14th Jun 2009, 23:10

"True - but how do you KNOW it needs brakes unless you have them checked? My brakes might be fine on Monday when I go to Toyota for service, and they may fail the next Wednesday"

Yes, I realize Japanese cars are far less reliable and more prone to problems than domestics, but how do you KNOW that your shop dealer are telling you the TRUTH when they tell you (as they ALWAYS WILL) that you "need brakes". This is my whole point. People need to wise up and make themselves aware of how to check out their own problems rather than buying new brake pads at 12,000 when you have another 88,000 miles left on them.

Also, it is scare tactics used by car shops and dealers that makes people think their brakes will just magically "fail" for no reason. Modern cars (even less reliable Japanese brands) have TONS of built-in back up systems for such vital functions as braking. Your brakes will not just "fail". I once had a front pad separate from the backing plate and FALL OUT. The car STILL stopped just fine (though noisily). Simple wear on the pads CANNOT caused ANY "failures" in your braking. I also once had a wheel cylinder blow out and proceeded to drive 18 miles home in rush hour traffic. There again, it was a more reliable domestic, but even Japanese cars have dual braking systems that provide braking even if half the system fails.

People who allow themselves to remain totally unaware of the very most basic maintenance procedures are always at the mercy of any shop or dealer, and shops and dealers will ALWAYS tell you scare stories to get you to pay them exorbitant sums of money for NOTHING. It takes 5 minutes to remove a front or rear wheel and personally examine your brake pads. It could save you $500. If people would rather remain dependent on others to tell them things they could discern for themselves in 5 minutes, well... it's their money.

14th Jun 2009, 23:16

"As far as knowing when I need basic maintenance, I rely on the odometer. Every 4,000 miles (my Toyota mechanic said I only need to go every 4K instead of 3K) I drive in for service"

4000 MILES!!! My Ford and GM cars don't even require OIL CHANGES at those short intervals. We generally change our oil at 7,000 miles, but never bother with checking other fluids until after 50,000 miles. I finally got around to checking all the fluids, belts hoses, etc. on our Pontiac at 53,000 miles. Everything was great. I NEVER rely on a dealer for ANYTHING. I'm not that wealthy!!

15th Jun 2009, 16:47

I change my oil every 4 months on a couple cars that get 1000 miles put on them in that time frame. It's also time not just mileage. Sludge and condensation are likely in our situation from brief short stop and start driving. It's not wasteful and cheaper to keep fluids changed. I may go to synthetic on all.

I change every 3000 on my daily driver... and that means the filter as well. I use to do it in my driveway, but not anymore, it's just as cheap to take them in. You can also buy your better oil quality filter and have the Quick Lube places use yours. I seen the scraper pulled out cleaning the sludge on the bottom of oil pans. Some places run engine flush and the change with 2 filters. I had that done once on a neglected car I bought and it was done at Jiffy Lube.

To me change at half of the manual recommendation as that's too long to wait in my opinion. If you do a lot of city stop start driving, change at half the interval. Changing more often will not harm your car. Maybe your wallet slightly. But oil is the blood in your engine and I have not had an engine failure yet.

16th Jun 2009, 12:09

The kids at the lube places just LOVE for you to bring in your expensive oil. They gleefully toss it in the back of their own cars and dump the cheapest thing they have in your car no matter WHAT you bought for it. They know you'll never know the difference. I have caught both dealer employees and lube place employees doing this. They actually BRAG about it!! If you are brave enough to take your car someplace to have the oil changed, INSIST on watching them pour YOUR oil in. If they tell you "Sorry, restrictions don't allow that", GET IN YOUR CAR AND LEAVE!!!

I use only synthetic and it does not sludge... EVER. I have pulled a valve cover on one of my cars that had 55,000 miles on it with full synthetic oil and everything looked new and polished, with just a thin, nearly clear film of oil on it. I once went 25,000 miles without changing oil in one of my cars (I was just too busy to mess with it). You can do that with synthetic. I have a good friend who ROUTINELY goes 25,000 miles between changes in his Cadillac. It hasn't seemed to do any harm. The car now has 264,000 miles on it with never a repair. I use nothing but synthetic in all my vehicles. I also make SURE it actually goes in the ENGINE rather than into the trunk of some kid's car at lube.

