Toyota owners: new car warranty question

[babymama]

Can they void our warranty if we get oil changes at some place OTHER than the dealership? When it's time for an oil change the "Maintenance Required" light comes on. The first time it happened we didn't know what was going on (car is 10 months old) and we took it in to the dealership (we had already changed the oil at a local place, not the dealership). They told us that we had to keep the maintenance up or they would void the warranty - then they re-set the light to turn it off. Now the light is on again, depite the fact that we've already changed the oil (not at the dealership). DH says it will go away, but it's been over a week.

I'm worried that they'll void our warranty. And I'm pissed that they programed the computer so that only Toyota techs can turn off the light after oil changes.
What gives? Do I *have to* use the dealership, and if so...isn't that illegal in some way for them to require that I only use their (more expensive) shop?

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03

[daisymommy]

I hate to tell you this, but yes, they will void the "Auto for Life" warranty :( We recently bought a Toyota Sienna, and they talked this part of the warranty up and down while we were test driving the vehicle. Then when we went to sign the paper work, low and behold they tell us that in order to keep the "Auto for Life" warranty valid, we must have all oil changes and maintenance performed at a Toyota dealership or else the warranty will be invalid! At that point we were exhausted, totally sold on the minivan, Joshua needed a nap, adn my car was on it's last leg outside. So...we signed the papers. We figured their costs couldn't be much more than taking the vehicle elsewhere, right? WRONG! They are about twice the cost! $39 for an oil change?! What!

But after doing some reading, here's the conclusion I came to: This "Auto for Life" warranty is only an extended version of the power-train warranty that every vehicle by law has. So, Toyota (and any other brand manufacturer) gives you roughly a 30,000 miles or XXX days warranty that by law covers things that go wrong. But the "Auto for Life" warranty is for the power-train of the vehicle, and covers that part of the vehicle for life. Sooo, if you get your oil change somewhere else now, and something goes wrong with your car, they still have to keep your regular manufacturers warranty valid. But after 30,000 miles (or whatever it is), if you did not get all your work done there, then your "Auto for Life" warranty is invalid if your powertrain were to go bad.

All in all, I figured I could live with that. It's still a stinky deal that they don't tell you any of this upfront until you are about to sign the papers!--but they do give you the option of paying an extra $1,500 upfront to cover all your future maintenance! Oooh, and don't you just know I'm made of money? ;) NOT!

[Marisa6826]

The oil changes on my Camry are $19.95 at the dealership.

They don't force you to do additional maintenance, but "highly encourage" it.

Since we lease, I went ahead and did all the Toyota dealership changes. I figured, I didn't want any problems when I go to trade it in in June. This way, everything is documented.

-m

[drsweetie]

Yep, they sure can void your warranty if you get maintenance done anywhere else other than the Toyota dealer. The same goes for the "New Tires for Life" deal that came with our Camry. The only possible exception, according to the guy at our Toyota place, is if you need some emergency repair and there isn't a Toyota dealer available, but I have a feeling that would require a fair amount of paperwork.

(I don't know if or how this applies to major body work, mainly because sometimes the insurance company has a say in that -- for example, when I hit a deer with my Nissan many moons ago (before you get sad, I should tell you that the deer fared MUCH better than the Nissan) and the insurance company told me where to go to get my car repaired, and it wasn't the Nissan dealer.)

Ellen

[bostonsmama]

You know, I just bought a new 4Runner and I didn't know that! That sucks big ones. I didn't buy the extended warranty this time, mainly because Toyotas are so bulletproof that you'll never need it. Consumer Reports says they're unnecessary and so do many of my car-nut friends. Three years ago, we bought an MR2 Spyder and got suckered into an extended warranty....never needed it (even though we traded it in with 21K miles). My husband always changed the oil/did maintenance on it himself. They said that as long as we kept a record of the work we did, we were in the clear for the warranty.

This time around, the dealer offered 2yrs/26K mi free maintenance...which won't be much, as they only change the oil every 7K miles (DH likes to do it every 3K mi)...and a couple other glorified oil changes/tire rotations ("inspections" as they call it). It's ridiculous.

Sign up for coupons from your local dealers or at toyota.com. We get coupons all the time for $5 state inspections (vs. $15); $16.95, $19.99 or $24.99 oil changes (depends on the month); $3 oil filters; $12 air filters; and more.

One more piece of advice: My mom bought a new Honda Accord four years ago. Because she did ALL of her scheduled maintenance with them, when her transmission died prematurely, they gave her a brand new one (plus a little for labor)...even though her warranty was over. Now, I almost crapped my pants when I heard she paid $397 for the 36K mile check up (which is NOTHING more than a glorified oil change....hell, I laugh at some of the things they put on the list...like lubing the chasis? Most new cars won't even need that as it's sealed, etc....topping off the fluids...what's that cost? 10 cents in windshield washer fluid?) But I digress. You can always have them turn off the light for you at any time...and NO, it won't go away. My mom has been driving around for the past 7,000 miles with her "Maintenance Required" light on....never to go off until she makes an appt with the dealer.....pretty rotten if you ask me!