Toyota Maintenance at Dealership?

[fmicle]

Hey there Yaris owners,

I would like to get your feedback on something.

I've only got about 1,500 miles on my new Yaris, so I'm not in a hurry, but I've been thinking about the scheduled maintenance that I'm supposed to do at 5,000 miles.

My local Toyota dealer (Steven's Creek Toyota in San Jose, CA) charges $69.95 for an oil change + tire rotation, or $92.65 (!!!) if you want synthetic Toyota 0-20 oil (which is recommended in the manual). Plus tax and waste fee of course! I think this is ridiculous.

You can get an oil change at WalMart for $25, which I wouldn't do by the way, but still, I think most other places around $40-50 are reasonable. The manual says you don't lose the warranty if you don't get your Toyota serviced at a Toyota certified place...

So, what are your thoughts on this subject? Am I getting any value for the extra premium I pay at the Toyota dealership?

Florin

[Pavel Olavich]

Hey there Yaris owners,

I would like to get your feedback on something.

I've only got about 1,500 miles on my new Yaris, so I'm not in a hurry, but I've been thinking about the scheduled maintenance that I'm supposed to do at 5,000 miles.

My local Toyota dealer (Steven's Creek Toyota in San Jose, CA) charges $69.95 for an oil change + tire rotation, or $92.65 (!!!) if you want synthetic Toyota 0-20 oil (which is recommended in the manual). Plus tax and waste fee of course! I think this is ridiculous.

You can get an oil change at WalMart for $25, which I wouldn't do by the way, but still, I think most other places around $40-50 are reasonable. The manual says you don't lose the warranty if you don't get your Toyota serviced at a Toyota certified place...

So, what are your thoughts on this subject? Am I getting any value for the extra premium I pay at the Toyota dealership?

Florin


Getting to the oil filter and the drain plug is very easy, so do it your self and save time and money. I would not take the car to the dealer for an oil change...for warranty work or something major, yes, but not for an oil change. They often charge too much, or if they give deals, they skimp on checking other areas of the car.

Why not trust Walmart to change your oil? They do a fine job and they charge little $.

[fmicle]

I've done it once with my old VW Golf, but it's too messy. Not worth $30...

[kaboom]

do oil & filter yourself as I always do and keep the receipts; you can not lose your warranty just because you change your oil and filter by yourself...

[ChinoCharles]

do oil & filter yourself as I always do and keep the receipts; you can not lose your warranty just because you change your oil and filter by yourself...

+1

[Astroman]

If you get your own oil & filter (would recommend sparks-they're a sponsor here) it shouldn't be that bad at the dealer. If I bring just my own oil (full synthetic, gave me better mileage and power), they charge me $19.95, plus they lube everything under there, but no tire rotation. Don't know if this is BS, but the salesguy told me that the little stamp they put in your service booklet can add value to the resale. (Buyer confidence that the car was well maintained I suppose.) My 15,000 mile service is coming up and I will probably provide my own oil again since they are going to have to do some other stuff to the car anyway. Oh, does anyone know if there would be any benefit to using the TRD filter over the standard toyota filter? I want to keep using Toyota filters due to the anti-drainback feature that helps reduce engine wear on startup.

[PetersRedYaris]

... plus they lube everything under there... I want to keep using Toyota filters due to the anti-drainback feature that helps reduce engine wear on startup.

Nothing to lube under the Yaris, don't let them fool you. Anti-drainback valve is good idea on many vehicles, however, the Yaris' filter hangs upside down; it can't drain due to gravity. Superb Toyota engineering!

[kaboom]

wall mart's supertech st-4967 do have anti-drainback valve and they cost ca $2; also - i do not care about resale value of my yaris allegedly boosted by "dealer's stamp".......simply because i'm going to keep the car till it dies ( doing the same with my '03 corolla - currently 90K miles on odometer and no repairs so far)
kd

[kaboom]

Nothing to lube under the Yaris, don't let them fool you. Anti-drainback valve is good idea on many vehicles, however, the Yaris' filter hangs upside down; it can't drain due to gravity. Superb Toyota engineering!
rite, i forgot about up side down setup ( no valve needed).... if you want to pay someone $ 20 for removing two bolts - it's fime with me
p.s.
don't forget the time and gas you will waste to get to the dealership

[clayky]

This is the first car I've never changed my own oil on and that's because the first 3 are free. My question to you guys and gals is when I do change it myself (soon), do I need to get a washer for the drain plug each time or is the one on there fine? My previous vehicles (Nissan) have said to get a new washer each time, but I never have (except Honda...they leak without it) and haven't had a problem.

