New 200 - free ToyotaCare maintenance...opinions?? (1 Viewer)

[BW200]

Hey everyone, I'm new around here. I just upgraded my trusty old '01 Tundra to a new 2017 Cruiser a couple of months ago. After many years of wanting one I finally took the plunge! So I decided what better way to get into the fun of off-roading it than to find a group of like-minded souls. Right? So here's a question for y'all to break me in on:

One thing I wasn't aware of before the purchase, was this 24 month/25,000 mile free maintenance ToyotaCare thing they are including now. I guess it is a good thing, sorta warm and fuzzy and all, and should be good for my Cruiser. But I have a small concern about the quality of service from the dealership. Just because something's free doesn't make it great.

Do you guys have experience with the dealers regarding the Cruiser? Can I be confident that they will do a good job on a basic oil change? I have nightmares of captive bolts on the skid plate being cross threaded and stripped, like they did to my Tundra when I had the 60,000 service done. And I fear the Cruiser is a little beyond some of their abilities since they probably don't see them very often.

Anything y'all would like to share will be appreciated.

 

[LALC]

My first cruiser oil change, they spilled oil all over the engine. They did clean it when I brought it back, but it smelled for a couple weeks. If I had tools/mechanical skills to change my own oil I would.

 

[Markuson]

My Toyota guy charges me $41 out the door for synthetic oil changes...including fiddling with my skids.

$41 including oil is so cheap that I can't even really justify doing it myself.

 

[ikeb]

free scheduled maintenance is standard for the first 24 months... it basically means they'll check your fluid levels (wiper fluid, etc), top off if necessary and give you a couple of oil changes. i suppose anybody could screw these things up - toyota included - but i've rolled the dice and used my free service to save myself the hassles... unless you plan to do all the work yourself, you won't have any guarantees about the quality.

 

[allan man]

Missing clips on the engine cover , oil spills, broken tabs are all most likely expected anywhere.

Service just isn't there anymore nowadays.

If you have the time do it yourself with a smile its your truck.

 

[Sandroad]

There is not much to the free maintenance. 2 oil changes at 10,000 miles and 20,000 miles plus fluid top offs and tire rotations every 5000 miles. It's a way to get you in the habit of going to the dealer since the majority of their profit is from service. But, free is free. You might use the free services as way to find a good dealer in case you need one for warranty work. Do your due diligence on researching dealers and try out a couple? I hear you on fear of service departments messing things up. I wouldn't let my local dealer touch my Land Cruiser, but there is a dealer an hour away that's ok.

 

[JOFS]

Funny to read this and then read the posts about people looking for cruisers and they want ones maintained by the dealer. It seems if they are maintained by the book by the dealer it is considered desirable.

So which is it? This post seems to say they don't know what they are doing.


BTW I just bought a 2017 and plan to use the free service but double check it myself.

I have done all the maintenance on all mine for years but as said, free is free. I can check things over and will make sure it is corrected if there is an issue.

 

[TonyP]

BTW I just bought a 2017 and plan to use the free service but double check it myself.

This is a good route. Even for $41 OTD that's worth it for not having to buy the oil, filter, wrench, find a container to put the oil in, deal with the stock skids, inevitably spill some on your garage/driveway, get your clothes dirty, yadda yadda.

I've done everything from cross platform engine swaps to complete rebuilds, but changing oil is lame. I'll gladly fork over $40~, sit in the waiting room, eat free popcorn and diet coke while the tech does his thing and takes any liability. Big jobs, I'll do.

 

[DomSmith]

There are good dealers and bad dealers, just like good plumbers and bad plumbers. Find one you like that is family owned (if possible) that's trustworthy and stick with them. They will stand by their work when done right as well as wrong.

The closest dealer to me is one of the largest in San Diego and flood the airwaves with how they are the best. I've tried them a few times over the last 23 years of owning Toyotas and they are just plain awful. Terrible service, dishonest and pricey.

I mostly use a great independent Toyota shop for routine stuff but If I need dealer service I drive my 100 to see Mike Bingham at Cabe Toyota.... 100 miles away.

 

[KLF]

We just bought a Certified Lexus IS250C. The salesman was making a big deal about the free 2 years of maintenance they're including, but I stopped him and said "I'll never use it, that's worth nothing to me". The closest Lexus dealer is over an hour away, and I hate that entire company (IRA). They also own the 2nd closest dealer. So I'm not driving 100 miles each way plus sitting around just to have someone change my oil. It's too damned easy.

$41 for 7.5 quarts of synthetic oil? Whoa that's a bargain, I'd pay that too.

 

[KLF]

We just bought a Certified Lexus IS250C. The salesman was making a big deal about the free 2 years of maintenance they're including, but I stopped him and said "I'll never use it, that's worth nothing to me". The closest Lexus dealer is over an hour away, and I hate that entire company (IRA). They also own the 2nd closest dealer. So I'm not driving 100 miles each way plus sitting around just to have someone change my oil. It's too damned easy.

$41 for 7.5 quarts of synthetic oil? Whoa that's a bargain, I'd pay that too.

