I'm about to schedule an appointment for my 12 month service. From the manual it seems like an oil change and changing the A/C filter.

What should I expect to pay for this? Am I in for a shock? What's the A/C filter? Does it really need annual changing and at what cost?

I normally do this sort of maintenance myself on my Jeep but I need to bring the GX in for a warranteed look at the compressor for the rear suspension anyway.

 

Welcome to the Club. Not sure what you mean by 12 month service. What milage service interval is this? 10k?

You shouldn't be in for any surprises esp if you can knock out some of it yourself. Oil, filter, cabin filter, engine filter, tire rotation, usual inspections etc... The engine filter and cabin filter are a piece of cake if you know how to use a screw driver, so save yourself some $ buy the filters and do it yourself. Stick to the factory recommended services in your owner's manual.

 

You don't even need a screwdriver for the engine air filter or cabin air filter. Just use the end of the key to press down on the center of the clips for the left side engine cover to get to the engine air filter. The filter box opens by unsnapping 4 metal clips. The cabin filter is accessed by taking off the glove box door and then remove the access panel to remove the filter. It's all spelled out in the owners manual. It's two of the easiest things to change on the GX.

 

I'm not too concerned about being able to do the work. Truth be told though, by the time I buy the filters and oil, I could easily spend close to $100. It also means killing a Saturday up at my buddy's shop to do it. If the dealer will do it for under $200 and throw in a cleaning while they're at it and I have my day free for other projects it's worth my money to let them do it, especially since they need to look at the compressor anyway. On the other hand, if they're going to charge me $300, it's not. I also don't know how to reset the check engine light yet.

 

Well you can do it the way I do some times do, that is have the dealer change just the oil and engine filter, do the free inspection and wash, then install the cabin and air filter your self. This way you still look like a regular "good" customer and have the record of service for future warranty issues. A plain oil & filter runs 50-bucks here in MPLS, the cabin and engine filter runs another 80-bucks. As noted earlier by others, both the engine and cabin filter are quick & easy and can save the extra mark-up in parts. Both filters are about 15-bucks each.

 

Unless you are using a cheaper brand like Fram, the Toyota air filter is about $24.00 and the Toyota cabin filter varies from $22.00 to $29.00 depending on whether you use the charcoal or plain cabin filter.

 

Call your SA and get a quote for the oil and filter, tire rotation/balance. Then call parts and get a price on the engine/cabin filters since you can do this yourself quick/easy and there will be NO surprises. Nuff said.

 

I took your advice and made an appointment for them to check out the compressor for the rear suspension under warranty and go ahead with the oil & oil filter change for a little less than $100. Well worth it in my mind compared to what it would cost me in time & materials to do myself. Once again, thanks for the advice.