Toyota Prius Gen II 120,000 tuneup questions

Happy 2012 to everyone on the Toyota Prius chat board! I've found this site to be a wonderful resource in the past few years, and I'm sure it will continue to be a great place in 2012.

I'm bringing my 2004 Gen II Prius in for a 120K mile tuneup next week. Since I do my tires at Costco, my cabin air filter/engine air filter myself (as well as doing the throttle plate cleaning myself), I'm only having the basic oil change service being done for the basic service. My dealer is generally pretty good, although they really balked at changing the original ATF at 110K, although they finally agreed to do so.

I've done some recent long term service I had spark plugs changed at 106K, and my inverter coolant was changed when I did the water pump recall at 110K. I'm thinking about having my original engine coolant changed this time around; do folks recommend changing it even if the fluid is still nice and pink?

I'm not expecting that anything will come up with the brakes, as they were changed at 74K and have plenty of life left in them. The original brake fluid was tested when the brakes were replaced at 74K and it was fine. Should I have the fluid tested to see if it needs to be changed?

Finally, I was looking at the boards and saw that some people recommend ditching the 12V auxiliary battery at the 120K service. I still have my original and it has never caused any problems. Any thoughts?

My prius has been a great car, and I've never had any maintenance issues (with the exception of the water pump breaking and being recalled). I'm very glad to have had it for 120K, and look forward to taking it to 250K.

 

Dear All:

Thanks for the great thoughts. I've replaced the serptine belt at 75K and 110K, and the inverter coolant was replaced both times as well. I actually only drive the car on weekends, as I take the train to work. My wife does much of the driving, and since she has a pretty good head on her shoulders, I'm sure she knows what to do if the auxiliary battery dies-get a new one.

Thanks again-I'll certainly get the engine coolant replaced.

Cheers,
Peter

 

Update after going to the dealer-everything is looking pretty good. I had the brake fluid changed as it was getting discolored-something that one would expect at 120K. As always, the dealer recommend that I get the fuel injector flush, which is always declined.

However, the technician did say that my radiator hose might need to be replaced at the next 15,000 mile service. It is getting a bit corroded, and folks on the boards have recommended that one replace these anyway at 100K. However, since it would take six hours of labor, the total cost would be $650 (150 for the parts and new coolant, 500 for the labor). Does that sound right for the length of work?

I'll probably end up getting the new radiator hose sooner rather than later-summers in Texas get pretty hot.

 

It does seem high, doesn't it? This is going to sound like a dumb question, but where are the radiator hoses located? First time I've really looked.

I will check out other places for pricing and labor.

 

Thanks now I know where the hoses are The front one looks a bit worse for wear, and the first one is a bit brittle and cracked. So I'll probably end up replacing both, just because it makes sense (IMO) to do both at the same time.

I emailed around to different Toyota dealers, and of course I got another couple of quotes for the same service for less than $200. You can guess where I'm going to go, especially since one of the quotes is from a place that has done good work previously.