quoted ~$400 for MT & 4wd fluid service at small Toyota shop, is that excessive? JiffyL wants $450

yes! i looked again and there were 2 drain plug gaskets listed on the parts, so probably both for that which is not as bad a price overall

its gotta be the pricey gear lube oil driving this cost up not the labor it's only half hour each for them it would take me 3x that amount of time and possibly much more!
don't they make this out of crude oil? or maybe its the synthetic cost i really don't know about the differences

crude oil is half what it was at the beginning of the year, unless its made of some other stuff

 

Remember product in the warehouse or the shop is not going to be sold cheaper just because oil prices tank

Besides most lubes and bought in bulk much easier then a million gallon or 5 gallon pails

 

that stuff must've been made when crude oil was at $100 lol

 

235 is not alot for labor on a 3-4 hr job....

 

I’ve never had it take that long to do it myself. Sorry, I was just basing it off that. I usually swap all my fluids when I buy a used car. Jack it all the way up and just start moving front to back

 

Don't forget if you are a diy'er - you have to dispose of all the old fluids. May be worth paying a professional just to not have to deal with any of the hassle. Plus you need all of the Toyota crush gaskets, a torque wrench, etc. One more thing - consider using only synthetic gear oils. For all four holes (man xmission, front and rear diffs and xfer case), $400 for parts and labor and fluid disposal might not be a bad deal.

 

Sometimes friends with tools/garages/YouTube can help out. I have "assisted" others with work on their vehicles so long as they take their oil/coolant/gear oil to a reputable recycler with them.

 

its always a bonus when you are not located in a tacoma craptown lol

in my TW region the last state local reply was from a 3rd gen just over 2 MONTHS ago!!
and 1st gens very much are a rare breed in these mid west parts too, very few if any really seem to care its frustrating

 

Better to quote the job on the high side then low only to discover it takes two hours fighting to get the fill plug out of the transfer case.

Customers like when I tell them the job is cheaper then quoted not so much when 2 hours more labor needs added .

 

that is probably why one shop quoted me 'possibly' 7 hours to remove the bed on my truck while i was recently shopping around for that!
if it takes them less time on my dime are they going to adjust down that cost to me or continue to charge the $700+ to remove that and that's not including reinstallation
at least they were honest and told me to go to a body shop where the rates are likely much lower than theirs is
then i went to a few body shops to check and they refuse the work they just don't do that stuff there wth
its an endless circle with that monster for another day sooner than later

 

@GQ7227 here's a real world cost example for you:

I recently rebuilt the manual transmission in my truck, bad move. I've never tackled a job that big and when I got it all back together 5th wouldn't stay in gear, it just popped out as soon as you let go of the clutch. I knew it must of have been something I did wrong but admitted defeat and started calling around to transmission shops for quotes on having them tear it apart, fix my fork up, and reinstall.

Every shop said around 800 to 1k just to R+R the trans and bench time would be additional. Found a shop way out of my way that said he thinks he could do the whole job for 1.2k so I limp it there. Now the total is up to 1.8k +tax which I would've paid to shop down the street.

Point is I went with the guy who had the "lowest price" and now that the total kept creeping up I feel worse than if I had gone into it being told a high number right off the bat. Same end result between the shops but now I feel slighted instead of excited

 

yes i would not think it takes that long either if you have multiples draining at the same time, unless this fluid is like molasses and actually takes that long to fully drain out?!?

are you able to jack that up high enough to be able to walk on your knees underneath so can have free use of both hands at once? that could possibly work for me but i honestly have no clue how to safely get the truck up that high yet, I have stock suspension no lift so its a rather tight fit as is on a shoulder under there. but most likely that still would not work well for me not being able to see what i was doing if its above my eye level

 

looking at the outlays i have figured on this truck to keep in tip top for the next year, and combined with last year, its nearly $10,000

the heck if something like the A/C, wheel bearings or some other non-routine stuff goes bad on top of all that lol

 

$10k a year in maintenance? You could trade for a new truck every year and it would cost you less...

 

I have never done it on my truck yet, but with everything else, it goes pretty quickly.

drain oil, swap oil filter replug, torque, move back to transmission remove upper plug first (to make sure it comes out so you can refill), then lower plug, drain. I actually refill before moving in to diff, but diff I do the same. Get out from under the truck, refill oil.

I just go front to back and get everything done on the underside and then move up top.

as far as height is concerned, yes....not sure about in a garage, but you can get the truck high enough. Truck will need to be level for transmission and diff, so all wheels off the ground. I usually pull the wheels off and put them under the vehicle with me as a back up for the jacks

 

that is basically non-routine shit to keep it going near tipTop while the engine is still purring like a feline
i did not include timing belt & water pump in the guesstimate but I did include new different tires
you being from Iowa should know that trucks of this age in this area soon turn to a pile of junkyard trash at this age

non-routine meaning anything not on the scheduled 5k 15k 30k intervals

 

$10k is a nice down payment on a new truck that is Maintenance covered for 2 years / 25,000 miles

 

I can't speak for the OP but some of us are gluttons for punishment. I'd rather drop 10k in an older truck and have something close to how it was rolling off the showroom floor vs. 10k as only a down payment on a new truck that has all them fancy bells and whistles.

I don't like bells and whistles, they detract from the driving experience

 

You have mentioned that to me in the past!!

 

When my truck was new it had all the bells and whistles except for a sunroof
Lol
I never had AC in a vehicle before