My wife has a 2017 Camry Hybrid, we purchased in Sept 2016, the car has around 6,000 miles on it, Wife is a stay at home mother and only drives surface streets for our kids school and activities and shopping etc. Last year she barely put 2,800 miles on the car, this year a bit more because our daughter moved to high school which a bit further away.

She got 2 years free maintenance, on the car; today was her final appointment for free services. Dealer tried to upsell her intake air filter, cabin air filter and brake job. The air filters according to the manual are a 30,000 mile replacement in normal driving conditions, her front brakes are at 8mm and the rears are at 6mm and they are recommending replacement.. only $1,400 for everything.

It is unbelievable in this day and age that dealerships still pull this crap. Then they told her that future oil changes are $175 and recommend them every 3 months (on a hybrid LOL), even though the free only covers them every 6 months..

 

Sadly too many people just pay these outrageous dealership prices that keep going up and up which is why they keep going up and up. I was guilty of doing it too because I just did not know enough about certain things to argue with them which is why I really started DIY'ing everything I could and asking around. I have saved a ton of money doing that.

They are trying to make up for that "free" 2 year maintenance by gouging her for those new services.

One of the most recent cases that was the worst was when I was getting my timing belt done(I did not want to fool with that) for my GS, two Lexus dealerships quoted me around $1600 and $1900 for a timing belt service and said I could not use my own parts yet the Toyota dealership quoted me around $800 for the exact same service and said I could use my own parts. It was actually cheaper just to go with their price/parts then sourcing my own parts and have them do the labor and the price actually went down because I recently changed my own oil. I would have paid at least twice as much to over twice as much on a expensive service just to sit in a fancier waiting room which I would not have even done, I would have just dropped the car off.

 

 

from the owners manual on the Camry, intake and cabin are @ 30K (no mention of time) in normal driving conditions, 20K in dusty conditions, (i.e. AZ, TX, NM, etc) CA is considered "normal" plus the car has 6,000 miles and is garaged.

As far as brakes mileage is completely dependent on your driving habits, but the service manual recommends them replaced @ 2mm, New is 9mm for the front, 7mm for the rear, she is at 8mm Front and 5mm Rear according to them. And they were quoting Labor, pads and rotors.

there is nothing wrong with her car, it has 6,000 miles for heavens sake, and it's a hybrid which uses the gas about 2/3s the time a ICE car does, especially for her because she rarely gets above 40 mph, so to even have to change the oil more than once a year is a joke. Toyota recommends 5,000 miles or 6 months on the oil, so she used all 4 free services (because if you don't you lose them), having the oil changed about every 1,500 miles.

on her 2007 Camry Hybrid, we used synthetic and changed it once a year, and the oil usually looked Carmel colored like it does going in new, never once was it ever dark.

They were just taking advantage of her because she is a 60 year old lady that doesn't appear to know anything about cars.. I really wish I was there to hear her quote the manufacturer and service manual recommendation to the clown that was telling her she needed all this stuff. She's not a car person, but she isn't a fool either..

 

that's terrible. one more example of why i would rather not set foot in a dealer and now i don't have to.

my jeep had 24 months, 4 oil change / 2 tire rotations included too. i did all those but there wasn't any upselling. i did a couple of oil changes myself after that (it was so simple you'd have to be a real doofus to mess that up ). saved money AND time to do it myself.

my genesis now is soup to nuts for 3 years and they pick up and drop off the car, so i hope to never become friendly (or foe) with anyone at the dealer.

 

 

you bought a Genesis too?

which? I bought the G80 Sport 3 weeks ago.

 

having worked at a dealership, i think you'd have to be crazy to bring your car to a dealership for maintenance unless it's free and you're leasing the car and don't care about it's long term future. ESPECIALLY if it's some kind of sporty model because every dealership has some young kids working at it who just started and you can guarantee they'll try to have fun with the car.

don't be fooled, the service writer is a salesman just like any other and they get commission for the services they sell so (if they want to increase their paycheck at least) pretty much you'll always get some kind of upselling. just be familiar with the particular service schedule of your car so you'll know how to spot the bs.

