ToyotaCare

I have about 3700 miles on my 2014 so I will be coming up on my 5000 mile service. I've always done my own maintenance and I'm leaning towards skipping the free ToyotaCare service and still doing it myself. Anyone else done the same or do you think that is foolish?

 

I used it and got a free oil change at 5k. No problems, people were nice and quick. Also the waiting room was nice, free soda, coffee, and popcorn. Not sure what your dealer will have though.

I don't see why you would do it when you could get it done for free.

 

go get it done for free. just check the oil level and that they used a fresh filter before you leave the lot. nothing wrong with $free.95, but nothing wrong with double checking either

 

I did it a couple of times on my 2011 when I had it. They are suppose to rotate the tires along with changing the oil and check all the filters etc. I marked the tires with chalk just to make sure that they rotated them. I set in the waiting room (nice room I might add) for over an hour and a half. They finished my truck and handed me a piece of paper stating everything they did to my truck. Of course everything was checked as they "checked" or completed the job. I asked the manager if they rotated the tires and he said yes. I told him that they didn't rotate them and he got a little irritated with me for questioning him. That was until I showed him that I had marked the tires with chalk and they were still on the exact same fucking wheel. He said they must have accidentally forgot to rotate them. I noted that on the sheet that it was marked that they were.

Now... benefit of the doubt kicked in and he took it back and rotated the tires. Jump forward 5000 miles. Same exact fucking thing happened again. Same manager same everything. Benefit of the doubt is gone at this point. I asked did you guys even change the oil or replace the filter????

From that point on I will never take my truck in for regular maintenance. As I've always said, Free isn't free if they fuck it up or don't even do it.

 

I also will be coming up on my first oil change.
I will be getting the free one.

 

Good luck.

 

Add the fact that I live 40 minutes away, it is more easy for me to schedule my time to do the maint.

80 minutes for travel, 60 minutes to do the maintenance. I can do everything the dealer does in 60.

I'll be the first to admit that having your oil changed is cheaper than doing it yourself in most cases, but I like to work on my own vehicles.

 

It varies from dealer to dealer. Some dealerships will follow Toyotacare to the T, while others slack off. I say, give it a try and if they do crappy work, don't take your truck there anymore.

 

A few things i have learned about toyotacare...

Always double check that they did the work.

-took mine in for service and asked them to check my dome light for a short...called told me it was ready and all they had done was checked dome light. Took it back and questioned them on it got a bunch of grief blah blah blah and a free tank of gas.

If you dont let them do everything that is listed on your maintenance schedule they will cancel your free oil changes.

And after your 5th service only your oil changes are free...ie they change your oil for free and you have to pay them dealer prices for everything else listed on the maintenance plan plus labor.

 

I already replaced the stock tires, wonder if that will be an excuse not to rotate them.

 

I would say yes. Hell.... they didn't even rotate my stock tires I can't imagine them rotating non stock tires.

 

Thats how i found out all my info....

Asked them not to rotate the tires due to putting a set on the day before. Took me back to the shop manager or whomever and said they would be happy to cancel my toyotacare if i didnt have everything on the list done....cant even change your own damn airfilter. They want you to pay them 80 to do it.

Im sure dealers will vary on there rules though but mine didnt...

 

If you're close to the dealer have them do it, just make sure you mark the filter with something so you know it was changed, and mark the tires if you want to make sure they were rotated.

 

I fell for their line of "crap".... and had the first 4 "free" oil changes done by them...no tire rotation cuz I do that every fall and spring (winter tires)... After the 3rd oil change that showed too much oil on the stick...(3/8" over filled)..I finally got fed up and made them drain some to get it to the mark....

I've done all of my oil changes since and they are spot on... The dealer overfilled my truck for 3 oil changes...

I cannot trust that kind of stupidity.... especially after I called them on it at the 2nd change..."I'm sure we put the right amount in, don't worry about it"...

They are a bunch of dumb asses with kids working on your truck...that's why you can't go in there to see what they are doing to it...

DO NOT TRUST THEM.....

 

Toyota's free oil changes don't align with my schedule or maintenance preferences. I don't want to use the oil they do and their intervals don't match my preferences. I change oil and rotate tires on my vehicles twice a year in the Spring and Fall and that corresponds to about 4K to 6K miles on my primary vehicles. The truck isn't a primary commuting vehicle, so it will have less mileage. I use synthetic oil and OEM filters and am very comfortable with the tasks. I document what I do and realize I'm taking a risk during the warranty period. But, I still sleep well at night knowing exactly what's been done, with what and when. According to Toyota's schedule, I'd likely only get two free services during the warranty anyway. I know this isn't necessarily for everyone and don't hold anyone else's preferences against them. Just be safe and comfortable with what you do.

 

Same here. I had my wife take the FR-S in right at 5k miles and the all but refused to do it. She had them call me and I told them they would do it and that I would never let a vehicle go over 5k miles without a oil change. They said they don't change the FR-S but every 7500 miles. Even with Synthetic (which is what I put in my truck) I still never go over 5k miles. I might be wasting money but it makes me feel better and sure as hell doesn't hurt anything. I'll never let them touch the FR-S again also.

 

You will get a mixed bag when asking if the first free 25k is worth taking it in over peace of mind doing it yourself.

And it depends on your dealership. Some aren't worth the shit on a boot and others are great.

Me, my dealer service departments is fantastic. They have me out in 45 min to an hour max on a weekday during the early afternoon, and they DO rotate my tires and seem to do everything else right.

But I am also a college student living in a tight city apartment complex so the dealer is more convenient for me at the moment. Once the 25k is up, I'll be glad to do it myself.

 

Time is money, and I hate the waiting game at the dealership. So I do it myself and know it'll be done right with my choice of oil

 

I'm going to do mine on my own. I know it will be done, and done right, because I did it. I'll be using full synthetic Mobil 1 and asking the dealer for a free filter instead of the free change. If they give it to me, great... if not, fuck 'em.

 

I had a similar dilemma with my wife's FJ.
We bought it used at our local VW dealership and they said that the first oil change was free. I like free. I was worried about them changing the oil due to it being a 2011 fj cruiser(cartridge based filter). I figured I would give them the benefit of the doubt and allow them to change it for free.
My wife brings the paper work from the oil change home and they put in 5W30 instead of 0W20. The oil filler cap even has 0W20 marked on it, and I had asked for it when I dropped it off. I had to get in touch with the dealership, they offered to fix mistake. I opted to get them to buy us 6L of 0W20 and I did it myself. Complete garbage.