Maintenance Schedule

Yes checking, not replacing.

 

I love the "It doesn't make sense financially for me to do my own work" comment. So you don't like getting your hands dirty. Got it, there's no shame in that. For me my time is worth more then the time I would spend wasting it at the Dealer. Plus you do realize you are on a forum mostly filled by DIYer's, right?

As others have said, you agreed to the 'unnecessary stuff'. It's not like they forged your name on the Work Order. In the future, if you're not willing to take the time to do your own maintence or to find a local wrench you can trust (they are out there), I suggest you at least take the time to read-through the manual and see what is actually required at your given time or mileage.

Don't feel too bad though, when I was in College I used to frequent a local Toyota Dealer who had no problem lifting $100 bills out of my pocket for a bunch of 'recommended services' on my T100. After a visit or two I decided that maybe there was something to be said for learning how to work on my own vehicle. It's a gift which has served me well.

 

Brought my Taco in to local dealer a couple of years ago to have exhaust gasket and slave cylinder replaced. Was very explicit as to exactly what I wanted done. "Replace slave cylinder and front exhaust gasket". Dropped back later that day to pick up truck and service advisor showed me bill for $85 for diagnosis which was "Slave cylinder and front exhaust gasket replacement required $450 for parts + labour". After a discussion as to why they didn't complete my request they also informed me they wouldn't release my truck because it didn't have a valid inspection sticker. Informed them Truck was registered in a province that don't require inspections. Paid the $85 and left. Suspect this dealer would be a great one to have routine maintenance completed but I will never find out.

 

Going 10k miles between oil changes is only if you drive long trips on the highway only, so pretty much no one qualifies. Short trips, idling, stop and go driving in traffic (aka city driving) requires a 5k miles oil change interval. It's in the owner's manual.

Diff fluid every 15k is also wrong.

 

Seems like lots of people gave you answers that weren't really helpful, maybe bc its a question that's subjective to each person. As for the collective of the "majority" of Tacoma owners, I'd say there's no compiled list of extra things most people do, bc the majority don't do whats recommended in the owners manual to begin with, which is enough. That being said, take the time to familiarize with the provided maintenance schedule for your vehicle, decide whats logical for you to do or not do yourself (its okay to have zero mechanical skills or desire to want to do things yourself, if you're okay with the tradeoff of outrageous prices for sometimes simple things), and just stick around here to find all kinds of ways to spend extra money on things not needed

 

Eh, to be fair, brake fluid absorbs water and causes pitting corrosion in your brake system. It may not say it in the manual, but my Subaru has a brake flush every 40K I think. Of course, in my GMs they went decades and never had a flush, but eventually parts needed replacement.

I don't have a list. I just follow what's in the maintenance and warranty guide for the most part.

 

FWIW. The service interval to replace the brake fluid in my 2nd Gen is at 60,000 miles.

Easy task. Suck out the fluid from the Master Cylinder reservoir, fill with new, begin bleeding at the right rear. Watch for fluid color change and keep the reservoir full. Bleed all 4 wheels.

I did the same service on our '02 Chevy Trailblazer in 2021. I noticed the OEM fluid had changed to a green color. I also replace the reservoir. I can only attribute the "green" color to water absorption and algae growth. Yeah, I know....it was original fluid and should have been changed ages ago.