LC Maintenance Schedule

[Marinna]

My car is only 10K miles so it might be a bit too early to ask this question. But I have been thinking about this.

I have two Toyota in my house, other than LC another one is 2017 Prius Prime. So I have a fair amount of experiences dealing with the dealership in my area. One thing I have noticed but recently become increasingly unacceptable to me is that every time I went to dealership for maintenance, they NEVER EVER EVER follow the maintenance guide. Instead performing inspection and replacement on these recommended items, it is safe to say all dealerships in my area will charge me for a list basically twice as long as manufacturer recommendations. Usually it's lubricant this, cleaning that, conditioner here, treatment there. This happens even when I very explicitly ask them to rigorously follow the maintenance guide and nothing more. They usually comes back to me with "that is just how our package works", or "it is really good for your car". Some nod when I tell them to follow the guide, and when I caught them adding additional item into the work and charged me, they just shrug and say "it has already been done, you need to tell me earlier that you don't need it". If I go through the service work item by item, some dealer will even start to show me attitude, which makes me to fear that whether they actually do the work on my car.

Today I just have an episode at Toyota that they quote me $2100 for 90K miles "maintenance" for Prius. They refuse to provide me what the maintenance guide recommended. I end up having a huge argument with them and leave.

So back to Land Cruiser, what are the works will you do yourself and ask dealer to do for you when your car reaches the big number like 30K/60K/90K/120K... etc. I feel these dealers see us as nothing more than stupid fat wallet (well we do own a $70+ K car) and I will have to go through same pain again and again making a scene at dealership. These days a good amount of these dealerships are nothing more than a big scam and they do not care building a community relationship with you but squeeze every penny out of our wallet with repeating words they employer asked them to tell. It is not a big news in my area even at this time that dealers asking $10~15K markup for LC. They have no shame. I honestly couldn't find a respectful way to ask them to stop these craps.

 

[Bad1975]

It's easy, anything additional not listed on the maintenance chart requires customer approval prior to performing. If they perform without approval its free of charge.

I'd go in with that standard next time, I've never had a dealer try that, they always ask before if it's not something that is normal and documented. Even during more substantial repairs not under warranty they've always asked for approval to proceed with whatever part they found bad prior to replacement.

I've caught them (not a Toyota dealer but a quick-change oil shop back in the day) trying to charge me for an air filter (K&N installed) and new wiper blades that I just replaced recently. Neither items were touched, that whole service was free and they through in the wiper blades.
Best and worst oil change I've ever had someone else do out of the 3 I've paid for in my life. I'm not too keen on letting the dealer touch my vehicles, I do all my own maintenance beyond the free services, tire replacement and alignments.

Across five brands and 8 cars I've only had one into a dealer for something I couldn't repair because the new part required firmware/software download to allow it work on the network once replaced. Dealer serviced vehicles don't seem to have the same reliability in my experience, find a good Indy mechanic if you must for maintenance and repair not a dealer IMO.

FYI, It's also law in the US that they have to provide parts removed on request to provide proof they actually replaced them.

 

[jbe2289]

My recommendation is to never go to a dealer for maintenance unless you have too for a warranty repair. All the maintenance is quite easy diy, or find a good mechanic to go to, they are out there.

 

[Marinna]

It’s true that the dealer (or any shop really) need to get approval for the work in advanced. But the way they package into that approval sheet is scammy. I often have to ask them to explain item by item what each of them are. So if I walk in unprepared it will be 30 mins at least to finally sort out all the details. I walked in as a customer, but instead I become a supervisor trying to inspect all the works from the cheating employees. It is exhausting.


For servicing cars, I stopped visiting dealer with my 20 year old truck and go to a mechanic instead. But for LC (or even my Prius) it’s for warranty. I’d worry if I don’t maintain a track of record that the car is serviced on schedule they will refuse any warranty repair. Remember LC has that expensive hybrid battery in the trunk.

I start to wonder that when the last item on LC is out of warranty (is it hybrid battery?) and you will have to take over the maintenance on your own agenda, how would you plan to maintain your car?

