So I'm at 72k miles on my 2011. I use the schedule 2 maintenance plan since I am all highway miles and no inner city driving. I do live in south florida but I figure my highway driving isn't extreme enough for schedule 1. I did my 30k maintenance and now I've delayed my 60k maintenance quite a bit. Question, I went to dealer and he suggested the 60k maintenance. When I told him I didn't need the tire rotation, cabin air filter, or wipers because I get my tires done for free and the filter I can do myself. He lowered the price down to $600. When I asked what this entails, he told me:

Spark plugs
Thermostat housing
Oil change
Coolant fluids
Engine filter
Clean carbon chamber

So my question.. Does this sound right? I thought sparks were replaced when needed and I've never heard of thermostat housing? wtf is a coolant flush? That's not on the maintenance schedule, and whats with the carbon chamber cleaning. Again, not under the maintenance plan. Then I explained I needed my back breaks replaced and he's charging 220 for that. Midas charges like 160. So, what gives with these things that I don't see on the maintenance chart? Your help would be appreciated.

Spark plugs: Good for up to 100k miles
Thermostat housing: ???
Oil change: If needed....I use Infiniti for synthetic and go 7500 miles or more (mostly highway)
Coolant fluids: Per page 8 of the SMB the interval for coolant is 105k miles or 7 years
Engine filter: If you think it's needed
Clean carbon chamber: ??

I'm not sure what they are talking about via thermostat housing or cleaning the carbon chamber.

That's what I mean, this guy is acting shady but he's the only dealership from me for 50 miles. It seems like he's charging me for all of these services that A> I don't need, B> never heard of, C> aren't on the maintenance schedule, and D> When I ask him what's included in the package he's like.. ummmm... I think it's this and that and vague.. I mean really? He does this every day for years.. I've been going there for 3 yrs and he's my guy. Before I took out the rotation, wipers, and air cabin filter he was charging $800 for the 60k maintenance. When I ask what's in it now, he's giving me these weird things and unsure of what's included. So I came to you experts :P

Anyone else have any idea what's going on here?

I'm in the parts department at Infiniti of Springfield, MO so I handle this stuff on a regular basis. Keep in mind the adviser you talk to on the service drive is basically just a salesman and usually knows about as much about vehicles as the average car salesman, he is not a trained technician. As far as I'm aware, the 60K service we do here should be pretty much the same for Infiniti's across the board, there may be some differences dealer-dealer, but Infiniti is pretty strict about how they want their vehicles serviced. With that being said I'm not sure what he's smoking cause I'm about to paraphrase what our maintenance brochure says for a 60K service. This is what your maintenance guide would refer to as "premium maintenance" so you may not want to do everything on the list, but its definitely beneficial.

Engine emission service: This is the "Carbon chamber" thing he was talking about I think. He should have said throttle body service (Nissan/Infiniti manuals call the throttle body a throttle "chamber") Basically the tech will scrub the thing with carb cleaner and a toothbrush. This is important as too much carbon buildup can play hell with throttle mechanism and Spoiler Alert: fly-by-wire throttle chambers aren't cheap to replace... The emissions service also includes a new air filter, new PCV valves and a fuel injector cleaning.

Fan belt service: belts are inspected and replaced as necessary.

Transmission service: 60K is your first recommended trans fluid flush. Differential gear oil and transfer case (if your car is AWD) fluids are recommended every 30K, so this goes on your 60K too obviously. With having mostly highway driving, you can probably go longer (90-105) on your fluids, but we recommend them just to be safe. Oddly the maintenance guide recommends they be "inspected" every 30-60-90. Not sure how you "inspect" trans or diff fluid without draining it and refilling it lol... there are no dipsticks.

In cabin air filter: self explanatory

Wiper blades: simple enough

Coolant flush: Recommendation starts at 60K for premium service at my dealership but as audtatious posted schedule 2 is 105K. We also replace the radiator cap at this time.

Power steering and brake fluid flushes: self explanatory

Rotate/rebalance tires: At our shop we actually do take the wheels/tires off and throw them on the balancer when we do the rotation every 15K.

Alignment: G's are already pretty hard on tires with perfect alignment so I wouldn't skip this one. Not saying you need to have it done every 15K like the premium schedule says, but definitely at 60K and anytime you get new tires.

Oil and filter change: pretty obvious

That's the whole service, as you can see, spark plugs are NOT included. We recommend them on the 90K service as they are designed to go 90-120K miles (that's why the damned things cost $30 a piece ) The 90K is basically all the 60K stuff plus the spark plugs. Spark plugs on schedule 2 service are at 105K Also not sure what he's getting at with the thermostat housing. It does include the thermostat itself (its all one piece) but its not a normally serviced part as far as I'm aware. Your dealership may recommend it as a preventative maintenance item I guess. Not sure why they would lean towards that and not all the (more important) drivetrain services I mentioned. Anyway that's the basic rundown, hope it helps you.

My thanks to both of you for your replies. I did notice you listed these as premium maintenance package. While I'd love to be able to afford the premium maint, it does seem quite excessive from the schedule 2 I am on. I think I will take him up on the engine servicing, and I know I need an alignment for sure (last check had the caliber almost in the red). I also know I need my breaks changed and fluids flushed. Maybe I can work something to get all of these into a package deal for $800. So I'm going to try for:

Engine maintenance
Engine air filter
Back breaks changed
break fluid flushed
Oil change
Wheel alignment

Do you think that I could get this at $600? He seemed to be initially offering very little for that $600 he quoted me in my original thread.

Yeah Premium is pretty excessive compared to schedule 2, but if we don't recommend that stuff and then the car breaks down, we could be held responsible. Its all about C.Y.A. man...

I forgot you asked about brakes too. $220 for rear brakes is actually really good, they're usually $250-$280. On the difference from Infiniti to Midas, for one you'll get OEM Infiniti pads, which are $90 by themselves. Midas will probably just use whatever crap pads they get from Autozone or Pep Boys. I have a few pictures on my phone of Infiniti vs Brake Best Select pads side by side if you'd like to see them. Suffice it to say the difference is substantial. Secondly the tech at Infinti is much more well trained than your average Midas grease monkey and therefore much more well paid. Personally I think it ridiculous to charge $120/hr hour for labor too, especially when the tech is only making $25, but that's life in the service department lol. For all the services you mentioned above, gauging off what they quoted you for brakes you should be pretty close to $800, doubt you could get them down to $600 though. It mainly depends on what their engine emissions service entails, I'd ask specifically about that before pulling the trigger on anything.