Professional servicing or DIY

[sanok]

Is it really necessary to service a car with professionals or DIY ?

It cost around $270 for a major service and all they do is change oil and filters plus inspect few items.

I can do it at a fraction of the cost, so what else they can do that I can't?

They still use term : "electronic tuning", but such thing doesn't exist in today's cars,

everything is set in ECU and there is no adjustments, or am I wrong?

I know they connect a car to a diagnostic computers but to check only if everything is OK

and not to tune anything.

So if the car runs smoothly and no problems, why would you pay so much to change oil and filters?

With the cars under warranty the reason would be to keep the warranty valid.

Any other reasons?

Edited June 23, 2009 by sanok

[Rolla Boy]

There are a lot of people out there that dont have time, tools or the knowledge to be able to service their own cars, this forum gets flooded with basic questions about serving and how to do posts so thats a sign right there...

Those reasons above plus warranty would be the main reasons why people get their cars professionally serviced...

[1rocky]

x2 this is the main reasons why i get my car serviced. I have looked a getting my car serviced from other service places but at the moment none has compared to toyota but that is just me.

Even getting your car serviced professionally during warranty does not always say your car is covered if something goes wrong.

[1stKill]

Is it really necessary to service a car with professionals or DIY ?

It cost around $270 for a major service and all they do is change oil and filters plus inspect few items.

I can do it at a fraction of the cost, so what else they can do that I can't?

They still use term : "electronic tuning", but such thing doesn't exist in today's cars,

everything is set in ECU and there is no adjustments, or am I wrong?

I know they connect a car to a diagnostic computers but to check only if everything is OK

and not to tune anything.

So if the car runs smoothly and no problems, why would you pay so much to change oil and filters?

With the cars under warranty the reason would be to keep the warranty valid.

Any other reasons?

$270 for a major is ok...problem is on a major service the parts list usually consisits of oil filter & oil/fuel filter/air filter/spark plugs/coolant change/brake check,ect ect....just an oil filter & oil is a minor service and at $270 this would be on the high end of pricing,our workshop normally dose minor service on a Yaris about $130-$160 oil & filter and a quick checkover done in about a hour,but sometimes we find stuff and thats when ya bill can blow out,but you should always be notified before they change or repair anything at cost to you.

check out how much all the service items are from Toyota and then add about $80-$90 an hour labour (have a guess at how long this should take) and this should give ya a rough estimate on what a service is worth...good luck.

p.s most minor services we do are about 1-2 hours max and a major service 3-4 hours pending on vehicle type..

[ToyotaNuts]

Sanok, I always wonder the same questions as yours. The guy like Daryl, who knows every nuts and bolts of his car but still get it professionally serviced. My guess is if the car is out of warranty + you can DIY + you don’t care about re-sale value of the car (most of the time, little Toyota Service Centre stamps in your log book will be asked by buyers) then do it. If it’s under warranty, you’re better get it done properly.

[the_random_hero]

Sanok, I always wonder the same questions as yours. The guy like Daryl, who knows every nuts and bolts of his car but still get it professionally serviced. My guess is if the car is out of warranty + you can DIY + you don’t care about re-sale value of the car (most of the time, little Toyota Service Centre stamps in your log book will be asked by buyers) then do it. If it’s under warranty, you’re better get it done properly.

Yep, I very much agree with this. On older cars you're much better doing it all yourself, but for something new still under factory warranty I would only go to a dealers.

[Ryan_GT4]

If the car is still under warranty just get it serviced by the dealer that way any faulty parts are replaced no questions asked and you know you're covered if something goes wrong because only a certified mechanic has touched it.

If it's out of warranty then that depends on your technical skills. I like to service my own car but that's just me. I also have the tool,s a bit of experience and the benefit that I break something I can let the car sit in the garage for a week while I get another part and I can just drive the daily.

There are some awesome workshop manuals out there that can help you figure out what you're doing too.

Having said all that, a trained mechanic who knows your car will sometimes pick up stuff in a check that you yourself might miss so even if you are serviing it yourself it can't hurt to have your dealer give the car a once over every now and then.

[Soarer_Gurl]

I do most of the servicing on my car, except when i dont have the time to do it or its a big job (eg my clutch needs doing) ill pay some one else to do it.

Warrenty isnt a prob as i dont have one anyway :P

When we owned our blue AE82 20 Valve rolla we used to pay people to do work on it and never had anything but problems is also why we choose to do most of the work ourselfs....if it F#$%@'s up well at least its my own fault and im not spending the next 2/3/4/5/6 weeks chaseing someone else for a repair or money back.