What services you need and what you don't

[mcbrunnhilde]

Originally Posted by snowbird

I had a tire problem and went to Big 10- I wanted a tire repair (or new tire) and rotation, but they wouldn't touch it. Just too "high tech" for them. THank goodness it was just a "slow-out" so I filled it up and went to my dealer the next morning. Ended up with 2 new tires. Thank goodness I wasn't on travel at the time. Anyone else dealt with this problem? Are there independant tire dealers who are not scared of the Prius?

At Discount Tire, they let me drive it on and off the lift (at my request). Not all places will let the customer do that, but it's worth a try!

[Beth314]

I have a 2007 Prius we bought in March 07 and the best mpg I've gotten is about 52 mpg. The worst has been 40. I find that if my husband drives the car, we get better MPG. If I am the one driving, I am impatient and don't always remember to pull away from stops slowly, or allow myself to coast down hills -- therefore my fuel economy suffers. Also, now that it is colder out and we run the heater, the mpg has gone down.
Recently, I was driving when my "Check Engine Light" came on. I was down to a quarter of a tank, and was actually about to fill up my gas tank (I saw a lower than normal price and was on a mission to get it). Anyway, I filled up, but the check engine light remained on, so I called my Toyota dealer service dept. They said to bring it in. After 2.5 hours waiting with no word, they decided they would have to keep it overnight and maybe get it back to me the next afternoon. Since it is new and on warranty, they gave me a rental car. A crummy, jerky Ford that made me want to kiss my Prius when I got it back.
Anyway, they said the fuel injectors were mis-firing, which could hurt my fuel economy and was dangerous. So they decided to "replace two fuel injectors."
When I gave them my car, the gas tank was full, and I was happy to see that it still was once I got it back from them, and there was only 12 miles driven on that tank so far.
However, I am distressed because my gas mileage is totally sucking now since I got it back. The best it's been is now 31 miles per gallon. A full ten mpg off from my previous lows. WTF! I want to use up this tank of gas, but if I get half way into the next one and there's no improvement in MPG I will have to take it back to the dealer and then put up with the crummy Ford or Chevy rental they'll likely give me.

Is my Prius ruined? Does anyone know, will I ever get my good mpg back? Have any others had this problem?

[jamesbalch]

Double posted somehow! Sorry!

[jamesbalch]

Galaxee,

I have to say I appreciate your post. I know it is not the fault of the technician but I have some issues with the cost of maintaining this vehicle as it is set up by Toyota.

My backround is in aviation as a federally licensed mechanic. For the last 30 years, I have maintained all sorts of aircraft, the last 20 on business jets. These machines require constant maintenance. Although they seldom do fail mechanically, the maintenance to flight hour percentage is very high. I am CONSTANTALY doing visual inspections, along with service items.

The point I am trying to make is that I think for the most part, the biggest line items in the 5K, 10K,15K, 20K, 25K, ect are visual inspection items. In my opinion, biggest time consuming items are the oil, oil filter and wheel rotation items. However, most Toyota shops are well set up for these items. The time it takes for a tech to remove all four wheels with a zip gun, inspect the brakes and lines and then rotate and install the tires in the proper positions does not take any more than (maybe with a detailed inspection!) 15 minutes. The oil is dropped and the filter spun out, with a new one on in a very short time. I think that most shops are set up with a pressure hose directly connected to an oil resevoir so that no work with oil cans is even needed.

Because of the 100,000 mile fluids used in the Prius, none of that has to be done on the prior inspections (Spark Plugs included). So really, the only extra things needing to be done are the cabin air filter at the more major inspections (30K, 60K, ect).

I guess what I am saying is that there is no way that I could have imagined being charged $351 for the 30K check I got a few weeks ago.

I can imagine people wondering why a professional mechanic gets his Toyota work done at the factory. I bought the extended warranty and to make positively sure that the warranty remains in force, I have chosen to get the work done by Toyota for documentation reasons.

I have to say that I am almost sure that if I was working in a shop that is all set up for it, I could do most of the scheduled inspections on the prius in thirty to fourty-five minutes (or under). I have not had one maintenance visit under $119 and these visits did not find one thing wrong with the vehicle that needed replacement.

I think Toyota can do better by its customers.

One mechanics opinion.

[FlyFamily1]

Originally Posted by jamesbalch

Galaxee,

I have to say that I am almost sure that if I was working in a shop that is all set up for it, I could do most of the scheduled inspections on the prius in thirty to fourty-five minutes (or under). I have not had one maintenance visit under $119 and these visits did not find one thing wrong with the vehicle that needed replacement.

I think Toyota can do better by its customers.

One mechanics opinion.

James, Where are you located? Would you hold the same philosophy for an annual inspection on my plane?

[jamesbalch]

I think my point is that it is obvious that Toyota has flat rated these services far in excess of the time it actually takes to do the job.

Aircraft don't get to pull over on a cloud when things fail. Therefore, the inspections are more stringent and more time has to be given to inspect and repair the vehicle.

Two different philosophies and vehicles.

One is a highly complex peice of machinery flying thousands of feet above the ground and costing hundreds of thousands to many millions of dollars to own.

The other is a mode of transportation that can experience most failures with a degree of safety. It is also a nessesity for most to own and the people who set the price to maintain this vehicle shouldn't make it a hardship on the many that own it.

