Is that $1,500 USD for just a plug change or were they going to replace coils, hoses, serpentine belt, whatnot "while we're at it"?

I thought the $1,069 USD + tax quote I got for just the plugs from my Toyota dealer was a bridge too far so I tried out a locally respected mom and pop who charged $563 + tax after a $50 coupon using the OE spec Denso plugs. I had spoken to the owner with some leading questions and he showed familiarity with the job which inspired some confidence. So far so good after a month. The added bonus is I now have a less expensive alternative for other work.

The old plugs looked good but I'm led to understand the eye test is not a good measure of iridium plug wear. Ordinarily, I'm an "if it ain't broke don't fix it" guy, which would have probably been OK for a some time in this case as your guy suggested. But I reckoned that since I'm going to keep it for a few more years but not up to 240,000 miles and a possible second plug change I might as well get it done now.

By the way, a 2014 with 120k miles in respectable shape should trade at closer to $10,000 USD assuming the Car Fax is clean.

 

Plugs for $40, perhaps a couple disturbed gaskets $20. Spend two or three hours wrenching. Front three, twenty minutes. Rear three, couple hours.
$1500!! What is their hourly labor rate? $500?

 

Yup! I've done it a few times and is a pain in the butt, but not that difficult.

 

They are not called stealers for no reason. They also quoted $350 for a coolant job and $40 to replace wiper blades. Anyhow I'm hesistant to drop $1500 on a 10 year old car when it's running fine, especially these days. Since the pandemic, I only drive a few miles to the office once a week and on occational family trips. I will ask other shops for a quote.

 

my dealer does my annual coolant change for $255, and changes the front transmission fluid in my 2021 every year for $250. $350 does seem a bit high, but not too terrible, especially if they are actually flushing the system, and refilling it, as toyota brand coolant is like $24 per gallon, and the whole system takes like 3.5 gallons.

 

I finally had the plugs changed and it cost me about $900 for parts and labor. Though that was for changing the plugs plus a new serpentine belt. That was at an independent shop.

I waited till 135k miles and now I think I should have waited longer. I certainly don't notice any difference.

 

$1500 + tax was just for the plugs. Though I live in a high COL area, that's still a lot of money to drop on a 10 year old car. I drive only ~5000 miles a year these days, if my luck would hold up, I can potentially get many more years of service out of this car even without doing anything to the plugs. That being said, Carvana is selling similar Siennas for ~$20k and new Sienna XLEs now have MSRP of $48k. Wow 😱😱😱

 

My Google brought me here. My youngest has his own auto repair shop. Family hook-up, to replace the spark 6 plugs in my 2000 Sienna, $401. $330 for the labor.
Homie Homie, don't ya know me...

 

I did mine in 4 hrs. Saved 1400. 😁

 

Or is it $500 saved?

 

front is easy to change.....back is the hardest..... my 2005 is at around 280k miles or so..... front is replaced around at 160k miles.....back is still original and still no problems....runs like champ.....but its due to change since my valve cover is leaking and the valley chamber gaskets is leaking for coolant too..... I have changed front plugs and gaskets....easy... will replace back when time allows along with valve cover gaskets, plugs, pvc valve, valley chamber gaskets, and timing belts change over... since last was done at 160k miles.....

just keep driving....most people who change out their plugs report old is still good....mine front ones at 160k miles still looked good.... $1500 is way overprice... if doing it...then do the valve cover gasket at same time, pvc valve, valley camber gasket for coolant leaks....

 

I agree its a huge markup, but consider the unplanned problems that may arise.
like breaking off the locking tabs for the coils. All 6 of mine broke off.
I used zip ties to hole them togather. The dealer wont do that, ( I sure hope not ) so they will have to fix it.


I did all of that for maybe 300 or so including 3 new denso coils for the back three and 3 to 4 hours of my time.

 

If you're curious to see the work involved, I have a thread with a lot of pictures showing how to do it here: https://www.siennachat.com/threads/2gr-fe-spark-plugs-a-how-to-picture-guide-2014-le.72309/

This is a "by the book" change, literally, as I followed the official Toyota Service Manual (except like @ericreyn I too used zip ties to hold the coil plugs on after I broke nearly all of them). I've read it's possible to change the back three without removing all the stuff I removed, but it's also going to be a blind job reaching into really tight area.

 

You guys have to keep in mind…. It’s not just the plugs any more. Yeah, you can change just the plugs but if you notice there’s no more distributor.
each plug has a sensor on when to fire and when those go.. they were like $100 each back in 2012 for my trailblazer. I’m assuming the Sienna is the same.

 

Last spring local stealership quoted:

SPARK PLUG REPLACEMENT 6 CYLINDER

11/30/2022

1,132.62

So yours is even significantly higher than that. Acourse this is the same set of crooks who wanted $2700 to do allegedly needed front and rear brakes plus a CV boot. Took it to a real shop, who did front brakes and CV boot for $800 and also informed me that the rears had 80% of pads left. Like most of you, I only go to the dealer for recalls now that the extended warranty is up.

