Scheduled Maintenance is expensive!

Scheduled maintenance on the Prius is NOT expensive; however, it is expensive to say yes to every maintenance procedure the dealer or any other shop says you need. Some of what they recommend is needed and others are simply a sales pitch on which the service writer gets a commission or bonus and are not necessarily required. If you want to save money, become an informed consumer and know what you need to do to maintain your car for the time you plan to own it.

Actually, the G3 Prius is cheaper to maintain than conventional cars because there are fewer preventive maintenance operations required and those that are necessary are the same cost or cheaper to perform than on conventional cars. For example:

· there are no belts to replace,
· no hydraulic power steering fluid to flush,
· CVT transmission fluid change is a $30.00 (DIY) or $120.00 (dealer) operation compared with a $200.00 to $250.00 operation on conventional cars with automatic transmissions.
· engine oil changes are extended to one year or 10,000 miles.

If you think preventive maintenance is expensive, try not doing it and see how outrageously expensive it is to repair the G3 due to the high cost of replacement parts, high labor rates and number of labor hours. The best example of this is the brake system. Premature brake failures due to neglected maintenance have been reported on PriusChat, strongly indicating that it is far cheaper in the long run to properly maintain the brake system than to repair it. Flush the brake fluid and clean and lubricate the brake hardware every 2-3 years or 30,000 to 50,000 miles depending on how you drive and your drive conditions. Your dealer's recommendation to flush your brake fluid was a good one, just not as often as they recommend. You still need to have them clean and lubricate the brake hardware, especially the rear brake slide pins.

 

I agree but there is a big difference between someone who does his/her job by recommending things that you need, and someone who takes advantage of you by causing you to pay more just to make a commission. Eating and feeding the family is not an excuse for cheating, stealing, and taking advantage. Thankfully there are a lot more honest advisors and technicians out there than bad apples. Plus, I found out, that even some of the bad apples are honest too. They just lack the necessary knowledge to give the right advice.

 

Touche´ & I agree.

 

97D ?

 

G3 engines have hydraulic valve adjusters.

 

Forgot the 1.8 has hydraulics. That's why its not so noisey on 0-20. The Gen2 1.5 has solids and it makes quite a racket on 0-20 imho. Even with M1 0-20.

Found the only oil that really makes the 1.5 quiet and run really smooth. Like a different motor actually.
This stuff is awesome:


Red Line Synthetic Oil - Motor Oil - 0W30 Motor Oil

 

Gee.
I'd love to know why THAT picture was taken!

 

Ah the perils of forum posting on a cell phone. You quote 5 responders, and let them know you're ?, LOL. I've been there

 

Make that 6

 

You guys were scaring me with your 36 month brake flushes so I bought a brake test kit like Rude person's uses.

Below please see the results of my Gen2 I bought new in 07 and has 66,000 miles. Brake fluid never changed.

Almost O PPM's copper detected.

 

What options do I have and why should I are if they see that I'm using Tappatalk?

97D ?

 

What do I have to do to make the Tire inflation indicator go out, after I check the tires? It's a gen II 07. Does this happen automaticly or is there some incantation required?


97D ?

 

The dash indicator goes out automatically after you inflate the tires. Lots of peeps here run 43-40. I run 40-38 for a softer ride.

Recently I had a tire that kept losing air. No nail no hole. It was approaching end of life. Turned on the tpms 2 days in a row even after a fill up. Bought new tires. Sometimes the bead gives up the ghost.

Please be aware if you have crappy tires especially the Goodyear Integritys since it has begun to get cold you could lose quite a bit of air during the night. The Goodyears that came with the car would lose a pound or 2 a night sometimes during the coldest part of Florida winter. Worlds wost tire.

 

Thank you for the reply.

97D ?

 

I wasn't clear: just thought it was funny that you quoted six responders, then didn't say any thing further.

Assume it was due to working with a small phone display.

 

Hi Mendel. I'm not using a cellphone. I bought an android tablet about a year ago, and I use that for my Prius Chat inquiries.

97D ?