toyota_scion_tc

The tc's spark plugs are good for 100,000 or 120,000 I can't remember. The radiator fluid is good for 5 years or 100,000 according to our service manual. Why would you flush and fill the washer fluid? The transmission fluid could need change really easy to do and you can get synthetic fluid for 24.00 for three quarts since ours takes 2.5. Synthetic oil change if done yourself with mobil will cost about 27.00. Pads only need changed if they are warn out or you just want more performance. Our drive belts have a automatic tentioner. So your dealer wants to charge you 550.00 for maybe 52.00 in parts and maybe an hours worth of work!

engifineer

yeah the dealer really sticks it to you on those things. They wanted to charge me $300 to do the $15000 mile "service" I told them I do my own service and that I wold do that "$300" 15 minute service myself

ScionBandit

$300 for 15k???

it does vary from dealer to dealer, but thats a lil high, IMO

we are $220, thats after taxes + shop supplies

if you can do the service yourself, go with that. but alot of my Scion customers dont have the know how

i would not go 120k without doing the plugs, thats alil insane, i dont care what that manual says. same thing goes for the coolant, 90k is way too long

engifineer

One more minor correction that I saw.. just FYI. All newer standard electronic ignition vehicles use coil packs. A coil pack is simply the solid state version of the distributer.

Our cars use coil on plug ignition, so there is no "coil pack". There is a separate coil sitting on each plug.

You were still correct in that there is no need to change the plug wires, I think it was just semantics.

The ignition system in this car is pretty well set up. It needs little maintenance and is one of the better setups out there. This is why I dont buy into the bosch platinums and certainly not anything Nology (I would never put thier parts on ANY car though). They make a standard coil pack conversion for many cars... which serves two purposes : a) to set you back about 10 years in technology and b) to make you buy thier "hot wires" (aka JUNK). So you shouldnt need to worry about replacing any components of the ignition system for quite some time. I will probably keep an eye on my plugs, and maybe change them at 80k.

And the person above was dead on about the belts and other items they mentioned. I would just go somehwere and have them rotate the tires (if you dont want to do it yourself) and change the oil. I wouldnt touch the brakes either unless you are just swapping to different pads or you have been very hard on them. Mine are fine after 31k.

engifineer

And if anyone knew what the "lubrication" and "checking torque" parts included, they would even laugh at $220. The whole thing can be done in the time you are waiting for the oil to drain.

I wouldnt go that long either on the coolant. I will replace mine at probably 40k, maybe even this summer which will be more like 33k.

And to all of those replacing thier own coolant. Use the toyota pre-mix, or if you absolutely wont use it, USE BOTTLED DISTILLED WATER!!!! I mix any coolant I buy for any car with the distilled water you can buy at the store in gallon jugs. Distilled water has very low conductivity, and does not promote electrolysis which can kill aluminum cooling system parts (ask around about the people who go through heater core after heater core on soe GM's untill they find a bad ground causing it... ) like tap water. Also, distilled water does not contain all the minerals that tap water does, which build up over time.

I am sure most of you have heard this, but I know a lot have not if the are just starting to maintain their own cars.

ScionBandit

we dont go off of toyota/scions owners manual, that includes almost nothing in the 15k. $220 for LOF,rotate,and to torque some bolts is retarded, i agree.
the services vary from dealer to dealer

we toss in clean/adjust of rear brakes,air filter replacement,battery service,complete electrical and DTC test and road test

to you $220 for that is , to some customers they feel its worth the money

engifineer

^^ It still depends on the car. The tC has a maintenance free battery and rear disk brakes, so those two are out. The electrical and DTC test takes checking charging voltage and running a code check, which takes less than 10 minutes tops. Granted a lot of customers dont have a tool to do this or know how. But in the above all that is needed on the tC is an air filter, road test and 10 minutes of checks.

Dont take me wrong, I am not arguing or bashing, just stating why a lot of people laugh at or get upset at what the service mgrs try to sell them.

