recently I have visited an “oil changing” franchisee and they said Toyota recommends this at 10,000 miles. After which they took my car outside and left it there for a while, not visibly doing any “cleaning” for my fuel line? Was I scammed? I never exchange oil after 3000 miles, I buy synthetic oil and by nature I am very skeptical…
You should check your owner’s manual. None of my owner’s manuals for three different branded vehicles suggest fuel injector cleaning on a routine basis, in the maintenance schedule.
I believe the cleaning effect you got, so long as you had no performance/idle issues (which are probably covered under your warranty), was just as easily obtainable by using a quality fuel injector cleaner such as Techron, for about $7 or less.
At 10K miles, I would seriously challenge any need for this.
When I used some quick lubes for oil changes, I noticed a notable desire to sell me unneeded services or parts. I resisted their sales pitch. That is one of several reasons why I now take the time to do my own oil changes.
Toyota does NOT recommend this for 10k miles or even 100k miles…They are lying through their teeth if they told you that. Pull our your owners manual and have them show you in the manual where it is…I GUARANTEE YOU THEY CAN’T…IT DOESN’T EXIST.
If you paid for this service you were scammed…Even if they actually did the service you were scammed…there is no reason what-so-ever ANY car needs this service at 10k miles…MAYBE after a couple hundred thousand miles. And you can do it yourself by buying a can of Seafoam (or some other quality fuel-line cleaner) and just pour it in the gas tank.
They were making sure you didn’t accumulate any excess deposits in your bank account.
They did nothing for your car.
As has been stated, this is not required by Toyota–or any other car manufacturer–at that mileage or at any mileage. It might be needed if the car is exhibiting specific symptoms, but I rather doubt that the car is exhibiting any symptoms of clogged fuel injectors at 10k. However, you shouldn’t feel too bad about being scammed. Someone recently posted about being charged over $600.00 for fuel injector cleaning by Palm Beach Toyota!
If you have ANY engine issues at this point, I would suggest that you seek recourse through your Powertrain Warranty. This is a great opportunity to open up the glove compartment and take out the booklet detailing your warranties (there are several) and your maintenance schedule. You will benefit greatly from reading the details of both.
However, a larger issue here is why anyone would take a car–especially a new one that is under warranty–to a quick oil change place. Besides the shameless overselling of unneeded procedures, you have a MUCH greater probablity of a screw-up at one of these facilities that could produce disasterous results for your (pick one or more): engine, transmission, differential, brake hydraulic system, cooling system.
For the same fee–or perhaps less money–you can have your car serviced by an independent mechanic or the dealership, and in either case, you would be putting your car in less danger of being damaged by the under-trained kids working at that quick lube place.
Oh, yeah, and don’t ever go to a “oil changing” franchise unless you have no other options. You’ll be back telling us they drained your tranny fluid instead of your oil and your tranny froze. We get lots of these posts.
It is really a method of cleaning your wallet. You don’t need it, all modern fules have lots of cleaners in there. In the US it is required to be there.
Now that you know they are out to cheat you, remember that you have no obligation to have them do any work on your car other than that which is free, like new car warranty work.
If Iffy Lube was my only option, I’d let my oil get all nice and sludgy, then take it to them, then complain they ruined my engine.
Or get a set of ramps and do it myself. 