Toyota Service Plan (Car Care)

I just bought a 2022 Limited. In the finance office they offered me 6 yrs of all scheduled maintenance at any dealer for $1,084. In reality it is a 4 year add-on plan since the 4Runner already comes with 2 yrs worth. Still, having recently come from the Benz world, it seems like a good deal at first glance. However, I've never owned a Toyota nor dealt with any it's dealers. Anyone here pick up this plan ?? What is your experience with it?

 

What does it entail? The basic maintenance checks they do at every 5k and 10k miles?

 

They said "all scheduled maintenance". Looking at the fine print, I see that what they said and what is checked off do not line up: The plus plan (which I apparently bought) only covers oil & filter and tire rotations at Toyota recommended intervals. Now I see that the "Elite" plan,which is NOT checked, covers "ALL scheduled Maintenance required, except wear & tear items (brakes wipers etc)". Maybe this is why the finance guy has not called me back. If in fact he checked off the wrong box and I have the Elite, I would consider keeping. But if it's just oil changes and rotations, I'm ditching it (I have 30 days).

 

Why would anyone prepay for oil changes? Especially via a loan which carries interest? Don’t let them guilt you into it.

 

I say ditch it.

 

Nah don't do it. Toyota's as a whole are reliable as all hell and quality vehicles. No need to pay finance charges for this 4 year add on to your payment. Finance department always tries to get you on a deal.

Out of pocket basic / scheduled maintenance on an as needed basis or DIY and you win! Just sweep the leg, Johnny!

 

Thanks.

 

Agree with the comments above. Doesn't sound like a good deal to me. They'll only change the oil every 10K miles, while Toyota recommends 5k mile intervals in many use cases (towing, hauling, high speed driving, dusty conditions etc -- but don't expect your dealer to care). Plus, the quality of dealer services is often piss poor. Lots of horror stories of stripped bolts and whatnot. I've been using the "free" two years that came with my 2020, plus paying for oil changes at 5K intervals (I'm only at 12K miles, so just two changes so far) but ultimately I'll do them myself or use a trusted local mechanic. Screw the dealership. Especially if you're financing that plan!

 

So you’re paying for oil changes every 10k miles.

the first 3 oil changes are free (or it 60k miles?).

So unless you plan on putting close to 200k miles on that truck in less than 6 years, or even want possibly shoddy dealership work done, I’d pass.

 

Don’t just ditch the plan, ditch the dealer and find a mechanic you trust. It’s such a relief to know that I have a shop in my back pocket that I trust to maintain my vehicles. Particularly my kids’ vehicles that are older (2001 Tacoma TRD and 2005 Hyundai Tucson). I do the stuff like brakes and filters. He’s got everything else and I don’t mind paying for it. As for my 4Runner, he loves it as much as I do. I didn’t need the free oil changes and bought certificates from Discount Tire for the new tires so they get the balance/rotation. Unless it’s a warranty or recall I’ll probably never darken the door of the dealer’s service department.

 

Nope, ripoff!

 

Dont MB cars require oil changes through a syringe or something wonky like that? Maybe to avoid that headache, it might be worth it on a MB.

But a toyota? Not worth it. Oil/Filter change is dead simple. It’s only a little pain in the ass because of the skidplate.

Thing is, dealers find it a pain in the ass too, and the time pressure they have mean you’ll have stripped out screws after a couple of oil changes. Also, don’t think you’ll have the wise gray-beard doing the oil change. He’s working real problems somewhere else.

Save the money and interest, and change it yourself, or go to a trusted mechanic a pay him a reasonable rate.

 

My $0.02.... I paid for a plan similar to this with my F150. It was $800-ish and was for free oil changes and tire rotations as long as I owned the truck. I put TONS of miles on vehicles (the 2016 F150 I am trading for my TRDPro has over 220K miles on it today! So I bought it, and I don't necessarily regret it.

It was a dealer-chain-specific deal... I could take my truck to any dealer owned by that company, and I would get put to 5 free oil changes and 4 Free tire rotations per year. Also discounts on any other parts and/or scheduled maintenance. With synthetic oil changes costing anywhere from $40-ish (do it myself) to $125 (at a Jiffy Lube-like place), I felt like I got my moneys worth pretty quickly. I work tons of hours and rarely have time to do my own maintenance, so, by my calculations, I saved a minimum of $650-700 the first year. I'm just completed my 4th year of ownership, so I think it technically paid for itself. I am sure that the dealer never envisioned someone do ALL 5 / 4 of the maintenance intervals, but with me putting 50K miles per year, I definitely got the maximum benefit. HOWEVER....

Getting an appointment at a dealership to do non-emergency, non-warranty maintenance work did NOT always mesh well with my busy work schedule. I am single and that truck is my only vehicle, so I could not very often "drop it off", so most of the time I waited... and dealerships take FOREVER to do simply maintenance work. I estimate 2-2.5 hours minimum every time I took it in. Also, the requirement to go to specific dealerships to do the work (closest one is 30 miles away from home - and NOT a Ford dealer) became a bit time-consuming.

ON a couple of occasions, I did it myself or took it to a Jiffy Lube, because it needed to be done, I didn't have a 2-3 hour window available during business hours to sit and wait for it. My own DIY took a couple hours from start to finish (no lift, working alone, etc) and cost me for the oil, filter, etc out of pocket. Jiffy lube cost the most (>$100), but I was in and out in 15-20 minutes.

After considering all this, I have determined that I will not get a similar plan on my next vehicle, just because, for me, time-is-money and I would rather pay someone to it, or do it at my leisure on a Sunday afternoon, rather than be constrained by location and someone else's schedule.

So... worth it? It could be, depending on your situation. For me, not so much, just due to the time and inconvenience of the limitations and restrictions.

Oh, and one other benefit... since I'm buying my 4-Runner from a Toyota dealer that is in the same dealer-owned-chain as the Ford dealer I bought my truck from, I get $600 toward my 4Runner for "customer loyalty" (even though loyalty had nothing to do with it, it was just coincidental that I found a Pro at MSRP from the same dealer chain).

 

I paid $600ish for every 5K oil change and tire rotation for the life if the vehicle.
Now mind you Im on the wrong side of 50yr
and don't want to deal with this stuff any longer.
So to me it was worth it , also hoping this is my last vehicle or darn close..
Lastly dealer maintenance easier to prove it was them not you if something happens.

 

The less the dealer touches your new vehicle the better, IMO. I’m at war with a hammer wielding service department right now on a vehicle with 800 miles on it.

fix one problem that shouldn’t exist only to created two more during the repair. It’s what they specialize in.

why would I give a service department like that all that money up front to tie my hands into dealing with them if they are terrible at their job. They got your money then. All
of it up front. If they screw up and you stop going
to see them they aren’t hurt one bit.

they got your money AND don’t have to spend any of their money repairing/maintaining your vehicle.
Meanwhile

you are out paying again for service you already paid for once before.

 

100% agree with Will. Find a local shop you can trust and let them appreciate your business.

 

Unless you put big miles per year on your vehicle, it is not worth it. You can also try getting it for free which is what we did when I bought my wife her Rav4.

 

That is a dealer scam, Toyota has nothing to do with it. Don't buy it. Don't buy anything from the guy who takes you to the room where you are signing the deal. They try to even sell you extended warranty for 4Runner's powertrain Nobody needs warranty for that 4.0 Litre.
Though IMHO you should use Toyota's free service for 25,000 miles. But make sure you pay them to change the oil every 5k miles