To keep your ride in good shape, you should follow your automaker's maintenance schedule. And if you have a newer car, failing to perform oil changes and other critical tasks can void your warranty. Unfortunately, the staff at nonprofit Twin Cities Consumers' Checkbook discovered that many shops charge astonishingly high prices for simple maintenance tasks, and some shops drove up costs by proposing unneeded work.
Checkbook's undercover shoppers called shops in seven major metro regions, including the Twin Cities area, and asked: How much would they charge to perform Toyota's recommended 30,000-mile/36-month maintenance on a 2020 four-cylinder Camry LE? They collected prices from 229 Toyota dealerships, independents, and quick-lube outfits.
The results were staggering. If the Camry had been driven under normal operating conditions, Toyota's recommendations called for a checklist of inspections plus four simple tasks: Change the oil; replace the oil filter; replace the cabin filter; and rotate tires. Yet some shops — 29 out of 229 surveyed — quoted $400 or more to do that work; six said they would charge more than $1,000; two Toyota dealerships quoted more than $1,400.
Checkbook's researchers quickly learned that requesting prices for a "30,000-mile maintenance" session often meant higher costs than if they asked shops to quote costs to do only the four specific tasks recommended by Toyota, plus an inspection.
Some shops wouldn't provide package prices. Some said they would check the vehicle and perform Toyota's recommended tasks only if they were truly needed. Others didn't know what work Toyota recommended and didn't seem interested in looking it up. But some shops explained that the recommended maintenance included only a few services, and they priced the work piecemeal. Shops with a la carte prices often quoted significantly lower costs than the shops that provided package pricing.
That raised an interesting question: What would happen if researchers called back shops that quoted package pricing and simply asked for their prices for doing the four recommended items, plus a comprehensive inspection? After waiting a few weeks, that's what they did. The results were striking.
While many shops' prices were about the same or, surprisingly, even higher, about 40 percent quoted prices substantially lower than what they originally quoted when Checkbook asked for a maintenance package.
Checkbook's researchers asked shops to quote prices just to change the oil, replace air filters, and rotate tires, they found most shops would do most of the checks Toyota recommends for free. Often, Checkbook's shoppers didn't even have to ask them to inspect the car; this was part of their usual oil change service.
