100,000 mile maintenance recommendations; 2013 Corolla S

#1
Hi, I've hit 100,000 miles on my toyota re-certified 2013 Corolla S purchased in 2015 with 30,000 miles on it.
I have always changed the oil at 10,000 miles (and had blackstone oil labs do a baseline test on it when I purchased it and just had another test done and all looks good with the engine oil tests).
The cabin and air filters are changed every 30,000 miles.
Tires have always had their 5000 mile rotate and balance.
The local Toyota dealer will do the maintenance; they generally don't bullshit me since I've been taking toyota's there for 30 years; but any advice would be helpful.

I know I need a new battery as it is testing low now; any recommendations on a battery I can purchase with good cold cracking amps for cold Colorado winters? This I can replace myself.
Is it necessary to do a radiator flush?
Has a timing chain, not belt, so I think I'm good there.
What about serpentine belt replacement, or in general all belt replacement? I'm generally in a lot of remote areas where I don't want to mess with a belt breaking. Visually belts look snug and OK right now.
Has automatic transmission; am I wrong that they should just leave this alone?
Front brake rotors & pads replaced at 50,000 miles (not resurfaced, new). Nothing else done with front or rear brakes.

I keep my vehicles forever; so want to do necessary maintenance to keep it running smooth; but don't want the repair shop ripping me off.
Thanks for any thoughts!
 
#2
Oh, and another question. In the past I've always put a fine mesh screen that doesn't interfere with airflow in front of the radiator to keep the bugs, branches, small rocks, etc from embedding in the radiator. I haven't done this on this corolla; should I, or doesn't it help protect the radiator that much?
 
#4
Thanks for replying ToyBoy. I had considered the automatic transmission fluid; but I have heard mixed reviews on whether you should flush the automatic transmission fluid at all. It seems if you already have 250,000+ miles on the transmission fluid and you've never flushed it; then flushing it can actually case some problems because you just moved all the junk particles around in the transmission. Seems like that only a problem when you have never replaced it; so to avoid that; it would be good to replace it now ; and toyota maintenance schedule says to flush it every 100,000 miles. It should be a full flush and not just a drain; as draining only removes about 60% of the old fluid right?
 
#7
I would do a Tranny flush and for piece of mind, change your fan belt. Your radiator fluid is good for 150K supposedly but you can do a drain and fill on it to help keep it fresh. Get yourself a battery with at least 600 cold cranking amps if not more if you have the money.
 
#8
Correct, NO CVT tranny
Hello Sir,

It looks you have everything covered with the suggestions from the guys. About the battery situation, you living in a mostly cold climate and driving to remote places I will strongly recommend an Optima Red Top battery. It will last almost as long as your car. Even has enough juice to upgrade your stereo system if you choose to make the rides more enjoyable.
 
#9
Hello Sir,

It looks you have everything covered with the suggestions from the guys. About the battery situation, you living in a mostly cold climate and driving to remote places I will strongly recommend an Optima Red Top battery. It will last almost as long as your car. Even has enough juice to upgrade your stereo system if you choose to make the rides more enjoyable.
Thanks for replying, I was just checking the local auto parts stores for a battery. I think I will give the optima red a try; it is AGM. I've only had 1 AGM battery (it was back when they first came out) and it was a piece of crap; but I will try this one. I understand they are "truly" maintenance free and sealed; you don't check the cell level in them like some of the floating batteries.

I carry a battery jumpstart with me at all times. But I don't have a trickle charger anymore. I do drive just about every day; and 3 days/week at least 70 miles/day. Do I still need to trickle charge the Optima Red sometimes to keep it at peak performance?

I would do a Tranny flush and for piece of mind, change your fan belt. Your radiator fluid is good for 150K supposedly but you can do a drain and fill on it to help keep it fresh. Get yourself a battery with at least 600 cold cranking amps if not more if you have the money.
thanks for the suggestions TrlHiker!
 
#10
secure 1 , I don`t think you would to trickle charge on a regular basis. I would try to find a battery that just came in to the store . Check the date on the battery. And if you are installing it yourself it would be nice to charge the battery that has been sitting around in a store. Also a good idea to clean the cars battery terminals. I also squirt some WD40 on the terminals , helps keep them from getting grungy .
 
#11
Thought transmission flushes were considered bad now? A drain and fill should be fine. I cheat with my 2.4 XRS and pump a gallon of ATF fluid out the dipstick with a hand pump annually (about 30k miles) and dump a gallon of Valvoline maxlife synthetic ATF back in. $20 of ATF and 1/2 an hour work. Dunno if the 2013 1.8 has the ATF dipstick still but I like not having to take stuff apart.
 
