DIY ToyotaCare and Toyoguard Platinum

Excuse my rant.. wanted to see if anyone has come to a similar conclusion.

I’ve personally experienced extremely poor vehicle damaging workmanship from my dealer service department. After asking some folks for other dealer recommendations in the area I received mixed reviews.

So I did the math.

Toyota care (5, 10, 15, 20 thousand miles) really consists of tire rotations and two oil changes every 10k. I have a floor jack, power tools, and a torque wrench, the rotations are quick and easy. Oil change on average costs $50-60 for Mobil1 synthetic and a Toyota filter.

Toyoguard platinum adds two more oil changes and includes 3M clear bra on hood, mirrors, door edges, and handle areas. I would have chosen a truck without this option but I couldn’t find any trucks in the configuration I wanted in my state without this package. Thankfully I was able to negotiate out most of the cost of this ripoff package.

So that tallies up to 4 oil changes or about 200-240 dollars over 40k miles. I’m thinking about just doing it myself and keeping the truck out of the dealers hands as much as possible to prevent a quicklube jockey from messing up an easy job. Peace of mind doing it myself with attention to detail and no rush.

Thoughts?

 

No problem with DIY.

 

Really like your thinking, as long as you are capable of doing this yourself. I think you are on the right path. The last oil change at the dealer I paid for on my Gen 3 was over $80.00

 

One could say I’m leaving $200+ on the table but imo that is cheap for peace of mind knowing the truck has been well maintained. The plan is to keep the truck for the long haul.

 

Wow, sounds they really mark up the labor charges.