30,000 mile service costs $1,100???

This right here. The newest, greenest , least trained kids in the shop are the ones doing your dealership oil changes.

 

Agreed but the flip side is - how is some green kid with SOME training necessarily worse than some random guy doing his own with no training?

IME - dealer tech quality often comes down to the person themselves and not necessarily time doing the job. That green kid prob sees what - 30 oil changes a week, his first week (SWAG) - Louis the office worker might not see 30 oil changes in 10 years.

 

30k coming up, making a note of this.

 

The green kid doesn't care a lick for your truck, while you care the most because you own it. The kid is just trying to get to his next break and not even really paying attention to what he's doing, because he's done it 30 times this week. It's called complacency.

Even if the office worker changes his own oil once or twice a year, it will take him a little longer than the kid at the dealer, but he's paying attention the whole time, focused on it, and will not make a mistake.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/halp.33318/

The only guy I ever had to fire over a lube mistake was an experienced guy. Complacency kills. He had 5 years experience as a tech. He almost cost us a new engine.

IME while running a shop - the new guys tend to be the most conscientious - it's the experienced guys that screw up the easy stuff.

 

Grandkid cares about his job and his training though. And that experience adds up real fast. That being said, these engines have quite a bit of tolerance in them. Oil changes don't need to be super precise NASA levels of science in order to be effective. And it's in the dealership's best interest to turn out good work, not shoddy work. Comebacks reflect poorly on the dealership as do negative customer reviews and customers who just never return

 

As a rule, I do not let any dealership wash any of my cars. I have seen a few really dirty buckets of "soap" and the newbie with a power washer out back at a few dealerships. I would rather drive a dirty truck than run the risk of find scratches that were "my fault".

 

That's ridiculous. Here's the cost breakdown; literally sitting here staring at all of the components needed to do the 30K in my garage so this pricing is up to date. There are no fluid flushes (trans, radiator, or brakes) in the 30K unless absolutely necessary. Replace the cabin air, engine air, do an oil change, rotate tires, change t-case and diff oils. Grease drivetrain if you feel frisky and torque some bolts.

Engine oil change:

• From Toyota Oil filter $5.46
• Oil (Pennzoil Ultra Platinum) I only buy in 5 qt jugs at $49.99/ea, so just slightly more than 1 full jug

T-case oil change:

• 1 liter of oil (Ravenol straight 75w; it is the ONLY OEM substitute I have found) $24.95

Differential oil change:

• 8 liters of oil (Lucas Dino 85w/140; I like to have extra) $10.99 ea so total of $87.92

Crush washers and seals for t-case and both diffs:

• $8.98 off Amazon

Engine air filter:

• From Toyota $24.99

Cabin air filter:

• From Toyota $24.99

Total cost of materials is $227.28 or round up to $250 to account for extra oil or high quality grease if you want to grease the suspension and drivetrain

The entire thing will take less than 3 hours including a 1-jack tire rotation and torquing everything I can find. Even with an incredibly-inflated salary, you will come out on top doing it yourself. I promise.

 

Depends upon salary and what your local shop charges; I would argue it isn't even close for some of us.

 

Alternately, if you are busy and dont want to get dirty, very easy to change the air filter and cabin air filter yourself. Wiper blades too. No reason to inspect.

If you buy all those fluids and bring it to Valvoline they can install if for you. Im spitballing here but I see $40 in labor for the engine, $60 for the T case, and $60 for each diff.

You could be done for $500 ish if you change the easy stuff (Air, cabin, wipers) yourself.

No need to change the PS fluid. I do like to change the brake fluid occasionally-but I think you still may be early.

Perhaps wait a year and slap pads at the same time. Would be a great way to meet an Indy.

If you are not into changing brakes yourself it is good to find a reputable undercar suspension and brake oriented mechanic. If you change the brake fluid everytime you need brakes (assuming you drive the car semi regularly) you should be good.

The brake fluid DOES need to be changed periodically but not every 2 years.

