They charged me by the litre, but that's only $6, my concern was with foaming.

 

That's a great tip -- thanks!

 

charged you for more oil than it takes.

 

To read fresh oil on your dipstick, use a piece of paper towel; lay it on the paper towel and you can clearly see the oil level.

 

I'll try that tomorrow!

 

FOLLOW-UP
Talked to the service manager and he said..How timely my enquiry was as he was fighting with the parts dept to have this corrected as another customer also noticed this, it's a paperwork problem he said, you've been given the right amount 5.5 litres.
Then he explained how they input the VIN # in the computer and it dispenses the exact amount for that car. After checking & re-checking I concurred that I had the right amount.
I'm passing this on in case some other soul who bothers to check the paper work 😱 finds this too.

 

I was about to say what they put on a piece of paper vs what they put in the car doesn’t necessarily match

Invoice data is auto populated. The mechanic could in theory do nothing and they still charge you. Obviously that’s more of a jiffy lube kind of scam.

that’s why I’ll continue to do my own work until I can’t physically able. I say about 20-25 more years

I get the argument that time is money but everybody has different priorities. Example I used to watch sports. Now I barely know who’s who in sports and watch probably the super bowl as far as my sports intake for the year. I use that time to work on my cars which I find more enjoyable than a lot of my past hobbies.

 

[QUOTE=mrcheap;11078605

I get the argument that time is money but everybody has different priorities.[/QUOTE]

Time is money....I would rather pay myself $100/hour to do my own work vs. paying the dealership. I also enjoy doing my own work and saving money is just a nice consequence.

 

Another interesting and useful video from Car Care Nut.

Loved what he says about the dealer service (what they do and don't do), oil change interval, and esp "sealed lifetime transmission".

If you drop $50k for a vehicle then might want to be at least semi-involved in proper and timely maintenance.

 

Wow, I've always followed Lexus' recommendation of 10K miles/16K kms oil/filter change intervals. My MY2017 odo is @ 76K miles/122K kms which means I've missed about 7 in-between oil changes .

Will now start doing the 5K miles/8K kms oil/filter change ... may not be too late to do and better late than sorry.

 

I don't think that it is too late. My wife had a 4Runner that got regular 10k oil changes and it ran great until we sold at 210,000 miles.

I do both of our vehicles at 5000 miles with Pennzoil full synthetic. We keep our vehicles for a long time and put on significant miles each year. I stopped going to the dealer for basic maintenance long ago and this video supports what I suspected regarding quality of work, oil type, and if they actually did any of the inspections. They would list all of the fluid that they checked like transmission fluid, rear diff, etc and I was very doubtful if they did any of this. Even on tire rotations, just mark one of the tires and see if it actually was rotated. I do all of my own work now, save a bundle and know that it was done correctly with quality parts/fluids.

 

Just as I suspected. I've never run a car more than 5k miles between oil and filter changes. The "lifetime" ATF is a bunch of hooey as well.

 

Wow the car care guy really opened my eyes. My Toyota dealer service manager discouraged me from doing 5,000 mile oil changes!

 

I do my own oil changes at 5000 mile intervals. It takes me about 20 min and is cheap. I also usually keep my cars as long as possible. I think I get a lot of my money back when I sell my cars. I have a sheet of paper which shows all of my compulsive oil changes and service items that I include with my used car advertisements. Prospective buyers eyes light up when they see a car that has been meticulously maintained. I can increase by sale price by $1000-2000 when I can show proof of my excellent car maintenance to prospective buyers.

I remember when I sold my last Lexus Rx back to my dealer. I whipped out my service records showing my 30 oil changes over 150,000 miles and he instantly gave me a good offer without even having his mechanics look at the car. He told me he needed to take it for a test drive but decided not to even bother when I showed my service records. For me, there is almost no downside to going the extra mile on maintenance since I can do most of it myself cheap.

 

Better late than never but I'll start DIY every 5K mi/8K km. Total cost of parts from my dealer = CA$51.63 (~US$40.21)

Detailed Pricing below;
CA$ 41.70 - 6 ltrs Toyota 0W-20 Synthetic Oil
CA$ 7.95 - Oil filter element (P/N: 04152-YZZA1)
CA$ 1.98 - Drain Plug Gasket (Blue)