I have a 2023 Expedition with just under 24,000 miles. Bought it used, but it’s been serviced regularly. Took it to the dealer for an oil change, and they’re recommending over $800 worth of maintenance. They’re suggesting things like cleaning the fuel injector system and air induction service. Seems unnecessary at this point. Couldn’t I just run something like Sea Foam through the fuel system instead?
If it’s not in the owner’s manual, it’s just a dealer upsell. These are high-profit items and usually not needed.
Dealers love throwing these recommended services at you. I’ve got a 2021 with 50k miles, and they try to sell me stuff like this every time. It’s just upselling. And yes, Sea Foam works great and costs way less!
@Dylan
Totally agree on Sea Foam. It’s great stuff and costs less than $15.
@Dylan
True, but keep in mind that manufacturers often recommend the bare minimum to keep maintenance costs low on paper. So their recommendations aren’t always the full story either.
I usually just tell them I’ll pass for now. If they push, I ask if other brands like GM or Toyota require all this for newer vehicles. That often makes them back off because they know it sounds excessive.
$800 is crazy. Some of these recommendations make no sense. An A/C evap service? You don’t need that unless your air conditioning has problems. And what even is an air induction service? Sounds fishy.
Amory said:
$800 is crazy. Some of these recommendations make no sense. An A/C evap service? You don’t need that unless your air conditioning has problems. And what even is an air induction service? Sounds fishy.
Why do you think it’s crazy? Do you have actual data, or do you just not like spending money on preventive maintenance? It’s like a doctor telling you to eat right and exercise—it’s not a scam.
@Quill
It’s a 2023 with only 24,000 miles. Most of these ‘recommended’ services are unnecessary. The cooling system should be good for 10 years or 200,000 miles per the manual. A/C work isn’t needed unless there’s an issue. And I’ve never heard of an air induction service—sounds made up. The only things you might consider are throttle body and fuel injector cleaning, but even those aren’t needed if you’re using quality gas. Unless they’re having idle issues, I wouldn’t bother.
They’ll probably spray some MAF cleaner, clean the throttle body, dump a bottle of injector cleaner in the gas tank, and charge you $800 for it. If they touch the cooling system, it’s likely just draining the radiator and refilling it. All this together costs about $45 in parts and maybe an hour of labor. Definitely not worth it.
I priced out the supplies for a full coolant replacement. It’s $20 for 4 quarts of undiluted coolant and $15 for the flush chemical. So about $55-75 total. A $139 service isn’t terrible if you don’t want to do it yourself.
But you’re at 24,000 miles. Why would you even need this now? Coolant is good for 100k miles. Maybe at 75k miles, but 24k? Seems unnecessary.