I have a 2005 Toyota Corolla that is near the 100,000 mile mark. I do a lot of highway driving ans some in town driving. What kind of maintenance should I be looking at doing?
Brakes?
Fluid flush?
How about the belt? Does that need to be replaced?
Thanks for the help in advance!
All you have to do is open up your owner’s manual to the bits on recommended maintenance and follow it. If you don’t have a manual its a good idea to find one. Sometimes you can find free pdf downloads online from the manufacturer. Other than that you can easily find then for sale.
If it has an automatic transmission the only thing to ignore with regards to those recommendations is whatever it says about the transmission. That should be serviced (its pan removed and filter changes) about every 30K miles.
What the owner’s manual calls for, plus:
Drain and refill the transmission every 30k miles.
Change brake fluid every 3 years.
Drain and refill the power steering reservoir every 3 years.
Change thermostat every 5 years.
There are a couple things recommended by Toyota at this stage of it’s life, too.
Throttle body clean (unless you’ve recently done it)
Power steering fluid flush (again, unless you’ve done it)
If you’re brake system has never had a complete fluid change, I would consider doing that, too. Brake fluid breaks down over time, and will gradually result in reduced performance. You may not even notice it until it’s too late. If you change the brake fluid out, you may notice improved brakes, too.
Chase
Toyota thought you might need to know that, so they actually put the information right in the owner’s manual.
You don’t have a belt for timing, you have a chain when a chain wears out you will take your car to a mechanic long before it breaks to ask him what that awful noise is.
Maintenance should not be a mystery, and that is the reason why every car manufacturer provides a maintenance schedule. This could be contained in the Owner’s Manual, or in a separate booklet with an appropriate title. Even if you have never done so before, it is now time to open your glove compartment, take out the booklets inside, and refer to them for what you need to know.
In addition to what is mentioned in the Toyota Maintenance Schedule, I strongly suggest that you have your transmission fluid changed if this is a car with an automatic transmission.
Fair enough, but it’s not in mine. 2004 4Runner.
And yes, I’ve read the entire owners handbook for both of my vehicles, cover to cover (except the indexes, of course).
Chase