Dealership parts, dealership service cost

I just replaced 1 coil on my 2010 Toyota Tacoma truck. The cost for the part was$122 and labor was $385.
That was just for 1 coil..
They are recommending several things that I should do in order to get service on this truck and I'm going to tell you what they are and the prices of them.
Fuel Injector service $157
Fuel optimizer service $214
Cooling system service $247
Brake fluid exchange $169
( What a joke)
Transmission fluid exchange $450!
Throttle body service $102..
I'm totally tripped up over these prices. Let me know if I have this wrong but the throttle body service is just spraying off the throttle body with cleaner correct? My transmission is sealed I understand that it needs to be replaced or maintain but how hard is this for me to do myself? At $450 I just can't imagine it being the most difficult thing in the world. That is highway robbery in my opinion. But I don't know much about sealed transmissions or how to even check it.
Brake fluid are you kidding me? They want to charge $170 to change my brake fluid. Do they even realize how much brake fluid cost? At least that's something I can do myself. But $170? I think they want you to go bankrupt just to keep the upkeep of your car up... Okay which cooling system are they talking about wanted to charge $250 to do and what does that intel? Please if anyone can help me with these questions please reply.
What do they do for the fuel injection service and then what do they do for the fuel optimizer service? Is this something they just do by pulling a solution into the gas to clean it up and the injectors as well? What exactly do they do for these two fuel services? Cuz at $157 $214 is it something I can do myself for much less or is the service really worth that amount of money? Please help

 

well. You can also pay me to drive over to your place to do your laundry and make you a sandwich.

Fuel stuff at best you can run a good quality can poured into a full tank. Doesn’t have to be more than that.

Is the other stuff good to do? Yes. That doesn’t specify WHO does it.
It can be DIY’d.
It doesn’t have to be done TODAY.
You can walk away. Decline those things. Do them later. Week. Month. Doesn’t matter.
This gives you time to figure out how to DIY, if you want to, which will be cheaper.
Or find someone else who can do it or help you do it that is cheaper. Dealer is the most expensive.

 

That's funny...I ran my own maid service for 17 years. I charged$25 hr. And that's not highway robbery..
Thanks about the fuel cleaning info. It's exactly what I was thinking. $10 fuel cleaner vs $ hundreds at the dealer.. But what I wanna know is what exactly do the mechanics do at the dealer for this service.

 

I mean many mechanics work for $25/hr as well. Up to $50 on their own.

the problem at a dealer is if the mechanic gets $20, the other $180 goes somewhere else.

the fuel stuff simply isn’t needed because it’s an older design of fuel injector (port injected) that doesn’t really need it.

and the truck likely needs other things more than that.

BG is a good additive. So is Jectron and Ventil Sauber from LM. Any of those usually can be bought at an auto parts store. Even Amazon nowadays probably.


The quote they gave you tells me a knucklehead worked on it because that’s all basic shit. Or maybe they want to buy themselves more time to inspect it for real work. In which case they could’ve just quoted an inspection.

it’s not basic flushes that scare me. Its rear axle seals leaking. Flushes are easy

trans you can service that. Same for brake flush. And coolant replacement. Rear diff fluid even.
It’s gonna take you parts, time, tools. A place to do it.

each job has DIY articles on how to do it online including here on this forum and YouTube.

luckily these trucks have been around long enough where people took the time to write DIY’s, if you don’t have the repair manual.
Versus something brand new 2023/2024 where people haven’t gotten their hands on it yet

throttle body, yeah, you can take it off, clean it, reset it.

They probably DO do a real fuel service
Tool, fluid poured in, hooked up to the engine, run it like an hour with a vent hose hooked up to the exhaust
but the thing is on these trucks it’s not really needed

it’s more of a thing on certain direct injected (newer) motors but even then, if a DI motor has carbon buildup over time, it usually has to get taken apart to be cleaned by hand

the trans isn’t sealed

I would just wait for an injector to fail (it probably won’t)
Because short of replacing them whether they fail or not
The other option to service them is pull all 6 out and mail them off to an injector shop.
I’ve done that on another car. They do ultrasonic cleaning, flow test and match, replace tiny filters in the injectors
Only did it because I had time to kill. It was a German project car (more maintenance intensive and complicated) that I had taken apart for a week so I had the time

driving this truck regularly I don’t have two weeks to let it sit dead so I can take out my still working injectors and mail them off for a service

some stuff you don’t check. You just go based off age and mileage. If it says to do every 40k. Etc. Brake flush is as often as every year or two ideally.
Well brake fluid and steering, yes you can look at it. Coolant not so much. Nor ATF

I bet you some of those techs would be happy to work on your truck themselves for $50/hr. Not saying that you have to.
At some point in the future I’m gonna have to work on my rear drum brakes and axle seals. It’s a PITA. I will be considering paying someone else $50/hr to do that shit. But not $200

 

Thats why they are called stealerships. Unless your car is still under warranty, or you have stupid tattooed on your forehead stay away from them. Those CSRs are there to sell you their products not sell you what you really need. They are told everyday what to push and sell. I used to work for dealerships, and it made me sick watching customers take these guys for their word and just fork over money often for repairs that were never done. I saw new parts in the trash bins that customers paid for.

 

I just checked the price of a Denso (OEM) coil for a 4.0 engine on rockauto.. $38.39
There are tons of youtube videos to show folks how to do simple repairs. You can save alot of money by doing your own repairs.
Buy a repair manual, watch videos, ask questions on this site, but most of all STAY AWAY FROM THE STEALERSHIPS!!

