Maintenance Shop Questions

If you do your own maintenance or have it done somewhere other than a toyota authorized garage, you had better keep impeccable records in case of a warranty problem.

 

Why not have them done at a dealer? Specify the exact items called for in the scheduled maintenance guide and the cost should be reasonable. (If instead you waltz in and say "gimme yer X miles service package with all th' trimmings" you will indeed get serviced.)

 

If you mean oil changes, replacing the engine air filter, and cabin air filter, those items you should be able to do yourself. Just keep the receipts

Specific items require the Toyota hand held diagnostic scantool, THHT, or the newer Panasonic Toughbook version. As an example of a specific item, bleeding the brakes.

If you read the attached Adobe pdf, you will notice bleeding the brakes is impossible unless you have the Toyota tester to communicate with the car. I'm hoping an aftermarket scantool company will offer the same functionality

 

If you go back and read what they allegedly did to your Prius for that $445.00, I would bet that at least 40-50% of the items can not even be performed on a Prius. Like lube the chassis, there are no lube points on the chassis. They also do all those important things like check the radiator fluid, check the windshield washer fluid, check the air pressure in the tires, check the brake pad which should last 100k miles so on and so on. The only really important thing they did was change the oil and filter and rotate the tires.
So next time you go in check the maintenance book which will tell you exactly what is required which should up to about 30k miles be oil changes and tire rotations.

 

Like I wrote, "specify the exact items called for in the scheduled maintenance guide and the cost should be reasonable". All service "packages" are ridiculously overpriced. At least one of your local dealers will be willing to perform and charge you for the exact items required, *but you have to show them the booklet that came with the car and tell them to do only those items*.

If you're still not convinced, at least take the car to a certified Prius technician. Not all of them work for dealers.

 

Sounds like the dealership owners need to buy a new yacht.

A lot of those "check ups" don't even apply to the Prius. If you see anything about "lubing" the "chassis" or changing the "differential oil" then forget about it.

I've looked almost 4 years and have yet to find one single zerk on my Prius. The Prius diff is combined with the cvt, and is serviced as one unit

Just bring along your maintenance menu, show them what needs to be done (Oil change, perhaps check the cabin air filter, etc) which I doubt will cost more than $100. If it does, consider doing it yourself

My FJ Cruiser actually does have separate differentials - front and rear - in addition to zerks on the driveshafts. Takes me a whopping 5 mins to grease everything.

The money I save doing it myself, I can use Mobil Delvac Synthetic Gear Oil in my FJ, instead of the crap generic dealership gear oil.

 

Tlyke1983, I think the point is that if they only performed the 'passport' items, they charged rather a lot for them. Those charges might include things that are not appropriate for Prius.

As you have more than one Toyota shop to choose from, next time you might ask them to compete for price on the required items.

Or, you could go to any skilled mechanic for *most* Prius maintenance, because mostly it is just a car.

Inverter coolant changes, brake work, warning lights or DTCs are examples of when hybrid vehicle knowledge at diagnostic equipment becomes necessary.

Engine air and cabin air filters are very easy, and it still amazes me that any Prius owner pays shop rates for those instead of DIY. Tire rotations, engine oil and filter changes are only slightly more difficult, but I understand that many don't like to get under their cars.

 

When I had my 2000 GMC Sierra, I thought I had the worlds easiest vehicle for oil changes. My Prius was almost as easy. My FJ is just as easy as the Sierra.

If I become gimpy or grumpy and no longer work on my vehicles, looks like I'm in for a wallet vacuuming