That’s a lot of driving. How old are you?
I am 50, my wife and sons also help with the mileage and I never buy my cars new, I normally get them at around 100K.
How many cars on average do you own at any one time? Do you own your adult children’s cars? It looks like you purchase about six cars a year, assuming you started at 18. That means at the very least you guys are putting 100,000 miles a year on each of those six cars.
*emphasis mine
No offense, but what was it, a DeSoto?!
From the OP:
[ol]
[li]Power steering system flush, $130.00[/li][li]Air induction system service, $220.00[/li][li]Brake system flush, $130.00[/li][li]Automatic transmission flush, $190.00[/ol][/li]
Of these the only one I would even consider doing ever is #4. And that’s not to contradict MacGyverInSeattle, he is correct.
Car fluids including crankcase, transmission, power steering, and brake, are all various forms of the same thing: Oil. And not too varying. In fact, back in the day, power steering fluid quite literally was nothing more than ATF (automatic transmission fluid). I think it still mostly is.
Number 1: Flushing & replacing the power steering fluid is a waste of money. Its a car not an airplane, this is ridiculous overkill. A power steering system is simply not under that high amount of stress nor temperature to cause the oil to really ever breakdown. Sure, if you sat in the driveway turning the wheel all the way from left to right over & over & over for a few days you’d certainly cause problems (in fact, it would overheat long before that) but in a real-world scenario a power steering system requires zero maintenance (other than replacing the pumps drive belt).
Number 2: I, like others, am not sure what they mean by this. If it’s something to do with the throttle body it would be better called ‘Fuel Injection Service’ because, um, that’s what it would be! Judging by the high price I suspect it may be a new air filter AND replacement of the ‘becoming more & more popular’ cabin air filters. These are nothing more than interior air filters in front of your AC and heater fan. Not to start a GD but I’ve never thought these were anything more than an outright scam. They started when the whole ‘mold allergy’ scare did. So I not only don’t think they need to be replaced, I don’t think they need to even exist!
Number 3: This one is touchy. Yeah, it’s the brakes we’re talking about, but like I said ‘brake fluid’ is just oil. Or more precisely hydraulic fluid. Because any liquid is incompressible a brake system could use tap water! Problem is that, because parts of the brake system get so hot so quickly it would just flash into steam! Plus it would rust, freeze etc. The point is all brake fluid is is oil with a very low viscosity (i.e. thickness) so it can flow no matter how cold it gets, and an extremely high boiling point (because of how hot brakes get). Therefore it does have its share of, rather nasty, additives (don’t ever get brake fluid in your eyes, OUCH!) But again, its not under the same levels of constant stress & heat that engine or tranny oil is so it simply does not require periodic flushing & changing. Moisture can be an issue, but it’s not a common one. The only thing to service with brakes are the pads/shoes and rotors/drums. Other then maybe checking it, just leave your fluid alone. Obviously (of course) unless something feels ‘funny’, then get it checked right away. But if your brakes ain’t broke don’t fix 'em!
Number 4: Like I said not to contradict MacGyverInSeattle but, although transmissions are not nearly under the heat & stress that the actual engine is, ATF is still what lubricates, cools, acts as the energy transfer medium between the motor and tranny, and serves as hydraulic fluid in the actuating mechanical servos (i.e. pistons, levers) in automatic transmissions. This means that it goes everywhere and if anything starts to contaminate it (although automatic trannys do have oil filters) it can lead to problems elsewhere. So its not a bad idea (or at all a scam) to replace its oil & filter every so often. Just not nearly as often as the engine’s. And certainly not in a car with only 31K miles on it!
So to sum up, that car dealer is trying to rip off what I’m sure they see as an uninformed female! 
I own 4 vehicles currently, but when I was more into them it wasn’t unusual for me to have 20 at one time.
I have restored about 20 convertibles of various makes over the years and sold them.
I did sell most of my cars before they get to that mileage, some after only a few thousand miles.
The ones I keep, I keep running forever. two years ago traded a 1993 dodge caravan with 220K in on the cash for clunkers, I was sorry to see it go, The engine and running gear was perfect. But I needed a commuter and bought my first ever new car, a smart car. I now have 25K on the smart car and it has a long way to go.
So currently I have a 97 caravan with 197K, 2009 smarty with 25K, wife’s 2007 caravan with 37K (It is a restored total at 25K) and a F450 flat bed dump truck with 85K
I also restore heavy equipment, I currently have a Cat telehandler sharing space in my shop.
Time is a factor on top of mileage, so changing fluids makes sense. But I’m not sure about the flushing. Seems like they’re just raking in extra bucks for the flush instead of simply changing the fluids. And I notice they didn’t include a coolant flush which might actually be a good idea.
I find it’s often hard to find shops that will do a drain & fill on the coolant and when they do, they charge almost as much as for a flush.