 

I was gonna say if brake fluid, sure, 2 yrs.....but they want pads? rotors? I actually never knew by mm, the pad depths, but I did my wife's brakes on Saturday, and the state inspection yesterday listed front and rear at 12mm (the wheels were pulled, even though they can be seen through the wheel openings--I can tell because her car is spec'd at 140 ft. lbs., and when I went to torque the nuts, they were all less--usually when a car needs 76 ft. lbs, they are too tight coming back from a shop). As I get older I want to stop trying to change the world, but for them to advise pads and rotors on this vehicle, I think a little Fox News is warranted. they love this stuff and I think the actors deserve to be exposed...

 

I don't even take my leased car to a stealership, lol. ****** these a**holes.

 

Yeah when I bought the LS430 used, I went to the dealership for a brake flush and coolant drain/fill--we all know that Lexus folks are very polite and nice, but just as incompetent lol

I was charged $59 for the brake flush--my mom says Acura wants $149 for her TSX, so not sure how it could be that low or if they really did it. Coolant was $129, again, less than Acura. I get that neither of these jobs are rocket science, I just didn't have the adapter for my Motive at the time, and coolant is a PITA to dispose of.

The kicker was the $5,xxx recommended work from the multi-point inspection. But also, my clutch fluid was fine based on the report. What a joke. I'm so glad I didn't need to top off my clutch fluid.

Go to the indie, none of the work needed hahahahahahahahahahahaha I've since driven the car nearly 27k and am 3 mos shy of 2 yrs. Sad.

The indie is in a totally different mindset, but there are times I wonder if they can sustain their businesses. Example, I asked if I need hoses/belts, and they said the same as my uncle. You no longer just change these things for the sake of changing them. If you need them, we will tell you, otherwise, there's no real need to simply replace them when they're not faulty. Holy lack of upsell...

edit btw I wanted my LCA bushings changed based on this forum, bought Lexus OE parts on eBay, took them to the indie. The indie told me they really do not think I will see any benefit at all, because they have seen way worse than mine where they could move a control arm by hand, and mine are nowhere nearly in that condition. Sure enough, no benefit. That's not their fault, I'm the one who requested them to be changed..

 

ehhhh.. for some work, dealership is the best place..

I will pay $10 more (usually same price with coupon) for a dealership oil change than jiffy lube/indy.

 

Here in PA we have to pay for our state inspections (safety/emissions). I have always brought my BMW to the dealer as I don't want anyone else lifting the vehicle. Last year, they charged me $40 incl. a loaner. When I got the Lexus I said I'll take it to Toyota, used a coupon, and it was $75 to wait 2 hours and sit in a crowded lounge with stale coffee. I thought aha, another case of the haves, and the have nots (the latter gets a scre*****). You have to pick and choose, really. It is rather sad though I agree, to pay for safety and emissions, and it can be as high as $98. But they actually do pull all 4 wheels--I witnessed multiple inspections last Sat. in NYC while I was working on my wife's car on the lift. None of the cars were even placed on a lift, and one was failed for a ses being lit up. So it would seem a PA safety inspection is far more rigorous than NY. Emissions is similar, OBDII.

 

Education. It's all about education. Those who don't know will pay, and the dealership knows it. There needs to be a bigger public campaign to get the word out so people take the time to learn the facts about their car and it's service requirements.

 

i like to rag on stealerships as much as you do .

but if you were running your own dealership, you would be finding ways to make as much money as you could too.

we all know car sales alone don't keep the lights on.

Same chit happens at the tire shop. I went in for a tire rotation at Americas Tire, and the deskdude said I had 4/32" left on my tires, and tried to sell me a whole new set of tires, pointing at the stupid sign in the store saying 4/32" is recommended to change them.
I have my own tread gauge, and I know i have 5-6/32" left, some a tad less. But my Conti DWS tires have their own tread indicators, and the "S" in "DWS" is only a little worn out, indicating I still had enough tread for dry and wet driving.