Help with these recommendations from mechanic

[nrkc99]

Hi,

I went for an oil change and 24 point inception of my Toyota Avalon XLS 2005 after everything is done he gave these recommendations for my vehicle with put $810 hole to my wallet as my car has 98,700 miles on it:

1) Spark plugs --- $350

2) Throttle body service -- $70

3) Fuel injection service -- $130

4) Transmission flush -- $130

5) Coolant flush -- $130

Which of the following recommendations are so serious as my car is doing good without any issues, please help me with this.

[Tom in Tacoma]

Originally Posted by nrkc99

Hi,

I went for an oil change and 24 point inception of my Toyota Avalon XLS 2005 after everything is done he gave these recommendations for my vehicle with put $810 hole to my wallet as my car has 98,700 miles on it:

1) Spark plugs --- $350

2) Throttle body service -- $70

3) Fuel injection service -- $130

4) Transmission flush -- $130

5) Coolant flush -- $130

Which of the following recommendations are so serious as my car is doing good without any issues, please help me with this.

All of those services are due right about 100k miles. If you want the car to continue to do good without issues you'll either need to do those your self or pay somebody else to do it.

I had the dealer do all those at around 100k miles. Now I'm at 157k and it still runs as good as the day I bought it. Something to think about...

[nrkc99]

Thanks tom

[Paul3637]

Originally Posted by Tom in Tacoma

All of those services are due right about 100k miles. If you want the car to continue to do good without issues you'll either need to do those your self or pay somebody else to do it.

I had the dealer do all those at around 100k miles. Now I'm at 157k and it still runs as good as the day I bought it. Something to think about...

All those prices do look reasonable except the plugs seem high. Not needed until 120K miles per manual.

What exactly is throttle body service ???? I know it is suppose to be done but don't know what it is.

What do they do for injector service????? If you use top tier gas and run techron advanced cleaner through the system every 5K miles .... shouldn't this be unnecessary? Thanks

[riceqx2]

After reading this thread on spark plug replacement, $350 seems reasonable...
Look what you need to do to get to the back bank of plugs!

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/12...placement.html

[nitronate33]

yeah, spark plugs are a real pain on the V6. on the 4, they take like 30 minutes. personally, i would skip the throttle body and fuel injection service and put a bottle of lucas oil fuel system cleaner in your next fill-up ($8 at autozone). the spark plugs, transmission flush and coolant flush are definitely necessary.

[heartdisease]

Now this is not for your car but it still has some good info in it, from the 3 & 4 gen stickeys --- How to: Cleaning Throttle Body -4 Cylinder Engines- With Pictures

Should answer some questions as to why Paul.


If Hardtop sees this thread he can tell you exactly why you should have the throttle body and fuel system done. I would say the cost on the transmission is cheap. I paid $200 to have mine done at the dealer a couple of months ago. I paid $100 for an antifreeze flush so they are a little higher there but still $70 cheaper on balance. I am waiting till 120k on my plugs per the manual and will do them myself as it is an i4. I would give the water pump a close look also, mine was weeping and doing the flush and pump at the same time saved me labor on the antifreeze swap etc. I would also see if they will give you a discount if it is a dealer, most of them will work with you and mine sends out 10-15% off coupons every once in awhile.

[grandpapa]

I think that's what the mechanic means:
1) Spark plugs --- $350 so he can pay his rent

2) Throttle body service -- $70 so he can make his car payment

3) Fuel injection service -- $130 so he can call you a sucker

4) Transmission flush -- $130 so he can say he charges less than the dealer

5) Coolant flush -- $130 so he can go happy hour after his shift.

I understand what they want you to do on your car because that's their business. The whole idea is to make profit, nothing wrong. You just need to think about what you really need.

My 05 has 97K miles as well. I did can my Throttle body and "Mass air sensor?" for less than $10.
I put "injector cleaner" on my car every 1-2K miles for $5 (from Costco)
No plan on doing spark plug since the car run and drive smooth and without any issue.
No plan on flushing coolant since I alway keep track on it and looks fine.
May do a tranny fluid though when it hit 100K.