 

[jbe2289]

They cannot deny a warranty claim for not servicing at the dealer. Just keep a maintenance log and receipts showing you did all scheduled maintenance yourself or at a mechanic. All of it is straight forward: drain and fill fluids, replace filters, grease, torque a few bolts, and rotate tires. The battery really doesn't add much maintenance, mostly the fan filters and making sure the coolant is full and changed on schedule. The batteries, if they are like the prius, should last pretty much the life of the car. I personally know a number of people that had over 500,000 miles on original prius batteries.

 

[Blue Sky]

My car is only 10K miles so it might be a bit too early to ask this question. But I have been thinking about this.

I have two Toyota in my house, other than LC another one is 2017 Prius Prime. So I have a fair amount of experiences dealing with the dealership in my area. One thing I have noticed but recently become increasingly unacceptable to me is that every time I went to dealership for maintenance, they NEVER EVER EVER follow the maintenance guide. Instead performing inspection and replacement on these recommended items, it is safe to say all dealerships in my area will charge me for a list basically twice as long as manufacturer recommendations. Usually it's lubricant this, cleaning that, conditioner here, treatment there. This happens even when I very explicitly ask them to rigorously follow the maintenance guide and nothing more. They usually comes back to me with "that is just how our package works", or "it is really good for your car". Some nod when I tell them to follow the guide, and when I caught them adding additional item into the work and charged me, they just shrug and say "it has already been done, you need to tell me earlier that you don't need it". If I go through the service work item by item, some dealer will even start to show me attitude, which makes me to fear that whether they actually do the work on my car.

Today I just have an episode at Toyota that they quote me $2100 for 90K miles "maintenance" for Prius. They refuse to provide me what the maintenance guide recommended. I end up having a huge argument with them and leave.

So back to Land Cruiser, what are the works will you do yourself and ask dealer to do for you when your car reaches the big number like 30K/60K/90K/120K... etc. I feel these dealers see us as nothing more than stupid fat wallet (well we do own a $70+ K car) and I will have to go through same pain again and again making a scene at dealership. These days a good amount of these dealerships are nothing more than a big scam and they do not care building a community relationship with you but squeeze every penny out of our wallet with repeating words they employer asked them to tell. It is not a big news in my area even at this time that dealers asking $10~15K markup for LC. They have no shame. I honestly couldn't find a respectful way to ask them to stop these craps.

Dealerships can be a mixed bag but they are all in the business of making money.
Sounds like you may need to find a different dealer if they are pressing you that hard on these add-on services. Or better yet, as the other posters suggested, find a reputable local mechanic that ideally specialises in imports/Toyotas.

My dad used manage a Jeep/Ram dealer before 2008 and sold Subarus following the economic meltdown. He used to tell stories about how the sales people and service writers would go to coaching seminars on how to befriend and upsell customers on anything and everything that wasn't bolted to the floor. He also told me that as soon as your warranty expires, stay the hell out the dealer service center.

Lifetime nitrogen air for $399! Fuel injector service $249! Alignment for $159! Those cheap 3 pack of oil changes are to get you in the door so they can sell you additional services.

The idea behind many of the optional services to create a shadow of doubt that something may go wrong if you do not opt-in. General rule of thumb is assume they will offer and politely decline. If the service writer continues to insist or begins to the hard sell approach, you probably need to find a different dealer because that sales ethos generally stems from the top down.

I prefer to do the majority of the easier services (fluids, tire rotation, brakes, etc) myself but did bring my LC in for the 5k inspection so it would be recorded. I also told them they didn't need to rotate my tires or check the air filter...So many lost plastic retaining clips when those little monsters get under the hood. I was checking the oil on my wifes RDX a few weeks ago and found that the air-intake hose wasn't even connected to the air filter after we had taken it in for a sunroof warranty issue.

The $2100 was for a maintenance package? It is possible; spark plugs, larger fluid services like transmission fluid, brake fluid, diff. fluid services might be coming up in the scheduled maintenance around 100k and can add up super quick. Did you get an itemized breakdown of the cost regarding the package?

I'm sure one of us would happy to check their estimates.

 

[Marinna]

Dealerships can be a mixed bag but they are all in the business of making money.
Sounds like you may need to find a different dealer if they are pressing you that hard on these add-on services. Or better yet, as the other posters suggested, find a reputable local mechanic that ideally specialises in imports/Toyotas.

