My dealer says that the 30 thousand mile maintenance on my Prius will cost $500.00 According to the Maintenance log the car needs an oil change, air filter, cabin filter and an inspection of automatic transmission fluid, ball joint covers brake lines and hoses, brakes, differential oil, drive shaft boots engine and inverter coolant, exhaust pipes and mountings, fuel lines and vapor vent systems, fuel tank cap gasket radiator condenser and intercooler steering gear box, steering linkage and boots…They say their “package” of services of $500.00 will save money in the long run. Does it sound excessive? The cabin filter is about $25
Sounds excessive to me, but it may depend on what they do for an “inspection”. I don’t think you have to go to a dealer to maintain the warranty. Just have the work documented.
Exactly what is the dealer proposing to do for your $500? I’ll bet it’s a lot more than Toyota is recommending.
Basically dealers translate inspection of fluids/filters with replacement. This can prudent in some areas while wasteful in others dependent on a whole gamut of factors including car, environment, driving habits and ownership period.
I would at a minimum ask what it costs to do what the manual specifies and then decide. Some inspections you may as well just replace the part as the time involved to look/verify is about as much to replace item. You basically pay for a part.
$500 is VERY VERY HIGH. There is no reason you should be spending $500 on a vehicle that new.
It will NOT save you money in the long run…It will MAKE them money in the long run.
First off the dealer does NOT have to preform the maintenance. Any trusted mechanic OR EVEN YOU can do the service. The cost of all those parts (filters, oil, tranny fluid) should cost WELL UNDER $100. And figure MAYBE 3 hours labor (MAX)…I be surprised if it was more then 2. That brings the total up to about $200 MAYBE $300.
The airfiler and cabin airfilter are very very easy to replace. So if I were you, I’d look at doing it yourself. Oil changes and tranny fluid changes can also be done by the average homeowner…but if you don’t want to do it then get a good local mechanic is your best bet.
You need to get a list of everything they will be doing for $500. They might be adding things that are not on your maintenance schedule, in which case you should tell them to take those items off the list. $500 does sound like a lot, but there might be a reason. Get comparative quotes from other Toyota dealers in your area and other shops that are not dealers.
Is the scheduled maintenance schedule written by the department of redundancy department? 
Note: You should have everything listed in the owner’s manual done. It is good for the car and will keep your warranty valid. On the other hand there is no need that it be done by the dealer, just keep proper documentation of it. Save money and maybe get better service.
I got the Saturn vVue done for under $200. A shop can skip most of that or do most of that and the inspection part won’t take even a whole hour. You should save the money because The place is treating you wrong.
My Toyota dealer’s 30,000 mile scheduled maintenance for what is listed in your question, less cabin filter?, is $200.