What services you need and what you don't

[rusty houndog]

Originally Posted by elissacl

My 2008 Prius is 18 months old. The Maint Reqd light has come on and is staying on. Obviously I'm bringing the car in for regular maintenance soon, but how soon should that be? Does the constant light signal urgency, or is it more of a persistent reminder? We need the car for a road trip this weekend and I am wondering whether I should bring it in ASAP.
Thanks.

Periodically, these directions to remove the "Maint Reqd" light need repeated.

1. Hit "Odo/Trip" button until the display says "ODO" and shows odometer
(even if you started on odometer, you have to do this).
2. Power down the car.
3. Press and hold the ODO button.
4. Keeping your feet OFF the brake, press the Start button twice and wait
while the ODO display does a little dance.
5. When it's back to showing your odometer, release the ODO button.

Simple as that, but follow the directions exactly! You must cycle the ODO display first. You must keep your feet off the brake. You must keep pressing the ODO button continuously.

[lkeene]

How much is and at what which point does one need to replace the expensive hybrid battery? I have a 2005 Salsa Red with 88,635K on it. I've lost a few mpg since it hit 70,000K and am starting to obsess on this battery thing.

[Patrick Wong]

The 2G traction battery MSRP is around $2,200 and you will have to pay a few hundred $s in labor charges. The point when you will have to replace the battery is when your instrument panel looks like a Christmas tree; specifically you will see a traction battery warning icon appear in the MFD.

There are a variety of reasons why your fuel economy might drop: dragging rear brakes, bad wheel alignment, improper tire inflation, installation of new tires, change in gasoline formulation, etc.

[jimdoyle56@gmail.com]

For Galaxee, her hubee, and others who contribute knowledge and experience:

I just got a friendly letter from "Service manager" at my Gaithersburg, MD dealer (Fitzgerald Auto Mall, which I have liked) inviting me to get a $990 30K service!!!

It includes "vent service" ($40), "top engine cleaning" ($180), "4WA" ($100) and "B Valve Pack" ($270)

What in the world does all that even mean? I know from Galaxee's great post that most of this stuff is more appropriate at 100,000 miles or when the car is acting sick. Neither is the case. It's an '05 with 28K on it and nary a problem so far except the tires are wearing out a little faster than I would expect.

Anyone: HELP!

Jim Doyle

[Patrick Wong]

Hi Jim,

Refuse your dealer's suggested services. Refer to your owner's maintenance book or else find the 30K mile maintenance schedule on toyota.com if you want to avoid paying for unnecessary service.

[jaw444]

On Thursday my 07 passed the number of miles that the dealer had set it for at the last service and the intermittent "Maintenance require" became a constant one, and i plan to take it in for its service tomorrow.
i plan to have done only what the Toyota maintenance book says it needs, regardless of what the dealer might suggest.

My car's gas mileage seems to be gradually going down over time, just slightly, but the overall trend is down. It will stay around one level, like 41.3 for weeks. Then it will go down to 41.1 and stay there for a long time. It doesn't seem to make a difference if i strive to minimize gas use by using the display feedback while i'm driving and avoiding accelerations. If it's going to go down, it goes down. Then, sometimes it will come back up even though i'm not trying to get it to.

Is there any special things that i should ask to have checked that might affect gas mileage, anything that might need replacing? I drive in ordinary conditions; the main condition i drive in that is hard on good gas mileage is a frequent fairly long drive in gridlock traffic on an upward incline, several times a week. I would guess i might need the cabin air filter replaced or cleaned, or something like that.

I also worry about the way my battery discharges, going from 6 or more bars to 2 purple bars in less than 5 minutes when i'm parked and idling with the AC and radio on. I understand those things will drain the battery, but that fast? I'd say not more than 4 minutes.

Also sometimes when i'm driving up hill and accerlating, i notice the bars on the battery level indicator sometimes go down. Is that normal? Or does it need checking?

Could any of this be related to the parking brake? I'm not sure that my parking brake holds the car securely enough, i seem to have to press it down pretty hard to keep it from rolling.

