Are my brakes abnormal?

What kind of tires you have installed? 2011 and 2021 both stop with no issues. Brakes feel different than the 2021 4Runner though. I press the 4Runner and they seem to respond faster so I have to recalibrate my foot when I ride the runner.

 

I think Toyota trucks are notorious for having mushy brakes. mine (i have a 2012, albeit) are definitely mushier that I would like (but hey its a truck, I'll live), and my Father-in-Law jokes about having to "throw the anchor out" to get his Land Cruiser to slow down. Its definitely something I've heard complaints about.

 

Honestly, I think I'm fine with how the brakes are - my wife kind of just freaked out when I told her my highway stories and she really wanted me to get the brakes "fixed"...

We were driving home today, debating how much I got ripped off from the service center when I "saw a puppy run out in the road". I slammed on the brakes at 30mph and she audibly screamed from the deceleration shock. We haven't picked up the brakes topic since.

 

I think they're factory, 245/75/r16 sports tires. I'm planning to upgrade to 265/75/16 ATs after summer.

 

There’s far more pressure needed to apply brakes in the taco than the rav. I just had a rav for a week as a rental. The brake pedal has far less initial travel before the brakes engage on the rav. Got my truck back yesterday and that was the first thing I noticed leaving the dealer was how much more travel and pressure I had to use vs the rav. Toyotas brakes feel wooden across the board, just more so on their trucks. They’re mushy then bite. Plus far heavier vehicle. And no idea what they charged you for after the washer fluid. Banana scented tire air 18$. Keep driving it and see how it feels

 

I wouldn't say it's abnormal. You're driving a truck and weight makes a big difference.

As for the disk vs drum brakes. My understanding is they're relatively equal when set up properly. However, disks handle heat and contaminants/moisture better. But the vast majority of your braking is done with your front brakes anyway so they're almost a non-factor in these trucks unless you're having to ride the brakes. In that case you'll likely run into other issues too.

 

After looking at the bill, looks like the cabin air filter was changed with a deodorizer/ sanitizer sprayed in the fan/ squirrel cage [up sell] we did that if asking and showing the customer the mouse nest on it. Some of the other items were up sells also, several of the treatments come with cash spiffs paid to the tech and the service writer. When you were told you got a deal it was probably used w/o your approval and recover of cost. Anyway enjoy the new truck.

 

Enhance is when they use a blanket over your fender to keep their belt buckles from scratching the paint.
Premium Engine Treatment is where two technicians stand back and brag about how sexy your engine is.
Multi Max Clean is when the oil change tech wipes the oil spill off the truck's frame.

You're very lucky they didn't charge a fee for wiping the old oil off the dipstick.

When you don't have cars to sell, you make your money off service.

 

Yeah I am super skeptical about the $600 "deal"... I called and asked them to do a scheduled 40k maint and they gave me the 285 quote. I dunno what they decided to do instead? Whatever... I'm just happy to drive it. I'm not sure how long I'll wait until I pay for a maintenance again.

 

Soooo.....$115 give or take of complete and total horseshit.

Not just clean....MULTI MAX CLEAN!

 

You paid $300 for an oil change that is advertised anywhere from $49.95–99.99 this has nothing to do with SF.

 

10k miles per the owners manual

 

No no no, you have it all wrong. You forgot the privilege I had of sitting in the waiting room for nearly 4 hours!

 

Try out an “express” certified dealer they are supposed to be around 1hr for service.

 

Thanks, I will do that next time. I'm kind of pissed at myself now that I blindly accepted the costs. I had good experiences with this service center with my RAV4, barely costing my anything since I had toyota care. I'm going to see if they will tell me what ENHANCE and all that crap is and why I paid for it. @#$%

 

Okay so I spoke to my account guy on the phone and according to him what happened was he "entered the wrong service" to be done, and apparently had a "Big 10k" ordered... Now apparently that service would have cost a lot more for me, but since I had the previous quote, he basically just reduced the labor down to $85 to make it fit.

Still skeptical, I asked okay so what extras exactly were done on the truck?

He said:

1 AC Odor treatment
2 They added an outer tube on AC lines to keep it cooler
3 Cleaned the throttle body and mass air flow
4 Crank case cleaning

Those honestly still seem like things that are superfluous to my needs, but whatever I guess. I'm over caring about it now. If they really were working on the car for more than an hour, then the $85 labor is absurdly low. Over all it was my fault for accepting the $285 quote over the phone for a 40k service without first confirming exactly what they would be doing for me. Lesson learned. I'll report back after the trip to Seattle next week about how the brakes felt on a longer stretch.

 

I one goes into a dealership for service understand most service writers are an commission, the higher the ticket cost the more they make. Someone mentioned an express service, it just means they are more focused on fluid changes. Also possiblity spotting of the bigger obvious issues.

 

I would suggest first adjusting the rear brake shoes. Dust buildup will get bad enough to make them very ineffectual. At 42K miles you're overdo.

Next, check your pads. At this mileage, they shouldn't bee to bad in thickness, but, you might want to pull the pads off and check the surface. If the surface of the pad is not somewhat smooth, throw a new set in. Also look at the rotors as well. This mileage again is normally too low for front replacement, but you never known how previous driver drove.

Finally, bleed the brake system. I suspect this and the rear drum dust is likely the issue you are feeling. These items are all within most DIYers abilities.

 

You got the $30 "ENHANCE"?