7 years Free oilchange

2361 Views 17 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Cooper S, Apr 4, 2009

kniterider09

Discussion Starter · Mar 31, 2009

hey guys, i got 7 years free oilchange from my dealership. last year i had two oilchanges, the first one went fine and was done by end of summer. second one was done during winter. when i went to pick my car up again they handed me a bill of $130 CDN. they said its complusory maintainance that they have to perform on my car on my every second oilchange of the year. that included tire rotation, brake check and changing the cabin air filter. Now, i had just put new winter tires on two months before the oil change, so the tire rotation is useless for me at that time of the year. air cabin filter cost me about $60 CDN. dont know if they really even checked the brakes or not.

so should i be getting rid of this free oil change plan which is costing me $130 ?? is it worth it ?

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

rolla-XRS

· #2 · Mar 31, 2009

7 years of oil changes for $130? I'd jump on that offer!

Oil changes will cost you $35/each and if they're including the cost of the cabin air filter, that's about $35 each too....to be changed every 16,000km I believe.

I'd say this is a win.

kniterider09

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 31, 2009

rolla-XRS said:
7 years of oil changes for $130? I'd jump on that offer!

Oil changes will cost you $35/each and if they're including the cost of the cabin air filter, that's about $35 each too....to be changed every 16,000km I believe.

I'd say this is a win.

its $130 every second oil change in a year. not $130 total for 7 years. my oil changes are supposed to be free but it looks like they are already recovering the cost by charging me maintainance. its each year would cost me $130 which is $910/ 7 years. compare that to $35/each oil change, $70/yr ! still think its kind of a rip off considering i can do one oil change in the summer myself. still thinking about it ....

Super Blue

· #4 · Mar 31, 2009 (Edited)

There is a dealer around here who offers free oil changes for life. But they do it exactly the same way your dealer does it. The way it works is that when at a particular interval your car requires 5 things, including the oil change. The dealer will charge you for 4 items and you're oil change is free. If you don't get the required maintenance, the oil change is not free. Often the dealer maintenance is quite expensive for minor stuff you can do yourself.

Oil change changes are cheap enough, and on the Corollas there is no major maintenance required for a long time. You're better off going elsewhere for the oil changes and doing the maintenance elsewhere. Saving $70 by spending $130 doesn't seem like it's worth it, as you already said.

The dealer I ended up choosing gave me free oil changes for 4 years without binding me to mandatory maintenance. I'm free to just get the oil change only.

Hamster Inspector

· #5 · Mar 31, 2009

No free lunch.

They give you fre oil changes and make it up on other services. I do my own oil changes with synthetic oil because I believe it is the best oil you can buy and I can not affor to loose a morning or an afternoon getting the FREE oil change. When I do the oil change myself it only take about 30 minutes. I am all equiped with a car lift from Costco.

hungt1999

· #6 · Mar 31, 2009

Usually oil change include lubrication also. Anybody know what exactly lubrication is? I think it is something like greasing all moving parts, how do you do that exactly? I guess you need to buy a grease gun?

steelman23

· #7 · Mar 31, 2009

Super Blue said:
There is a dealer around here who offers free oil changes for life. But they do it exactly the same way your dealer does it. The way it works is that when at a particular interval your car requires 5 things, including the oil change. The dealer will charge you for 4 items and you're oil change is free. If you don't get the required maintenance, the oil change is not free. Often the dealer maintenance is quite expensive for minor stuff you can do yourself.

Oil change changes are cheap enough, and on the Corollas there is no major maintenance required for a long time. You're better off going elsewhere for the oil changes and doing the maintenance elsewhere. Saving $70 by spending $130 doesn't seem like it's worth it, as you already said.

The dealer I ended up choosing gave me free oil changes for 4 years without binding me to mandatory maintenance. I'm free to just get the oil change only.

you referring to northwest brampton toyota? i got my car from them too.

if i rotate my own tires, would that lower the price from $130?

kniterider09

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 31, 2009

steelman23 said:
you referring to northwest brampton toyota? i got my car from them too.

if i rotate my own tires, would that lower the price from $130?

hey guys thanks for the reply....steelman23, i asked them that same question, they said i have no choice about dropping anything in the maintainance, its all in or all out.

i think i am just going to get one final free oil change next month (first one for this year) and then just get off the program. and yea its true, i end up loosing my entire day dropping and picking up the car from the dealership.

Not sure about that lubrication thing 'hungt1999' is talking about. they never mentioned anything about it to me .... ?

jdhog

· #9 · Mar 31, 2009

lubrication just means topping all fluids and maybe a squirt of lithium grease on some door hinges? There ain't no U-joints or any zerk fittings to grease on the corolla/trix.......

Sounds like a big rip off to me, if you can do the rotation and changes yourself you'll save some money.

You can check out the manual or online to find the scheduled maintenance for the car.