The reason I drive Toyota is the low cost of upkeep. It's not a BMW that requires constant funding

[badnews89]

Anyone can do any of those services for cheap. What you're actually paying for is shop rent parts, labor, his knowledge, tools since all the tools bought comes out of the mechanics pocket, and piece of mind. If the mechanic breaks something or does something wrong he will fix it and cover those expenses, and of course profits. He has to take something home for a brewskie

[heartdisease]

You won't want to hear this but you are at least partially wrong. The only way to get all of the used tranny fluid out short of disassembly is on their machine.

[heartdisease]

Originally Posted by grandpapa

I think that's what the mechanic means:
1) Spark plugs --- $350 so he can pay his rent

2) Throttle body service -- $70 so he can make his car payment

3) Fuel injection service -- $130 so he can call you a sucker

4) Transmission flush -- $130 so he can say he charges less than the dealer

5) Coolant flush -- $130 so he can go happy hour after his shift.

I understand what they want you to do on your car because that's their business. The whole idea is to make profit, nothing wrong. You just need to think about what you really need.

My 05 has 97K miles as well. I did can my Throttle body and "Mass air sensor?" for less than $10.
I put "injector cleaner" on my car every 1-2K miles for $5 (from Costco)
No plan on doing spark plug since the car run and drive smooth and without any issue.
No plan on flushing coolant since I alway keep track on it and looks fine.
May do a tranny fluid though when it hit 100K.

The reason I drive Toyota is the low cost of upkeep. It's not a BMW that requires constant funding

There is a difference between a high maintenance vehicle and normal maintenance on any vehicle. Do you think Toyota has some seceret super fluids that no one else has that don't need changed?

You can do what you want but doing these services yourself or having them done is not a waste as you allude to and they are not abnormal and expensive either. I neglected the anti freeze in my pickup, checked it for temp protection but did not change it for many years. I believe its ph was off over time and I developed a head gasket leak in a very abnormal area for that engine. Lesson learned. Some people want to save the short term but may end up paying for it long term. I did the head gasket my self but it cost me close to 1k in parts and tools to do the job properly.

[nitronate33]

the bottom line is either pay up for a shop to do it, skip it and take your chances of more expensive repairs down the road, or learn to do it yourself.

this is no different than calling an electrician or plumber or HVAC tech out to work on your house. there is a high mark-up on parts and the labor is expensive.

to me, there is nothing more satisfying than saving a few hundred bucks on a job, especially the easy ones that the shops make a KILLING on. all these jobs are relatively easy DIY jobs, except for the spark plugs since they are a real pain to get to on the V6.

[Paul3637]

Originally Posted by grandpapa

No plan on flushing coolant since I alway keep track on it and looks fine.
May do a tranny fluid though when it hit 100K.

The reason I drive Toyota is the low cost of upkeep. It's not a BMW that requires constant funding

**********

Got to disagree with you here bigtime grandpapa .......

Water pump lubricant, rust inhibitors, etc do in fact degrade over time. Check out the cost of a new V6 waterpump.

At a minimum .... you should do a drain and refill if not a flush with Toyota Longlife coolant to replenish additives.

[Yota3]

Originally Posted by heartdisease

You won't want to hear this but you are at least partially wrong. The only way to get all of the used tranny fluid out short of disassembly is on their machine.

Not true. You can put 12 quarts through it with a cooler line flush easily. I do them all the time. It gets all of the old fluid out of the torque converter as well.

[Yota3]

Originally Posted by nrkc99

Hi,

I went for an oil change and 24 point inception of my Toyota Avalon XLS 2005 after everything is done he gave these recommendations for my vehicle with put $810 hole to my wallet as my car has 98,700 miles on it:

1) Spark plugs --- $350 (DIY $118)

2) Throttle body service -- $70 ( DIY $18)

3) Fuel injection service -- $130 (DIY $20)

4) Transmission flush -- $130 (DIY with WS fluid $96)

5) Coolant flush -- $130 (DIY $24)

Which of the following recommendations are so serious as my car is doing good without any issues, please help me with this.

Here are my DIY prices. I do spark plugs at 120-150k, TB service at Spark plug time, FI service = 1 bottle of techron or Redline SI1 in gas every 20k, air filter every 20k (keeps TB clean) Trans cooler line flush every 50k, coolant drain fill 1 gallon every 50k. BTW you NEED to do all of these things to keep you car running right.