Do these maintenance costs seem high?

My 2015 is about to hit 100k. I bought the truck in Oct 2018 with 68k and haven't done anything but oil changes, new battery and brakes. No other fluid changes. I asked a local shop to quote me on all fluids as well as spark plugs. Seems high to me. thoughts?

1. spark plugs : $330.

then they are also saying I should/need this: Is this a good thing to do or need to be done?
BG Fuel/Air Induction Service ***Performed with spark plug replacement***
Connect equipment to fuel delivery system, add chemicals to clean system contamination. Fluid additives and/or conditioners may be
required to complete system service. Leak test vehicle system. Perform final road test where applicable. BGKF65-N1TD - Fuel Injection System Kit BG 4073 - Mass Air Flow Sensor Cleaner
$185.00

1. coolant exchange : $130.00
2. power steering fluid : $115.00
3. front and read diff fluid exchange : $125/ ea = $250 total
4. transfer case fluid exchange : $110.00
5. transmission fluid change : $230.00

Parts
$636.83
Total Labor
$711.67
Total Before Taxes & Miscellaneous Charges
$1,348.50
(*) Shop Supplies
$23.99
(E) Environmental Fee’s
$24.99
(S) Sales & Use Tax
7 %
$44.58

GRAND TOTAL : $1442.06!!

 

Here is my take on the pricing:

1. spark plugs : $330. - Outrageous, I changes these myself with OEM part for $60 and an hour of my time.

then they are also saying I should/need this: Is this a good thing to do or need to be done?
BG Fuel/Air Induction Service ***Performed with spark plug replacement***
Connect equipment to fuel delivery system, add chemicals to clean system contamination. Fluid additives and/or conditioners may be
required to complete system service. Leak test vehicle system. Perform final road test where applicable. BGKF65-N1TD - Fuel Injection System Kit BG 4073 - Mass Air Flow Sensor Cleaner
$185.00 - Not sure, might be worth it. Do you run a lot of ethanol gas?

1. coolant exchange : $130.00 - Reasonable
2. power steering fluid : $115.00 - Crazy!
3. front and read diff fluid exchange : $125/ ea = $250 total - Too high, did this myself for $40 each and and hour of my time.
4. transfer case fluid exchange : $110.00 - Outrageous, did this for $20 and 20 minutes of my time.
5. transmission fluid change : $230.00 - Reasonable

 

A bit high for my blood!!! I might be in on about half.......

You can probably do all of these yourself for a fraction of that.

 

All the fluid is easy easy easy. Don’t pay them exorbitant rates

 

I would say including parts, labor, fees, Tax, all of this should not exceed $1000. Should be between $850-$1000.

 

Have heard good things about BG products. IMHO, if its running fine then not interested. I am always leary of "Up selling" services like this. Most likely a big money maker for them.

 

I would let them do front and rear diff, super messy. Everything else is a easy garage job and they're charging way too much. I live by a rule, get 3 quotes. At least you'll know you're paying industry standard for any services you're receiving. Email or call that list of services, without prices, to two other shops and see what they say.

 

pay for the transmission drain and fill. it's too complicated to do it correctly.

I haven't done coolant yet, but in general coolant is usually an easy task.

everything else is VERY easy. differentials and transfer case are even easier than an oil change. hell, you don't even need to measure anything. you just make sure the truck is level and you keep pumping until you get some coming out the fill hole.

 

So as a service manager for an independent shop, I’m a little biased of course. I will say I don’t know the labor rates or going rate for shops in SC, but in CO our our hourly rate is $128 and that is very normal in the Fort Collins area.

That said, the spark plugs do seem high although it’s likely the markup on OE plugs which are expensive.

The BG ink/induction service is kick@$$, I strongly recommend it with the so-so fuel we find at most pumps, and that is $30 less that we charge for it.

I don’t want to confuse things, so if they are offering BG Coolant Svc, BG power steering fluid service and BG transmission fluid service, those are good prices. Doing it yourself you won’t get the same result at all and it is a lot messier. I’ve done coolant and PS fluid at home and usually you won’t get s full exchange of fluids or the cooling system and PS system cleaners that are added prior to servicing.

That said, I do most of the mechanical work on my own vehicles (but not fluid Svcs) for much less as most of those are labor intensive. Parts and taxes for the above quote you’d be around $700... so how handy are you?

Not sure if the shop told you, but any vehicle under 100K that has BG Svcs performed is automatically enrolled in their Lifetime Protection plan. As long as you perform the fluid services every 30K you’ll have coverage up to $2,000 on the cooling system, trans, and PS components. Nice backup once your cruising past the 100K mile range.

Not trying to sway you one way or another, but those prices aren’t out of line FOR a reputable shop, but you can ALWAYS find a cheaper shop... it’s up to you and your skill level and time available.

#rantmode And my personal beef after years in the industry, not directed at you but in general: don’t b!tch about pricing WHEN you’re comparing DIY pricing to a shop, both are viable options but don’t compare them and demand the Saturday-garage pricing from a shop.

I agree with @JimboSlice, get several quotes!

 

The diff change isn’t messy. It has a drain plug

 

Agreed, diffs and t-case are simple. That’s why I specified PS and trans as the messy ones. And that quote shouldn’t be for a drain and fill, should be a full trans service fluid exchange.

