Girl here need advice please :)

[goldgirl]

Hi all, i have just purchased a 2004 Toyota Camry Altise.

It had one owner who had it from new and had it serviced at CMI Toyota as per the log book

What im wondering is its coming up for its 90 000km service where they also replace spark plugs etc and im not sure whether to take it back to CMI or just my regular mechanic? They quoted me $362 for this service plus $40 to flush our the engine or something (can u tell i know alot about cars) Is it really worth it and better to take to the dealer she said they use genuine toyota parts too!

My regular mechanic is an honest old bloke but ive only ever had older cars before this one :)

Thanks for any advice

Edited January 12, 2012 by goldgirl

[mr2pod]

There is no "need" for your car to be serviced at the dealership. All good mechanics should be able to perform the recommended work for a 90,000km service. There is no reason why your local mechanic can not get any "genuine" part either if it is required. I have been more than happy, and a bit wealthier, by using my local mechanic.

Cheers

[Andrew357]

Sounds like it is a 4cylinder Gen5 so the price they are asking is a little expensive as spark plugs + changing them is cheap. I would go elsewhere for the service.

however, the engine flush could be the coolant flush which is cheap given the time/labour involved + cost of coolant alone.is almost $40.

Find another mechanic and get another quote. most will do an.over te phone quote for you.

[Tash]

If you've found a good mechanic that you trust then stick with them I reckon - since I purchased mine it's never been serviced by a Toyota dealership. As mr2pod has said, my wallet has been happier for it and the work has been to just as high a standard as Toyota's, without affecting my warranty and most mechanics will always choose the genuine parts anyway.

[White Lightning]

Coming from a used car salesman that works for one of Australia's No. 1 dealerships - by all means shop around, but remember as with anything, you get what you pay for. Good mechanics are going to charge a little bit more as this is what stands them out from the guys that don't do work as good as theirs. Also (and don't quote me on this), I think from memory the 90K service is a milestone service where many things need to be checked (not necessarily replaced). If you go to a dealer then you are guaranteed that they know (or should know) exactly what they are doing, because trust me when I say this, if you take it to your own personal mechanic and they miss something, when you take it back to the dealer if it all goes pear-shaped, you're going to get a big, fat, "I TOLD YOU SO" from their service department. That being said, they're labour charges are always exuberant by comparison and they will ONLY use genuine parts which will also sting you hard.

My advice (and trust me - I'm a used car salesman ;) ) is get a couple of quotes from REPUTABLE, non-dealership affiliated mechanics as well and then make your choice. Just make sure that they sign off on the service in the log book and make sure you know exactly what needs to be done on the service so that the next time you take it back if they try to tell you something is wrong with something they should have checked you can hit them with, "That was supposed to be done at the last service... Why wasn't it?"... Knowledge is power my friend :)

[Ronnyboy]

Like others have said, its good to get a few quotes from a number of Mechanics.

I payed $450, for a 90,000 km Service at a Toyota Service Centre.

If you know a good trusted mechanic, by all means take it to them :)

[Adamsy]

See I’m from the other side of the fence, My car from day dot has always being looked after by Toyota, granted i work for them so my car receives extra special attention and i can decide who works on it etc dealerships also now to look out for things that are sent out in bulletins that 3rd party mechanics wouldn’t have a hope in hell of knowing or looking out for. real simply example of this is on the Aurion the engine mount and braces on the left hand side of the engine now get checked and tightened during a service this isn’t a thing normal to check or do but in Toyota world it's a known fact that it's possible for them to slightly untighten ever so slightly, not major but they get torque’d up at every service. Anyway you get the point. it also looks a lot better in your service books to see its been serviced by Toyota it also makes warranty claims a lot easier especially if the dealer is familiar with the vehicle. Can also help resale as well. but all this has to be weight up by the fact yes a third party place will be cheaper just make sure they are using quality oils and genuine filters not cheap Sh!t gulf western oil and RAF filters but yeah if you have a good mechanic who your happy with and trust is doing the right things by you then go for it.