60k Service

[Tobalt]

My car just passed 60k. Went in for the usual oil/filter and tire rotation. Dealer told me my car was due for a 60k. She told me a list of things my car needed, but I informed her my manual stated only the usual stuff found in the 5k. The booklet did mention inspection of several things, and she said well that was covered in the 60k. I told her I thought that the inspection and tightening of various parts was done already in the 5k, and she stated no, only a safety inspection was done.

Long story short, what do I need? Is the ol' 5k service enough?

[Bill Merchant]

Hi Tobalt. Take a look at Galaxee's list of What services you need and what you don't. Dealers love to make money on "standard" 60K service. Follow the manual...

[9G-man]

Do you have the Toyota Maintenace guide that came with your car? Passport to Maintence, I think it's called, that is in addition to your Owners Manual. That clearly describes what is required at various mileage
intervals.
Basically it says.... Oil /filter changes at 5k mile intervals, air-filter/cabin air filter changes at 30K mile intervals, inverter coolant at 100K miles and, finally, spark plugs at 120K mile intervals. Repeat for the life of your car. Rotate those tires as you see fit and keep an eye on the brakes.

So if you are at 60K, I'd say you need an engine air-filter and cabin airfilter, in addition to oil/filter change and tire rotation. Assuming you have a Gen.2 Prius.

Don't let 'em talk you into anything else. The truth is, those airfilters could all be done yourself. It's super-easy. yank out the old one, drop in new one. And save yourself the crazy money a dealer would charge to do the same thing.

[Tobalt]

Yeah, I figured as much. She was trying to really scare me about the tranny fluid and stuff, but I'm smarter than that. I mean, the passport says "towing or under heavy load" or something, THEN to change the tranny fluid.

I've done the cabin/engine air filters before. So yeah, easy as pie.

I figure the one thing I should ask to get done is the nut/bolt tightening, since apparently that's something they don't do as part of their 5k service.

[Bill Merchant]

Any good mechanic can go over the chassis tightening bolts. No "hybrid black-box hocus-pocus" involved...

[jdenenberg]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tobalt @ Jul 22 2007, 01:10 PM) [snapback]483168[/snapback]</div>

Yeah, I figured as much. She was trying to really scare me about the tranny fluid and stuff, but I'm smarter than that. I mean, the passport says "towing or under heavy load" or something, THEN to change the tranny fluid.

I've done the cabin/engine air filters before. So yeah, easy as pie.

I figure the one thing I should ask to get done is the nut/bolt tightening, since apparently that's something they don't do as part of their 5k service.
[/b]

Galaxee (and her DH) usually give good advice (I believe its from her DH's real experience as a Prius Mechanic). I and some others have done laboratory testing of used ATF on our Prii and determined that changing the Type WS ATF fluid at 60,000 (15,000 in a Classic) is probably a wise move. The ATF in my 2004 was about used up at 61,000 miles (15% reduction in viscosity) but YMMV. A dealer should be able to change it (not a flush - wasted in a Prius) for less than $100 including the 4 qts of Toyota Type WS ATF.

I plan on keeping my Prius for a long time (its now at 90,700 miles) and don't want to ever have to replace the tranny (PSD). If any of you do change your ATF, please capture a few ounces of the used ATF in a clean poly bottle, send it in to a Lab for testing (I use PdMA - see attachment) and report your results.

JeffD