90K service costs (1 Viewer)

[Hi Trek]

I just got my '01 back from it's 90K service from a recommended Toyota independent shop and here's the breakdown of what I had done and how much it cost me.

Parts
(1) Serpentine belt - had lots of minor hairline cracks $44.30
(8) Iridium spark plugs - old ones looked OK - $98.80
(1) Timing Belt - old one looked almost brand new - $63.21
(1) Water pump - old one looked almost brand new - $143.59
(2) Gallons of Toyota Red coolant - $28.00
(1) Timing belt tensioner pulley - old one looked almost brand new - $55.64
(1) Upper idler bearing - old one looked almost brand new - $87.83
(1) Lower idler bearing - old one looked almost brand new - $87.45
Total Parts - $608.81

Labor
General inspection, brake inspection, wheel bearing inspection, rotate tires, flush/replace tranny/diffs, flush/replace coolant, replace timing belt, water pump, bearings, tensioner - $450.00
Remove/replace spark plugs - $75.00

Total Labor - $525.00
Total with Tax - $1,185.57

Notes:
I did not have them change the oil or air filter since I recently had that done. The miles have been about 90 to 95 percent highway.

Before getting the service done, I spoke with a local, pretty well-respected Land Cruiser shop and they advised not replacing the timing belt or water pump until 200K miles as they last a really long time in their opinion and experience. However, I've always been fanatic about preventative maintenance so I just went ahead and had everything done anyway. Also, I went with their recommendation against using synthetics oils for everything except where specified by Toyota.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the old parts looked almost brand new. I guess a lot has to do with the type of driving one does (city vs. highway, etc.) If I get a chance, I will post some pictures of the timing belt and water pump, tensioner and bearings since I had the shop save them for me.

Rotating the tires seemed to get rid of this annoying high-pitched whine at freeway speeds.

All in all, I think I got a pretty good deal on the job and the shop didn't charge me for the tranny/diff/radiator flushes since everything took two days instead of the promised one day.

I'm looking forward to many, many trouble-free miles for the next few years...

Hope this helps anyone looking for this kind of info.

Cheers,

 

[DoctorJay]

Just got out of the 90K (actually 93.6K) service. This is mostly about the price, as there are a lot of other threads about what needs to be done. If you’ve already gone through it: post your prices here too.

Labor rates are for a shop (Automotive Specialty Service in Avon Lake, Ohio) that only handles Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura. Parts are from CDan (as listed, otherwise from mechanic). Oil is from Wal-Mart, diff oil is from Murray’s Discount Auto Parts. Read below for a further explanation.

Fluids - $124
$6 Fram oil filter (from Wal-Mart)
$50 Mobil 1 engine oil (2 x 5-qt @ $23 each, plus tax)
$68 Mobil 1 75W-90 diff oil (7 x 1-qt @ $8.99 each, plus tax)

Labor – about $1300, including tax
$400 – timing belt, water pump, serpentine belt, cam seals, idler pulleys (2)
$25 – oil change (Mobil 1, above)
$90 – spark plugs, PCV
$117 – transmission service
$135 – 4WD service (diff oil, t-case)
$98 – PS flush
$25 – coolant flush (Toyota Red)
$45 – fuel filter
$225 – get emergency brake un-stuck
$50 – clean throttle body
N/C – lube chassis/driveline, retorque propshaft bolts, tighten rattling heat shield

Parts - $430
Timing belt
Serpentine belt
Idler pulleys (2 different ones, CD knows which you need)
Fuel filter
Spark plugs (Denso sk20r11 OEM)
Front cam seals
Gascap
PCV valve

The unexpected item was the e-brake. It’s because of our salty winters here in Cleveland. Getting it unstuck requires taking apart the whole brake assembly on the rear wheel and putting it back together. Once the cable is unfrozen, they shoot some lube stuff up there so it shouldn’t ever freeze again.

There are a couple of things I’ve skipped. I changed the air filter myself. I put 4 new calipers and 2 new rotors on last year, so all the wheel bearings got repacked then, and obviously the brakes got flushed as well.

What I’ve learned:

1. Get all OEM parts from CDan. Great guy, great prices, and great service.

2. Don’t go cheap on labor. So far this shop has worked out well, although it’s not the cheapest. A few years back I took a 1995 Maxima to a chain store for a new alternator. Now, I won’t tell you which one, but I will say that Manny, Moe, and Curly really hosed me. I was back 4 times in 2 weeks for shredded alternator drive belts. Why? Because they used the wrong mounting bracket and the pulley was misaligned.

3. I never really trust the stealerships for this kind of work. They tend to pad their prices with long lists of unnecessary things (ie, “inspect cupholders”), and recommend additional work.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jim_Chow]

One thing I noticed about my Toyota dealer is they don't really do a complete coolant exchange of all 16 qts. The tech told me if you get the engine hot enough so the thermostat is open, then if you drain the radiator, you can get about 80% of the old coolant out w/o draining the block. They said they don't drain the block. My finding are that draining the radiator only gets about 6.5 qts out. If you drain both radiator and left block drain (the easier one), you can get about 11.5 qts out. I drained the radiator and left block drain 3 times (filling w/ steam distilled water each time) until the water was reasonably clear, then filled it with 2.5 qts of distilled water and the rest (about 8.5 qts) coolant.

The PO had the lexus dealer do the work, so I'm sure the coolant was mixed w/ tap water, as I have yet to encounter a dealer that uses distilled water. So I had to take extra care to flush the old coolant out. Next time (90K mi), I'll go with the super long life. BTW, my radiator looked shiny brand-new inside.

 

[drsales]

Your price looks pretty good to me. Mine was about $1100 at an independent. Should have done the cam seals while in there.

 

[jp213a]

I spoke with a local, pretty well-respected Land Cruiser shop and they advised not replacing the timing belt or water pump until 200K miles as they last a really long time in their opinion and experience.

This supports my position to run the timing belt and water pump to 125K miles before changing. There's too much life left at 90K.

 

[Jim_Chow]

This supports my position to run the timing belt and water pump to 125K miles before changing. There's too much life left at 90K.

Probably so, at least past 100K! Even my local dealer, which has a habit of doing unnecessary maintenance (e.g., t-belt "inspection" and reshimming the valve gaps at 60K mi to pad their pockets [$2.4K for 60K service]), recommends changing the t-belt on the LX at 105K, but at 75K on the V6's (said the V6 is harsh on the belt while the 2UZ is easy on it).

 

[SC4Hundred]

That's a good price

 

[Jim_Chow]

My local lex dealer wants about $1K for the t-belt. I got the lexus visa card, which gives you 1.5% towards any purchase at the dealer (service/parts/cars), so by the time I get to 90K mi, it should be free. Just another way to save money on dealer service.

 

[drsales]

The frozen ebrake is typical for the 80 and the 100. I've done both. Salt does a number on them.