I have driven 70,000 miles in my 2015 Toyota Corolla, automatic. I don’t drive much in recent years. My dealership recommended a coolant flush, brake system flush and fuel system clean. They are a little pricy. Otherwise, my car is fine with recent new battery, front brakes and tires within 3 years).
Are these recommendations upselling or a necessary part of maintenance given the use and age of my car?
You don’t need to go to the dealer for these services. The vehicle is out of warranty.
Any good independent shop can give you an estimate on these services.
But from what you describe, the brake fluid should have been replaced every three years. And the coolant? Maybe ten years, every 100,000 miles. The fuel system clean is an up-sell.
Tester
Like Tester said, the brake fluid needs to be changed every 3 years or every 30,000 miles.
I just did mine and the price isn’t that high at the dealer. $202 including tax.
The pile of literature that came with the car (e.g. the owner’s manual) came with a maintenance schedule. If you look at it, you will notice that most items are to be serviced not only on a mileage, but also a time basis. Pull that out and have a look for yourself.
(You will not find a fuel system cleaning in there).
And, as noted, you don’t need a dealer.
If you have ever been in sales, that’s what you do. All the customer has to do is say no. I have sympathy for them.
You say replace brake fluid (front and back?). And replace coolant. But NO flush of these, right?
The customer or the salesperson?
When a shop replaces the brake fluid, they use a brake fluid flush device that replaces all the brake fluid.
And when they replace the coolant, they use a coolant flush machine.
Both these methods replaces all the fluid.
Tester
A proper/professional fuel system cleaning is a decarbonation of the induction side of the air intake and fuel system and includes cleaning the throttle body, it is also recommended every 15-20K… It looks like an IV drip is being preformed… It is 3 parts, the IV drip looking thing, the T-body blade cleaning (where possible) and a bottle of Renew 500 in the tank to clean the injectors…
A bottle of fuel cleaner that goes in the gas tank is like brushing your teeth, doing a professional FST (fuel system cleaning) is like going to the dentist and having your teeth deep cleaned…
MAP (Motorist Assurance Program) is who recommends it…
And for those that say the dealer/owners manual doesn’t recommend a FST, well most owners manuals also does not recommend a transmission service… so their is that…
May I weigh in as a longtime Toyota owner with vehicles that have gone past 125K? Only do what the manual says. Nothing more. Also, unless the manual says “FLUSH” never, ever flush. Drain and refill. If the fuel system cleaner is an inexpensive bottle of Toyota manual mandated cleaner, sure. Otherwise, no. That’s my two cents. If you have a CEL, that’s another story entirely. My 07 Highlander did recommend a fuel system cleaner periodically, and it was very affordable. Basically a 12-oz bottle of solvent from the Toyota parts counter poured into the tank. I always did it on time. Zero issues. Cheers,
I’ve never owned a Toyota but I have come to trust what my current Acura dealer says. At th3 new owners BBQ, they went over everything in the nook and not in the book according to their experience. One thing was to change the differential fluid at the first 10,000 miles, then with the trans and transfer case after that. I wanted them to change the thermostat and coolant but said they never had one go bad, and just wait for the timing belt for the coolant and pump. So Spose it just depends.
Sounds like the bottle I’ve used during very cold winter weather to keep from freezing, down the gas tank.
I today went to an independent chain, newly built last year in my town. He said much like you say, Tester. I recently had Toyota do an oil change. So today I got the free tire rotation and safety check. As a result, he recommended the brake fluid flush (cost much less than Toyota quote) now and every 3 years. So I purchased that. He said the coolant was fine and talked about what to look for if there were any issue. But replace it at 100,000 / 10 years which matches the Toyota manual. He said nothing about a fuel system clean.
If the maintenance is not required or recommended in the owners manual then it’s not required or recommended. It just makes the dealer wealthier.
Many manufacturers state that the transmission fluid is a lifetime fill and recommend never changing it. Most auto professionals here agree that periodic trans fluid services are needed to prevent transmission failure. Who is right?
My friend at a dealership service department noticed that differentials were failing shortly after the warranty period had expired. They are now recommending new diff fluid every 30,000 miles in an effort to extend the life of the differentials, even though the owner’s manual states service is not required. Who is right?
The owner’s manual makes no mention of ever doing an intake and injection service, but the dealer recommends it every 30,000 miles to prevent your intake valves from looking like this at 80,000 miles:
I’ve never had any of these issues. Always maintained by the book. Been driving cars for 50 years.
When you’ve been a mechanic for over fifty years and seen all the component failures due to not performing services the owners manual omits or states is not required, you perform them anyway because it’s common sense.
Just because you’ve driven for fifty years without problems just means you were lucky. But it’s not real world.
Tester
Does not mean you are correct .
Wrong. The manuals are written by factory engineers or technical writers based on tests, marketing decisions, and so on. The teams at the dealerships see the real life results of what is in the manuals. They adjust their recommendations accordingly. The customer can make their own decisions based on their knowledge and experience.
What you say is just not reality. I have been talked out of service I wanted by the dealership. Maybe Toyota dealerships are less trustworthy.
That is what’s known as anecdotal evidence and is proof of only that you’ve been lucky.
