45k Service & Battery (1 Viewer)

[Heritage 2020]

Greetings All,

I had the 45k mi service done today by Wolfchase/Penske Toyota in Memphis (excellent service dept who has taken care of our Toyota/Lexus vehicles over the years).

As a learn the Land Cruiser, a few rookie thoughts/questions come to mind:

1. $89.95 doesn’t seem like a bad deal at all when I consider the cost of 8qts 0w/20 Pennzoil Platinum, parts, labor. I spend more on our other family vehicles for a comparable service.

2. Any experience/opinions about the Toyota TrueStart battery (great 84mo warranty and seems a fair price)? I needed a replacement due to my fault (failed load test). When my wife/I went camping, I used my onboard compressor multiple times to inflate items without running the engine and ran a lot of accessories with the engine off.

NOTE: I can do my own 5k mi oil changes as I have a lift, filters, gaskets, etc. The math doesn’t seem bad by having the shop do the change vs. me.

Thoughts? I’m all ears and appreciate the input from all.

 

[04UZJ100]

Run 5W30. Avoid dealers.

My $.02

 

[Sandroad]

Glad you found a dealer you like. The Truestart batteries are a good choice. It looks like they charged you less than an hour labor to do both the oil and the battery, which seems fair. I liked the service notes about not messing with tire pressure. Good for you!

 

[TLC2013]

Do you know the details of the battery warranty? If it's full replacement that's a good price and option. I am not sure if their policy has changed but I was disappointed with Toyota 4 years ago. Won't use them again. Their Pro-rated warranty would only cover a fraction of a new battery and they needed me to bring the battery in for testing while still installed in the vehicle. Too much of a hassle and waster of time. Costco is $50 cheaper for their Interstate Type 27 that comes with a full replacement warranty/coverage for 3 years.

 

[pvchaitanya]

Do you know the details of the battery warranty? If it's full replacement that's a good price and option. I am not sure if their policy has changed but I was disappointed with Toyota 4 years ago. Won't use them again. Their Pro-rated warranty would only cover a fraction of a new battery and they needed me to bring the battery in for testing while still installed in the vehicle. Too much of a hassle and waster of time. Costco is $50 cheaper for their Interstate Type 27 that comes a full replacement warranty/coverage for the 3 years.

Last time I check, its pro-rated (may be 1st year is full replacement). Agree with you. If you can do it yourself, get costco or walmart 27F battery if you can DIY. Otherwise, its not a bad idea to pay extra 30$ for dealer if you are already making the regular oil change visits. You dealer seems to be reasonable in their service prices.

 

[Heritage 2020]

Do you know the details of the battery warranty? If it's full replacement that's a good price and option. I am not sure if their policy has changed but I was disappointed with Toyota 4 years ago. Won't use them again. Their Pro-rated warranty would only cover a fraction of a new battery and they needed me to bring the battery in for testing while still installed in the vehicle. Too much of a hassle and waster of time. Costco is $50 cheaper for their Interstate Type 27 that comes a full replacement warranty/coverage for the 3 years.

Based on what I viewed online, Toyota TrueStart: 24 months full replacement, 60 months prorated.

 

[Sandroad]

Do you know the details of the battery warranty? If it's full replacement that's a good price and option. I am not sure if their policy has changed but I was disappointed with Toyota 4 years ago. Won't use them again. Their Pro-rated warranty would only cover a fraction of a new battery and they needed me to bring the battery in for testing while still installed in the vehicle. Too much of a hassle and waster of time. Costco is $50 cheaper for their Interstate Type 27 that comes with a full replacement warranty/coverage for 3 years.

Costco is an ok option if you live near one, but there are more than twice as many Toyota dealers as Costco stores, so getting a battery or a warranty replacement on the road may be easier with a TrueStart?

 

[Tex68w]

Or get an Interstate battery.

 

[bloc]

Any time you bring your vehicle to a dealer lock the glove box and keep the key blade with you. Many of us have vehicles only maintained at the dealer, some of which have great reputations, and still had broken recirculate doors in the climate control system. The only way to absolutely rule out a broken door is to restrict their access.