[birdsquared]

Galaxee;

I am looking at possibly buying a used 2004 Prius with just under 160000 kilometers on it. I expect that it will need a major servicing, with almost all fluids and other expendables replaced, as suggested in your original post in this thread. What I am wondering is roughly how much this should run? I am hoping that there is some economy of scale, in that some drain/fills will be easier when done at the same time as other service activities. Am I looking at something in the order of $500 or $1000 or more? Thanks.

[mrnelsonmr]

At the 30,000 mile service...in addition to the normal maintenance service...I was told I needed a fuel injection cleaning for $162...and an air conditioning cleaning for $132. Is this normal maintenance or was I the one who got "cleaned"?

[rposton]

Originally Posted by jamesbalch

I guess what I am saying is that there is no way that I could have imagined being charged $351 for the 30K check I got a few weeks ago.

350 Dollars!!?? What did they do??

Ok, what city, state, and if you would, itemize your recipt.

I am been used to 40+ dollars for oil change and tire rotation in Nashville, TN. A little more if they check the alignment.

My '06 has 97K miles on it. Somewhere early in it's service history, I said yes to everything, and was stunned by something like $49.50 or thereabouts, for a "cabin filter". That was the last cabin filter I bought from the dealer. You can buy them on the web, you can choose more or less filtering, for between $16 to $20 per filter, and install it yourself. My owner's manual tells me how, yours should to. They are so easy to do. In fact, you can remove it yourself, and maybe find that it is not very dirty, but just has some debris in it like dead bugs and grass, which you can dump out, then put the filter back in.

As I understand it, once the fog is removed off of the windshield with the defroster, if the fog will stay gone with the "A/C" heater on, and of course assuming your windshield is free of smoke and dust particles on the inside, then your cabin filter is fine. If you must keep turning on the "A/C" heater to keep defogging the windshield, then you need to change your cabin filter.

I do have the dealer rotate the tires on every oil-change, but generally skip the front-end alignment check unless something doesn't seem right, like the front wheels pulling to one side or the other. I think I only got 2 front end alignment checks throughout the entire life of my OEM tires, which were getting thin, but no wear bars showing, at 56K miles.

I read Galaxee's comments about checking the rear brakes. I think I will have that done on the upcoming 100K mile service, plus whatever my passport says needs to be done, execpt the cabin filter.

I am guessing, looking at the tread on my Yokohamas that are on the car, that I will change tires again around 120k. And after reading many posts, I might seek to go to the Michalen Hydroedge.

So James, again, what did they charge you $350 for?

[galaxee]

runnin' behind on the tech stuff, DH is scarce lately! sorry for the delay, folks.

Originally Posted by jamesbalch

Galaxee,
The time it takes for a tech to remove all four wheels with a zip gun, inspect the brakes and lines and then rotate and install the tires in the proper positions does not take any more than (maybe with a detailed inspection!) 15 minutes.

in a prius, it took him under 10 minutes for an oil change and tire rotation. and that's only because he left time for the oil to drip.

I guess what I am saying is that there is no way that I could have imagined being charged $351 for the 30K check I got a few weeks ago.

hmm. you asked for the "30k service" didn't you? using those words is the same as saying "please screw me over" at the service counter. i guarantee they did not just do a tire rotation and oil change, they tossed in some major profit makers there. next time, ask for specific things. "oil change and tire rotation and alignment, please, no more."

Originally Posted by birdsquared

I am looking at possibly buying a used 2004 Prius with just under 160000 kilometers on it. I expect that it will need a major servicing, with almost all fluids and other expendables replaced, as suggested in your original post in this thread. What I am wondering is roughly how much this should run? I am hoping that there is some economy of scale, in that some drain/fills will be easier when done at the same time as other service activities. Am I looking at something in the order of $500 or $1000 or more? Thanks.

there are some cases in which service will be cheaper to add in a thing or 2- one recent subject that comes to mind was adding a strut mount to a strut replacement job. since it's already apart, there's virtually no extra labor involved.

of course prices are different per dealer and per region but here's a general idea.

the essentials are the 2 coolant loops and the trans fluid.
cooling systems probably $100-150 plus coolant, it takes a lot longer than a standard drain and fill.
trans drain and fill $50 labor + fluid.

brake flush is not urgent at this point- but check it yourself. you can probably leave this till the 120k miles service when you do the plugs if cost is an issue.
cost of this will depend on whether the dealer's got experience with it. figure $100-150 plus fluid to be on the safe side, they may charge you less.

also have them check the water pump drive belt and the brake pad thickness. brakes should still be fine at 100k miles but best to be sure there. alignment may be a good idea but is dependent on the tires. if you're going to wear out the tires that are on it, forget it. pcv valve is cheap.

Originally Posted by mrnelsonmr

At the 30,000 mile service...in addition to the normal maintenance service...I was told I needed a fuel injection cleaning for $162...and an air conditioning cleaning for $132. Is this normal maintenance or was I the one who got "cleaned"?

LOL... at 30k? no, you sure don't need that. ours just hit 40k and that stuff hasn't been done to it, it's still running just fine. FI cleaning isn't needed unless you've got bad fuel or you've racked up a ton of miles and feel like you want it cleaned. a/c cleaning needed only if you notice it smells musty.

they'll upsell you anything, so watch out for that stuff next time!