60k Service - 2003 Camry

It that link doesn't work, go to and use the link to the scheduled maintenance guides for your year, model, and maintenance interval for the factory recommend service items. Compare the factory recommended items with what the dealer lists for that service and ask their price for performing just the factory recommended items. The dealership probably includes replacing automatic transmission and differential fluid oil, which I recommend as good "insurance." The dealership may also include timing belt replacement, which your car does not need since it has a timing chain that does not need routine replacement.

If you go to an independent shop, I recommend asking them to use genuine Toyota coolant, which you can buy at the dealership and bring with you.

You'll want to check out Ray O's recommendations, and you might also want to look at Edmunds.com's suggested price costs for each of the shop's services at 60k miles.

Edmunds shows a price cost for each item that needs servicing at 60k miles--though I don't know if the prices shown are competitive.

Thanks for the advice.

One of the tasks included in the dealer's service quote is cleaning the throttle body. They wanted to do this at 30k and I said no. Is this necessary?

Basically, it looks like I would want to do the following as a good insurance measure:

Replace coolant Replace differential fluid Replace automatic transmission fluid Replace air filter

Is it necessary to replace the spark plugs at 60k? That has typically been the case in the past, but I wasn't sure with the newer plugs.

I will probably see what the dealer would charge just to perform these tasks. The rest of the inspections seem to be covered in the routine oil changes. They discovered my cracked serpentine belt when I had it in for an oil change yesterday.

Thanks

Good question. Don't ask me what you really need at

60,000 miles. My '95 Tercel went to heaven last year at only 33,000 miles.

That's how little I drive. My Camry is 7 months old now, and has just 2,020 miles on it, but only because I've been driving 30 and

50 miles to Super Walmarts in other towns to do my shopping, instead of the local Super Walmart.

I think the car's broken in now, so no more long-distance shopping

for me.

Cleaning the throttle body may not be necessary, but it is not a bad idea. You can do this yourself with a phillips screwdriver, a can of O2 sensor-friendly carburetor cleaner, and some paper towels. Loosen the clamp holding plastic tube leading into the throttle body by loosening the phillips screw, remove the plastic tube, spray the carb cleaner into the throttle body, wipe out the residue, then open the throttle plate by pivoting the bellcrank on the outside of the throttle body, spray the throttle plate, and wipe some more, then put everything back together. The car will smoke like it is going to blow up when you start it up, but it will clear up. Total time invested is under 15 minutes if you have to look for the throttle body, under 10 minutes if you know where to look. To find the throttle body, have someone step on the throttle pedal while you look for a moving cable on top of the engine. The cable will operate the bellcrank, that looks like a pulley. The black plastic tube is attached to the silver throttle body.

If replacing the spark plugs is not on the factory recommended list, then don't replace them.

You're welcome!

Everything has changed with the 2002 Camry, the throttle is controlled electronically. Throttle by wire, so no more external linkages. No more IAC valves. If your not having any driveability problems, just pass on the cleaning.

Slim