When I try find out how to change the coolant myself, everyone has a different procedure they recommend to get all the air out of the system. It seems to be something of a black art instead of a science. I’m not comfortable doing it myself if nobody can give clear instructions on how to do it.
95% of all cars just require filling and topping off after driving and cooling off.
They self purge air out and just suck in coolant out of the overflow reservoir.
Why would you want to do a drain and fill? It only gets about half the coolant out and the maintenance schedules are assuming you’re changing ALL the coolant, which means a flush. Maybe you’re confusing the situation with transmission fluid, where shops are pushing flushes instead of the recommended drain-and-fills, but for coolant they’ve been recommending flushes for a long time.
Personally, coolant changes are now off my DIY list. Not that they’re difficult, but it’s such a pain in the butt dealing with several gallons of hazardous waste (they don’t let us pour it down the drain anymore), and having a shop with an exchanger do it is pretty cheap.
Sorry but there is nothing about this that is correct.
ethylene glycol is not a hazardous substance in any locality. Don’t drink it or put it down a storm drain, but it can go down the sanitary drain for sure.
When changing fluids, if you change most of any fluid it is very very beneficial to the car, trying to change all of any fluid gives greatly diminishing returns for the cost and effort.
Hey, bring it up with my local water quality district. I’m inclined to believe them if they say they don’t want us pouring it down the drain. I don’t care that it’s not like some super-toxic liquid plutonium substance-- it’s still a largeish amount of liquid I have to schlep over to the refuse station.
And bring up your “diminishing returns” with the car manufacturers. They create the service intervals assuming a full exchange. If you want to make up your own shorter interval is for just doing a drain-and-fill and think you can save money, go for it. I’m inclined to agree with the people who designed my car that doing a flush at a longer interval is a better use of my time and money.
I could see it making sense if you’re doing drain-and-fills in your driveway versus paying for a flush in the shop, but trying to get a shop to drain-and-fill instead of flush is nuts.
ETA: In fact, assuming your screen name is geographically accurate, you’re not supposed to pour antifreeze down the drain! 404 Error: Page Not Found | seattle.gov
I fail to see how small amounts of ethylene glycol could possibly do any harm putting it into a system designed to deal with billions of gallons raw human sewage. Sure, businesses that do this all day long shouldn’t, but the average do-it-yourself-er? I call enviro-wienies whining too much on this one.
In fact, because the biggest danger from anti-freeze is not leaving it where pets could drink it, I would pour it down the toilet guilt free rather than risk that. Its sweet tasting, and it will kill them. 
Rather depends on the type of antifreeze, doesn’t it? [Rhetorical question.] There’s quite a difference here between IAC and OAC/HOAC formulations.
That may be true on late model trannies that use synthetic fluid. For earlier designs, that is certainly not the opinion of the engineers who designed the car nor of the professional rebuilders I have worked with.
Rebuild the entire system? Get real. The whole point is to renew the fluid before anything that drastic is needed, and fluid that is nasty looking and/or water contaminated doesn’t mean the system is shot. Again, factory engineers don’t share your opinion.
And how is it that you are so sure you know what THEY meant with the term? The throttle body is certainly part of the air induction system, and a throttle body cleaning – which of course they DID put on as a line item with a charge – is far and away the most plausible explanation for what they were referring to.
No, not necessarily. Many would take “Fuel injection service” (a rather broad and vague term) to mean injector cleaning. The throttle body is more specifically part of the air induction system than of the fuel injection system.
Sorry, but there’s no way anyone is going to consider a cabin air filter part of the air induction system (which specifically refers to engine air intake). It’s part of the heat/vent/air conditioning system.
Where’d you get that idea? Factory engineers seem to think it DOES require periodic replacement, and moisture is always an issue (except perhaps in arid climates). Brake fluid is notoriously hygroscopic.
That used to be the case; nowadays it has bitterant in it to help prevent that.
A note about stuff not in the factory maintenance schedule:
Factory maintenance schedules are the first word in automotive maintenance, however they are not the last word.
Some cars are known to be prone to carbon deposits in the throttle body. On those vehicles, throttle body cleaning as a preventive maintenance (typically 30K miles) will likely cost less (and be less aggravating) than letting it get to where the engine idles poorly, the cause must be found, and the cleaning is done as a repair.
Roughly half of manufacturers list brake fluid service in the factory schedule, half don’t. Different systems? Different fluid? No, different opinions among engineers as to whether it should be included in the schedule.
In a similar vein, some cars will have fuel filter replacement listed, others (with outside the tank inline filters) won’t. Magic filters that never clog? No, again different opinions about whether to mention/include the item.
The point is, there are some procedures that are wisely done as maintenance (rather than repairs) that are not necessarily in the factory schedule. It’s a disservice to automatically reject any non-included procedure as not being necessary or beneficial.
