Is it worth it to take the car to the dealership for routine maintenance issues such as oil changes, brake inspections, or tire rotations?

 

Locating a competent trustworthy independent mechanic will save you $ on the basic repairs. If a good independent mechanic cannot be found, the dealer would be the next alternate.

 

Yes, for oil/filter change using Mobil oil and full inspection, if they will do it for $60-$70 and give you a loaner for the day. Tire rotations are expensive, especially when you compare it to Costco for no charge every 5,000 miles of whenever you choose (and they use nitrogen).

 

Depends on your on diy skill and desire to perform minor maintenance. When my car was still on 3 year CPO warranty I brought it into Lexus every 5 k miles for oil and filter. To save money I purchased and brought in my own full synthetic oil and OEM Toyota filters and Lexus charged me $30 labor using my oil and filter. I also have Lexus dealer flush my brake fluid every 2-3 years.

Once it is out of warranty it is very easy to change your own oil and filter. You can also easily save money by changing your own cabin and engine air filters, change your own wiper blade refills. You can also drain and refill PS fluid every other year very easy diy.

If you are not the diy sort you should find a good competent independent that can do this sort of minor maint for you. I still suggest you buy and supply your own OEM parts - a great way to lower overall maint costs.

Modern wheels and tires are very heavy. Rotating tires is quite a bit of work diy so I would shop around for a good shop to do that for you - I take my car to Costco and they do it free since I bought the tires from them.