How many people don't use the free oil changes and service?

[mattleegee]

I wonder does anyone think its possible to receive parts instead of service??

As in i go in for my oil change and ask that they only supply me with the oil filter and that is the service? I dont need the oil as im sure they have it in 55gallon drums, that would be too complicated.

They could even write it up as completed and i take my filter and do my own change???? layball:

 

[SoCal147]

If something went wrong you better have records for everything you did otherwise they would find a reason to void the warranty. I bought the extended warranty and don't plan on doing anything myself except mods. That way they are the only ones responsible if something fails.

The dealer can deny a warranty claim for lack of maintenance (perceived or real).

The dealer can deny warranty responsibility by accusing the consumer of abusing the product.

Most if not all customers signed an arbitration agreement when completing the finance paperwork. Check your extended warranty documents. The arbitration clause is there. Attempt a legal action, be forced into arbitration. Guess who wins...............

 

[Lester Lugnut]

I wonder does anyone think its possible to receive parts instead of service??

Good luck with that and do let us know your dealers response.

Your comment about one guy could only do this and another could only do that...

Makes me wonder if you were in a union shop? I ran into this years ago at a multi-mfg dealership in Albuquerque New Mexico.

I approached a service writer for a warranty issue with an Accord and was told " I only write service for Volvo's...I'm in a union".

 

[zech80]

Arbitration clause or not if you brought a dealer to civil court and show the dealer was responsible for maintanance, you have an much better chance of winning. And arbitration clauses much like a prenup doesnt mean anything lol. You can always sue and depending on the area many small claims courts go up to 5 thousand dollars. Anyway we bought Toyotas so they wont brake. Just my two cents. I trust my dealer and i have checked their work. For me ill sit and enjoy the free coffee and bagels and use the free wifi while my oil gets changed and they wash my truck for free.

 

[Lester Lugnut]

I trust my dealer and i have checked their work.

You can easily check a new air filter, tire rotation, but checking an oil filter change on a dual VVT-i 1GR-FE engine requires a bit more work. The filter is not a spin on you can eye-ball, but an insert paper cartridge that goes in a permanent spin on housing. To get to it you must remove 2 panels outlined on page 1 of Antmans oil thread. Even with that out of the way, in order to examine the filter, you must now remove the oil filter housing.

For those dependent on others to change their 5th gen oil/filter, about all you can do is pull the dipstick afterwards and see how it looks compared to before you drove in(assuming you did that). No easy way to verify filter got changed. On this vehicle the oil filter change is the most laborious/time-consuming part of the whole process and for that reason the most likely to be overlooked in some cases.

 

[Cheers!]

You can always torque stripe one of two bolts that are visible that hold on the 1st panel needed to get at the 2nd panel and then to the oil filter.

If the panel never got removed that means the oil filter was never changed. You can tell if the panel was removed or not by seeing if the torque strip is still lining up.

Even if the tech used a torque wrench to do up the panel bolts the chances of the stripe lining up again is very little.

Also can you not ask the service advisor that you wish to see all the old parts once the job is finished? The service tech would have to show you a dirty oil filter that is coated in oil. It would be super low if the dealership is saving an old random oil filter just to use to present to customers.

Oh and I have the ability to do my own alignment. I have a full set of camber/castor gauges, rope, spreadsheets etc. This is when I used to race SCCA solo1 (now called PDX). I would have an alignment shop setup the car to a base alignment if I wanted to try something vastly different that what the car was previously seutp with.

Then I would run some warm up laps etc... figure out the tire temps across the width of each time. Make a decision on what camber I needed to run. Then I would use a couple of more warm up laps to figure out toe in/toe out for the front and rear. Then when it was hot laps I would just leave it be and focus on seconds.

 

[Lester Lugnut]

Cheers!

Interesting idea...torque striping. I do something similar - your idea is less work. I don't know about asking to see my old oil filter. Would someone who prefers the comfort of the waiting room, free coffee/wifi & who trusts his dealer know a 04152-YZZD1 from a 04152-YZZD4 from a 04152-YZZD5 and if he did, how would he know it came from his vehicle?

