LSUMatt1514

Well, I'm steadily approaching 90k miles, and I called one of our local dealerships the other day to get a quote for the recommended work. Their service department has been great to me, especially the service manager, so they have given me no reason to really question their prices, work, or recommendations. But.....Here's what it stacks up to be....

Oil and filter change $22.95
Drain and refill coolant $42.95
Drain and refill tranny $44.95
Top engine clean with fuel injector service $122.95
Brake fluid flush $99.95
Timing and drive belt replacement $249.95

If I need new brake pads (I do a ton of stop and go driving and I know they're getting close) then add an additional $356 ($89 per wheel).

Grand Total: $939.70

Is this reasonable? Do I really need ALL of this stuff done at 90k? This is going to put a serious damper on me plunking out a grand for LSU vs. OU Sugar Bowl tickets. Later.

Matt

1Runner

Matt, take an afternoon and approx. 75 of your hard earned dabloons and do the coolant flush, oil&filter and brake fluid change yourself. Then sched. a tranny flush with these guys and pay them 45 bucks with a BIG 'OLE grin on your face. I paid 75 bucks last fall to have my 95 4Runner done. Then get your timing belt and engine belts done. They ARE NOT boneing you on either job, those are good price quotes! (at least, around here they are!) If your rig isnt acting up, I'd clean the maf myself and wait on the injectors.
My .02.

CLin9383

matt, i got my 90k mile checkup list and price. if you want i can scan it and post it..also i just had my brakes redone..they were the front pads and rotors resurfaced...i didnt do the rears cause i rarely use the ebrake. i have that invoice as well. if you want both of those things scanned in, i'll post it...but with the 90k mile checkup and front brakes replaced, i paid 675...but yea, let me know if you want the stuff scanned..good luck


edit: clicky click

RobT2k

I'm getting my timing belt replaced and the water pump while they're at it for $600. It's on the high end, but this place is great and they only work on Toyota trucks and suvs. I already had the tranny flushed, changed the sparkplugs and cleaned the maf/throttle body recently to save some $$.
I guess now I should also inspect the brakes to be safe, anything else major on the 90K checklist?

Citykid

I agree, you can knock out 75% of that work yourself. The fuel injector service & timing and drive belt replacement I would have them do. But everything else is yours. The tranny flush is like $45 also. Good luck.

Bob_98SR5

matt,

as others have said, bang out most of that stuff yourself w/ the exception of the timing belt and possibly the tranny fluid.

save the big bucks for the christmas gifts.

bob

its2slo

its not an interference engine, do the belt and pump at 120,000 miles. even at 120,000 mine looked fine. i know some wont agree, and maybe even broken one?? but this is the way i do it, fwiw.

Mystickal

None of the prices that they gave you are unreasonable at all, in fact, some of them are pretty decent. Also, all of the listed items are good to do at 90k. In addition, I would clean/change the air filter, inspect plug wires, and replace the spark plugs and possibly the fuel filter, depending on the last time each of those items were performed.

That being said, what's the worst that'll happen if you put it off? Well, since the 4runner (luckily) has a non-interference engine, if your timing belt breaks, you'll be broke down, but all you'll need is a new timing belt, not a whole new engine. Other items may potentially cause more wear and tear on your engine/coolant system/transmission - not a big deal in the short term if you want to put it off until after the game. Finally, you may not have optimum performance and/or fuel efficiency.

Of course, if your brakes go bad, that's a whole different story

Though normally through pedal response and/or brake squeal, you'll know before you need to replace the pads.

As others have said, I'd do 90% of the work myself and save a buttload of $$$$. An individual with no experience and little mechanical inclination can change/clean the air filter. It doesn't take much ability to swap plugs, change oil, or do the fuel filter. And if you're nervous about it yourself, get a friend to help you with the brakes, radiator, and transmission. All of these things can be done over a weekend.

Bottom line - these things should be done, and should be done relatively soon, but nothing catastrophic will happen (possibly brakes excepted) if you put it off till after the game.

~Bill

MTL_4runner

It boggles my mind what people are getting for services these days. The first three items you can totally do yourself....all just drain and fills. Only thing I would do on your list for sure would be the brakes (ie if pads were gone) but you will hear the telltale squeal when the wear indicators are at their max limit.....so do them then. Pull each wheel off and have a look yourself as to how much wear you have before the indicators touch. The rear drums seem to go forever, mine were only half gone at 100k! The other item I would do is the timing belt. I know it has been mentioned that it is a non interference motor but if the belt breaks it will stop the motor dead in its tracks and you will lose all power (including brakes and steering) so this can potentially cause a hazzard when it happens. If you are in the driveway when it happens then great, but if you are on the highway, it could be dangerous. You will also need to pay for a tow from wherever you break down to the garage as well....has the potential to cost some $$$$. So on that basis I would do those two items and do the rest yourself then go have fun at the game!