#12
-I also have a 2013 S that I bought in 2015 with only 18k on it and now has 105k. Mine has the upgraded interior and exterior packages. I had noticed that these models were costing no more than standard S models when used. You get a moonroof, leather steering wheel, auto climate control, 17" X 7" rims, (also nav, the only option not on mine). It makes the interior much nicer looking while the rims add a little to separate from the masses. I went to 225/45 tires at replacement and like the wider look.
I just did a 100k service myself. I started with an oil and filter change. Tranny drain and fill with exactly same amount as drained. Drain and fill radiator fluid. Change front brake rotors and pads. I sprayed and cleaned my engine and undercarriage and checked for any oil leaks, inspected all else per Toyota 105k schedule. I got a new battery early this year when my local Sears was closing and got a top of the line Die Hard for almost half off. I also just did a Maguire's 3 step paint detail. The paint is weak on these cars and if neglected, will oxidize and fade out on the roof, hood, and trunk. At min you need to clay bar and wax the top facing surfaces a few times a year. I had the interior steam cleaned and even the original factory floor mats looked new. If you change the oil and keep them detailed, this model will look and run like new for many more years.
I item I added was a previous years XRS padded center arm rest since the one in the S model is hard plastic and very uncomfortable.
2013 Toy Car.jpg toy interior.JPG
 
Last edited:
#14
I forgot to add that I would not do a flush. you can pull the tranny pan and replace the filter if needed, but always measure the amount of ATF drained and replace with that amount. Also I only use Toyota WS ATF, many have had issues using any other brand AFT. You can find it on ebay or Amazon cheaper than dealers. Drain and fill measures out to be about a little over 4 quarts if you let it drain for a while. I did a flush on a Honda CRV with 100k back many years ago and it messed up my tranny and within a year I needed a new one. backside.JPG
 
#15
Thanks for posting this thread OP!

mom droving a 2010 base model and just now hitting 100k miles, so trying to figure out what needs to be done.

I’m interested in why some people are saying not to do a tranny flush while others are recommending it. Where does that discrepancy come from? Is it just a waste of money? I don’t understand how new fluid could be bad for the car.

kbb.com simply recommends oil change and coolant change, along with other inspections.

I plan to keep this for years as well so looking at it as an investment to keep a reliable car on the road.
 
#16
I did my flush, done by dealer, at 90K and have had no issue. You can either do a drain and fill or flush. Everyone has different ideas on car maintenance. I have seen people change their oil every 2k miles and drain and fill tranny every 15k miles which to me is excessive and unnecessary but it's their money and time. I wouldn't go by what KBB says, go by what you manual says but at 100k doing a bit extra won't hurt.
 
#17
Hello Sir,

It looks you have everything covered with the suggestions from the guys. About the battery situation, you living in a mostly cold climate and driving to remote places I will strongly recommend an Optima Red Top battery. It will last almost as long as your car. Even has enough juice to upgrade your stereo system if you choose to make the rides more enjoyable.
Hi Kinte and others! Thanks for all the suggestions on the Corolla maintenance. I did get a RED OPTIMA battery. We shall see how long it holds up, if it lasts the life of the car, hopefully it will be 20 more years!

Got it at O'Reillys Auto Parts as they were the only locals to have it in stock., $189.99 after core charge credit, Part #RED35, 720 CCA. I had to use one of the two plastic "risers" that comes with the battery to make it sit high enough in the tray for the cables to reach. Seems kinda cheap to have a piece of plastic holding up the weight of the battery, do these deteriorate over time? Do any of you replace that with a piece of wood or have you never had trouble with that plastic riser breaking?

I haven't done the 100,000 mile maintenance yet as started working from home again, so not much driving is going on at the moment anyways. I think I will do the Toyota ATF drain and fill and not flush and the rest of the maintenance soon.
 
#18
Thanks for posting this thread OP!

mom droving a 2010 base model and just now hitting 100k miles, so trying to figure out what needs to be done.

I’m interested in why some people are saying not to do a tranny flush while others are recommending it. Where does that discrepancy come from? Is it just a waste of money? I don’t understand how new fluid could be bad for the car.

kbb.com simply recommends oil change and coolant change, along with other inspections.

