15,000 mile service - this is unbelievable!!!

Yes, I work less than a mile from home but am looking for a transfer to another school which may be farther away.

My parents are about 10 miles away, I visit once a week. My sister about 30 miles away but I don't visit very often.

I consolidate shopping and otherwise don't go out that much.

I do drive to either L.A. or Palm Springs maybe 2-3 times a year. Round trip about 200 miles.

One of the reasons I liked the Prius over all of the other hybrids is that it excels at city driving, which I do more than freeway. I also didn't want a manual or a two-seater. AND it is really clean. I figured I'd have to take it to the dealer for servicing, but I did that with my previous car, a Saturn. I'm a bit concerned over the wide range of charges for the same services from one dealership to another. But at least I have quite a few dealers in town to choose from.

 

I am just trying to get my 15,000 mile service scheduled and I was quoted $229. They mentioned a few things like the transimission fluid. I am guessing I should just tell them to do whats in the manual?

 

tell them you want an itemized estimate in writing.

then go to two other dealers, request the same.

then compare. take the two that match the closest and flip coin.

in a good world, all three will be the same, in a crummy world, the two matching ones will be the most expensive,

in the real world, none may resemble the other

YMMV

 

Dave:

Well my friend, welcome to the Real World.

Jay

 

NO!! I doubt they will actually read the manual. Tell them EXACTLY what TO do. Also tell them what NOT to do. For instance, if you run snow tires in the winter, and took them off a couple of thousand miles ago, you don't need the tires rotated. If you drive about 1K per month, tire "rotation" happens in the fall and spring, just mark each tire with the position they came off.

And, sadly, check your oil level when they are done. I had my 10K done a couple of weeks ago. Checked the dipstick the next day and it was 1/4" over. (it was 1/8"over after the 5K but I ignored it). The high/low marks are about a quart and an inch apart. Figuring it is probably linear, I pulled 8 oz out through the dipstick tube. Measured EXACTLY at the full mark. I'm going to take the jar of oil to the dealer the next time and tell them what it is. Also that I will check immediately upon getting the car back and if it is not at or below the full mark, they have 10 minutes to fix it.
Conveniently, I got a Toyota service survey in the mail Monday. I happily filled it out on line and the "quality of work" question got a big fat POOR with a description of why.

 

I was quoted 220 dollars, but i had the pre-paid maintenance so they said that coupon covered everything. But the want to replace a Hepa filter that alone costs 60 bucks, dont know if I needed the filter to be replaced or not.. any suggestions??

 

Get the filter at Toyota Scion Parts Accessories Discounted Prices - Metrotpn for 15 dollars and install it yourself.

 

You can also vacuum off the old one and re-use it a few times. (I mean the cabin filter; engine filters should not be re-used.)

 

Just passed 124,000 miles. My car has never been serviced. I just change the oil, oil filter, air filter myself. Runs as good as the day I bought it.

 

How about the various recalls: steering intermediate shaft and engine/hybrid vehicle ECU firmware updates??

I hope that you inspect the brakes/suspension etc. when you do the engine oil changes.

Have you replaced the transaxle fluid yet? If not I think you will find that the old fluid is quite dark now (due to accumulated wear metal particles within).

 

I waited until I was confident that all of the recalls and updates had been issued. I took it in last year to have those done free of charge. The brake pads & shoes show very little wear after so many miles. It's about time for new spark plugs and an ATF change. I am now poking around the site to see if anyone has posted instructions for that.

 

I'd like to know the dealer name, as I also live in San Diego.

Bob N.

 

I hope that you will not find that the old plugs are frozen in place, given the 120K+ miles that you have driven. To gain access, first remove the relay box mounted to the cowl. Then remove the wiring harness connectors from the four spark igniters. Remove the small bolts that hold the igniter to the valve cover. Then you can remove the spark plugs.

I suggest you use a little dab of antiseize compound on the new plugs, being careful not to foul the spark plug tip.

Clean and inspect the igniters before reinstalling them. I use paper towels lightly moistened in paint thinner to scrub off the dirt on the top of the igniter. Make sure that dirt is not introduced into the connector socket. If you see cracking or burn marks on the igniter body, replace it.

Make sure that the wiring harness connectors snap into place when you reinsert them.

Tightening torques: 80 in.-lb for the igniter bolts. 13 ft.-lb for the spark plugs.

Iridium spark plug brand/model: Denso SK16R11 or NGK IFR5A11 (Do not use a model other than specified.)

Regarding the transaxle fluid change, you will need 4 quarts of Toyota ATF WS and (optionally) two new aluminum washers for the drain and fill plugs. You will need a 24 mm (or 15/16") socket for the fill plug, a 10 mm hex key socket for the drain plug, and a funnel with a three-foot-long tail.