 

[GordJ]

I am always surprised at complaints about dealer service. We have owned Toyotas since our '88 Corolla and with the exception of the odd quick lube oil change they have been dealer serviced. The '08 Cruiser has 200,000 dealer serviced miles, over 600,000 Km's on two 4Runners and about 70,000 Km's on the LX and I have absolutely no complaints. We are not newbies either, the Mercury, BMW, Audi and Firebird were owner serviced so there is background. Maybe Canadian dealers have a different standard? Don't ask about the crappy Murano or Pathfinder.

 

[SQRRRL]

Hey everyone, I'm new around here. I just upgraded my trusty old '01 Tundra to a new 2017 Cruiser a couple of months ago. After many years of wanting one I finally took the plunge! So I decided what better way to get into the fun of off-roading it than to find a group of like-minded souls. Right? So here's a question for y'all to break me in on:

One thing I wasn't aware of before the purchase, was this 24 month/25,000 mile free maintenance ToyotaCare thing they are including now. I guess it is a good thing, sorta warm and fuzzy and all, and should be good for my Cruiser. But I have a small concern about the quality of service from the dealership. Just because something's free doesn't make it great.

Do you guys have experience with the dealers regarding the Cruiser? Can I be confident that they will do a good job on a basic oil change? I have nightmares of captive bolts on the skid plate being cross threaded and stripped, like they did to my Tundra when I had the 60,000 service done. And I fear the Cruiser is a little beyond some of their abilities since they probably don't see them very often.

Anything y'all would like to share will be appreciated.

I have free oil changes with my 2013 I puchased last July. I had them do an oil change and when I picked it up I had a dent in the rear tail gate, dent on front quarter panels from leaning over engine compartment with pens in shirt pocket and oil all over skid plates. Smells like burning oil when she is parked in the garage. I was pissed off. They fixed the dents and of course I took her to Hiros Automotive in Costa Mesa where I've been taking my 4 runner for 20 years. I'd rather pay for good service than get crap service for free.
Yaris or Land Cruiser it's all the same to those guys.

 

[Markuson]

I have free oil changes with my 2013 I puchased last July. I had them do an oil change and when I picked it up I had a dent in the rear tail gate, dent on front quarter panels from leaning over engine compartment with pens in shirt pocket and oil all over skid plates. Smells like burning oil when she is parked in the garage. I was pissed off. They fixed the dents and of course I took her to Hiros Automotive in Costa Mesa where I've been taking my 4 runner for 20 years. I'd rather pay for good service than get crap service for free.
Yaris or Land Cruiser it's all the same to those guys.

Wow. I think that's the worst I recall hearing in terms of sheer carelessness.

 

[SQRRRL]

Wow. I think that's the worst I recall hearing in terms of sheer carelessness.

Sad but true. I have a TOYOTA guy who takes care of me. No worries. If I can afford an LC I can afford the service.
I had Hiros Automotive do oil,front and rear diffs and transfer case for a base line(30,000)shortly after the dealer disaster. Its all good.

 

[NCMTNS]

I have yet to bring my '17 in for it's first service but I took my previous LC to same dealer for years. Never had any issues but hate the "service advisers". They don't know anything. Was fortunate to always have the same tech working on it. After reading this may make a call and make sure he still works there!

 

[BW200]

Everyone, thanks for the replies. Sort of confirms what I have thought. I have always done my own maintenance, mainly because I can, but it really started when I was a kid and couldn't afford to pay someone else, and it just stuck. And probably the built-in mechanical engineer anal-ness, too... My first 3 cars came from junkyards - so I am familiar with the work.

I have no issues doing it myself, have all the tools and such and really sort of enjoy it. I did all but the 60,000 mile one I mentioned on my old Tundra, and generally didn't like any of the dealers in the area from reputation so it was an easy choice. But, only right now at this moment, I live in an apartment where I physically can't do the service myself - it's not allowed in the parking deck. I am considering just borrowing a friends driveway for an afternoon or something. I am many miles from needing it yet, but am thinking about it since this service is provided. In a year or so I will be in a new home that's under construction, so it will be a non-issue. But for at least the first one I was considering the dealer.

@JOFS, I agree with your observation, and think people are interested in the CPO and dealer-maintained cars mainly because of the documented service records, since a lot of people who have a car for sale haven't bothered keeping up with that key data, and because of getting the manufacturers guarantee/warranty when it's a a CPO used car. Maybe the people who find it desirable just have the impression that "factory-trained technicians" = "quality", who knows. I agree that if I did use them, I would check behind them and hold them accountable - but I will probably avoid the hassle.

My first impression/opinion is that the free service is a way to get customers to come back to the dealer, and maybe a subsidy program. Not using it doesn't void the warranty, so I probably will just take the joy of doing it myself. Some quality alone time with my Cruiser

 

[KLF]

The only reason I spent the extra $$ to get a certified car was because this is a very complicated convertible top, and now if anything goes wrong with it for the next 2 years, they have to fix it, no charge, no deductible. They called me the other day to try to pressure me into the extended warranty, but I wasn't having it.