 

[mrt6644]

I just got a new 2015 and it came with the free service plan.
When I looked at the maintenance schedule I was surprised that oil changes are done every 10k miles and not 5k? In my previous vehicle, 2008 FJ Cruiser, the schedule said oil change every 5k.
Im assuming Toyota doesnt use synthetic.
Is anyone comfortable with going 10k miles between oil changes with non-synth oil?
If you brought in a jug of Mobil 1 would the mechanic use it or not?

Then the other 5k visits are basically useless?
Tire rotation and fluid checks?
Another thing is the tire rotations. According to the manual it recommends moving the tires from front to back and vice versa, but never switching sides.

 

[Lester Lugnut]

5th Gen 4Runners use 0W-20 synthetic - hence the reason for 10K oil changes.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

My 2015 Trail which has a mere 233 miles on it will never see the service department for the "free" ToyotaCare oil changes (or anything else unless it's warranty work) for a couple of simple reasons (Just like 2002 Sport I traded in):

1) My car is just another car to you, the guy down the street and the oil change guy at the dealership. It's a number. That's all. Nobody loves my vehicle as much as me.

2) Changing your own oil is a great way to get to know your vehicle and take the time to inspect the undercarriage, check the fluids, etc..

3) Who cares more about your car than you? Answer = Nobody

Oil changes are a piece of cake. Spend a couple hours on a Saturday. Do it and do it right.

Donuts and coffee are bad for your health anyway (what they have in the waiting room at the dealerships).

 

[korborh]

My 2015 Trail which has a mere 233 miles on it will never see the service department for the "free" ToyotaCare oil changes (or anything else unless it's warranty work) for a couple of simple reasons (Just like 2002 Sport I traded in):

1) My car is just another car to you, the guy down the street and the oil change guy at the dealership. It's a number. That's all. Nobody loves my vehicle as much as me.

2) Changing your own oil is a great way to get to know your vehicle and take the time to inspect the undercarriage, check the fluids, etc..

3) Who cares more about your car than you? Answer = Nobody

Oil changes are a piece of cake. Spend a couple hours on a Saturday. Do it and do it right.

Donuts and coffee are bad for your health anyway (what they have in the waiting room at the dealerships).

Good points Blitzkrieg. I just don't trust random mechanics with my car after having gone through so many bad experiences of abuse and damage with my first car.

Question - for those of you doing oil changes on your own, how do you keep the records ensuring Toyota warranty? Don't we need to have dealer stamp in the maintenance book in case warranty is needed to be invoked?

 

[<<<<]

I just got a new 2015 and it came with the free service plan.

It is NOT Free service. Read your finance contract. You will find that they financed your "Free Oil Changes" and now you are paying for it. If you using it and comfort of waiting room is your thing - Great. If not - Get Your Money Back. It amounts to about 1 payment. GL

 

[BobsTrail]

Question - for those of you doing oil changes on your own, how do you keep the records ensuring Toyota warranty? Don't we need to have dealer stamp in the maintenance book in case warranty is needed to be invoked?

Goto https://auth3.toyota.com/owners/web/pages/my-vehicle
and set up an owners account. You can see the dealer's service entries and enter your own as you do each service. I just did my 30K and entered it there.

All the Owner's manual sections are available and other good info for us too.

My dealer offered to do the 30K for $179. I spent about $55 on oil and a filter, crawled around on the garage floor, cleaned up and took my wife to dinner and to a live stage show at a local theater for about the same price.

 

[stir_fry_boy]

It is NOT Free service. Read your finance contract. You will find that they financed your "Free Oil Changes" and now you are paying for it. If you using it and comfort of waiting room is your thing - Great. If not - Get Your Money Back. It amounts to about 1 payment. GL

Looks like I'll be doing my own. I already have the Toyota oil canister tool, have done tons of stuff on my own, and I'll be asking my purchasing dealer for my money back in my Toyota care to pay for Toyota oil and filters. I'm especially concerned for my TRD skid plate on my TRDP that's really nice. Worried about them stripping threads on it. It takes me 20-30 min for an oil change including removing the skids. I like doing it. Whoever said "If you have done big stuff to cars why would you do an oil change?" To them I answer "because it's easy compared with the other stuff I've done".