[jayman]

Originally Posted by jimdoyle56@gmail.com

"vent service" ($40)

No clue, but I'd guess they use a feather duster on the A/C vents

Originally Posted by jimdoyle56@gmail.com

"top engine cleaning" ($180)

Never heard of it. Either they use a rag to wipe off the top of the motor, or they *might* claim to squirt some stuff into the intake to clean out carbon deposits. There should be minimal carbon deposits, not enough to make a difference in how the motor ran

Originally Posted by jimdoyle56@gmail.com

"4WA" ($100)

Beats me. Four wheel alignment?? If so, it's a lie, as the Prius rear beam axle is normally considered not adjustible, at least not by official Toyota means

Originally Posted by jimdoyle56@gmail.com

"B Valve Pack" ($270)

I dunno. B as in bulls***?

It's quite apparent that some dealerships will try to make money in the service bays, if they can't make money selling the car to begin with

[jayman]

Originally Posted by jaw444

My car's gas mileage seems to be gradually going down over time, just slightly, but the overall trend is down.

If compared to new, perhaps the front end needs an alignment. Check tire pressures. If compared to the last month or so, increased use of oxygenated fuels can sometimes cause fuel economy to decrease, and there is nothing you can do about that

The SOC change sounds like normal driving to me

From your description of the parking brake, it doesn't sound like the shoes are dragging. Just the opposite. Wouldn't hurt to ask the dealership how much to adjust the parking brake

[jaw444]

Originally Posted by jayman

If compared to new, perhaps the front end needs an alignment. Check tire pressures. If compared to the last month or so, increased use of oxygenated fuels can sometimes cause fuel economy to decrease, and there is nothing you can do about that

Thanks for the reply, feedback, it will help me to not set my self up for asking for unnecessary repairs.

The gradual decrease in MPG is neither since new nor since last month. I got the car in January of this year, january 2. It was at around 43-44 mpg when i got it, and it just gradually went down over weeks, 1/10 of an MGP a week or so. Over the 5 months I've had the car, it's down to staying around 41.1 for the past few weeks. The long term trend is going down. It's never gone up.

the one exception is that about a month and a half ago, there was a sudden dramatic drop in MPG, to 37.8 or something like that, overnight, for no apparent reason. It stayed at that level for a day or two. Then it steadily returned to 41.3 or so, whatever it had been at before. Within a couple more days it was back up. And then, has gradually gone down, i can't get above that level. I guess it must be my driving habits/needs combined with driving conditions.

Are there threads on this forum somewhere that have a list of tips or guidelines, or a summary, of things to do to try to maximize MPG? I've used the Search engine but haven't had success.

thanks

[rusty houndog]

Originally Posted by jaw444

Thanks for the reply, feedback, it will help me to not set my self up for asking for unnecessary repairs.

The gradual decrease in MPG is neither since new nor since last month. I got the car in January of this year, january 2. It was at around 43-44 mpg when i got it, and it just gradually went down over weeks, 1/10 of an MGP a week or so. Over the 5 months I've had the car, it's down to staying around 41.1 for the past few weeks. The long term trend is going down. It's never gone up.

the one exception is that about a month and a half ago, there was a sudden dramatic drop in MPG, to 37.8 or something like that, overnight, for no apparent reason. It stayed at that level for a day or two. Then it steadily returned to 41.3 or so, whatever it had been at before. Within a couple more days it was back up. And then, has gradually gone down, i can't get above that level. I guess it must be my driving habits/needs combined with driving conditions.

Are there threads on this forum somewhere that have a list of tips or guidelines, or a summary, of things to do to try to maximize MPG? I've used the Search engine but haven't had success.

thanks

Your frustration with Los Angeles traffic would be my first suspect for radical changes in mileage. My mileage started around 48MPG and now hovers around 52MPG. There are times it drops but that's when I shove my foot through the fire wall going up mountains.

http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/mpghints.html

Possibly you also shove your foot through the fire wall, occasionally, to catch up with traffic waves? Lots of self control is needed for good gas mileage in urban traffic.