 

i see this said a lot regarding transmission fluid changes on the tundra. the Toyota specified transmission service is a drain-and-fill NOT a flush. i would not flush the transmission, especially if Toyota isn't telling us it needs to be done. the other item - the drain-and-fill process on the tundra is not simple. its time consuming and complicated. i researched it because I try to do all my servicing myself. i paid $229 at the dealership for mine.

 

The drain and fill process is fairly easy. Measure the amount removed and replace with same amount. Recently did this, having the needed supplies makes it no more difficult than an oil or diff change.

The level check is not that simple. I did not attempt, felt very certain that the same amount went back in.

 

This shop is a great place but I feel like their prices have started to creep up. I’m def going to get at least 2 other estimates. Any national chain recommendations?

There is a small”good ol boy” Toyota shop that has fantastic reviews 10 min from me. I’ve never used them but when I called today to ask he said these fluids last well beyond the mileage recommendations to change and that he goes by look, smell, texture. He mentioned most of the time fluid changes are a money grab at the recommended mileage. He didn’t want to quote anything until he sees the current state of he fluids in my truck. Pretty honest place if you ask me.

I know i could do it myself but just not sure I want to deal with buying the right tools, supplies, and then disposal. Could be a fun thing to learn to do though. You tube is great for this type of thing.

 

BG is good stuff but not necessary if the truck runs well. Buy some BG44K online and put it in your gas tank for clean up or preventive maintenance . I am in strong favor of using Toyota antifreeze. When I worked for Toyota most cars and trucks with blown headgasket had aftermarket antifreeze. All the best.

 

The price on the differentials is the one that always makes me laugh. It is easier than changing your oil and can be done by you in lass than hour for less than half the price.

 

Is it a good idea to push cleaning chemicals through the trans or are they just making stuff up? Trans fluid has a ton of cleaning properties. It doesn’t get dirty, as there is no explosion happening in the transmission. It just is broken down mechanically from heat/friction

 

This is a pretty typical cost analysis if you're taking it to a Toyota dealer. I know, i work at a dealer. Now for an independent shop, this quote is high.

 

@ARamirez73

 

I would say after seeing enough GM and Ford trucks and SUVs coming in at 90-120K miles with moderately dark fluid and bearing/drivetrain noise and issues that I’m a stickler for mileage based maintenance even if the fluid looks “ok”. That’s how I’ve done it with my wife’s 2014 Honda pilot, time will tell as I hit the 200,000 mile mark (only have 81k so far). I would say most mileage based services are designed to prevent issues 75k or 100,000 miles down the road, not immediate gratification like brakes or tires. But it’s also for a specific type of person, and one that plans to keep their vehicle awhile

 

Maybe these prices are not that far off. Second quote I got from AAA car care was 1432.00.

 

Dude how much was the truck? Think of what % of the cost of the vehicle these things are? I would keep shopping around if you really want to pay someone to do the stuff

 

I agree with your post, but would probably take it in a different direction. For a $45,000 truck to cost $1400 at 100K miles is very reasonable if you ask me, it’s about 3.2% of initial purchase for the main “big service” that won’t be needed again for a long time. If there’s no value in that, then I guess we disagree. Also, these trucks don’t have “usually” a major out of service breakdown before that 100K Svc. Don’t overpay or waste your money, if you can get it done well by a reputable shop for $1050, awesome! But it that is the price in your area, I’d say it still has value...!

 

Agreed. I should have specified that i don’t consider this particular list big money preventative or repair work.

If someone is scared to do there own brakes, then absolutely it is worth the labor to pay a shop for example.

 

The level check is easy too. Its complicated if reading service manual instructions, as it makes it appear like 30 steps. Literally takes 2 min to get er done.

Exchanged 13qts of trans fluid with Amsoil at 150k miles. Glad I did cause the stock fluid looked like shit.

 

Shops will have a markup for parts and labor. I did most of those myself. Not including spark plugs and the fuel/air induction service, I paid maybe about $500 in fluids and I still have a ton left over for the next service. Granted, I'm not buying OE fluids, they are pretty highly regarded based on what I was able to find.

Coolant fluid = Zerex Red Asian Formula
Transfer case and Diff = Mobil 1 75W-90
Transmission and Power steering fluid = Valvoline Maxlife ATF

I still have to do the brake fluid. I had a can of mass air flow cleaner so I just took it off and sprayed the MAF, let it dry and reconnect. Did the same for throttle body with throttle body cleaner I'm an amateur wrencher and did most of these over the course of a few weeks, only spending a day a week. And by a day, more like 3-4 hours max. I'm sure I could have tackled it all in a weekend but both kids are home on the weekends which severly limits my availability. Just watched a lot of youtube videos and felt comfortable doing it myself.

Power steering fluid is one of the easiest ones to do. Just get a suction gun and suck that fluid out. Replace with new fluid, rotate the steering wheel and rinse and repeat if you'd like, or just do it again every oil change.

Another thing is greasing the driveshaft joints. Easy job after you have the grease and grease gun.

I understand that not everybody wants to wrench and I certainly didn't with my BMW X5. I paid out the @$$ for an independent mechanic to change all the fluids and fix oil leaks. After that, I decided I was not made of money and will be doing it myself going forward.

 

I'm looking at your invoice....They put 75W-140 in your front and rear diffs.....Toyota recommends 75-85 Fluid......I'm no fluid expert so maybe the 75W-140 is fine???