I have a 2008 Solara V6 Convertible with 48K miles. Whenever I take my car for a oil change to the Toyota dealership they recommend that I change my timing belt and transmission oil. Any suggestion?
I have a Toyota Solara 2008 with 48K miles. Runs great no issues. But whenever I take my car for oil change to the dealership, they recommend that I change timing belt and transmission belt even though it is recommended to do so at 100K. The technician says 8 years or 100K, whichever comes first. Is the technician right or trying to sell their services ?
Dealerships count on people being ignorant and gullible. That you know what the correct service intervals are is good. Just use that information to deflect their salesmanship. Unless they can provide you with real evidence that something is failing early I would tell them to pound sand. Personally I would recommend staying away from dealers and finding a good independent shop instead.
Thanks for the advise. I wish I had seen this sooner. I called the Toyota head office and they told me to follow the dealership recommendations and passed on the buck. Since my Solara had Interference engine type, I decided to replace the timing belt to be on the safe side. It was more like buying an insurance.
If you purchased your car new, and garage kept. You need to replace the timing belt at about 80 to 90 thousand miles. I have 42K's on mine, but because I had a water pump leak I had the timing belt replaced too. And a friend on mine in Florida replaed his at 80K's
Get another dealer or shop. I just took my 2012 Honda for a oil change at the dealer and he said, you need back brakes ( witch I did ) he said the same thing trans flush brake flush coolant flush and he said ( get this) my seal is going bad by the drive shaft he said its not leaking but I should keep a eye on it So the bill would have been over 2000 I brought the car and had the brakes done 300 dollars and that's it there frigging thiefs try to find a good local mechanic you would be better off as far as the timing belt ask around I know they have to be replaced but I think your ok with the mileage you have .
I looked it up before I bought it. The 2008 used a timing CHAIN instead of a belt! With regular oil changes it should never be a problem! I think you should take your business elsewhere. But it's hard to blame the mechanic. It must be frustrating to service a car so dependable!
Thank you! I have the same car as Guru6AH13 with only 83K on it and was wondering. It’s been maintained regularly and no mention of replacing chain so far. So was wondering. BTW....what a great car and a powerful 6-cyl.
My auto repair person also suggested to replace the timing belt in 2021 with 60,000 miles on my 2008 Solara. It was not the miles but the age of the car. I checked with my owners maual and it said that due to the age the timing belt needed to be replaced.
