Scheduled Maintenance

[Sodium Duck]

My car is about to turn over 20K miles. 2008 liftback, automatic, non-ABS. All I've been doing so far is just changing the oil. I need to do some catching up, so I busted out the maintenance log and was kind of surprised at how much I didn't do.

So, here's my list of things to do:

1. Inspect and change air filter if needed. (Already replaced cabin filter yesterday.)

2. Rotate tires.

3. Change oil. (I go every 7,500 miles with Amsoil 5W-20.)

4. Check engine coolant level.

5. Inspect exhaust pipes and mountings.

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6. Inspect steering gear box.
I do not know where or what to look for.

7. Inspect radiator and condenser.
Looking for nicks/dents/holes?

8. Inspect brake linings/drums and brake pads/discs.
I do not know what to look for. Can this be done while I rotate my tires, or do I need to remove other parts.

9. Inspect ball joints and dust covers.
I do not know where or what to look for. Is this the part that rests in the ends of the upper/lower control arms?

10. Inspect drive shaft boots.
Just look for cracking or rips?

11. Inspect steering linkage and boots.
Look for cracking or rips in the boots? I do not know how to inspect a steering linkage.

12. Tighten nuts and bolts on chassis.
Somehow I have a feeling not many people have done this... but none the less, how many bolts are we talking and where?

6-12, I'm a little lost on. Can anyone help? I really want to maintain this vehicle properly and learn to do it myself. Would anyone add something else to the list, or is that enough. I just figured I would do as much as possible since I'm going to be on, under, and around the car all day tomorrow.

[supmet]

6-12 are pointless. If you aren't leaving puddles or hearing grinding and there aren't any parts hanging off the bottom of your car, you're good ignoring them.

[yaris2010RS]

its kinda like when u get a used car and they clame it have a 50 point inspection, they count all these stupid things that even my mom cound tell if it was broken or not (she drove about 30km on the highway in a standard car with a rear flat tire) anything that says "check" i personally think is a joke and i have my doubts on how the actually do it or not....even if it was looking warn out, they wouldn't replace it till it actually broke.

[Reddog99]

Originally Posted by Sodium Duck

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6-12, I'm a little lost on. Can anyone help? I really want to maintain this vehicle properly and learn to do it myself. Would anyone add something else to the list, or is that enough. I just figured I would do as much as possible since I'm going to be on, under, and around the car all day tomorrow.

Don'y be so lazy, supmet! The inspections aren't pointless. Depending on the environment you drive in, or the possibility of defective parts, there is good reason to inspect the listed areas. Looking at something only takes a few minutes.

These are all good questions. I was about to enumerate all the requirements, but there's a downloadable shop manual available that explains it much better than I could. Go to this web site and download the "Maintenance" section and anything else that you might need:
http://etimago.com/yaris/repairmanual/

In short, (but read the manual above):
6. (read the manual).
7. Yes.
8. (read the manual), need to remove the wheels, and rear drums. Can be done while rotating tires.
9. (read the manual), and Yes.
10. Yes.
11. Yes. (read the manual)
12. Everything you can see. I have personally found bolts that had been missed being tightened from the factory.