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Gen III 30,000 service

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by jhinsc, Mar 2, 2012.

  1. jhinsc

    jhinsc Senior Member

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    I am approaching 30,000 miles and need some feedback on what everyone else is paying for service. I only plan on doing what the manual says to do - nothing more. Do you use your Toyota dealer or an independant auto service? Cost involved and things to watch out for? I already replaced my cabin filter and plan on replacing the ICE air filter myself at 30k, although at 25k it still looked fairly fresh - surprised it wasn't dirtier. I only have 1 dealer in town and going to another city for service is over an hour away so shopping at multiple dealers is not an option for me. Appreciate any feedback and thanks for your help!
     
  2. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    Since you are changing the cabin and engine air filters yourself this only leaves the normal oil and filter change, tire rotations, inspections and checking fluid levels. I prefer to take mine to the dealer when I do not do it myself. Their charge was around $75.
     
  3. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    Transaxle oil change is a good idea at 30,000 miles. Should cost $100 at a dealer.
     
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  4. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    After an ATF refresh at 30,000 miles, you can wait another 60,000 miles before changing the ATF again as the build up of metallic particles in the ATF slows significantly after a "break-in" period.*

    JeffD

    * Determined in a long term ATF testing program on Gen1 and Gen2 Prii by a group of technically oriented Prii owners. Attached is the laboratory data on my 2004 Prius ATF which was changed out and tested at 60,000 mile intervals. It is now at 219,000 miles and running fine.
     

    Attached Files:

  5. jhinsc

    jhinsc Senior Member

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    Thanks for the replies. I have an independant garage close to home I think I can trust for the oil changes and tire rotations as they've worked on my previous cars. I haven't change the oil in my own car since I was teen in the 70's and don't plan on starting up again. But I also refuse to use a JiffyLube type place, mainly because they don't rotate tires too. I'm always tight on time and having to go to 2 places for regular service doesn't make sense to me. Not sure about the transaxle oil change - seems a bit early since it's not even recommended by Toyota.
     
  6. jrb451

    jrb451 Junior Member

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    Be aware of the "Toyota recommends wheel alignment at 30,000 miles." ploy (see earlier thread)
     
  7. jhinsc

    jhinsc Senior Member

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    Yeah, already aware of that one. They tried to hit me up for that at the 25k mile service. The tires looked like they're wearing evenly and since they won't last much beyond 40k, not worth the expense until new tires go on.
     
  8. Dark_matter_doesn't

    Dark_matter_doesn't Prius Tinkerer

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    IF you can get a dealer to do the transaxle fluid change @ 30k. Many people (including me) ran into considerable resistance when asking a dealer to do this.
     
  9. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    Take a look at the lab data before making the decision to not change out the ATF.

    JeffD
     
  10. jhinsc

    jhinsc Senior Member

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    Is there any change from the '04 to the '10 transaxle or ATF?
     
  11. pjksr02

    pjksr02 Active Member

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    I'd add that the tire rotation should include balancing with glued-on weights.

    +1 on the transaxle (ATF) fluid change, with Toyota ATF-WS.
     
  12. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    Jeff,

    Thanks for that info. Unfortunately, I don't understand the report. What's the conclusion you've reached? 60,000 intervals, or first change at 60,000 followed by 90,000 intervals?

    Thanks!
     
  13. jhinsc

    jhinsc Senior Member

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    Do you re-balance your tires at every 5k mile rotation? Even if they're not out of balance? As long as I'm getting even wear and the ride is smooth, I'm not doing an alignment or balance until a new set of tires are needed.

    I also wonder why Toyota does not recommend ATF changes for the transaxle?
     
  14. DonVentura

    DonVentura SoCal Prius Driver

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    I changed my ATF at 30K myself, very cheap insurance IMO. Plan on next change at 90K
     
  15. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    You should look at the high metallic content at 61k miles (when I joined the group analyzing Gen1 Prii to add Gen2 data. If I had this data when my Prius was new, I would have done the first ATF refresh at 30k miles.) you see that there is a high rate of gear wear as the gear teeth "Lap in". After that the ATF stays clean longer. Our analysis determined that in a Gen2 ( and probably the Gen3 as well, but we had no Gen3 data at that time) an early ATF refresh at 30k miles is a good idea as it cleans out this initial metallic load and then repeat the refresh every 60k miles thereafter.

    We did discuss the possibility of extending the refresh period to 90k intervals after a couple of ATF refreshes, but I'll do it one more time at 240k miles (probably near the end of this year) just to continue the testing regime.

    Jeffd
     
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  16. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    Got it. Change tranny oil at 30/90/150/210/270 thousand miles.
     
  17. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    The Gen3 Prius Tranny uses the same type WS ATF as the Gen2 (Gen1 used Type IV ATF and needs changes more often). There were some changes to the Tranny at each generation.

    • Gen1 bearings were not robust enough so they were upgraded in the later models.
    • The Gen 2 has a chain that transfers torque to the drive shaft whereas the Gen3 is directly geared and it is physically smaller/lighter.
    • The Gen3 Tranny gears down the MG that balances torque with the Engine so that it is less susceptible to being over reved.
    I see no reason that our suggested ATF protocol would change in the newer design, but I await some solid lab testing data to confirm this.


    JeffD
     
  18. kormaster

    kormaster Junior Member

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    Manhatten Beach Toyota wants to charge $309 for 30k service for Gen 3 Prius.... seems really high..
     
  19. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    This is why I change the cabin and engine air filters myself and only take it in when it's not time for "major" maintenance services.
     
  20. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

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    That is about the going rate. $250-$300.

    Sometimes you will have an honest dealer like City Toyota in SF who recognizes that the 30k service is extremely basic and only charges $179.