Just took delivery of our Prius and the dealer offered us a prepaid maintenance plan covering all oil changes and scheduled maintenance for the first 45K miles for $870. We turned him down. Smart or not??? Our son has a Prius and he says all you need to do is change the oil every
5K miles for the first 60K miles. Your thoughts???"@veriz(nospam)on.net" wrote in message news:3VRKf.30545$dO2.14315@trnddc07...
Sounds like 9 oil changes at $100.00 each, about twice what my Toyota dealer charges to change oil, rotate tires and inspect the usual suspects.
I'm leery of any "plan" offered by a dealership.
"@veriz(nospam)on.net" wrote in message news:3VRKf.30545$dO2.14315@trnddc07...
Doesn't sound like an attractive price. The only major maintenance in that period is the 30K, and the going price for that seems to be about $400.
Mike
I dont know about Prius but your son is correct. All you need is oil change every 5000 miles. If you go to valvoline which does it without your need to even get out of the car, it will cost you about 35 bucks. On an average oil change is anywhere between 25-40 bucks. Do your math. Dealers are always trying to find new ways to scam.
I'm assuming that you have a 2006 Prius, and are in the US.
MSRP of the Toyota Prepaid maintenance plan, every 5,000 miles out to 4 years/55,000 miles: Classic (oil changes and Toyota Roadside Assistance): $540 Premium (Classic plan plus tire rotations, and major maintenance at the
15k, 30k, 45k intervals): $995 (includes 3 major services)Also be sure that whatever prepaid plan your dealer offers is good at other Toyota dealers, and not just at that location or dealer chain.
In the US, the 2004-2006 Prius has a 5,000 mile/6 month service interval, which is an oil change AND a tire rotation. 30,000 miles is a much bigger service. 2006 Prius no longer comes with the complementary Toyota Roadside Assistance plan.
Depending on where you live (dealer labor rates and going rates for set services), and how good you are at remembering to bring your car in (the prepaid maintenance plan sends you reminder coupons), and especially if you can haggle a good deal on the Prepaid Maintenance, it may or may not be worth it to you.
Best bet is to call the service departments of several local dealerships, and ask what their going rate is on the Prius service intervals (be sure to ask for the "major" 15k intervals, too), and add those up. Also call the finance departments of those same dealerships and ask what the pricing is for the Toyota Prepaid Maintenance plan. For some people, the plan can be much cheaper than paying as you go, but for some others (depends on where you are) it is better to pay as you go...
If your dealer has forgotten to give you the Prius-specific Passport to Performance (scheduled maintenance guide), you can download it from:
One other thing, my Toyota dealership does maintenance according to a general maintenance plan that applies to multiple vehicles, including trucks. Imagine that, a Prius and a Gosh Damn truck lumped together - bottom line, the "Cleaned the injectors" as 10K and charged me a couple Benjamins for the service, which I never asked for nor needed (by the estimates of anyone familiar with the Prius at 10K mileage). I complained and they ended up knocking about 75 bucks off the price and said *I* was partly to blame for not telling them that I didn't want it.
My experience with most dealerships is that NONE can be trusted, at all.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.