter, which I don't think it's necessary to change right now.

That's about it I think. I think it's shady of my dealership and Subaru of America to allow dealership service costs to get out of hand like this, for cars that are just a step up from most economy cars. They like to itemize every little thing and charge you full price for it. $85 just to change the rear diff fluid? WTF. IMO Subaru of America should offer the scheduled maintenance as a package price. Paying this much to service a japanese car is unheard of to me. And these costs are only going to get higher and higher as the 60k service rolls around and we're all going to be needing $400 spark plug changes.

[extrashaky]

I went to the dealership for the "free" 15K mile service a few days ago, and the service rep tried to sell me that throttle body cleaning for $200. I had to say "no" about six times before he let it rest.

The "free" 15K service included oil change, cabin filter change and tire rotation. After keeping the car for almost two hours (1:45, if I'm being honest), they brought it back out and informed me that the cabin filters were out of stock, so they'll call me when their shipment arrives so I can bring it back over for that service. I'm not feeling all that great about leaving my car with them for another two hours.

Regarding the transmission and differential service, has anybody actually sent samples for analysis to justify changing it? I think the maintenance schedule just says to "inspect" those fluids, but just eyeballing the color of them seems like a joke. I bought Blackstone's little pump for extracting engine oil samples (because I don't trust the dealer to collect the sample for me). I think as I approach 30K miles, I might climb under there and just take a sample right out of the transmission and differential and let Blackstone tell me if it really needs to be changed.

[sluflyer06]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

I went to the dealership for the "free" 15K mile service a few days ago, and the service rep tried to sell me that throttle body cleaning for $200. I had to say "no" about six times before he let it rest.

The "free" 15K service included oil change, cabin filter change and tire rotation. After keeping the car for almost two hours (1:45, if I'm being honest), they brought it back out and informed me that the cabin filters were out of stock, so they'll call me when their shipment arrives so I can bring it back over for that service. I'm not feeling all that great about leaving my car with them for another two hours.

Regarding the transmission and differential service, has anybody actually sent samples for analysis to justify changing it? I think the maintenance schedule just says to "inspect" those fluids, but just eyeballing the color of them seems like a joke. I bought Blackstone's little pump for extracting engine oil samples (because I don't trust the dealer to collect the sample for me). I think as I approach 30K miles, I might climb under there and just take a sample right out of the transmission and differential and let Blackstone tell me if it really needs to be changed.

The factory mainteence schedule does NOT call for even an inspection of those, only for an inspection of fluid for automatic transmissions.

I'm not saying it would be a bad idea, but it is NOT in the maintenance schedule. And if you do it, you shouldn't overpay.

[AVodka14]

I think the _ _._ _ _ whatever service is a bunch of hogwash. I do believe that keeping the car maintained is extremely important of course. Yet the dealership makes money off of uneducated people that are fearfully drawn into performing the scheduled maintenance. Or their car will burst into pieces if the scheduled service is not performed.

Maybe having a mechanical engineer that works at Toyota helps a bit. But I have saved a lot of money on some of the bullshit they does is futile to have performed. I got the important maintenance routines that will be done when the time comes. To each his own. Hope I did not open a can of worms. It is not my intention to start an argument. Just want the OP to consider my thoughts. 30k is not a lot of mileage for what they are recommending be performed.

[Annahra]

I took my car in around 35K for an oil change and they didn't suggest anything additional (tires get rotated when I switch winter/summer). Said everything looked good.

[Erci]

You have to remember a couple of things:

1. Majority of dealer profits come from service, not from selling new cars.
2. Majority of car owners do not do any of their own maintenance, so they pay whatever the dealer asks them to pay.
3. Most people who frequent car forums are much more educated than those who do not, and most do at least some of their own work.

It does suck that dealers can try to weasel out of honering warranty if you don't have conclusive proof that you've kept up with maintenance. You should absolutely NOT be required to have all worked performed by dealer just to keep your warranty.