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Toyota dealership rip-offs - the inevitable upsell

7K views 42 replies 33 participants last post by  2VZ-FE 
Do it yourself on a weekend. YouTube has all the videos to learn it. I change the trans fluid, coolant and break fluid every 50k miles and the oil ever 5k miles, so they happen on the same day and I only have to jack the cars once.

Oil is $35
Filter is $8
Coolant is $25
Break fluid $20
Trans fluid is $30

That's $118 compared to the $617 your scammer dealership is trying to charge.

I did it just today and saved several hundred dollars.


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Why waste the time arguing with a dealership or shop that has one main goal: making profit. You will not gain anything from it. Time is money, stress kills your health. Do it yourself or find a trustworthy mechanic.

By the way, in many cases the difference between a transmission that lasts 150k miles or 300k miles, is, you guessed it... frequent fluid changes.

Change intervals suggested by manufacturers are (also) based on marketing claims, emissions regulations, and especially planned product obsolescence. No brand wants a vehicle to last "forever" anymore, not even Toyota, they would make less profit and succumb to the competition that sells a new car to the customer every few years.

I used to work for Benz, in R&D. There is a reason why Benz used to be super reliable up into the 90s, and why this changed.

Change your oil every 5k miles, and your trans fluid every 50k miles. You will thank me later, if you keep your car long enough.
 
Coolant is "lifetime", something I actually believe.
Brake Fluid Flush, if it was a VW, you would have missed 2 flushes already (3 years initial, then every 2 years after, regardless of mileage).
Transmission fluid flush: Is it really a flush or is it a drain and refill? Toyota doesn't really claim a maintenance interval, but other manufacturers that use a similar Aisin transmission do claim maintenance intervals, since Toyota-WS is not a lifetime fluid.
Coolant doesn't last for the life of an engine or vehicle.

Much like engine oil, coolant contains additives, such as corrosion inhibitors, lubricants, anti-foaming agents, etc. Those additives deteriorate due to the constant heat cycles and mechanical wear in the water pump.

When I worked for Benz in R&D, we tested all our engines on test stands for long periods of time, computer controlled, simulating the wear of an entire lifespan. All the fluids are sent to our internal lab for analysis. The results are used to specify API (for oil) and ASTM (for coolant) requirements and standards in order to meet our defined goals, as well as maintenance guidelines for shop repair manuals, and owner manuals.

There is no such thing as lifetime coolant outside marking claims. If you are planning to keep your drivetrain going for as long as possible, 3 factors have a huge impact:

1. Life time engine RPM (driving in lower vs higher gears, hard accelerations vs slow accelerations, idling)
2. Total engine load (hard accelerations vs slow accelerations, trailering or heavy payload, city vs highway driving, extreme weather conditions)
3. Replacing motor oil, trans fluid and coolant on a regular basis because all of them get contaminated and the additives break down due to time, heat cycles and mechanical wear.


PS: This was my place of work:

 
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