Battery "cleaning service" at dealership

My 13' Tacoma is in for service at the dealership right, for 40k mile service. The person called me back and said they found "corrosion on the negative terminal" and that could "prevent the battery from charging fully". They offered a $49.95 cleaning service.

Is this a legit concern? If so, is it something I could clean myself? Difficult to do?

I haven't called them back yet.

 

You can easily do this "cleaning" yourself. Likely all you need to do is hit it with a wire brush. Just like brushing your teeth. Don't pay 55 bucks to have this done. That's a shame they do that to people. It'll probably take 30 seconds to clean it.

 

Battery Terminal wire brush ...keep your 50.

 

Yeah really a ripoff!! Do it yourself and look up info here or on you***e. Good Luck!!

 

Isn't that covered under warranty?

 

Next, they will be offering a trailer hitch alignment. Good lord.

 

You guys are awesome, thanks! Saved me $50. THis place is great!

I think the battery is probably 36,000 miles for the warranty, but who knows.

 

Holy cow. You should ask them what's included in the process & why they're trying to charge you to take a brush to a terminal. Is this your first non-free Toyota care service? Because that's when they started trying to hit me with crap like that. Tried to charge me $100 for cabin & air filters when I had changed them out 5k miles ago. Tried to get me to buy the $150 fuel cleaner that is basically a can of techron. I feel bad for the service person on the phone when they try to upsell me, because I know they have to ask and are probably rated on the % of successful upsells. But I work hard for my money too, and no, you can't have extra.

Haven't been back since the warranty expired.

 

Actually I paid $299 for the 30-45k services up front. I did this cause it included the spark plugs at 30k. After 45k i wont go back there, I want to learn to do some of this stuff myself anyway. After I pick it up today Im off to get the battery brush

 

Why are we changing plugs at 30k? Are spark plugs that cheap now? My Honda was at 90k.

 

A little baking soda mixed in water will clean and neutralize it up too.

 

Get a pair of gloves too. That white shirt is pretty nasty.

 

Spark plugs are do every 30K

 

Totally agree !! Remove the cables from the battery terminals, wire brush or use 80-grit sandpaper to clean the terminals and inside of the cable connectors, replace the cables, and spray with a battery terminal protective spray (available at wally-mart or any automotive store). Done.

Tex

 

Do you suggest removing the cable from the battery? Or should I be ok just brushing around/over it? I guess it depends on how bad it is, I'll post a pic here when I see it....

 

Also remember to throw away the rags or shirts you use to clean, don't reuse will have acid or something similar. can also use water to clean up also. Remember to rinse thoroughly all the way to the bottom of valance.

 

+1

OP, make your cable connections tight... Loose connections that are not very tight will bite you in the ass in a few months.

 

FYI if you do unhook the battery:

To unhook- neg then pos
To hook back up- pos then neg

 

I understand they are do but why such a short life span? I though plugs last longer than that.

 

It depends on the type of plugs used. Copper, iridum, and platinum all vary on life span. Most copper plugs have a life of 25000 to 30000 miles.