Toyota Maintenance in Manhattan, NY

When Does My Vehicle Need Maintenance?
6MO / 5K MI

This service is normally covered under warranty if done within 6 months or 5,000 miles.

• Rotate tires and adjust tire pressures as required
• Reset maintenance reminder light
• Road-test vehicle
• Check installation of driver's floor mat**
• Inspect and adjust all fluid levels
• Program Toyota Personalized Settings***, if requested
• Visually inspect brake pads, calipers and rotors

12MO / 10K MI

This service is normally covered under warranty if done within 12 months or 10,000 miles.

• Replace engine oil and oil filter (0W-20)
• Rotate tires and adjust tire pressures as required
• Reset maintenance reminder light
• Road test vehicle
• Check installation of driver's floor mat**
• Visually inspect brake pads, calipers and rotors
• This service is complimentary when performed by an authorized Toyota dealership.

Your vehicle is a big investment and something you can rely on for years if you take care of it the right way. In other words, you need to have quality maintenance performed on your vehicle at various times, as outlined by your carmaker and manuals. Regular maintenance is a critical action, and it insures the safety, reliability, drivability, comfort and longevity of your vehicle. An oil change at the correct mileage would be a good example of regular maintenance. The actual schedule for your vehicle?s maintenance varies depending on the year, make, and model of your "ride", the driving conditions it operates in, and the driver?s behavior. There are two kinds of maintenance that you should regularly do to with the vehicle, Regular and Preventive maintenance. Regular maintenance is a critical action, and it insures the safety, reliability, drivability, comfort and longevity of your vehicle. An oil change at the correct mileage would be a good example of regular maintenance. When you do preventive maintenance, a part or parts are replaced, to avoid major damage or for safety reasons; examples being replacing your brake pads when worn, or replacing the timing belt. It "prevents" more expense, by not allowing catastrophic part failures to occur.

Carmakers provide recommendations for the so-called "ideal" service schedule based on varying parameters and usage facts like: The number of trips the vehicle makes, and distances traveled per trip per day Operating in extreme hot or cold climate conditions Driving on mountainous, dusty or de-iced roads Doing heavy stop-and-go driving vs. long-distance cruising Do you tow a trailer, or otherwise put heavy load on the vehicle regularly? Our experienced service advisors can recommend adjusting your scheduled service intervals, which often end up being different than the recommended service schedule. We base it on the driving conditions you?re in, and the driving habits of the car owner or driver. We become a true partner in helping to increase your vehicles reliability, safety, and longevity.

Tires:
The car tire is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground. The basic materials modern tires are made of are synthetic (man-made) rubber, natural rubber, fabric, and wire, along with other compound chemicals. They consist of a tread and a body. The tread provides traction while the body ensures support. The overwhelming majority of car tires (99.9%) are pneumatic, or hollow and filled with a compressed gas, meaning they are made up of a doughnut-shaped body of cords and wires, wrapped in rubber and generally filled with compressed air (or Nitrogen in high-performance cars) to form an inflatable cushion.

Tires are a vital part of the handling, and safety systems on all vehicles. Taking Care of Your Tires - The way you take care of your tires affects your car in many ways. The FIRST thing you want to do is make sure your tires are inflated correctly. This affects your car's HANDLING, and also can adversely affect your car's GAS MILEAGE. Brakes: Brakes are the device we use for slowing down or stopping the motion of a vehicle and also to keep it from starting to move again. So, it seems little doubt that the car brakes are the most important safety system when driving a vehicle. Most non-commercial road vehicles use a system called "Friction braking". Friction brakes on vehicles will store the heat in the rotating part, which is the drum or disc during the braking application and then releases it gradually to the air. There are several different types of brakes, but the "disc" brake is the most common system in use in most passenger cars nowadays.

Types of Brakes

• The Disc brake
  

A mechanical device used for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel. The brake disc, otherwise known as the "rotor", is made of cast iron in most cases, and is connected to the wheel or the axle. It looks like a metal circle. To stop the wheel from turning, "friction" material, in this case the brake pads, which are mounted in a device called a brake caliper, is then forced, either mechanically, hydraulically or pneumatically, against both sides of the disc.The friction created by the pad grabbing the disc then causes the disc and the attached wheel to slow down or to stop. Disc brakes have a much greater stopping performance than the older system of drum brakes, and are more reliable. This would be similar in principle to bicycle brakes, but with mechanical assistance added to the force of your foot on the brake pedal.

• The Drum brake

This is a brake in which the friction is caused by a set of shoes or curved pads that will press against the inner surface of a rotating drum. The friction part of the brake, in this case called a "brake shoe" instead of a "brake pad", pushes out against the drum's interior curve. The drum is connected to the rotating wheel. Drum brakes are sometimes still used in vehicles these days, but not often. The only reason they are still used is because of the weight and the cost advantages.

Maintenance for Best Performance:
Older Vehicle batteries used to use lead-antimony plates, and would need regular water addition, to replace the water lost due to the chemical reaction of electrolysis that happened on each charge discharge cycle. Since newer batteries changed the "alloy" reactive element to calcium, most recent designs have a much lower loss of water, unless they get overcharged.

Most new batteries are designed with extra electrolyte that sits above the plates, which allows for liquid lost during the life of the battery. If your battery still has the easily detachable top caps, then you still might need to "top-off" the battery with distilled water from time to time.

Since newer car batteries have less maintenance needed due to that change, they might not provide "openable" caps so you can add water to the cells. Most new batteries are designed with extra electrolyte that sits above the plates, which allows for liquid lost during the life of the battery. Overcharging the battery for long periods, or it getting charged at an excessively high voltage, can cause some of the water in the liquid electrolyte to which then can get out of the cells.

When the electrolyte liquid level ends up dropping too low, and the plates get exposed to air, the plates lose storage capacity, and up getting damaged. The sulfuric acid that helps the chemical reaction in the battery normally does not require replacement. It usually isn't consumed, even when the battery is being overcharged. If you need to add water, please understand that chemical impurities or disinfectant additives in tap water will cut the lifespan of, and performance, of your battery. Battery makers almost always recommend use of demineralized or distilled water, since even consumable tap water often contains high mineral levels.

• Battery Storage
  

Batteries will last longer when they are stored "charged up". Leaving your auto battery discharged shortens the battery's life, or can even make it unusable. If you leave it for an extended period (several years); a chemical reaction called sulfation will eventually prevent the battery charging normally.

• Changing a Battery
  

When you change your battery, battery makers recommend that you disconnect the ground connection first. This prevents accidental "short-circuits" between the battery terminals and the metal vehicle frame. Be careful if you work around your vehicle battery yourself.

• Oil Change
  

An oil and filter change involves draining out the old motor oil and replacing it with fresh, new motor oil. The oil filter also gets replaced at the same time. Changing your vehicle's oil is one of the most important things you can do to avoid bringing large bags of money to your mechanic later on.

Why Get An Oil Change?
Oil undergoes thermal breakdown due to high operating temperature. When this occurs, the oil becomes less effective as a lubricant. And without a good lubricant (read: expensive), parts of the engine rub together and wear each other out. Oil also contains additives that have the ability to neutralize acids. Over time, these additives get used up and stop being effective. Finally, oil can absorb water, dust and combustion byproducts and also hold them in suspension. Eventually, the oil gets saturated with this stuff and can't absorb any more. Then that stuff remains in the engine and can cause corrosion.