I was a guest this month on Hot Shopping Tips (episode 14) – a series of free and really helpful podcasts by my friends and former Consumer Reports colleagues Lisa Lee Freeman and Mandy Walker. The subject was: "Ten hacks to get the best deals on cars and avoid repair ripoffs." I thought I'd provide some additional specifics in a few posts here. Today: How to save hundreds on vehicle scheduled maintenance.
For instance, there may a list of maintenance procedures at 5,000 miles or six months and another at 10,000 miles or 12 months.
It's important to take care of your car or truck as the manufacturer recommends, especially if you don't want to risk the warranty coverage. But just telling a car dealer or independent mechanic that it's time for scheduled maintenance is a surefire way to end up with an unnecessarily big bill.
Maintenance schedules typically include many items that you easily do yourself, such as checking the installation of the driver's floor mat, topping off the antifreeze and other fluids and inspecting the wiper blades. Indeed, there's usually a bunch of things to check that a shop would be happy to look at for free After all, it's prospecting for work for which may be able to charge you.
Consider the 36,000-mile/36-month maintenance schedule I examined for a 2016 Toyota Highlander in preparation for Lisa and Mandy's podcast. Other than a lot of stuff to inspect, there's very little to do. Essentially it's changing the engine oil and oil filter, replacing the cabin and engine air filters and rotating the tires.
Yet, for 30,000 maintenance on a 2016 Highlander, the auto repair website RepairPal estimated the cost at $469 to $628 – and for just six of the items on the list of recommended procedures. A local Toyota dealer gave me a much lower quote, around $300. A big price for what amounts to little more than an oil change.
For comparison, I priced the important procedures piecemeal, instead as part of a scheduled maintenance package.
For the oil change, a local tire chain had a $29 special, including the use of synthetic blend oil. It said it would rotate the tires for free. I found the engine and cabin air filters at an auto parts store for $20. You can change them both yourself in just a few minutes. There are plenty of videos online that show you how.
Next, I called back the same Toyota dealer to ask about doing a multi-check to see if the vehicle needed any additional work. This time I didn't mention anything about $30,000-mile service. As I expected, the dealer offered to look over vehicle or free.
The bottom line? Bottom line? That $300 scheduled maintenance would now cost about $50. For an all-wheel-drive Highlander, figure on adding another $25 to $40 for some recommended driveshaft maintenance, which neither the dealer nor RepairPal mentioned in their list of items.
What to Do
Never tell a repair shop that your vehicle needs scheduled maintenance, or you'll likely trigger an estimated for a high-priced package of services. Instead, review the list of maintenance recommendation and decide what really needs to be done and what simple items you can do yourself. If you're not sure, ask a friend or relative who knows something about cars. Keep in mind that with a simple web search, you likely can find a lot of free online videos that explain how to simple maintenance on your vehicle, whether it's inspecting fluids, changing filters or anything else on that list.
For procedures for which you need or want to hire a pro, gets estimates for those items alone. Comparison shop. By law, you're not required to have an authorized dealer perform the recommended maintenance as a condition to maintaining the manufacturer's warranty (although warranty coverage could be affected if maintenance is done incorrectly.
One related tip: Be cautious if a repair shop recommends maintenance that isn't on the manufacturer's list of recommended procedures, such as flushing your transmission or filling your tires with nitrogen. These services typically have little or no benefit and are intended to increase the shop's profits. Occasionally, car makers do add items to the list of recommended maintenance based on issues they discover as models age. If the shop says that's the case with your vehicle, make it show you a car maker's so-called technical service bulletin or other proof, or verify with the car maker directly.
If you check your car's owner's or maintenance manual, you'll find the car maker's recommended maintenance schedules.
For instance, there may a list of maintenance procedures at 5,000 miles or six months and another at 10,000 miles or 12 months.It's important to take care of your car or truck as the manufacturer recommends, especially if you don't want to risk the warranty coverage. But just telling a car dealer or independent mechanic that it's time for scheduled maintenance is a surefire way to end up with an unnecessarily big bill.
Maintenance schedules typically include many items that you easily do yourself, such as checking the installation of the driver's floor mat, topping off the antifreeze and other fluids and inspecting the wiper blades. Indeed, there's usually a bunch of things to check that a shop would be happy to look at for free After all, it's prospecting for work for which may be able to charge you.
Consider the 36,000-mile/36-month maintenance schedule I examined for a 2016 Toyota Highlander in preparation for Lisa and Mandy's podcast. Other than a lot of stuff to inspect, there's very little to do. Essentially it's changing the engine oil and oil filter, replacing the cabin and engine air filters and rotating the tires.
Yet, for 30,000 maintenance on a 2016 Highlander, the auto repair website RepairPal estimated the cost at $469 to $628 – and for just six of the items on the list of recommended procedures. A local Toyota dealer gave me a much lower quote, around $300. A big price for what amounts to little more than an oil change.
For comparison, I priced the important procedures piecemeal, instead as part of a scheduled maintenance package.
For the oil change, a local tire chain had a $29 special, including the use of synthetic blend oil. It said it would rotate the tires for free. I found the engine and cabin air filters at an auto parts store for $20. You can change them both yourself in just a few minutes. There are plenty of videos online that show you how.
Next, I called back the same Toyota dealer to ask about doing a multi-check to see if the vehicle needed any additional work. This time I didn't mention anything about $30,000-mile service. As I expected, the dealer offered to look over vehicle or free.
The bottom line? Bottom line? That $300 scheduled maintenance would now cost about $50. For an all-wheel-drive Highlander, figure on adding another $25 to $40 for some recommended driveshaft maintenance, which neither the dealer nor RepairPal mentioned in their list of items.
What to Do
Never tell a repair shop that your vehicle needs scheduled maintenance, or you'll likely trigger an estimated for a high-priced package of services. Instead, review the list of maintenance recommendation and decide what really needs to be done and what simple items you can do yourself. If you're not sure, ask a friend or relative who knows something about cars. Keep in mind that with a simple web search, you likely can find a lot of free online videos that explain how to simple maintenance on your vehicle, whether it's inspecting fluids, changing filters or anything else on that list.
For procedures for which you need or want to hire a pro, gets estimates for those items alone. Comparison shop. By law, you're not required to have an authorized dealer perform the recommended maintenance as a condition to maintaining the manufacturer's warranty (although warranty coverage could be affected if maintenance is done incorrectly.
One related tip: Be cautious if a repair shop recommends maintenance that isn't on the manufacturer's list of recommended procedures, such as flushing your transmission or filling your tires with nitrogen. These services typically have little or no benefit and are intended to increase the shop's profits. Occasionally, car makers do add items to the list of recommended maintenance based on issues they discover as models age. If the shop says that's the case with your vehicle, make it show you a car maker's so-called technical service bulletin or other proof, or verify with the car maker directly.
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