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What is ToyotaCare and Why Should You Care?


There are a lot of costs associated with owning a car, from monthly payments, to insurance and even maintenance.


While you can usually count on your loan payments and insurance to be consistent, car maintenance isn’t always as reliable. Fortunately one automaker is offering a plan that gives you peace of mind when it comes to your routine car services. Take a look at the new no cost ToyotaCare plan that comes with the purchase of any new eligible Toyota vehicle.


“A properly maintained vehicle helps ensure safety and dependability,” says Julie Romero, Sr. Product Education Administrator at Toyota. ToyotaCare helps to ensure your car is healthy and that you won’t be stranded during the coverage period.

VALUE FOR YOUR VEHICLE

Maintenance is a serious concern to any new car buyer. Without proper service habits, your vehicle may suffer long term in regards to reliability and safety. ToyotaCare helps keep your car in good shape by offering no cost maintenance for the first two years or 25,000 miles (whichever comes first). That means all factory recommended services are covered, which may include oil changes, tire rotations, fluid inspections and top-offs. That little service can help save you a few dollars when it comes to the regular maintenance items.


“It’s a big value to the customer,” says Romero. “Not having to pay for these factory-recommended scheduled maintenance services is an excellent benefit.”


ToyotaCare even sends personalized reminders to owners about their upcoming service.

While that’s an excellent service, some buyers might want more before being convinced of ToyotaCare’s value since 25,000 miles amounts to up to five factory recommended services. Fortunately, the ToyotaCare service gives more than just regular maintenance. In addition to the usual dealership service, ToyotaCare also provides 24/7 roadside assistance (roadside assistance is for two years regardless of miles).


ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE


“Try as you may, the unexpected still happens sometimes,” says Romero. “It’s a great feeling to know help is only a phone call away.”

ToyotaCare’s roadside assistance will come to your aid if you need help changing a flat tire, or a jump start if your battery dies. Emergency fuel can even be delivered to your location. Plus, if you got locked out of your car, ToyotaCare’s roadside assistance will come and help. In a dire situation, ToyotaCare will cover the tow of your vehicle to the nearest Toyota dealership.

Best of all, those services are a part of the no cost plan, meaning that for the coverage period you don’t have to pay extra for additional roadside assistance from a third party.

While it would be nice if ToyotaCare also covered some disposables and wear and tear items, the truth is that very few, if any other automakers are providing this much coverage at no cost with the purchase of a new car.

AFTER THE NO COST PLAN

ToyotaCare covers the first two years or 25,000 miles (whichever comes first). You can extend the coverage up to five years and 75,000 miles if you want the extra coverage, but there are some costs involved. This extension called ToyotaCare Plus also covers minor and major service intervals. Imagine, never having to open your wallet during a trip to the dealer for routine maintenance.

Fortunately, you don’t have to make the decision to get ToyotaCare Plus the moment you buy your new car.

“So long as the vehicle has less than 30,000 miles a ToyotaCare Plus plan can be purchased,” say Romero.

If you decide to get ToyotaCare Plus before your no cost plan is over, you have no gap in coverage.

“The ToyotaCare Plus coverage is effective as of the vehicle’s date of first use and begins at the expiration of the complimentary maintenance plan,” she says.


SAFETY, DEPENDABILITY AND CONVENIENCE


Since there’s so much in the no cost plan that is valuable, ToyotaCare should resonate with every new car buyer out there.


“At Toyota, we are devoted to safety and dependability,” explains Romero. “ToyotaCare helps ensure both.”


With labor and parts at no cost for the factory recommended scheduled maintenance while under ToyotaCare, you can save money right away. The service is also always performed by a Toyota trained technician so you can count on the quality of the job.


For those who want a safety net in case anything goes wrong, the roadside assistance is a huge bonus.

ToyotaCare also helps to ensure that your service records are computerized and archived in a central database, meaning you don’t have to stash all your logs in one place.

Few automakers are offering this much no cost service, but Toyota is leading the charge with this new plan and customers will appreciate the peace of mind that the automaker is providing.
 

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Nothing in this world is free; it would likely be passed along in the costs of new automobiles, and the stealerships will surely find a way to profit from this.

The article did not disclose an author; I would question whether he has any conflicts of interest, including employment within Toyota.
 

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Make sure you: A) mark your oil filter before you go in for the change. Mine has NOT been changed before. B) Check your oil as soon as you take the keys from the service guy. I've left the dealer being more than 3 qts shy. C) Make sure they know up to 8 qts are required for the 5.7 AND it is synthetic BEFORE the guy takes your truck in for service. Leave a big note taped to the windshield.

The program provides ONLY two oil changes at 10k miles each and tire rotations that DO NOT include a rebalance, which defeats the whole process. Tires SHOULD be rebalanced AND rotated every 5k miles. Make sure you keep your tire warranty in the truck and READ it. If you get a side wall puncture, you are on your own and have to repurchase a tire at retail.

Program INCLUDES your supercharged engines even though we know the blower breaks down the oil faster. Toyota told me they are not responsible for an earlier (5k) oil change for the added wear under that program which raised my eyebrows regarding liability for the incidence of a part failure. They don't even address that. So you are on your own. They did not have an answer for me when I asked them if I did 'only' 10k mile services, will my SC still be warranted. They repeated, "your truck is covered under 10k oil changes."

**I recommend purchasing tires through Discount Tire Direct. They're prices are less than Toyota AND they provide FREE 5k rotations AND rebalancing for the life of the tire! Can't beat that. I bought their tire warranty that already paid for itself. I had two flats, both occurred in the sidewall that required full replacement. Cost me $25 per tire/including ALL labor.**

So there you go.
 

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I have had three new Toyota's under the Toyota Care program and have not complaints with it.

First and foremost, the program is a marketing program and I would be surprised if even 50% or more of new users actually take advantage of it.

Secondly, I do not understand the already snivel complaints of a "free" program. If the associated roll up costs in the base vehicle pricing is too much, then buy another brand.

Lastly, if your particular dealer has shoddy service maintenance practices, why are you even buying there?

I have never had an up sell during any of the Toyota Care service calls I have done. Also, if you cannot wait until 10K for the first oil change, talk to the service adviser and they can get your first oil change done at 5K but the next will be 10K after that.

As to expecting re-balancing of tires at rotation, that is a nicety but not a requirement that is called out in the maintenance schedule. Also, road debris and tire punctures are road hazard issues and not warranty issues.
 
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