Raise the car up with four jackstands so that it is level. Open the fill plug which is located on the side of the transaxle facing forward. See if you can feel the oil level with your finger. (If not, then the fluid level was low.)

Remove the drain plug (make sure you don't drain the coolant by accident). Clean the magnet on the drain plug. Install a new aluminum washer and torque the drain plug to 29 ft.-lb. Place the funnel near the inverter and radiator, and run the tail down to the fill hole. Add the 4 qts of oil; capacity is 3.9 qts. Torque the fill plug to 29 ft.-lb.

At this mileage, you should also replace the engine/inverter coolant and the PCV valve if this work has not already been done. If you decide to DIY I suggest you visit techinfo.toyota.com and download the relevant repair manual pages. The inverter coolant procedure takes effort to ensure that air is purged out of the system.

Good luck.

 

I just went to two auto parts stores to find plugs, PCV valve and a 12V battery. No luck. One store did have two used 12V batteries however for 19,99. That didn't sound like such a good idea to me. The nearest dealership is 25 miles away. What a pain.

Should I be worried about belt(s)?

Thanks for your help Patrick.

Dan

 

Hi Dan,

I forgot about the serpentine drive belt. It would be a great idea to replace that now. While you are at it you may want to check the water pump bearing by spinning the pulley when the belt is off. If the bearing does not feel smooth or you see coolant seepage it would be a good idea to replace the water pump as well.

I suggest you let your fingers do the walking by buying from one of the Toyota dealers that sell parts at 25% off over the web. I buy from Champion Toyota Gulf Freeway (Houston):
http://www.toyotaworld.com/

Many East Coast owners like metrotpn.com in Cleveland.

However since the 12V battery is so heavy, it would be best to buy that from your local dealer; the going price is ~$160.

Good luck.

 

Auto sales are way down so they are trying to make up for the loss by overinflated service charges. I wouldn't go back to this guy. Complain and try to get a rebate for the work that they over charged you. FishHawk

 

When I first checked my Prius plugs at around 24,000 km, they were *tight*

I put a small dab of Loctite Nickle Grade AntiSeize on the threads and put them back in. They were in ok shape. When I changed them last fall at around 110,000 km, they were in only fair shape. However, easy to remove. The new plugs I put a dab of antiseize on the threads

I used to have a 2000 GMC Sierra with the aluminum head 5.3 litre V8. I had to change the plugs in 2002 and just about gave myself a hernia trying to get them out. The plugs were very hard to turn so I had to use the ratchet until they were actually out

My FJ is apparently a different beast altogether. Overall, it's a bit easier to do a plug change in the FJ than the Prius. Over at the FJ forum some members reported fuel economy improvements and better starting by changing the plugs early. Toyota uses regular copper plugs in the FJ

So at around 8,000 km I did my FJ. Oddly enough, the passenger side V had Denso plugs, the driver side V had NGK plugs. All the plugs were easy to remove. Actually, the passenger side V middle plug I didn't need to use the ratchet at all. That was scary

Napa had a sale on NGK, so I put 6 NGK back in, with a dab of anti-seize. I gained a much smoother idle, and around 1.5 mpg. Before, it would need 5-6 cranks before starting. Now, 2-3 cranks and it's running

If anybody is uncomfortable working on vehicles, or isn't aware of the torqueing procedure for aluminum heads and spark plugs, leave it to a pro. It's easy to strip the plug threads in an aluminum head motor, that can be expensive

 

The Prius battery is pretty specialized. You're only going to find it at a dealerhship. The Mazda Miata battery will work with an adapter, so will a certain Optima battery

 

Hi Jay,

It seems that you also do not approve of the 120K mile (150K mile in CA and other PZEV states) recommended service interval for the iridium spark plugs. I plan to change the plugs on my 2004 (now at 48K miles) at 60K miles. I took them out at 30K miles to apply antiseize lube.

What is the recommended spark plug change interval on the FJ? I would have thought platinum would be the minimum original equipment spec.

It sounds like the spark plugs were installed when the heads were built, rather than at the point when the engine was assembled. And the person building the passenger-side head forgot to torque the plugs. Hope the camshaft bearings were properly torqued!

Regarding your concern about cross-threading the plugs into the aluminum head, my solution is to use a length of black rubber hose whose inner diameter will allow the spark plug tail to fit snugly. The hose is my wrench to start the plug into the threaded hole until finger-tight. If the plug has a tendency to cross-thread, the hose will slip free, so that the head is not damaged. Then I use my torque ratchet wrench to tighten.