And yes, I know the conventional wisdom is "Extended warranties are for suckers"; we've gotten them on last three high-end trim-level vehicles and made out like bandits every time. I suspect that the fact that we don't go anywhere, so all the mileage is short trips, may play into that--more windows opening/closing etc., more wear per mile than those whose travel is mostly highway miles. Have NOT done EW on lower-end vehicles and not regretted that, either.

 

2004 Sienna 256,000+ and running well. Do tming belts around 100,000, replace plugs around 250,000 and back 3 coils just to be safe, on second set of plugs since I've had it. Got it at 140,000. The plastic piece from thermostate replaced 2x - should have asked for a metal one. Leaking a bit of anti-freeze now - maybe the valley - will be taking in to local repair shop in near future. Love that van, don't want it to wear out!

 

Sounds like my experience with my 2005 Sienna. Sold it with 330K and it was running and driving great. I did two timing belts, plugs, 2 radiators and an ABS pump. Bought it with 50K miles, so drove it another 250K, and I'll bet it's still on the road.

 

"If it aint broke dont fix it." For fluids and belts, regular maintenance is a must, but for other things, I wait until I see, hear, or feel a problem. The last time I changed iridium plugs, they looked like new after 100,000 miles. Since I had them out, I replaced them. but I saved the original plugs to use as spares.

 

The last time I changed iridium plugs, they looked like new after 100,000 miles. Since I had them out, I replaced them. but I saved the original plugs to use as spares.

I changed the plugs in my 2021 sienna at 175000 miles. they didn't look new, but they weren't heavily worn when compared to the new ones either. They were not causing problems either, I just changed them to gauge how long I can run them. Plan to run the next set until 400k, and just change them before problems develop.

My old cargo van didn't get the plugs changed until 378000 miles. Factory original plugs lasted that long before they even started misfiring. They looked like someone took a file to them, but the damn thing still started and ran perfectly fine. If you are just doing near 100% highway driving and the vehicle is running clean, then your plugs can last a lot longer than the 125k interval for iridium's.

 

I use jiffy lube. They normally do it for about $200

 

To change the plugs ? Did you actually have them do this and watch them ?

I wonder if they don't change the back ones.
Some of those shops have been caught faking oil changes, so I don't see how they could do it at that price.

 

It's high but we can't complain much. Toyota Van designers were not thinking about Spark Plug maintenance when designing these 2nd and 3rd Gen Sienna. It's probably a 6-8 hour job if you do it yourself. 2-4 hour job if done at the shop/dealership. Just bad design for maintenance. Just look at how much you have to tear down to get to the 3 back plugs.

 

Why would they be thinking about 120,000 miles down the road???

 

No way i would pay $1500 to change those plugs.

 

Highway robbery and I don't give a crap what pretext they use.

 

That is an exorbitant price, The back 3 plugs are impossible to get to with moving the intake manifold. So, I can see maybe an hour or two at $150/hr. $1,500 is ridiculous.

 

I want to see you do this job in 2 hours

 

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For those coil connector plastic tabs that always break when disconnecting them, there's quite a few youtube videos on how to swap the connectors our without cutting wires, replacing the connectors. I ziptied mine but after one of those heated and came loose, decided to replace with these $14 connectors:

Amazon.com

Just takes a small screwdriver to release the OEM wire and plug back into new connector and good to go.
Like others, it took about 3-4 hours to get the back ones done, but that included replacing valve cover gasket because a couple of my spark plugs tubes had oil in them, so replaced those tube gaskets as well.

 

I am repeating I know, but the front 3 are easy, the back three are the devil. Still $1500 is really high. Its a good bit of time taking things apart to get to the rear ones.

 

Like this lol. It's time consuming because everything has to come off and you have to remember where it all goes in but not difficult. Trust me, much easier than lower control arm or passenger axel.

While in there, clean the throttle body.

 

i paid $550 to a trusted local toyota/lexus shop to replace the spark plugs. they took off the windshield wiper housing to get to the plugs. call around for quotes.

 

oh, and these are the plugs I took out of my sienna at 175k. They don't look terrible, but don't look too worn either.

 

60k or 10 years like what "car care nut" says to do. Lol

 

Back when we bought our Gen 2s the labor costs were a lot less ... I think the dealership said around $700 in around the 2012 timeframe, so probably even less back in 2005.

Fyi, we are closing in on 150k miles after almost 20 years, have always used Chevron gas to try to keep the internals "clean", and no issues with the plugs to date ... still running strong. At some point I will replace the fronts, that should give me an indication of the condition of the rears.

 

Back when we bought our Gen 2s the labor costs were a lot less ... I think the dealership said around $700 in around the 2012 timeframe...

Given the rate of auto repair inflation in recent years, well above CPI, that $700 is about as bad as the OP's $1,500. In 2012, a dealer charged me $287.74 including tax to do an iridium plug change on a 2004 Sienna.

 

For what it's worth, the receipt from the independent shop that did my spark plug change shows that the 3.1 hours labor charge was taken from the Mitchell International data base.