Prius: The Crystal Blue Meth of car ownership....

how much does a fluid change cost? Maybe I'll do that when I hit 60k miles

 

DIY is about $60 (xmission fluid + funky funnel) but can be had for as low as $~45 depending on where you buy the fluid. I found this link for $10 a quart (plus shipping).
Toyota ATF WS Automatic Transmission Fluid

I don't know how much to have someone else do it.

 

Nice looking car you got there!

 

Even if a stealer was to charge $200 or $300 for the trans fluid change, imho that is still a lot of cheaper than a new or used tranny. I for one plan to change the fluid at 60K, no matter what the stealer says. It boils down to maintenance, and preventative maintenance is far cheaper than replacement any day of the week.

 

I do my fluid every ~45k, and both times it has come out quite dark. The darkness is at least partially attributable to steel fines. I fixed a neodymium magnet to the cap of a bottle of drained fluid and let it sit upside down for a couple of hours. At the end of that there was a black smudge of very fine particles clinging under the magnet. Even if the fluid is chemically intact, I don't want 100k worth of those fines in there at any point in time. It makes me wonder how much gunk is stuck to the strong permanent magnets that are already in there.

Either way, that's a great deal on the OP's second car. Around here that's not much above trade-in.

 

Congrats on two nice Prii. I am in Prius nirvana with my 2008 base model, too. I would get another too, but 7 people don't fit.

 

Sounds about right to me, when you figure the time spent along with the cost of the fluid. A good tech might be able to do the job in an hour, but I bet most of them will dilly dally around and spend two hours on the job.

I will be finding out soon what the stealer actually quotes on this as I am at 58K on the clock and will be changing it just shy of 60K. Next service due at 59.8 K or something like that...

I have no problem paying the stealer to do this since I am handicapped, and do not have tools, lift, and other items it would take to do this job properly. As long as I physically see the old fluid being dropped out and the new fluid being replaced along with the tech. showing me that the transaxle is full before replacing the fill plug, I will have no problems or doubts of letting the stealer do this. Most stealers will allow someone to observe things if they ask nicely. Yes, they say things about insurance and what have you, but for the most part they will work with the customer who spends their hard earned money. If a stealer is trying to hide things from you, or they won't work with you, go somewhere else.

Getting back to the original topic, I too have to agree that OP got a heck of a deal on his #2 Prius!

 

Well, this is a really simple job. My guess is that the elapsed time is more like 15 min. Remove the fill plug and drain plug and let the old fluid drain out which happens very quickly since the ATF viscosity is very thin. Wipe off the magnet on the tip of the drain plug. Then replace the drain plug with a new washer, add the new fluid and then replace the fill plug with a new washer.

The ATF WS sells for around $9 per quart and 4 quarts are needed, so the fluid alone will be around $36+. Add $2-3 for the two washers, and the rest of the quote will be labor.

 

Whoa, $1 a washer?

I'm in the wrong business. How about I start selling special "Prius washers" for 50c ea?

 

Tejas Toyota in Humble, TX just quoted me $134.36 total price for the CVT fluid change. They also said the usual stuff about long life fluid and such. The service writer at first quoted me a ridiculous figure ($300) and stated it took about nine quarts of fluid to flush the system. I stated that I believe it only takes four quarts for the change and that the transaxle did not need to be flushed, but simply drained and refilled. At that point, the service writer conferred with the head honcho in service. He stated it takes about 6 quarts to change it out properly since their practice is to fill it partially, then drain it after the initial drain to help flush the particles out. He stated that the Gen 2 09 year model did not require flushing, but draining only. He also said the same thing about the long life of the fluid, but had no qualms in doing the work.

$134.36 is still a lot cheaper in my book than a new or used transaxle. What did the commerical say? "Pay me now, or pay me later".

I still plan to have the work done at the next service interval.

 

not a buck a washer....its a package labeled "fluid change kit" for $2.79 plus tax of course

 

owners manual on my '04 said trans fluid change at 100k, 60k under "extreme conditions" i think is how they worded it. i did mine at 100k and it was nasty! i'd urge everyone to do it closer to 60k. easy job, just drain and fill. 4qts WS and a funnel w/ a hose on it.

 

I hate you!