How often should the transmission fluid, coolant, and synthetic oil be change on a 2014 Toyota Camry Hybrid. My dealer said 100k, 120k, and 10k. A reputable local repair shop said 30k, 30k, and 5k. That’s a big difference! Who is right?
Listen to those guy’s.
Tester
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50k for the first two is what I use.
Also check owners manual for time factor.
Toyota itself says never for the transmission fluid, 10 years for the first coolant change and 10000 miles or 1 year for the oil.
What does your owners manual say?
why do you recommend that? What is the actual need?
Is Toyota trying to make it look like they’re so good their cars don’t need much maintenance? Or is this local shop just trying to make money off me?
Toyota, and other manufacturers do want to seem like they don’t need much maintenance and that is probably fine if you only plan to keep a cat 100,000 miles or less.
Many of the forum members here keep their cars 25 to 300 thousand or over. Others just feel the more frequent maintenance is very cheap compared to replacing an engine or transmission that it
is just good insurance.
Your money, your car. There is no one size fits all answer.
Yes, but again, what is best w.r.t. engineering?
Is Toyota trying to make it look like they’re so good their cars don’t need much maintenance? Or is this local shop just trying to make money off me?
Or has the local shop (which has great reviews, btw), learned something about these cars that is really the better way to care for the car?
I agree, it is more of a selling point. Like my truck, 100K for transmission & transfer case, 150K for differentials. Nope, I’m going much earlier.
The topic “how often should I … ?” was discussed here very often, and general consensus is that you have to replace your fluids AT LEAST as often as it is defined in the “severe maintenance schedule” recommended by the manufacturer.
Check your owner’s manual and you will get your answer.
It is a GOOD IDEA to replace some of fluids more often than recommended, especially for “lifetime transmission fluid”, but you have to do that if you plan on keeping your car past 100-150K miles.
There is not a lot of profit in those services and the mileage figures might be what Toyota severe service is. I guess you bought this used and may not have any idea of past service records so why not just have it done and possibly put things in your favor.
How many miles and years do you plan on keeping this car?I would not not want to keep a hybrid past the life of the batteries.
As long as the job is done correctly there’s only positives for the car’s health, not a single negative when changing the fluids more frequently than the owners manual suggests. If you prefer the approach more likely to keep your car out of the repair shop, suggest to follow the local shop’s advice. There’s a conflict of interest either way. The dealership loses $$$ if you follow the local shop’s advice and the car lasts a long time, b/c you won’t be back to the dealership for a long time to buy a new car. On the other hand the local shop makes more money doing fluid changes if you follow their advice.
Not in my opinion. Severe intervals are plenty often for me. I go with regular intervals except for tranny fluid, and go to 80% of regular on oil changes. Except for tranny fluid I bet most fluid issues are from failure to honor regular intervals.
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The 100,000 mile service includes the first coolant change, I have performed that procedure a hundred times, the cooling systems are fine, no damage. Toyota’s Super long life coolant has been in use for 15 years and is many times better than the coolant we used 40 years ago.
There are millions of Toyota/Lexus vehicles on the road with 10,000 synthetic oil change service intervals, if this is no good we should have seen engine failures 8 years ago.
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The independent that has been servicing the fleet for 26yrs now has the 2010 Prius on a 6,000-7,000 mile oil change interval (roughly every 9mo) and the other services on schedule. The 10,000 mile oil change interval was introduced after mom took delivery in July 2009 so originally we were told every 5,000 miles. Similar to the previous car using conventional oil.
These guys see a fair number of Toyota hybrids and their advice has served us well so far.
Hi Volvo_V70, I bought the car new in 2014 and have all the service records. I was looking for an alternative to the dealer for my next servicing, and that’s when I learned of the discrepancy in recommendations that prompted my question.
If the repair shop is right, I learned something and can care for my car better. If they’re not right, I’m spending money for nothing, and possibly risking poorer repair. So I do want to know more about what is truly best to do.
Hi Nevada_545, thanks for this reply, and info. If Toyota’s coolant is that much better, that would explain their recommendation. I’ll check with the local repair shop to see what fluid they use, but you have a good point that putting in fluid that isn’t as good as that from the dealer would not be a good idea.
Hi George …, See Nevada’s answer below. There could be a disadvantage to changing the fluid more often if the replacement fluid is much inferior to the dealer’s fluid.