Toyota Repair: Inspections, oil change service, steering linkage

Question
Dear Mr. Ted:

I would like to ask some questions regarding the inspection items in the scheduled maintenance. Is it necessary to inspect ball joints, steering linkage, and etc at 15K, 30K.  Sometime people say that these get checked during a oil change service at the dealer. Others have told me that these inspection items get checked in 27 point, 19 point, 23 point inspections. The reason I ask these questions is that my dealer is charging $110 for 5K service, $300 for 15K service, and $480 for 30k service. I feel that they are overcharging for these services. Please give me your thoughts. Thanks.

Answer
This varies from dealer to dealer but these items are inspected which means they are visually inspected, you are right those prices seem vey high, keep in mind that every toyota dealer can determine what service they recommend at certain intervals, I would recommend that you adhere to what the owner's manual recommends for the region you live in and what vehicle it is, in most cases the 5k service is an oil change and a tire rotation, plus the inspection of the brakes etc. Most dealers offer this at around $80, 15K is about $125 and 30k at $290, these prices will vary because in my opinion some of the dealers add items that are recommended by them but not from the factory,it depends on the year and model etc. I would get a price quote from another dealer along with an explanation of exactly what services they would include in the price.