Dealer oil change: keep in mind it is the lowest skilled/paid of the positions that are doing the work. Check every time for all of your skid plate bolts being back in place. Note that there are two types for specific locations and dealers are bad about not getting it right.

Replace your filter housing with the metal venza part. Even dealers over-torque these and the stock plastic one is bad about disintegrating.

I have a Toyota battery and it’s doing fine. Will probably go interstate next go around.

 

[Hothonda]

Just replaced OEM Panasonic on my 2015 @ 28K ( original owner & 8 yrs....amazing ! ) - generally was on a tender
when garaged & but not holding a solid charge recently . Panasonic was 650 CCA, TrueStart 710 CCA & actual
CCA after installation reads somewhat higher than that w/ my tester. Little over $210 installed incl tax (10% in WA)

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

One of the benefits of the True Start is towing and install is covered if your battery fails to start your vehicle.

For some, that peace of mind is worth the additional cost.

 

[Tex68w]

8 years, that's insane! I'm at 3-ish years old and I am already starting to carry my Noco jump pack more regularly and expecting that it could possibly go at anytime lol. I'd be thrilled if it just made it one more year.

 

[TeCKis300]

Just replaced OEM Panasonic on my 2015 @ 28K ( original owner & 8 yrs....amazing ! ) - generally was on a tender
when garaged & but not holding a solid charge recently . Panasonic was 650 CCA, TrueStart 710 CCA & actual
CCA after installation reads somewhat higher than that w/ my tester. Little over $210 installed incl tax (10% in WA)

View attachment 3321616

Panny's are legendary. Another datapoint to support that.

Too bad short of buying a new Japanese manufactured car, there's no way to get ahold of one in North America. I believe Toyota branded Truestarts are made by Exide? Probably still a descent battery, but probably not Panny levels.

 

[AnyMal]

8 years, that's insane! I'm at 3-ish years old and I am already starting to carry my Noco jump pack more regularly and expecting that it could possibly go at anytime lol. I'd be thrilled if it just made it one more year.

Not up in here! (Texas)

 

[AnyMal]

Panny's are legendary. Another datapoint to support that.

Too bad short of buying a new Japanese manufactured car, there's no way to get ahold of one in North America. I believe Toyota branded Truestarts are made by Exide? Probably still a descent battery, but probably not Panny levels.

Everything Panasonic is good. Ive never not had a great product from them. From batteries, to TVs, to microwaves. If Pana makes it ill choose it. Basically the opposite of samsung.

 

[bloc]

Does anyone know where the Panasonic batteries used in our rigs are produced? @Tex68w any markings on yours?

 

[slipkid13]

I bought my 2013 LX in 2019 and it had the OEM battery. I plug my car/bike batteries into a Tender every night. I replaced the OEM battery in 2020, before it failed so 7 years or so out of it. I am firm believer that regular Tender use extends your battery life. I went from replacing bike batteries every 2-3 years to replacing them at 6-7 out of caution not because of failure.

 

[TeCKis300]

Does anyone know where the Panasonic batteries used in our rigs are produced? @Tex68w any markings on yours?

Japan. Car batteries aren't worth shipping given commodity prices.

 

[bloc]

Japan. Car batteries aren't worth shipping given commodity prices.

I get not shipping them across the pacific but even from somewhere much closer to Japan like Korea or India/china?

Not that I don’t believe you. Just that the concept of these being produced in Japan surprises me given their capacity to put something more technological/profit driving in that factory space. Or maybe I’m just too used to the way we import everything here. Or there’s still a lot of profit in lead acid batteries.

 

[Tex68w]

Does anyone know where the Panasonic batteries used in our rigs are produced? @Tex68w any markings on yours?

‘Made In Japan’ embossed on the front. Mine has a date stamp of August 28, 2019 in my MY 2020. If I could get five years out of it I’d be ecstatic.