I Learned My Lesson

I haven’t done chit to my 18 I got used I was anal about this stuff but after my pristine 08 was totaled at 200k by a kid running a light and T-boning me not so much.
If you enjoy spending time and doing it do it! If you’ve got other things you’d rather do do them!
I don’t mind the oil changes as much as rotating tires they are heavy!
But at least when I do it I know where to look because I did it!

 

$920 isn't too bad compared to what the toyota dealer here quoted my wife for the 90k mile $1,150 maintenance on our prius. We ended up finding an independent garage that would do the service for 1/2 of it. About 2 year's later the car has been running fine.

 

Dealerships are insane with their pricing, a lot of the stuff they do in 30/60/90k services is so easy and requires little technical ability to achieve. But it's almost like they charge at least 4 times what it's actually worth in labor. My mom has a Hyundai car and the dealers she takes hers to for service occasionally tries to talk her into changing the cabin air filter for a whopping $70. Requires 0 technical ability and a filter that cost about $8. None of us are onboard with their nonsense.

My greatest concern with my Tacoma is the sealed transmission, because it's probably one of the most difficult things to service. But it's actually of little concern because it's a transmission and it's sealed, all in all not a lot to worry about. Just complaints about the service prices we aren't paying

 

Ugh, I feel your pain that's tragic. I'm already too attached to mine, makes me sick just thinking about it! Matter of fact I was sickened after I hit a deer in my Taco only 2 months after I bought it. Luckily no serious damage and was able to get cosmetic repairs done in less than a month. Anyway, as much as I'm already babying it, it gives me anxiety worrying that the service isn't gonna be done right, so yep, if you do it yourself you know it's done right!

 

Buy those filters off Amazon and two 5qt jugs (~$25 each) of Mobil 1 and Wally World. You’ll have approx 4 quarts left for next change. Oil change will be approx $40 done by yourself.

the tranny drain and fill isn’t hard either… just need the procedure to get the atf fluid at the right temp to check the level. Everything else is easy… changing brake fluid, differentials, filters, etc.

 

I'm crying after paying $60.... poor me.

 

Another damn thing, I don't trust shops to remove the splash/skid plate and actually change the filter. First time I did my truck myself after the "free" dealer oil changes ran out, the bolts were so damn rusty, one was already halfway unbolted and frozen in the nut, another snapped off when removing it...I'll do it my own self and know the filter has been changed, and anti-seize is on the splash plate bolts. The tire rotation is the only thing I don't really care for doing myself anymore, but it's not that bad.

I need to change the trans and diff oil soon. I'll do that myself too.

 

It isn't that bad. I have done a full flush and fill using YouTube university to guide me. I flushed it by opening the return line and to dump 2 quarts at a time using the Taco's pump to push the fluid out then refilling in the pan. The only pain in the ass is if you don't have a scan.gauge.2 or something similar where you can see your trans temps. There is a procedure you can do that is well documented here and on YT where the vehicle will indicate when the vehicle is up to the temp you need to check it (106 deg F or thereabouts if I remember correctly. Of maybe it was 96 deg F.)

Shoot me a DM if you want a link to the vid that breaks down in painful detail what you need to do. It isn't overwhelming as long as you have basic mechanical aptitude, the desire to learn/do it yourself, and the time.

 

I used to own a Ford Super Duty with a powerstroke diesel. it took almost 15 quarts.

fuel filter $88.00 Can't remember what the oil filter cost. And then you got a water separation unit that also needs filter change.

 

Y’all wait and see what an engine replacement costs on this truck …. 30k … yea … 30k for the v6

 

But oil changes are an expected expense, the whole point of Toyotas is their trustworthy lifespan so while obviously it's gonna happen to somebody, I'd hope none of us are ever going to need to pay that 30k!

 

I feel that! Definitely a big fear putting your trust in anybody when it comes down to affecting the lifespan of your vehicle.

 

Here is a good read
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/over-1900-in-maintenance-at-35k-miles.805400/

 

Ah yes a thread of further evidence of $hit dealers say to pry more money from your pocket!

 

I used to do all my oil changes when I had my 2nd gen Tacoma. Took me all of 10 minutes with a Fumoto valve and the easy access to the filter on top of the engine.

With this truck it’s a much different story, with the skid plate and funky filter setup. Being that it’s a company vehicle and it doesn’t cost me a dime, I no longer do oil changes myself. Instead, I have a local shop I trust that charges me $100 (ouch!) but I know it’s done with TLC by the owner of the shop. I still do plugs and diff fluids etc myself every 60k miles…

 

I know what you mean, I had an '08 Super Duty diesel, it was a company truck, owned until '12, $300+ oil changes!

 

If you ask me changing spark plugs in this 3.5 looks more difficult that a simple transmission drain, and refill.

 

Another buddy of mine as an F550 diesel dump truck. You could spend half of your paycheck just on the amount of oil it takes.

 

Hah, who swaps engines these days.. yes I expect it to cost about what the vehicle costs. Heck getting a new head on my last Honda cost half of KBB at the time.

 

No this is actually completely not normal. I have no idea why it’s basically the msrp of a low level v6 truck. A crate corvette motor is 1/3 of the price