 

Haha!
I got quoted $1,600 to change 1 upper control arm.
I wanted to drop the uca on their foot.
They always try to upsell you that your car is BrOkEn must fix!
I always argue, got any photos of the damaged or degrading part? Usually the answer is “TrUsT Me bro”.

Here is a bunch of reading material for you to decide if you want to do it. Some people don’t like doing the fluid change coz of the cleanup but will be happy to change nuts and bolts of stuff.

It’s up to you wether you think their price is worth the time for you to DIY it.
I bet you can get a local mechanic or even a friend to do it for wayy cheaper.

Fuel Injector service
Does not need to be done!
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/when-should-i-do-a-fuel-injection-service.613444/

Fuel optimizer service
(WTF is that? The $30 bottle of fuel additive I put in once in a while?)

Cooling system (AKA coolant flush) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=THcMQbOSuZo

Brake fluid exchange
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jpiXOBRkZs4

Transmission fluid flush
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2R9h0kR2EnE

Throttle body https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3B-a8WJtd8w

 

Here's my take on it. Yes, the prices are high and they're all probably dealer-standard prices. Yes, you could do these yourself, just take your time and read up on how to do each one.
My wife's hobby is embroidery work on a stand-alone single-head machine. She puts some of the easy designs on towels and tries to sell them for $6/$7 when the going rate is $10/$12 at most craft shows. And some people complain the price is too high.
Now let's look at the cost:
A plain white dish towel on sale currently cost $1.33. It's the best she can do.
A simple design she purchases off the internet can cost about $2/$4 on sale. She has made a few of her own designs which she has spent numerous hours on.
To just set the machine up for each simple design can be up to 15 minutes.
Run the machine for simple design can take up to 20 minutes
Then there is clean up.
The current minimum wage is $15
So is the $6/$7 for an embroidered towel cost too much? You do the math. Even if she does the same simple design on multiple towels there is still a partial set-up.
One of our friends asked how much it would cost her to have one of her designs they liked put on the back of her husbands' shirt and she told them $20. That ended it. She would have had about two hours into it. And this same person is a retired hairdresser and she has no problem charging what she charges for hair cut and perm in retirement.
I told her the next time someone says her towels are too expensive tell them how much time it takes and if they would work for nothing.
I'm glad it is just a hobby and she's not trying to make a living off it.
Just about every shirt I own has some type of embroidery work on it.
What is your time worth?
Yes, I know this could be considered unrelated. It's just another view of what's your time worth.
Currently, I'd do the work myself because I have the time and ability, and don't mind getting dirty.

 

It’s unfortunate but a service writer will see a female and get dollar sign eyes.

Dealerships are notoriously more expensive for parts and service.

The trick is to find a honest independent shop. I would stay away from the quick oil change type places. They’re pressured to sell you services most of which are absolutely unnecessary. Then make it sound like the wheels will fall off if you decline recommendations. There’s probably good honest dealerships but I’ve never found one. You’re going to have to do your homework. Ask friends and family. Dig through yelp reviews. You could also post your general location asking other members for recommendations.

 

Flushing brake fluid has value
Trans fluid service has value
Draining/filling cooling system and cleaning the throttle body should be done from time to time

Pass on the others..

 

I wonder if it’s worth to replace all 6 coils on all of our trucks at this age and miles after seeing this

I mean if I have a coil fail in a week (knock on wood) I’ll probably want to slap 6 new ones in for peace of mind and rule them out of any future issues
Seeing as the other 5 (if one fails) are the same age and miles at that one and theoretically nothing to say they won’t also fail just like one

maybe it’s a rare thing though because I’ve never seen posts on here about bad coils

 

I always give customers the option to replace one or all of them. Less chance of it looking like a comeback if/when another one fails

 

Automotive mechanic labor rates are around $75/hr on average. This is just the cost to have a skilled tech on premises who can spend 8-10/hrs a day fixing random things that come in.

The dealership you went to has to pay taxes, salaries, and benefits for its staff. The land it occupies has property tax. Insurance costs money.

And this is before you factor in profit margin so the dealership can stay in business and some day grow.


You can find an indie mechanic in a smaller shop who might charge $60/hr and has less overhead, but you might also have to wait a few weeks to get booked. Indie mechanics will need to make their margin on the parts they sell, so don't assume you'll pay the lowest Amazon price you can find and only pay labor.

 

I am a ford dealer tech and our prices are way under that. I think a throttle cleaning is $50, kind of a pain on turbo motors, I think trans flush is around $200, which does include 12 quart bottles of motorcraft trans fluid.
I would not pay a dealer any of those prices, find a indy shop who can do this, just make sure they use correct compatible trans fluid.

 

Out here it's way more than 75 per hour. We've been at 175-180 for a few years now. Dealerships are over 200$

 

And I'm booked out 1-2 weeks on average

 

Which explains the term “You want it when?”.

 

bro what

average mechanic pay is not $75

shops are not $60

dealer. $230+ around there usually depending on brand and area. Chicagoland for some reason charges like $330+

Indy, $100+
A dude, himself, $50

been that way for years and will probably stay that way

 

Some dealerships are charging 25% OVER full retail for parts.

They call it a customer walk in price.

The dealer prices are already inflated (that is why most of them match aftermarket body parts prices so the can get a sale) but they clearly take advantage of people who don't know the business.

Stealership is 100% correct.