2015 Toyota Corolla - Did I get ripped off?

My local shop ask me 100$ for a simple fuel injector cleaning. Took them 10 mins. Did I got screwed?
Tks!

Why did you ask for this service?
Most likely that is the standard charge.

A few minutes on the web shows that even Jiffy Lube charges 100.00 for this service . Of course I would not use them and the price range seemd to be from 70 to 110 dollars so you were charge a fair price. Did you not ask what it would cost before the work was done ?

Yes I asked the price before but as I didn’t know the faire price , I was just a little surprise.
Many tks for your reply.

Why did you get it?

Mr Lube shop recommendation.

I’d only do it if I was experiencing a problem. Lube shops will always recommend it, I tell them no thanks.

A proper fuel injection cleaning will likely cost you more than $100 and will involve hooking up a machine to run solvent through your system.

What most lube shops seem to do is add a bottle for fuel injection cleaner to your tank. You can do that yourself by addin Chevron Techron fuel injection cleaner or any of many other brands for very little money yourself.

It is my belief, that is you are having no driveability issues, you don’t need fuel injection cleaning. It has been at least 20 years since I bought a can of the stuff and my 2012 Camry has never had any. I am amazed at all the expensive “miracle in a can products” my local oil change place has. Every customer gets pitched at least one and it looks to me like they are at least 80% profit.

I only go there for my yearly state inspection. I don’t go to my mechanic for inspection because I would have to leave the car for the day, and I know he loses money doing an inspection.

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Yes you got ripped off if the car was running OK before you didn’t need it those quick iffy lubes can not be trusted. :upside_down_face:

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My 20009 Corolla’s manual does not mention injector cleaning at all. Shops that have such equipment wont it working to pay for itself.

time travel much? LOL sorry I had too.

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As one of our now-departed forum members–Joseph Meehan–used to say…
Never go to a quick lube place. Not even for directions!

But, just to be serious with the OP, the business model of the quick lube places is to provide minimal training and supervision of their employees, and then push them to rush cars in and out. They also tend to use the cheapest “white box” filters from China. Does that sound like a place that you should trust with your car?

The only thing that those places are good at is “upselling” their customers with unnecessary services.

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A Toyota dealer will never do this procedure because its not part of a regular maintenance program for your car. Beware that local shops will try to sell stuff you don’t need.

You didn’t get ripped off, you learned a lesson, it cost you $100.
Don’t go to lube places, don’t listen to every recommendation for added service people throw at you.

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I disagree. The Toyota dealership told my friend that his Rav-4 needed a fuel injector cleaning every 30k miles. After the first couple of times, I was able to talk my friend out of that wallet-flush, and he learned to phone me from the dealership before agreeing to any of their “upsells”.

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I wouldn’t call a $100 fee for that service a “rip off”, but suggest in the future you ask your own inde shop (or the folks here) the next time a shop recommends a non-standard service. The Toyota fuel injection system is pretty bullet-proof, so it would be unusual for a 6 year old Corolla to need fuel injector cleaning. The standard services are specified by the manufacturer in your owner’s manual. So, no you weren’t ripped off, and perhaps it did some good. And an unneeded injector cleaning is unlikely to do any harm.

Our shop does fuel injection cleanings however many cars do not require it. If you use top tier fuel (I.E. Chevron or Shell) you will not need this service, if you are using Safeway fuel, this is not top tire fuel and with some vehicles may need the injectors cleaned.
On a second note, we charge $100 but we have never done one in 10 minutes, this sounds suspicious to me, it usually takes us 30 to 45 minutes. I think your odds of getting taken are in the higher percentage catagory… Sorry!
Joe

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