Thoughts on using ToyotaCare?

I have a '23 TRD OR. It's about 8 months old with 4k miles. I have searched it, I'm aware I don't get an oil change until 12 months or 10k miles. Is it even worth my time to have them rotate the tires, take a look around and maybe top off the blinker fluid? The only motivation I can see is just having it on record they did the scheduled maintenance while it's still under warranty in case something weird happens. Thoughts?

 

Just do it. Free blinker fluid is always a plus.

 

Do it. You could schedule the six month/ 5,000 mile one now. By time it is past due.

 

I would never take my vehicle to a stealer for basic work. The bottom of the ladder person does the oil changes and rotations. That aslo goes for fast lube places.

 

I wouldn’t stretch oil changes to 10k
Too many Toyota technicians advise 5k

 

They are still more experienced than me (and most), who does 2-3 oil changes a year not counting the Bad Boy mower. They definitely do not care though I will concede that fact. They're more likely to forget to tighten the filter/various nuts where we are more OCD about that.

 

There is no reason to limit oil changes to 5,000 miles if you use a top quality oil, if you want to buy the cheapest oil you can find then 5,000 miles is your limit.

I use only Redline oils in my vehicles, yes it is more expensive, but Redline is a Group V Ester base synthetic oil. My advice is to only use true Group IV PAO synthetic and Group V Ester synthetic oils, 10,000 miles is not a problem for either.

As for dealer technicians they are trying to get vehicles into the service bays so they can make money. Once they get your vehicle into a bay that is when the hard sell for other services start and 99% of what they trying to sell you is not needed.

The best maintained vehicles are owned by those who do their own maintenance, when you do the work yourself you know it was done with care and it was done right and no one is trying to sell you services you don't need.

Sadly today most people working at dealerships are parts changers because they don't understand the electronic systems in todays cars, even factory techs struggle to help a dealer solve many problems.

 

yes I would have everything documented anything goes wrong you have proof that it was serviced . Just find a dealership that u trust .I do my oil changes every 5k I live in az so a lot of dust .

 

I did my own oil and filter at 5K, then let the dealer do the 10K “free” one, then did my own at 15K, etc.

I am noting my oil changes on the Toyota maintenance record in the Toyota app, but, as you said, I thought it would be better to have the dealer services on the record as well.

Despite what others have experienced, I think it is a good idea to build a decent relationship with your dealer. This way they might be more inclined to go to bat for you in the event of a warranty issue.

I wouldn’t let them take advantage of me, nor pay for services I don’t need, but for stuff like this I’d bring it it. That said, I’d also “trust but verify” and check the truck over before driving off the lot. The tech doing an oil change at the dealer isn’t likely to be their most tenured mechanic.

 

If you have a good dealer, I wouldn't hesitate to accept toyotacare. After all you paid for it.

 

I agree with all of this and it mirrors my practice. In addition, I remove my skid plate before I go to the dealership. I have heard too many stories of them stripping the bolts, probably because they don’t take the time to hand thread first.

 

You'd be surprised. I cannot say I've ever had my dealership try to sell me something I didn't need. When I was younger I'd go to some of those quick oil change places. They definitely looked for any reason to sell me something else beyond oil changes.

I've also had my dealership correctly diagnose issues that I couldn't locate, even with help from here. They fixed said issue without shotgunning parts at it. That's not to say shitty dealerships don't exist. But don't discourage people from going to the dealership because of your assumptions about them. I can guarantee the dealer also knows more about those electronics than the average home mechanic.

There's nothing wrong with doing things yourself, don't get me wrong. But what you're claiming about dealer techs just isn't true. Especially not "99% of the time."

 

Everyone starts somewhere. That doesn't automatically mean they're incompetent.

 

You paid for ToyotaCare, use it.

 

Yeah, I hear that we all paid for Toyota care so we should be using it

I wish it wasn’t such a pita to take the truck in for that service, but I have to leave it for the whole day, pay for Uber or get a ride back and forth. I’ll pay for somebody else to do it when I can’t get it done myself.

Plus, the last time I brought my car into the dealership, the service advisor yelled across the service floor at me, telling me that my wheels work knock offs and not actual Trd wheels; I bought them from Toyota, so they were legit, but what was he trying to prove by announcing this to all of the customers on the floor?

Later in the day service advisor calls me tell me my car is been an accident. When I asked what was going on, and if everybody was OK, he told me that him and the mechanic noticed that the paint on the panels don’t match and so my car must’ve been an accident; I was the original owner, if it was in an accident and repaired, It was done before I bought it, brand new from THAT dealership. I told him whether or not the car was in an accident, had nothing to do with the repair that he was working on, and it was also none of his business.

In the same conversation, the service advisor also told me that they had already performed an unauthorized service on my vehicle. He stated “it was about time we charge some warranty work“. When I told the service advisor, I wasn’t interested in being part of them using me for warranty work when I wasn’t there for that, and no one called me to make sure I was OK before doing that work, he told me the work had been done, too late!

This has been my experience with car dealers and why I typically stay away, unless absolutely necessary for warranty work.

If I really want to be treated badly, I’ll just start dating again.

 

A good dealer will do the second care job instead of the first if your mileage is low.

 

Agreed. but a novice mechanic will make mistakes so minimize the risk

 

I wasn't trying to start the debate over if I should change my oil every 5-10K miles. I changed it at 1k because it's a new truck. I'll go with 5k from here on out. That's my choice. People can do whatever they want. I was basically just trying to ask if I should let those monkeys f3cking a football work on the truck just for the purpose of saying I fulfilled the warranty obligations and have it on file. I simply don't know if I have a good dealership. I've bought a few trucks there. They havn't screwed up anything yet. I'll do it and it'll probably be fine. Or not, and then I can get the finest EV money can buy...

 

my apologies I do believe I was the first one to lead your thread astray.

Personally, I will only use the dealership for warranty or recall work. If I can do it myself, I will especially something is minors oil changes.

 

If you have bought a few trucks there - you should have a gut feeling about if they are good/bad/half assed..
Since you characterized them as "monkeys f3cking a football"
I feel like this should answer your question
IF this is how you feel about them - nope - don't let em touch it..
Keep good records and just keep moving forward


I'm not in warranty coverage but I keep a piece of paper in the truck [and my car] with the rest of the service records [tires purchases, receipts for parts]; I make a note with the date and mileage every time I do some work along with any issue I may have found.. [oil was extra dirty or clutch fluid took 2x flush to be clean]
They are all contemporaneous notes and should stand up to scrutiny if need be.