I have a 2004 Camry that I took in for the regular 40,000 mile scheduled
maintenance at Green Toyota in Springfield IL. I have always had it
maintained there and used the scheduled in the 2004 Scheduled Maintenance
Guide put out by Toyota. The maintenance scheduler called out to me just as
I was leaving after dropping off my car and told me that I should of had my
fluids flushed and changed for: Transmission, coolant; Power Steering;
Brakes and Fuel Service. The book shows at 30,000 that those items only
needed to be checked. The scheduler Jeremy said that the book schedule is
inadequate and that those items needed to be changed every 30,000 miles.

Has anyone ever heard of this or is this just another attempt to screw the
customer?

Yes, I have heard of auto service schedulers trying to screw customers
before. Are you from Mars?

Good point. I was just wondering if anyone had ever heard this line before.

Drain the trans is good, not flushing, replace brake fluid is good but
can wait for another year, Cooling system, drain and refill and use
distilled water might wait, but flushing I dont think necessary yet.
Power steering isnt even mentioned in my manual, but I use a turkey
baister to remove fluid, Whats a fuel service, The filters last many
more miles than that. I will bet the prices are also BS, they want your
money what did you expect for the free coffee.

Yes. Every friggin day.

Thanks. The line I got from GREEN TOYOTA was that all that extra service
was necessary because TOYOTO hadn't accounted for the severe weather we
experience in central Illinois [I surprised he was able to keep a straight
face while saying that]. I guess Toyota engineers just don't design them
well any more.

Remember, MOST of the money made on a car is not from the sales profit.
Rather, it is the follow-on service. Just for reference, I have
146000 miles on my '95 camry and have never had the plugs changed of any
kind of a "tuneup". I have the coolant flushed about every 7 years,
however.

Ask them why power steering fluid isnt mentioned on the manual.

I'm a "hands on" kind of guy, and I do believe in keeping up on
maintenance as a less costly alternate to replacing the car sooner or
having it run less well.
If it were me, I'd be doing these services myself - which I do, but
short of that you could take some new fluid and compare it to a sample
- a drop or two from the dipstick of your: power steering reservoir and
automatic transmission and see if you notice discoloration.
Discoloration doesn't mean the unit will fail now, but in my opinion it
means it won't last as long as with clean fluid.
For the coolant, there is an inexpensive tester you can buy at an auto
parts store that tests a sample by drawing up fluid into a plastic tube
and then reading the concentration remaining. If the coolant at the top
of the radiator looks anything less than pristine I'd change it
immediately. Other good preventative maintenance tips for the cooling
system are changing the thermostat and radiator cap at regular service
intervals but not necessarily 30k.
30k isn't really very many miles, but I'd be checking the fluid
conditions myself.

I dont know what US Toyota dealers are like,.but in Australia they charge
strictly by the book and of course use Toyota parts. This means most jobs
are more expensive than an ordinary mechanic, in most cases. Personally, if
you have some mechanical ability, or want to learn and save some money, just
get a good manual. Haynes seem to put out good manuals which are
comprehensive and give plenty of good tips.

Power steering fluid will get discoloured as the years go by and as such
will benifit from changing. To find how to change it, just follow the "power
steering dis assembly and re-assembly details". This is one way of findding
out how to change the fluid. After 3 yrs in local driving where the steering
is used a lot, the fluid will most likely be getting darker indicating
particle contamination from the various seals etc. If the fluid is very
clean then its probably OK, tho the resevoir maynot reflect the same
discolouration as the fluid in the power-steering rack.

Same goes for coolant and trans fluid,..look for discolouration.. The engine
oil should be monitored carefully for discoluration. Thsi is better than
just going by how many miles its done.

Jason