Thanks!

[PetersRedYaris]

Get an extra drain plug washer and keep it on hand just in case, but MOST of the time you can re-use your old washer. I got a magnetic plug with a re-useable aluminum washer and it works great.

Kaboom- If you plan on keeping the car a long time I would use a little better filter than supertech. If you plan on selling it early than I recommend skimping on service parts. You don't need to spend a lot but I think Supertech is the bottom of the barrel. :iono:

I agree it's faster, and of course cheaper, to do the oil service yourself. Plus, your far less likely to make a mistake than some "grease monkey". I use a Toyota filter with valvoline oil (will switch to Mobile 1 @ 20,000) and get it done for under $15.00. Never have to wait at a service station again. :thumbsup:

Lastly, I cut and staple the UPC code from the Toyota filter box into my service manual, fill in the miles and date, etc., and just sign the dealer stamp area. Just a way to prove the service was done.

[Elroy]

New here, so forgive me for the intrusion, but I traded in a Jeep when I bought my Yaris about 11 days ago and they gave me blue book for it, plus some (depends on how you look at it). Nothing was ever said about the maintenance records of it or that it gave it more value. I think it's just a ploy to get you to come to them and have them stamp the little book and collect the mullah. I mean when I went to Kelly Blue Book and entered the info for my jeep, it didn't ask about maintenance records to get a value. Luckily I won't have to worry about an oil change for the first year as the dealership I bought mine at offers the 5000, 10000, and 15000 mile oil changes free, along with some other stuff that I need to look at again.

[PetersRedYaris]

If I were to buy from a private seller, I would prefer to have dealer stamps. But no, they don't increase the value of a trade-in.

[jetaimejsc]

well, when i got my car about 2 months ago, i asked him if i would get any oil changes free, and they said that yes, the first 3 were going to be free, so im at 3500 miles already and i already talked to the dealer guy and he said that to bring it in when its close to 5000 and they were going to change oil, filter and tire rotation and other stuff for free, i dont know if its going to be like that for the other two free ones.

[BailOut]

Changing your oil yourself doesn't save running an errand by any means because you're still going to take the old oil to an authorized recycling collection point, such as an auto parts store.

[Astroman]

True about the stamps not "increasing" the value of your trade in at the dealership. My salesman told me that only the buyers seem to care, the dealer doesn't. (Except for the service dept. raking in more dough.) My car is still being weird after getting fixed from the accident and the repair shop is now refusing to cooperate with ANY additional repairs. Hello attorneys! Im hoping to just get a new yaris, a 5-speed this time :biggrin:. The car was pretty trashed, should have been replaced anyway, don't see why they wasted the time and money and I didn't get my new car back, I got one back that shit isn't on right, and the AC makes the car run like shit. So I'm going to do my own service since I don't want to blow the money because were suing the people that hit us and plan on getting a new car anyway.

[Pavel Olavich]

Forget about the stamps...that is BS...just keep the receipts if you do it yourself, and show them all to potential buyers.

I can change the oil and filter in 10 minutes, WITHOUT taking off any bolt...just get one of these for a drain plug

http://www.fumotovalve.com/

...actually it is a valve that you turn with your fingers off and on...no need to remove it, no washers to deal with.

10 minutes...do it yourself with this drain valve...by the way, the filter is very easy to get to....

[futurelook]

for those that change their own oil, you might consider the Fumoto drain valve which replaces your drain plug with a valve. If you get the one that has an extension, you can hook a rubber hose to it and empty your oil directly into a container. cuts down on some of the mess anyhow. I use them, and they've been trouble free. www.fumotovalve.com

[nookandcrannycar]

I'm not surprised -- just about everything is more expensive in the Bay Area than almost anywhere else in the US (except maybe Manhattan, Boston, Hawaii, Westchester County and certain DC suburbs). I have, during the span of time I've owned my Yaris, spent a lot of time in different parts of the Bay Area (Mill Valley, Newark, Fremont, Livermore, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, and Moraga) as well as a lot of time in the Houston Metro. The least expensive oil+filter change I ever found in the Bay Area was between $30.00 and $35.00 at the Wal-Mart in Livermore. I got my oil+filter changed last week in the 77379 zip code North of Houston for $14.99 + disposal fee + tax, which came out to $20.00 total on the nose.