I plan to keep this for years as well so looking at it as an investment to keep a reliable car on the road.
Well, I don't know anything, so keep that in mind reading my response :rolleyes:
The automatic tranny should be a closed system where there shouldn't be outside contaminants. Also until you have lots of miles, there shouldn't be any internal contaminants except after many miles where tiny metal/stuff might then be in the fluid and circulating around. There is speculation that flushing and hooking anything up to kinda flush out everything in the tranny; actually might move around tiny particles and shards and cause more harm than good. I would think that the first 100,000 miles and early break-in would be when the most tiny particles might show up in the tranny fluid; so a fluid drain and refill only, with the proper type of fluid and proper amount of fluid would be beneficial. Of course if a repair place uses crappy fluid and a dirty machine to "flush" your transmission, you just introduced a bunch of crap into your closed transmission system.

I do know on my own high mileage vehicles in my signature line, hardly anything was ever done with the transmissions, and all was well.

Also, if you are concerned about your dealer warranty, then probably should follow their maintenance schedule.

So this is stuff I have read, like I said, I obviously don't know...just about anything! Which is why I ask all of you who are much more informed than I!
 
#19
There's a big difference between a "flush" and a "drain and fill." The flush that alot of shops push uses a pump that forces fluid through your tyranny, which like he said can push any crap suspended in your fluid into places it wouldn't flow before and break it.

Drain and fill let's the stuff suspended in the fluid just drain out. I have no clue if the 1.8 still had a dipstick for the ATF but if it does you can literally pump the fluid out from there with a cheap transfer hand pump from Autozone and dump the same amount back in without having to break the pan seal on the tyranny.
 
#20
Hi Corolla Fans! Just following up on the maintenance and the battery.
8 months in on the Red Optima battery that I purchased & installed myself. It is testing strong still as it should. Rated CCA at 720 and tests at 834, 12.27 volts; same as when purchased.

Did get the 100,000 maintenance done at the dealership as I haven't found a local independent shop that consistently does a decent job. This toyota dealership is using the BG equipment for the radiator and transmission drain & fill; that is what they used to do both. I told them I was concerned about "the flush" pushing any junk around and he said that the machines are not high pressure, they just allow the normal power/pressure of the engine to drain and then replace the exact amount of fluid. So I said yes as I can't do it myself; and I guess I trust them to do it correctly over any other shop. 16 quarts of transmission fluid and "2", gallons I presume, on radiator fluid.

Also oil/oil filter change, check/adjust brakes, and BG fuel system additive; which probably wasn't necessary, but since I declined on all the other "fluff" they suggested, (yes I am actually capable of checking/replacing an air and cabin air filter!) I said OK on this. $740 for all.
 
#21
I own a 2013 Corolla LE. I upgraded it with all the TRD parts Toyota makes for it: strut bar, rear sway bar, and lowering springs, and oil cap. I added a custom wheels, front bumper lip and side rocker panels and spoiler and a cold air intake. Currently my car has almost 85,000 miles and I would recommend doing, and I have been doing, the following:

  • Every 3,000 miles I do an oil change with full synthetic oil, although the manual recommends an oil change every 5,000 miles.
  • Tire rotations every 5,000 miles.
  • Replace air filter and cabin air filter ever 5,000 miles.
  • Coolant flush every 12,000 miles.
  • Brake bleed or a full flush at 25,000 50,000 and 75,000 miles.
  • At 70,000, I did a tune up with new iridium spark plugs, a throttle body cleaning, and fuel injector cleaning.
  • At 75,000, I did a full transmission flush with Toyota WS ATF and replaced the transmission filter.
  • At 80,000, I started checking my suspension for any play, due to wear and worn our parts. The most important parts to check any rubber and grease filled bushings and regrease them if they are a grease fill port on them.
  • Check for play in the joints of the front stabilizers, tie rods and ball joints.
  • I would also check for wear and tears on the bellows of your inner tie rod ends and the bellows on your struts. If you can, replace worn out part as soon as you can in order to prolong the life of your Corolla.

The following are things you may want to consider doing, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to, if you have taken care of your car. I've done all the following in the past year and a half, for preventative maintenance/part replacements measures ONLY, but bare in mind that I installed them myself, so I've saved a ton of money not having to pay for labor:
  • Replaced front brake pad and rotors
  • Replaced rear drum brakes and shoes
  • Replaced all four struts
  • Replaced front wheel hub/bearing/knuckle assemblies
  • Replaced inner and outter tie rods
  • Replaced front stabilizers
  • Replaced rear wheel hub/bearing assemblies IMG_0072.jpg
 
Top