 

[stir_fry_boy]

I have no problems with any of your answers. I want to play devil's advocate though:

I have a great dealership.
Their best mechanic does my oil changes. Why? Over the past five years I have built a relationship with him. I took him a case of beer right before Christmas. He got a Turkey for Thanksgiving. I know his kid's names and birthdays. I slip a $20 bill into his hand after every oil change and then go pay my regular bill. He has my cell number and has called me with tractor and log splitter hydraulic questions. He is a good guy. He checks everything out every 10K and I mean everything.

So, what this tells me is you guys who change your own oil are just too damn tight to spend a few extra dollars to get the dealerships best mechanic to work on your truck. All you have to do is call him and let him tell you when to bring it in. Wait, you are not gonna tell me you are better than a master mechanic at an oil change are you? Didn't think so.

That just goes back to what was said earlier, if you trust your dealer, that's great. I don't. I don't have the relationship of trust that you have to get a master tech to do your oil changes.

 

[1engineer]

That just goes back to what was said earlier, if you trust your dealer, that's great. I don't. I don't have the relationship of trust that you have to get a master tech to do your oil changes.

Read a Dale Carnegie book. They work wonders....

 

[Link12]

I always do my own maintenance unless its something big that's is still under warranty ( my tundra air injection pumps and water pump). They left my inner fender loose after doing the air pumps. We bough a used GX470 that has been serviced at the same place its entire life and upon changing the oil the first time I had to replace 3 skid plate bolts and straighten up the threads in the holes. My sister has a 2012 4runner and after her free oil changes were up my brother in law went to change the oil and found only 2 bolts holding the skid plate on. Just my dealership experiences.

 

[Ron4RNevada]

Interesting thread -

I bought my CPO 4Runner on 12/10/14 with 32,000 miles on it. The dealer gave me one year of free service and I also bought the 7 year/100,000 mile comprehensive warranty. I have always done my own servicing but figured I'd give them a try anyway. Reno Toyota has an outstanding reputation.

When the truck got to just under 35,000 I called them and made an appointment for 10:00 the next morning. I arrived at about 9:30 (it's about a 1 hour drive into Reno from my place). I checked in with the Service Writer and he took it right in as there was a tech and bay available. So far so good.

BTW: before leaving home I had marked one of the skid bolts by sticking a piece of sage brush stem on it with some adhesive.

The truck was ready by 10:15. Sparkling clean; the sage stem was gone; the skid was clean; the dipstick oil was brand new. The Service Writer commented on how much I must have been off roading as there was a lot of sage brush inside the skid plate.

I will be taking it back to Reno Toyota for the 40,000 service. After that they only charge about $65. So I may let them do it forever. Their service only covers oil, filters, checking and topping other fluids and a wash. YES: the window washer fluid had even been topped up.

 

[stir_fry_boy]

Read a Dale Carnegie book. They work wonders....

I have some books from him. I also have lots of Toyota master tech friends. In my busy schedule of being a medical practitioner, I need a hobby. Everyone does. Doing my own car work is a hobby of mine, and I just like doing it. I've done just about everything you can do to a car (I put in all the additions in my 02' Sport 4Runner myself) and I'm very happy with the work I do.

Basically, to each his own. I don't discourage people from working on their own cars. I applaud it. But if people want to pay for work to be done, that's great too. There are risks and benefits with both working on your own car, and paying someone to do it.

It's just best for me to do my own work for lots of reasons, besides I like to do it, I bought the $65 dealer oil filter canister tool for example.

 

[<<<<]

Honda Dealer, Many years ago but left the bad taste: New timing belt service resulted in busted up wiendshield washer container in Prelude Si. They said "it was broken already". They ended up replacing it at no charge but I never go to a dealer for service I can do on my own. Makes me wonder what else gets broken or overlooked while they take things apart. I've zero tolerance for ignorance or lack of respect.