That said, many dealerships are known to make their own schedules with a fair amount of fluff in them, so it does make sense to be skeptical and discerning about the matter.
Just read the thread.
Wow. Just wow.
In order:
Power steering system flush, $130.00 Perhaps helpful at high mileages, but at 30K? Save the money. On my car at 85K, I have some seeping from the power steering pump. I will flush the ps fluid when I repair the pump. YMMV.
Air induction system service, $220.00 I’m guessing this is a throttle body clean perhaps coupled with a spray chemical to clean deposits off of the intake valves. If there are no driveability issues I would skip this.
Brake system flush, $130.00 I would do this one. As has been mentioned, brake fluid is hygroscopic and absorbs water. Water corrodes metal. Brake parts are made of metal. With the cars I work on the car maker (who knows more about the system than you do) recommends that the fluid be flushed every 3 years or 37.5K miles which ever comes first. I do this without fail on my personal cars. Price is a bit high IMHO for Seattle area, but again YMMV.
Automatic transmission flush, $190.00 Check the owner’s manual. some car makers recommended this done at various mileages, others don’t. Even with synthetic fluid some car makers suggest a fluid change at a particular mileage. I’m at home so I can’t check All Data for recommendations for this car. If not listed in the maintenance schedule, I might be tempted to change the trans oil at about 50K. If there is an interval listed, follow that.
Now a few other things:
Erdosain Yes they do. As has been mentioned, short trips are death on the additive package in motor oil. Depending on the engine and outside temp it might take a 15 mile trip to get the oil up to operating temp so that all the water burns off.
MacGyverInSeattle sorry Mac, but your knowledge of automatic transmissions, brake systems, cooling systems, and hazardous waste is lacking.
Transmissions. In years past all car makers suggested servicing the automatic transmission fluid due the damage done to it by the heat generated inside the transmission. Contrary to what you posted, the most of the heat generated inside a transmission is in the torque converter where slippage (and heat generation) is normal and expected, and not in the clutches. Now a days, due to the use of electronic controls and lock up converters, the servicing requirement has gone down, but it still exists for many car makes.
Standard brake fluid absorbs water, according to you if it has water in it, rebuild the entire system. All I can say is I am glad I don’t bring my car to you for service, I could not afford you. You flush the fluid so you don’t have to rebuild or replace the entire system. BTW I have a cool little tester at work. After about 3 years here in sunny LA brake fluid has about 4% or more water in it. Want to guess what happens to the water % in brake fluid in rainy Seattle? 
95% of all cooling systems just require filling and topping off later? Cite please. Modern cars with transverse engine and alike can create air pockets that you cannot get out without using vacuum filling equipment. I can name cars that if you just drained them and refilled them, would risk a blown head gasket due to no coolant in part of the engine.
Antifreeze as hazardous waste? While not on a federal level, it can be on a state level. From the California regulations
Bolding in the original
Oh look the State of Washington has similar regulations
So many cars go 200-300k without any of those things. Me personally, I’d wait until 100k before I do any of that crap. Then again, I’ve never had a car with only 30k on it, I might care more if I did… (not a mazda protege though)… Buy a can of Seafoam if you want to clean the air induction blah blah or take the throttle body off and grab a tooth brush and chemical, scrub til u see shiny metal.
Listen to Rick, this dude knows his stuff. 
He’s a real expert here.
And Johnny L.A. We’re not imaginary. We’re quite real, just, umm, err- etherial?
Regards anti-freeze:
49 CFR 172.101 - Hazardous Materials Table
Hazardous materials description and proper shipping names Haz class or div ID# PG LC Spec prov §172.102 Pack §173 Qty limit Vessel
Excep Non Bulk Bulk Pass air/rail Cargo air only Loc Other
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8A) (8B) (8C) (9A) (9B) (10A) (10B)
Current as of January 2006
Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether 3 UN1171 III 3 B1, IB3, T2, T
Umm, yes, that label does’t come out well, but EG is classed as a Hazmat and has it’s own label and category.
Other than the brake fluid, on a car that age I’d look at a few other items that are far more likely to be failure points:
- Belts.
- Hoses.
- Spark plug wires (and maybe spark plugs though the mileage is low enough that you could skip it). Spark plug wires/distributor cap and rotor (though at a 2000 model year probably only the wires might be applicable).
- Coolant change and flush (this is especially true if the hoses need changing).
- Battery/battery cables.
In my experience, these are the items that really tend to actually degrade with time such that replacing and/or servicing really can’t be a bad idea. At 11 years old, a busted belt/hose/battery cable really is likely to be an item that strands you someplace. A transmission with 32,000 miles may be fine up to 100,000 miles, but an 11 year old hose? It’s ready to go at any time.