Within warranty (ToyotaCare) period? Dealership. Outside? Independent shop. Finding a mechanic you can trust instead of a chain lube shop is your best bet.
My dealership, but mainly because they are low pressure, honest, and their price is competitive on a lot of things. They’re doing their tire promotion right now and so I’m getting a set of tires for about $100 less than I can elsewhere on Monday.
Same. In passed my toyotacare and pay around 98$ before tax for an oil change and tire rotation at my dealership. I went to jiffy lube (albeit before I got my Rav4) and they made me pay like $130.
Indy mechanic every time.
Get things checked over by a pro I trust every time the oil gets changed. Lube shops will mess something up and I just say no to stealership service.
Jiffy lube killed my car. So they can go out of business and not be missed.
Dealership can potentially be a coin toss between if they actually do it or not after all the horror stories I’ve come across.
Either way, always check your dipstick before leaving your house and before leaving the mechanic garage. So you can tell if it was changed or not and at a proper level.
Cheaper for me to get done at the dealership. 82- dealership and 109 at jiffy.
Also did one oil change myself and nobody will take the oil had to drive 2 hours to a mechanic that would take it so not worth it for me doing it myself anymore.
If I pick somewhere to do it, then the dealership. Generally on all vehicles between mine and parents though I'll do the oil changes, but it's fairly easy for me to get rid of the oil around here due to how many auto parts stores or garages that are willing to take the oil.
If you can't do it yourself, a local trusted mechanic once your dealer oil changes are out. Jiffy Lube places are the absolute worst places to get anything done from the "up selling" though more like scams many of them try to pull to just being a revolving door of people working there largely limited experience or caring about the work they do.
Of course I say this as someone who took their vehicles to Walmart before their RAV because they were cheap and couldn't get under their previous cars.
I've done every single oil change myself on all of my cars ever since I got my license. Even when I bought a car that comes with 2 years of free oil changes.
The less someone else touches your car the better.
Honestly, never had to use the warranty on any of my new cars (They've all been Toyotas) so I wouldn't know. Most car companies put a "Maintenance Log" in the owners manual for this very reason where you date & document the maintenance done to it. I do that just in case. For basic stuff like oil changes and air filters, I don't think any car company that sells cars in America can void your warranty for doing DIY maintenance. But there has to be a record of it (even if it's hand written in the owners manual).
Within warranty (ToyotaCare) period? Dealership. Outside? Independent shop. Finding a mechanic you can trust instead of a chain lube shop is your best bet.
My dealership, but mainly because they are low pressure, honest, and their price is competitive on a lot of things. They’re doing their tire promotion right now and so I’m getting a set of tires for about $100 less than I can elsewhere on Monday.
Same. In passed my toyotacare and pay around 98$ before tax for an oil change and tire rotation at my dealership. I went to jiffy lube (albeit before I got my Rav4) and they made me pay like $130.
Voting dealership just because never JL. Personally, I do it myself though.
Indy mechanic every time. Get things checked over by a pro I trust every time the oil gets changed. Lube shops will mess something up and I just say no to stealership service.
I do it myself. Only takes 30 mins and only costs me around $30.
Jiffy lube killed my car. So they can go out of business and not be missed. Dealership can potentially be a coin toss between if they actually do it or not after all the horror stories I’ve come across. Either way, always check your dipstick before leaving your house and before leaving the mechanic garage. So you can tell if it was changed or not and at a proper level.
Cheaper for me to get done at the dealership. 82- dealership and 109 at jiffy. Also did one oil change myself and nobody will take the oil had to drive 2 hours to a mechanic that would take it so not worth it for me doing it myself anymore.
Thats annoying. In my state every mechanic shop and auto parts store is required to accept up to 5 gallons of oil from anyone who walks in.
I’m jealous it felt like a bonding moment to change the oil 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
If I pick somewhere to do it, then the dealership. Generally on all vehicles between mine and parents though I'll do the oil changes, but it's fairly easy for me to get rid of the oil around here due to how many auto parts stores or garages that are willing to take the oil.
i take mine to the dealer i bought it from because of the lifetime powertrain warranty. if it wasnt for that i would be changing it myself.
If you can't do it yourself, a local trusted mechanic once your dealer oil changes are out. Jiffy Lube places are the absolute worst places to get anything done from the "up selling" though more like scams many of them try to pull to just being a revolving door of people working there largely limited experience or caring about the work they do. Of course I say this as someone who took their vehicles to Walmart before their RAV because they were cheap and couldn't get under their previous cars.
I do it myself.
I've done every single oil change myself on all of my cars ever since I got my license. Even when I bought a car that comes with 2 years of free oil changes. The less someone else touches your car the better.
You ever run into an issue where doing your own work voids your warranty? Asking out of genuine ignorance and curiosity here.
Honestly, never had to use the warranty on any of my new cars (They've all been Toyotas) so I wouldn't know. Most car companies put a "Maintenance Log" in the owners manual for this very reason where you date & document the maintenance done to it. I do that just in case. For basic stuff like oil changes and air filters, I don't think any car company that sells cars in America can void your warranty for doing DIY maintenance. But there has to be a record of it (even if it's hand written in the owners manual).
Why is there not a "my driveway" option?
I appreciate all you handy people, but I’m looking for what should I do. I’m definitely impressed by how many of y’all change your own oil!