ScionBandit

i understand that, not saying you are bashing.
i can see where you are coming from, from your point of view.
you would be surprised at how many batteries have corrosion on the terminals, which is why we perform the battery service
we adjust the parking brake on the tC, since it has disc brakes

engifineer

makes sense.. sorry to bust your b@!!s You seem like a pretty good guy.. so I feel you can handle it here and there :D

ScionBandit

ive been dealing with a**hole customers for over 5years, i can take it
and seein as how im a tool myself, i should be able to. if you can't take it, dont dish it out

im not here to rob customers of there money, i usually pick out the things needed that are in the service and save a few dollars on their part.
i COULD gank all their money in one service, but then i get no return service from them and they tell all their friends that we are too high priced.

jeffguynyc

hey Fellas, don't mean to hijack this thread but I got a question regarding changing your own coolant. Although I own an xA, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't all Toyota/Scion vehicles use a pink colored coolant? I've always thought they were suppose to be green. Is it ok to use the standard green anti-freeze? A cousin of mine owns a 2000 VW Jetta which uses pink coolant and was told by the dealer that there is a difference between the pink and green one. I dunno if anyone can confirm this. I know that I might not have used the best example, but I just don't want to have any warranty problems with my xA should anything pop up down the line.

engifineer, is the toyota premix something I can just pick up at the service dept off the shelf? As I understand, the toyota coolant is suppose to be super long life, any brand in Autozone or Pepboys that you can recommend that can offer the same? If not, would changing it on a yearly basis be just as good for the car?

jeffguynyc

/\/\

Sorry, I meant to say reddish color coolant, not pink. Dunno why I got confused. LOL

ScionBandit

yes, red/pink color
nothing else

the green is more of a universal type coolant, found on most domestic cars
im not going to go into detail, but i do not rec. anything other than toyota parts/fluids in your car

toyojeff

Correct, the green coolant is very generic. mainly for older vehicles. The red is a dexcool type of coolant that is less prone to electrolisis and less likely to corrode alluminim parts. It also has lubricating properties and is considered a longer life coolant. However all fluids do break down or loose there ability to protect over time. So, every 30k or so should be fine. Spend the few extra bucks and get the fluid that was designed for your car.

jeffguynyc

So, the brands that sell the green coolant should also have the reddish dexcool type coolant as well? I know people recommend the toyota brand one, but isn't there a aftermarket brand that is just as safe?

Also, in terms of the steps involved in changing the coolant such as mixing with distilled water for 50/50 ratio still apply with the dexcool type coolant?

Thanks to all for the great answers.

ScionBandit

but it str8 from toyota
if the container doesn't say Toyota, i dont care what color, dont stick it in

toyojeff

You got the 50/50 right, but I wouldn't use an aftermarket fluid. I would spend the few extra bucks and use what was meant for your car, also be aware that mixing different compositions of coolant can cause problems, Ive seen the worst. Just break down and buy the right fluid, why are you wanting to go "aftermarket"? If your still adamant about switching, make sure you flush every drop of one before you switch to another......and then keep us posted on the mileage when you need a water pump or start to have a coolant leak, car running hotter than normal etc...you can be a guinney pig for aftermarket coolant......lol
JUST BUY THE TOYOTA BRAND.....pay now or pay later

jeffguynyc

Hell no I won't be the guinea pig. I had posted my question hoping someone had already tried this. LOL

But seriously, if I get the authentic Toyota OEM coolant, it is already mixed right? No need for measuring distilled water and such?

I've heard great things about Redline Oil's Waterwetter coolant additive. Do you guys think it'd be alright to add some of that in there? It's suppose to help keep the temp down some more. Only problem is that it "attaches" itself to the water molecules (or something along those lines), but if the Toyota coolant is a premix then there's no water that needs to be added.

engifineer

The toyota stuff I think is premixed with distilled water, which by the way is the ONLY thing you should ever use to mix. Additives are crap 99% of the time , that goes for just about every additive you can find for the car. And just so you know, the car is designed to run at a certain temperature for emission and performance reasons, making it run cooler is many times worse. There is no reason to try to make the engine run cooler than factory spec.

As far a other dexcools, the orange stuff used in GMs is about a thousand times worse than green. I have seen multipe GMs with it under 40k miles with completely rusted and rotted out cooling systems. I have run plain green coolant with distilled water in my 96 saturn the whole time I have had it. 167,000 miles and my cooling system is as clean as day 1. I change it about every 30k or so.

Just buyt the toyota stuff and change it out when the book says and you will be fine. Add the additives to the trash can

wibblywobbly

Isn't the pink coolant Toyota's version of Dexcool?

I know Dexcool has a bad name, and is blamed for the lots of problems, especially with the 3400's, but I always thought it was because people thought 100k meant "don't have to ever look under the hood". That and a lot of the 3400's came from the factory with bad LIM gaskets.

Bottom line, change it every 30k, if you wait until 100k your just asking for trouble.