[Cosmo459sx]

I haven't yet received my copy of complete terms&conditions for my '06 Tundra. My question is as follows:

If I do the oil changes myself, keeping all reciepts and documenting when services were performed, will this potentially void either warranty?

Same question applies to performing periodic maintenance called for on the specific vehicle at 15K, etc... (given that I'm going to take it to a shop for things that I cant do at home, for example fluid changes other than engine oil or major component repair).

 

[adamjt]

I have always had them just tell me to keep all the receipts and write the mileages on them. Just tape the oil change/spark plug etc receipts to a piece of paper and write the mileage on it and put it in my folder and haven't had a problem yet.

 

[Cosmo459sx]

I have always had them just tell me to keep all the receipts and write the mileages on them. Just tape the oil change/spark plug etc receipts to a piece of paper and write the mileage on it and put it in my folder and haven't had a problem yet.

So there is nothing that states you cannot do your own simple maintenance and they don't try to give trouble when they find out, from what you've experienced?

 

[Cosmo459sx]

I have always had them just tell me to keep all the receipts and write the mileages on them. Just tape the oil change/spark plug etc receipts to a piece of paper and write the mileage on it and put it in my folder and haven't had a problem yet.

So there is nothing that states you cannot do your own simple maintenance and they don't try to give trouble when they find out, from what you've experienced? I'll do the same, recording and keeping everything.

 

[sooner4x4]

I do my own oil changes and have never had an occasion where a part failed that was affected by maintenance, so I have no first hand knowledge how Toyota would try to deny warranty coverage.

You asked if they wouldn't try to give you trouble. A company may try to deny their legal responsibility and just hope you would go away. Your only recourse would be to take the matter to a higher level.

For example (and I know this is a little off topic); on the news here, a woman took her vehicle to a Wal Mart for an oil change. Wal Mart adds oil to her brake fluid reservoir, totally screwing up the brake system. Estimated cost to fix, $2500. Wal Mart (according to the news report) is denying any responsibility and refuses to make things right. Her only recourse will be to sue. There is no shortage of examples where a large company screws the little guy. Hopefully Toyota wouldn't do this to folks who do their own maintanence.

 

[The Phoenix]

In order for a warranty to not be honored, the company providing the warranty (in this case Toyota) must prove you were negligent with something in order NOT to honor the warranty. Basically, if you do your own oil changes, and you forget to put the oil back in the engine. You were negligent and Toyota would not be responsible.

It also goes along with how the dealership will insist on something you modified is what caused a certain problem and they will argue a warranty should not be honored. A classic example is aftermarket intakes. As soon as they spot that, they assume you modified the rest of the vehicle and somehow that is related to whatever issue you have that should require warranty. There is some gray area to that though. The dealership would have to prove that some other modification directly resulted in something else breaking to not honor the warranty. It's common sense though that your intake wouldn't make your window not roll all the way up. The dealer will argue though (if they're really uptight.)

It all really boils down to how much time and patience you have to argue with the service manager. :tu:

 

[skinny2]

Agree, they may or may not give you a hard time but as long as you have adequate records they legally can't deny anything.

The only way a manufacturer can require you to use their dealers for service is if they provide the service free of charge. Some of the luxury brands do this (bmw have free service for warranty period) and they do it for various reasons (marketing, residual value, resale, etc.).

My family owned a dealership many years ago (dodge) and most of the times as long as you had somewhat reasonable records you were fine with the warranty repairs. I recall a guy with an Intrepid that came in with the engine toasted at 50k miles. The service manager was initially going to get Dodge to pay for some of the repairs even though it was out of warranty. But after the techs looked at it, the engine had extreme wear all over the place, looked worse than an engine with 3X as many miles. The owner couldn't produce a single document showing the vehicle had ever been serviced. It was quite possible that the oil was never changed at all so no good-will warranty repairs. That's one reason I do like to use a dealer for service. It's generally not that much more and you have a relationship with them. If something breaks out of warranty, they have a ton of power to get good-will repairs done for little to no cost, although Toyota (or at least their dealers) seem to be rather stingy with this. I've seen Dodge pay for repairs on vehicles with well over 100k miles on them and it all comes down to the service manager taking the time/effort to go above and beyond for the customer. But on the same hand, a prick service writer can make your life hell even on something that 100% should be covered by warranty.

 

[Cosmo459sx]

I appreciate the theoretical answers, but I would really hope to hear something from those whove experienced this situation first hand.

 

[rsayloriii]

According to the Magnuson Moss Act of 1975, manufacturers cannot deny you warranty work just because you did the work yourself or have aftermarket parts installed.

 

[Cosmo459sx]

I dug and found the paragraph in the 2006 Toyota warranty manual that I was looking for:

"When maintenance and repairs are paid for by you, these services may be performed by you or by any automotive service provider you choose. Toyota will not deny a warranty claim solely because you used a service provider other than a Toyota dealership for maintenance and repairs. *However, any failure or noncompliance caused by improper maintenance or repairs is not covered by this warranty.*"

There are probably some great techs at dealerships, as there are surely some morons as well (as I've run into in the past with Nissan). I feel safer doing it myself and knowing it was done properly (and saving some $ to offset the cost of going syn).

 

[rcmarty]

I asked the manager about doing my own oil changes before buying my truck.

He said i can do my own oil changes but i need to use a toyota filter.

I told him i would be using toyota filters anyways.

In canada by the way.

Martin

 

[rsayloriii]

I asked the manager about doing my own oil changes before buying my truck.

He said i can do my own oil changes but i need to use a toyota filter.

I told him i would be using toyota filters anyways.

In canada by the way.

Martin

I would say that's a bunch of bull right there, thanks to the magnuson moss act, but since you're in Canada, I have no clue as to how it goes up there on that kind of stuff.

 

[The Phoenix]

In that case, take a Sharpie marker and write "Toyota" on the oil filter before asking about warranty claims :clown:

 

[Cosmo459sx]

I'm sure using a mobil 1 filter would be even better than a Toyo. Shoot, I'm sure the stealership would be willing to throw one on for a good markup and assurance of it meeting/exceeding warranty specs.