That said I have changed leaky rear wheel cylinders in 2 older cars. Previos owners likely never changed the fluid. Same goes for changing Calipers in my granfathers old mercedes I inherited. He never changed it. I think if you go 3-5 you will be fine. Every 2 and you are just burning money unless you DIY.

Time brake work right and you can rotate tires at the same time.

Yes you need to think about this stuff. That is how they are able to charge $1k+ so you dont have too.

 

So it makes sense for you to pay someone to do everything for you up to and including wiping your ass. We get it. The other 99.99% of the population would come out ahead.

 

What's with the attitude??? I'm not going to apologize for having a moderately high income.

Regarding your spitball guess, I will definitely dispute your "99.99% of the population" number; is it more than 50%? Most likely. Is it over 75%? I seriously doubt it.

 

I work on my vehicles because I enjoy it. And I get a lot of satisfaction and peace of mind knowing it’s done right.

Over the last two weeks, I replaced the VTEC solenoid gasket, valve cover gaskets, intake manifold gasket, throttle body gasket, hood support struts, and spark plugs in my daughter’s car, followed by cleaning out the EGR passages to clear that trouble code. And then I did a fluid exchange on her transmission x 4 to get the fluid fully renewed. The leaky steering rack is next. And I think the engine mounts need to be replaced.

And I fixed my other daughter’s A/C in her car. Just needed a new relay, but it’s trouble-shooting it with a volt meter that takes time. I’ve also done the power steering pump and high pressure hose in that car, along with valve cover gasket and plugs. I’ll do her transmission fluid over Thanksgiving when she returns from college.

You fellas who can’t be bothered to maintain and repair your vehicles are missing out. It’s therapeutic. I started learning to fix cars at 17 years of age on a 1968 Impala. And car repair is very different than what I do for a living. That’s another reason I like it.

 

A: no need to change a brake pads until they hit around that 4 mm mark. Then you should start thinking about it. Why change them if they're still at 8 mm? My factory pads went to 80,000 miles before needing to be changed and that was with heavy off-roading and towing.

B: ..... The general theme of this thread is bitching at incompetent dealer techs, and you're going to recommend Valvoline a quick lube shop? I've read some funny stuff on the internet today, but you're up there. Lol

 

I agree with all your points, and would add that familiarity with a vehicle diminishes the great unknown when something DOES go wrong, and that if anybody is going to screw up a repair on my car, I want to be the person who does it. But at a certain point, crawling under a vehicle and lying on cold concrete loses its appeal. That point was about 60-65 years old for my dad. I remember him taking a car to a shop to get something fixed and when I asked him why he would do that (we used to do everything on cars short of machining heads, etc.), he told me: "Past 65, crawling under a vehicle and lying on cold concrete loses its appeal."
Last year, at 45, doing something (I think it was helping a friend try and replace seized rear struts on his 2006 CR-V that subsequently had to have the A-arms plasma torched off due to SEVERE corrosion, I felt that feeling for the first time. I figure I have about 20 more years of desiring to wrench on my own stuff, but I also get that some people have been there done that, and don't mind spending the money.
I mean brewing your own beer is a real $ saver, but not a lot of people do it.

 

LOL yes I know. I think there are a lot of great dealer techs and it is in the dealers best interest to treat you right.

The good aspect of Valvoline is you can watch and see what they are doing.

My preference for this type of work is a suspension/brake oriented type of undercar shop that treats you well. Those are hard to find, however.

Brett

 

At 48 I dont like it. I enjoyed many hours of cold concrete for my DIY cosmoline job. Here in so cal I do not havr an alternative even if I paid for it. The California method of rustproofing is spraying down metal with compressed air and following it up with a little Krylon.

 

I’m 52 and have learned to put a large furniture pad (blanket) down. My 80 year old father will still change his oil. That’s who got me started.

 

I work hard to earn a good living so I can do what I want in my free time.

Sometimes that's working on my vehicle. Most often, it's anything but.

 

I bought a throw away pillow from the $3 bin at Wal Mart for my cold concrete cosmoline job. Even if you use one every time you change your oil it is still less expensive than paying someone else.