My dad used manage a Jeep/Ram dealer before 2008 and sold Subarus following the economic meltdown. He used to tell stories about how the sales people and service writers would go to coaching seminars on how to befriend and upsell customers on anything and everything that wasn't bolted to the floor. He also told me that as soon as your warranty expires, stay the hell out the dealer service center.

Lifetime nitrogen air for $399! Fuel injector service $249! Alignment for $159! Those cheap 3 pack of oil changes are to get you in the door so they can sell you additional services.

The idea behind many of the optional services to create a shadow of doubt that something may go wrong if you do not opt-in. General rule of thumb is assume they will offer and politely decline. If the service writer continues to insist or begins to the hard sell approach, you probably need to find a different dealer because that sales ethos generally stems from the top down.

I prefer to do the majority of the easier services (fluids, tire rotation, brakes, etc) myself but did bring my LC in for the 5k inspection so it would be recorded. I also told them they didn't need to rotate my tires or check the air filter...So many lost plastic retaining clips when those little monsters get under the hood. I was checking the oil on my wifes RDX a few weeks ago and found that the air-intake hose wasn't even connected to the air filter after we had taken it in for a sunroof warranty issue.

The $2100 was for a maintenance package? It is possible; spark plugs, larger fluid services like transmission fluid, brake fluid, diff. fluid services might be coming up in the scheduled maintenance around 100k and can add up super quick. Did you get an itemized breakdown of the cost regarding the package?

I'm sure one of us would happy to check their estimates.

That was for my 90K Prius, but the concept is the same.

Just to give you an idea the level of “upsell” they pushed for. Engine air filter, cabin air filter, and HV air intake filter are $120, $180, and $210 each. Replacing transmission fluid is $405…etc. If that is not enough I also see this “EV charger port cleaning” from a separate quote. That should give you an idea how $2100 are stack up even before the basic oil change and oil filter are included.

and yes the pushing is definitely something that set me off yesterday, not the price. They refuse to give me the quote for manufacturer recommendation telling me they don’t have such thing in their system. That was all before I start to raise my voice to them.

 

[Marinna]

I know engine oil is critical to LC’s logeivity, and likely HV venting. But other than that is there anything special that we have to take really good care on LC comparing to average SUV?

 

[Blue Sky]

That was for my 90K Prius, but the concept is the same.

Just to give you an idea the level of “upsell” they pushed for. Engine air filter, cabin air filter, and HV air intake filter are $120, $180, and $210 each. Replacing transmission fluid is $405…etc. If that is not enough I also see this “clean EV charger port cleaning” from a separate quote. That should give you an idea how $2100 are stack up even before the basic oil change and oil filter are included.

and yes the pushing is definitely something that set me off yesterday, not the price. They refuse to give me the quote for manufacturer recommendation telling me they don’t have such thing in their system. That was all before I start to raise my voice to them.

Ugh, the air filter scheme drives me nuts. It's a 5 minute job for each and filters are often $10-$20 per filter(not certain on the HV intake filter, will have to look into that). I get the part numbers for the filters and go to the parts desk and buy directly. Oddly enough, I have found the parts desk at the dealer is often quite a bit cheaper than amazon, O'Reillys, autozone, etc.

I glad you opted out of the $2100 package and left. Often times, that is only leverage we have when dealing with some of these dealerships.
Not sure if you have it, but I found the maintenance schedule for a 2017 Prius prime which I have attached. Page 51 goes over the 90k. Nothing really major sticks out. I have to admit the $405 for a transmission drain and fill doesn't sound too bad. The transmission fluid alone can be really expensive.
I also recently discovered that in addition to the maintenance booklet in our LCs glovebox, we can access it via the app. under info below the LC picture and go to glovebox. Might be one of the only useful things that app does.

 

[Blue Sky]

I know engine oil is critical to LC’s logeivity, and likely HV venting. But other than that is there anything special that we have to take really good care on LC comparing to average SUV?

Other than the Diff. fluids around 15k. Nothing super big comes to mind. I do think it is a good idea to find a dirt road and cycle through the lockers and sway bar disconnect (if you have it) every couple months to keep things moving.