Sac State

Gotta get your priorities straight! Geaux Tigers!

I would have them flush, not drain, your tranny. The price between a flush and drain should be about $75. Prices look to be in line with my local Toyota shop. You might also consider changing both diff's, a change at my Toy shop for each diff is $42/each.

$1K is a lot to spend in one afternoon. Like all maintenance though, this small amount of preventative maintenance will prevent a much bigger expense later down the road. To help with finances, maybe break up the service? Have the fluids changed at 90 and the rest done at 100 or 105K? I usually stagger my maintenance to prevent a big, all at once bill.

Prices seem to be the going mean at a Toyota shop.

bamachem

Matt...

Man, don't do it! lol Hoover Toyota? Good guys over there...

Really, get new front brake pads from them and get new rotors from Napa for $39 each. Adjust your rear brakes by rolling backwards and pulling up and releasing your e-brake over and over until it locks the wheels with 5 clicks at most.

If they are just draining your transmission and not FLUSHING it, tell them no thanks. Only do a flush. You have 16 qts of ATF in there and a drain only removes about 4 of them.

If you don't want to bother with the oil change yourself, then let them do it since that's dino and a toyota filter for $23.


You can drain and refill the coolant very easily. Make sure to use Toyota RED coolant and not prestone.

Don't worry about the fuel injector cleaning unless you just want to. You can also get about the same thing done at most oil-change places for about half that. You should still pull out your MAF and clean it yourself since this service doesn't do that.

If you don't know what you're doing on the brake fluid flush, you can get that done at Midas for a lot cheaper.

DEFINITELY get the timing belt done by the dealer, but you don't have to do it any time soon. Remember who sets these service intervals? Who makes money from them? Toyota for the parts and the dealers for providing the services. You don't HAVE to get any of it done, but you should do some of it. I would hold off on the timing belt until 120k or so and have the water pump done as well as long as the outer drive belts still look ok...

Best of Luck and GEAUX TIGERS!

rimpainter.com

Interference engine or not, a broken timing belt in the middle of the woods would be no fun. Besides, the only way to truly inspect a timing belt is to have it off and bend it backwards. That will expose whether or not the belt is cracking on the inside where it matters most.

LSUMatt1514

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I've still got about 3k until I hit 90,000 so I'll make up my mind between now and then. Later.

Matt

EDGE

Those where actually really good prices but many items adds up fast just consider what it cost to keep a dealership running, 20-40 even 100grand a month maybe even a week has to be made just to break even before profit is made.

EDGE

I usually just wait for the guy next to me to get up and use the bathroom and then I'll just borrow his CC from his carrying case

What do you mean by "mean"

EDGE

Have you thought about trading in for a new 4Runner it's one way to avoid all that work unless your keeping the truck for another 100

Get 1 of those Credit Cards, they usually offer them this time a year more then anything, no payments for 6 months or no interest then when the time comes to pay you'll have the money.

ruizs

Brake fluid change - you can do this yourself, its so easy with good tools.

Get this for $45:
http://www.performanceproducts.com/P...producttype=20

and you can flush the brakes in about 10 minutes time, and have the tool around to do you other cars, the toyota next year, etc. Or split it with a friend or something.

Also, don't worry, you wheels aren't gonna fall off when it hits the 90k mark, so you can do the services a little before or after.

If you're keeping the car for a while (since you're at 90k, i'm assuming so), go for good fluids instead of the stock crap they give you. I especially would suggest some amsoil or other good synthetic transmission fluid, since that's the most likely and most expensive thing to go bad.

Mystickal

"Mean" means the median, ie, about the average going price.

~Bill

Dozer

What is the best way to "flush" the tranny if I plan on replacing with Amsoil? Use cheaper stuff for the flush?, or is there a pump mechanism that would get out all that fluid?

for amsoil, should i use factory specified weight fluid?

thanks,
Dozer

Mystickal

All you've ever wanted to know about flushing your auto tranny:

http://www.gadgetonline.com/TransFlush.htm

To answer your question - if you use cheap stuff to flush the transmission, that cheap stuff will be what's in your transmission when you're done. Unless you put in enough good stuff to totally get rid of the cheap stuff. Of course, if you put that much good stuff in to get rid of the cheap stuff, you'd be better off just putting the good stuff in in the first place.

~Bill