60,000 Mile Service Cost!!!!!

BLUF: I paid the shop I go to $1340 for the 60K service -

I know the guy and he let's me in the shop while he's working on my truck and shows me what he is doing. Anyway Definitely the spark plugs and all the fluids - diffs, x-fer, trans, break, (oil, filters I did myself) and check everything. That's the major stuff I can think of. Also rotated the tires (I am not good at doing that like I should) and did an alignment (I just felt I go off road a lot and pretty sure I probably knock it out of alignment on the rocks). He also re-torqued the U-bolts for me and took off the skid plates all the way back and cleaned them up and put them back on. He found what was causing the clunking noise that was driving me nuts (a hitch pin got under the cargo bin that is under the back seat) and replaced the the missing and mismatched screws holding on the licence plate.

 

$65 of that $2,970.69 is probably a cabin air filter change and them inspecting the floor mats xD

 

…. Don’t buy a Lexus any time soon.. at op

 

You will never know how easy these things are to do if all you can do is doubt you can do them. The most difficult part of replacing the inside air filter is cleaning out your glove box. You can Youtube almost anything and see what it takes... and just do one at a time or schedule a day and do the ones that are important. You'll get some satisfaction just by realizing that you've done something you feared... and for little reason. The worst thing amateurs do is over tighten things. Snug is good enough in most maintenance and you can find torque specs easy enough if you're worried.

 

As with teaching children, any and every task complete is knowledge ability power and confidence.

Give a man a fish , he eats for a day.
Teach a man to fish, he eats for life.

 

Maybe a previous owner did an engine swap?

Check around under the hood and look for any stickers, badges, enameled emblems or castings on the engine that say:

"Ferrari".

 

After you purchase a new vehicle there's no reason other than warranty work to ever return to the dealer. Quoted me over $1200 if I remember correctly to do diffs and transfer case fluids. I would not be surprised if they charged me and never even did the work anyway. I only called them to see how much money I just saved doing it myself. Under $200 for the diffs. T/C I'm doing at 50k. I despise car dealerships. Criminals imo.

 

That looks like a Bay Area, California price. Everything is overpriced here. I use an independent mechanic that charges about half what the dealer does.

 

At the end of the day, many (but certainly not all) dealer service departments make a lot of money off the uninitiated. I think calling this approach "criminal" is a bit harsh, but they definitely have no issue recommending stuff to people that are plausible needs at best.

 

Righty tighty lefty loosey.

 

The most expensive part of any stealership service is the floor mat inspection.

 

BOHICA.

 

I kind of agree with you. I started my military career as a helicopter mechanic so it's not like I don't know my way around a tool box so to speak. And I have done lots of that stuff myself with the exception of welding (I did a couple of practice/learning exercises and really stink at it). I also get the part not trusting the dealer - no way in hell i'm taking my truck to the dealer. I do trust the shop I go to though because I can see the work getting done. But the big thing for me is time and convenience vs $$$$.

Start with I don't have a lift - not a big deal for say an oil change or when I did the U-Bolt flip and changing cabin and engine filters is stupid easy, but the diffs xfer case, breaks I have done on an individual basis. Never the transmission, (which btw I guess I could do but it seems a little more tricky than just drain and refill - and yes I have seen the YouTube how to). Then there is changing the spark plugs (which is nothing like it was back in the day) - I just do not feel like spending half the day crawling around under the truck . Same with the power steering flush (I have done remove and replace little by little but that takes too long) and the shop has stuff to do it much faster.

So yeah I did pay $1340 for the 60K but added a few things like an alignment, pulling all the skid plates and cleaning them up find a rattle and a few other things so probably more like $1100 or $1200 maybe even less. Strip out what all the fluids and a few parts cost and what we are talking ~$500 in labor? Some of that labor cost is stuff I can't or don't feel comfortable doing myself (spark plugs - transmission). The rest is going for stuff that just made my life a lot easier and going to a good guy who I trust - so I am OK with it.

 

Not just California. It's the way of the world now...

wishing you all good tidings of corruption and greed

 

Getting ready for the 60K service for my 2018.

I actually just did the oil change on our RX350. Pretty much the same procedure. Easy and straightforward provided you have the basic tools.

What made it even easier are the following:

• Rhino Ramps
• Oil Drain Container
• Drain valve tool

I also installed the Fumoto Valve so that it would be even easier and less messy the next time.

Speaking of less messy ... I covered the pan area of the drain container with aluminum foil. Punched a hole for the drain hole. Opening up the vent on the top side seems to help speed up the oil drain into the container.

After the oil change, I folded up the foil along with the old filter, washer and O-rings and disposed of them.

Minimal clean-up on the drain container with shop/cleaning towels.

Will likely do the Taco in the next couple of weeks.

P.S., I had to use a 3 foot pole to act as a breaker bar to help release the round metal disc and the filter housing itself. They were definitely overtorqued by the dealership.

 

Hope that came with a happy ending

 

It's the really hard items like "Inspect proper installation of drivers floor mat" and "Change cabin air filter"where you need the dealer and they know it

(Anecdote: few months ago I was at the dealer getting state inspection and road-force balancing; poor guy in the waiting room was getting quoted ~$1,000 for freaking brakes for a Corolla . I could hear the guy giving him the safety speech... The guy concedes he will take pads on the front only for a few hundred. After the 3rd rejection the advisor say ok, but "You will be back in a few months and it will cost you even more and you will be placing safety at risk". What a cock; but he was obviously trained to do this.)

 

So much depends on how much and how you use your truck. I was talking to a guy the other day about his 2016 Taco that still has less than 50K on it and never takes it off the pavement and it is bone stock compared to my 2022 that has tires and suspension it was not really designed for and has gone over 60K not to mention gets beat to crap off road does lots of stop and go local driving mixed with a couple of long Interstate drive a month. I bet that guy with the 2016 could go 100K and never do any of the 60K diff x-mission etc. fluid changes spark plus etc. and as long as he was just doing the recommended 10K oil changes his truck will be in much better shape than mine at 100K and I'm doing all the scheduled maintenance plus changing the oil every 5K.

 

Sorry I didn't post all of the details.
Basically all fluids changed, Spark Plugs changed. Drive line bolts torqued, Battery Terminals cleaned, various filters changed. That's most all of anything significant.