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Hey fellow tuners, bought a hilux 3.0 4x4 and it's now doing 5000km. Wanted to know if I should service at the firm or outside. They charging $1200.00 for this tune up which basically is an oil change but not changing the oil filter. What are your thoughts on this?

do you first tune up at the firm, but request that they change the oil filter

If you believe in warranties, service by the firm. .. requesting that filter might cost you extra... Not sure about how they feel if you provide your own original filter though. ..a la Filterproz

i believe providing your own original filters are welcomed......

I was once in your shoes 2 years ago.
I serviced my 3.0 hilux till i reached 30,000km

all the services before i provided my own Amsoil Oil

at the 30,000km i was told the transmission and diff oil had to be changed
i bought my own oil - AMSOIL 11 qts transmission, and 2 gallons of Diff Oil, and 2 gallons of Engine oil

i had it laid out and saw how much gallons and bottles it .. I told myself Toyota technicians gonna take my good quality fluids and put regular castrol ....i went my mechanic now located in Munroe Road - Nawab and gave him the job (labor and materials was 3500 vs 7500 from the firm)

all the fluids was bought for $2000 or thereabout i was not going to give it away to a toyota technician.

that was last year January.

since then i never went back to Toyota for a service.

my van will make 3 years this sept 2014
currently i am doing 80,000km

NO REGRETS.

i did my first 3 services at the firm. BIG rip off. they are legal robbers.
after that i started going by a toyota trained specialist in princess town. MANDATs AUTO 290 8461. he used to wrk toyota so he know the mileage schedules etc. he has ALL the original toyota parts and fluids. the only thing he doesnt do is change round an balance the tires. i stopped the firm about a year ago an presently i have no regrets.

@ mitch1980
That sounds like way more fluid than is necessary... When we changed fluid in my old man's 2006 Lux we only used 10 quarts and a fluid pump... which reminds me that we have to change it again soon

TTTL has some ways to go before it can regain my confidence

Back on point
some information that might prove helpful...not really tune up info, but you never know

- Please have the Filter changed every time you change the oil. If you want to follow TTTL's advice you can do so but not for the first oil change; The oil and filter that has been used during engine "run in" has the most amount of wear particles, a good working engine will ever see in its lifetime.
I actually changed my oil at 1000Km and you could see small shiny specs in the used oil
- I currently use Redline 85Plus in maintenance dosages in my fuel (really for the lubrication...you get a slight cetane boost as well which helps)
- Drain the diesel water trap now and again (instructions in manual) so you have an idea of the quality fuel you are getting; It helps if you fill up by one station a couple of times and drain after, so you get a sense of the cleanliness of their tanks
- These vans have no rust protection at all so if you have to drive "the creek" or the vehicle is going to be exposed to a lot of sea blast...probably helps to have it undercoated
- Remember to put air in the spare tyre.
- Grease the U-Joints and slide yoke on the driveshafts; there are grease fittings for this to be done
- If you have a Turbo Timer...good on you...if you don't let the vehicle idle for at least a minute after spirited driving (manual states let idle for a minute after sustained speeds of 80kph and 2 minutes for sustained speeds of 100kph)
- Oil...whatever makes you sleep well at nights...the firm uses Castrol (not sure if its CRB turbo or Hypuron; they are both good in my humble opinion) Currently using Shell Rimula R4
- Keep excess weight off the key...Ignition lock barrel might survive longer

I Plan to install some sort of oil catch can and probably a Transmission cooler in the future
Regards

kamakazi wrote:@ mitch1980
That sounds like way more fluid than is necessary... When we changed fluid in my old man's 2006 Lux we only used 10 quarts and a fluid pump... which reminds me that we have to change it again soon

TTTL has some ways to go before it can regain my confidence

Back on point
some information that might prove helpful...not really tune up info, but you never know

- Please have the Filter changed every time you change the oil. If you want to follow TTTL's advice you can do so but not for the first oil change; The oil and filter that has been used during engine "run in" has the most amount of wear particles, a good working engine will ever see in its lifetime.
I actually changed my oil at 1000Km and you could see small shiny specs in the used oil
- I currently use Redline 85Plus in maintenance dosages in my fuel (really for the lubrication...you get a slight cetane boost as well which helps)
- Drain the diesel water trap now and again (instructions in manual) so you have an idea of the quality fuel you are getting; It helps if you fill up by one station a couple of times and drain after, so you get a sense of the cleanliness of their tanks
- These vans have no rust protection at all so if you have to drive "the creek" or the vehicle is going to be exposed to a lot of sea blast...probably helps to have it undercoated
- Remember to put air in the spare tyre.
- Grease the U-Joints and slide yoke on the driveshafts; there are grease fittings for this to be done
- If you have a Turbo Timer...good on you...if you don't let the vehicle idle for at least a minute after spirited driving (manual states let idle for a minute after sustained speeds of 80kph and 2 minutes for sustained speeds of 100kph)
- Oil...whatever makes you sleep well at nights...the firm uses Castrol (not sure if its CRB turbo or Hypuron; they are both good in my humble opinion) Currently using Shell Rimula R4
- Keep excess weight off the key...Ignition lock barrel might survive longer

I Plan to install some sort of oil catch can and probably a Transmission cooler in the future
Regards

For the Transmission i used 11 quarts because the mechanic uses the flush machine rather than a drain out method.
yes you use extra but the flush machine cleans better.

Understood. ...we drained and refilled thereby necessitating less fluid than what you mentioned