I have a 1996 Toyota Corolla 14800 miles in great shape and maintained. Was told by a service person at Toyota dealer that plugs were good for 35,000 miles and plug wires good for 60,000. Does this sound right? I only drive about 5000 miles a year and wonder if the heat will affect the plug wires there. Very expensive, rotor cap and wires must be bought together. Thanks.
Modern plugs/wires last a very long time, certainly longer than 35K/60K unless Toyota makes them out of something like papier-mâché.
Is there something wrong with the car? If they are the original plugs and wires, it is probably time, after 148K.
Plugs and wires shouldn’t cost too crazy much. How much are they charging you?
If the plugs are conventional iron/copper plugs, they are good for about 30k miles. I believe that in 96, Toyota used platinum plugs that were good for 60k. The wires are good for 2-300k miles or more, unless a careless mechanic breaks them.
Don’t worry about the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor unless the Check Engine light comes on with a misfire code. Then you service those components.
Tester
Quoting @Ronny Spier “rotor cap and wires must be bought together”
When did they make that rule? Try any non-dealer auto supply to see if they have to be bought as a set. Somehow I doubt it.
Excellent observation MG. As has been noted wires can last almost forever. Same with platinum plugs. I still run the old style AC Delco plugs in my truck - just clean and gap them as needed. Same with the distributor cap and rotor - just clean it up and it’s good to go. Yes, a whole bunch of money gets wasted with the notion that a tune-up requires replacing all these components at once.
Plugs and rotor and rotor cap 27000 mi ago not platinum but best brand of NGK plugs thanks ever one your the greatest from an ol man Ronny
P.S. plug wires and cap not installed 145.00$ lot of bread for me Ronny
Is the mileage you typed (14,800) correct? If so it’s not even due of the service at the interval they are recommending. If the car has platinum plugs in it they will usually run 100K+ miles without any problem and wires often last 250-300K miles without problems. I have a '94 Ford Escort with 189K miles on it and still has the original wires. It was my dad’s daily driver before he passed away. He bought it with about 56K miles on it so the plugs probably hadn’t been changed before he got it and I think he’d put 1 set of plugs in it since he’d had it.
The wires and cap are one piece for my 91 Corolla so it is possible that the 96 could have the same set-up.
Stop using a dealer for servicing a car this old. It’s usually not hard to find an independent mechanic who can work on something as simple as a Corolla. The plug wires and distributor cap are separate. Even if you replace them both at the same time you should be able to get good NGK or Denso components for about half of the price you mention. Rock Auto has the components for about one third of what you were quoted. No need to pay dealer prices for either maintenance or parts.