17th Jun 2009, 16:06

12:09: did not happen in my case as there's a huge window to watch them put the synthetic in. Ever see the big hose hanging from the ceiling with the pump? That pumps their oil in... it's not in plastic quarts. I do not know where you were unless you were out front yakking on the cell. You can clearly see them through the window from the waiting area. I take my company car in every month as a sales rep I rack up the mileage. I also bring in my personal car and have them do synthetic and I bring in my own Mobil 1. My company car gets reg. oil... I drive in a very dusty environment so filter changeouts is actually better than long synthetic intervals. I think there is no issue at Quick Lubes, if you look right through the bay window all of 6 feet to see your car with hood up and your synthetic going in.

20th Jun 2009, 20:17

ORIGINAL REVIEWER HERE.

I'm sorry to not have replied sooner. I tried to my responses organized- so let's give this a shot.

In response to comment 47- 13th Jun 2009, 10:55.

"They might say they used a reader, but it is just as likely they are relying on the problems they are seeing a lot of recently. There was a batch of bad valve stems that came out of China last year."

I don't know what kind of tires are on the Camry off-hand but they were on the car when I bought it in December. It really doesn't matter since I will need new tires soon (due to a low amount of tread left).

"But if this happened to me at a Toyota dealership, I would be suspicious that they are substituting cheaper parts than (the) factory standard."

So would I. I don't know where the tires came from.

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In response to comment 48- 14th Jun 2009, 23:10.

"Yes, I realize Japanese cars are far less reliable and more prone to problems than domestics, but how do you KNOW that your shop dealer are telling you the TRUTH when they tell you (as they ALWAYS WILL) that you "need brakes". This is my whole point. People need to wise up and make themselves aware of how to check out their own problems rather than buying new brake pads at 12,000 when you have another 88,000 miles left on them.""

I never said that Japanese cars are more or less reliable than their American counterparts. In my Ford Taurus, I was never able to tell that the brakes needed to be serviced. When the rear drums froze up, I had no idea until the mechanic showed me. In my Camry, I can feel the brakes getting looser day by day and they start to squeak more and more. I don't want a foreign versus domestic debate- because every car model has its pros and cons. A good example would be the Honda Civic and a Cadillac Escalade. The Honda is more fuel efficient than the Escalade, but the latter is more comfortable and it is faster. If you asked people which they would rather own- a Civic or an Escalade- some would say Civic, and likewise, some would want the Caddy.

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In response to comment 49- 14th Jun 2009, 23:16.

<<"As far as knowing when I need basic maintenance, I rely on the odometer. Every 4,000 miles (my Toyota mechanic said I only need to go every 4K instead of 3K) I drive in for service.">>

"4000 MILES!!! My Ford and GM cars don't even require OIL CHANGES at those short intervals. We generally change our oil at 7,000 miles, but never bother with checking other fluids until after 50,000 miles. I finally got around to checking all the fluids, belts hoses, etc. on our Pontiac at 53,000 miles. Everything was great. I NEVER rely on a dealer for ANYTHING. I'm not that wealthy!!"

Everybody has a different take on vehicle maintenance. I took my Ford Taurus in every 3,000 miles on the dot because that is what Ford recommended. Since I cared for it religiously, I was stranded not once because of the car. The ONE time I was stranded in my Taurus was per my (operator) error. I had traveled 3,000 miles that week and had left my cell phone in the charger the whole week. That was a learning experience- next time I will know that I have to be thriftier and conserve my resources. As I said in an earlier post, I would rather be stuck at a dealership than on a dark, windy road going to work at nighttime.

I don't know why you would wait to check your fluids until 50,000 miles. This seems to be ENTIRELY too long. I agree, however, that belts and hoses should last longer than 50,000 miles.

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To comment 50- 15th Jun 2009, 16:47.

I couldn't agree with you more.

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To comment 51- 16th Jun 2009, 12:09.

I don't know who you were addressing with this comment. I really don't see how this pertains to my car or my survey.

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To comment 52- 16th Jun 2009, 13:37.

I have heard of the sludge, but since my car "runs" fine, I don't think an attorney or Toyota can help me out.

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To comment 53- 17th Jun 2009, 16:06.

In my both my Ford and Toyota dealership, there were not windows looking into the service area. In the Ford dealer, the window looks into the spot where they park the cars but not service them. There are no windows in the Toyota waiting room at all.