In my opinion do the oil changes etc yourself and only take it in for the bigger maintenance things at 30k, 60k, 90k mileages or warranty issues.

Super Blue

· #10 · Apr 1, 2009

steelman23 said:
you referring to northwest brampton toyota? i got my car from them too.

if i rotate my own tires, would that lower the price from $130?

No not northwest, I did go there, but Woodbine offered the best deal. Northwest wouldn't believe me that Woodbine was offering free oil changes without the extra maintenance.

OkSlim

· #11 · Apr 1, 2009

My dealer will replace the engine if it breaks internally and will also replace your tires if you have all the oil changes and tires rotated at his dealership every 5K. Oil changes are 21.95 and tire rotation is 10 bucks.

payam81

· #12 · Apr 1, 2009

OkSlim said:
My dealer will replace the engine if it breaks internally and will also replace your tires if you have all the oil changes and tires rotated at his dealership every 5K. Oil changes are 21.95 and tire rotation is 10 bucks.

Well your engine is covered under factory warranty so they're not really doing anything extraordinary and as for your tires, make sure you read the fine prints! It's full of conditions and at best I'm willing to bet it will get you prorated to a new set.

payam81

· #13 · Apr 1, 2009

kniterider09 said:
hey guys, i got 7 years free oilchange from my dealership. last year i had two oilchanges, the first one went fine and was done by end of summer. second one was done during winter. when i went to pick my car up again they handed me a bill of $130 CDN. they said its complusory maintainance that they have to perform on my car on my every second oilchange of the year. that included tire rotation, brake check and changing the cabin air filter. Now, i had just put new winter tires on two months before the oil change, so the tire rotation is useless for me at that time of the year. air cabin filter cost me about $60 CDN. dont know if they really even checked the brakes or not.

so should i be getting rid of this free oil change plan which is costing me $130 ?? is it worth it ?

You have to understand, there is no such thing as "free" in any business. You will pay for it one way or another. In your case they hosed you big time. If you are even slightly technically inclined you can easily do the following maintenance:

- Change air filter
- Change wiper baldes
- Change cabin air filter
- Change bulbs
-Check and top up fluids

The instructions are all in your manual too! I also do my own oil changes cause for the price they charge I can put in a great synthetic oil and still save some $ AND know that I've taken my time to do it correctly. You'll be surprised to hear how many people get their cars back from the dealership with low oil or too much oil.

Of course if you go the DIY route you need to keep the receipts if Toyota ever questions the maintenance history. (rare but within possibility)

For $130 You could probably change your oil and filter 3 times with no less than Mobil 1 and factory filter. Compare that to the crap bulk dino they put in at the dealership! :thumbsup:

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Hamster Inspector

· #14 · Apr 1, 2009

Last fall I stocked up on Canadian Tire synthetic oil for $14.40 per jug adding the price of oil filters I could probably do 6 oil changes myself for the $130. I can do each one in 30 mins. and save myself 6 half days of time too.:clap:

XRSized

· #15 · Apr 1, 2009

steelman23 said:
you referring to northwest brampton toyota? i got my car from them too.

if i rotate my own tires, would that lower the price from $130?

Yes it will.

I live in Brampton but go to Bolton Toyota for the servicing. They're not as busy so the service they provide is much better compared to others.

I just went in fo my second oil change at 16,000kms and I had my winter tires on so the guy said I don't need the tire rotation and he recommended the cabin filter but I told him I'll get it done next time. I only paid for the oil change.

rolla-XRS

· #16 · Apr 2, 2009

Yeah that cabin air filter will screw you every time. $35 oil change + $35 air filter...and the rest get's added on for additional time needed for inspection. I thought they also Re/RE the pins on the brakes to inspect them...Hummm...will check that out.

But year $100 every second oil change is about right. Wait until you get to a 48K km change or 98K km service. Some of those are $200+.

But to be honest, it's still considerably less than my wife's Versa. Nissan hoses their customers big time! I've compared their prices & services to Toyota's and I get a chuckle (then I get smacked by the Mrs.) :lol:

Rumour has it that the cabin air filter for a Yaris (and maybe a Camry) will fit Corolla - which might be good for aftermarket version. I think there's a post somewhere in this 10th Gen forum that speaks to that.

lilaznviper

· #17 · Apr 3, 2009

wow thats insane prices
my oil change probably do 2 every year cuz i dont drive alot cost me about 20 bucks per change at a mechanic shop i always go to
screw the dealer

Cooper S

· #18 · Apr 4, 2009

I don't run into any of those issue with my dealer. Got free oil changes for life, free engine warranty (unlimited time and miles), car washes, inspections, unlimited warranty on Toyota aftermarket parts as well! All maintenance is done per the owners manual - no surprises there.

I supply them with the synthetic oil and they change it, rotate the tires every 6k and have a nice day - seems simple to me

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