New Owner of 2012 Prius Four

Sweet! They're very long-lasting cars.

You might want to take care of some maintenance to help the car last a long time. At 30,000 miles, there's an oil change (of course), and two air filters should be replaced. What's not on Toyota's schedule is a Transaxle fluid replacement, which should cost no more than $100. You should have that done. We can give you more details about it if you wish.

 

congrats and welcome! all the best.

 

"Need" is a relative term .

Some say it should be changed early in its life and frequently thereafter.

Toyota says the trans fluid is "lifetime".

I just did mine yesterday and see attached pic. This is transmission fluid at 140 k miles compared to the new fluid that is a dark red in the quart bottle. So at some point I would change it. Maybe not wait until 140 k, but there are always factors at play that stunt the best laid plans.

Continue to Drive and enjoy.

 

Several members of PriusChat changed their tranny fluid at various mileages and sent the used fluid to a lab for analysis. Some of these guys appear to understand petroleum chemistry pretty well. Their conclusion is that you should change it at 30,000 miles, and every 60,000 miles after that.

Toyota only recommends "inspecting" this fluid, without any change interval. So most Prius' never have this oil replaced, which doesn't seem like a good idea to me. If you do your own oil changes, this is pretty easy to do, or you can pay a shop $100 or less. They MUST use the special Toyota WS transmission oil.

There is another simple maintenance item I forgot to mention, which is to have all eight of the brake caliper sliding pins lubricated. This is easy/inexpensive and it also isn't mentioned in Toyota's maintenance schedule -- only brake "inspection".

 

Good question. A better place to go would be a shop specializing in servicing hybrids in your necknof the woods . This way they can check the HV battery and other items. It will cost some $$ but you didn't pay for the "warranty" so you should have some left for the inspection.

Did the car come with maintenance records, or have you checked either car fax or put the VIN into to see what records for servicing are available? Would be a good way to determine what might have been performed. If nothing exists, check out some of the videos @NutzAboutBolts made. Then plan them out. If you are a DIYer, they are not too bad.

But Toyota can be used, just search dealers in your area and make sure your expectations are not too high for what they may or may not find.

Keep us posted

 

I should also note that some dealers are actually fair and reasonable. I actually use one for my oil changes as on Sunday's they only charge $20 for the labor and oil filter. I take the oil to them and they give me back about 3/4 of a quart. But others are into fleecing their bottom line.

The time it takes to remove the splash shield after jacking the car up and putting it on jack stands is how I decided to go the $20 dealer route. Their oil change bay is also across from the lounge area, so I can watch closely while having a warm caffeinated beverage sitting with my feet up .

Just find one that works for you.

 

It's always a challenge to find a quality, reputable mechanic. They're out there. I'd start with friends.

Any Toyota dealer will do the good old "Oil Change + Multipoint Inspection" competently enough. The inspection is supposed to be very thorough, but usually they check fluid levels and brake pad thickness.

I like my local Toyota dealer, but when I ask for prices of common services, it's atrocious:
Cabin Air Filter replacement: $60. This is a $20 filter which you install behind the glove box. It takes no tools to do and about five minutes of time. It's insulting that they charge any money at all for labor.
Engine Air Filter: Same thing, but the filter costs $30.

Transmission Fluid Change: Two Toyota dealers told me it would require a transmission "flush" at a cost of over $300. This is complete nonsense. Even after I told both of them that the Prius transmission isn't flushed, they kept up this story.

To explain: Most automatic transmissions have a device called a "torque converter" and an oil pump which circulates the transmission fluid through the transmission, and through a radiator-like device called the transmission cooler. If you just drain the fluid, most will remain in the transmission oil lines, and inside the cooler and torque converter. So they have a special machine which is attached to the coolant lines which flushes the new fluid through the transmission cooler and torque converter, to clean it all out and replace with new fluid. But a Prius transmission doesn't have any of that. It's a simple, sealed unit. You drain the fluid out, and all of it comes out. Then, you fill with new fluid. It's not much different than an ordinary oil change and the correct price is about $100 +/- $25. That's one way to know if you're dealing with a competent, honest shop: Ask them how much to replace the transmission fluid in your Prius.

You can take any estimate and post it here and members will tell you if they think the rates are reasonable.

 

I say at the very least, have the caliper pins cleaned and lubed ONCE a year. While doing this, they should be cleaning the rotors, deglaze the pads, measure the pads/rotors, look for warpage/runout.

Enough can't be said about getting the transaxle (think transmission) fluid drained & filled on a regular basis. You may want to purchase a magnetic drain plug for the transaxle, since the Gen3 Prius were not made with one, but will benefit from one. Gen2 came standard with a magnetic drain plug, albeit a weak one. Read post #473, to see compelling reasons to upgrade the drain plug and perform drain & fills. ATF fluid changes ARE Required. | Page 24 | PriusChat

If memory serves me correctly, I believe the Gen3s lack any brake fluid flush interval. The Gen2s make no reference to brake fluid flush as well. It would be in your interest to get be brake fluid flushed periodically.

Art's Automotive makes a compelling reason to flush out the brake fluid every so often. Link.
Art makes a compelling point using Toyota's own service schedule: Lexus RX400h has a 30,000mile brake flush recommendation. Toyota Hughlander Hybrid, no such recommendation.

Patrick Wong has said that Owners of Lexus may drive the cars harder, thus the brake fluid maintenance interval. I am in disagree w/ him on that view, which is fine. I view Lexus owners as people who don't mind spending more for a vehicle that has a better interior fitment, is quitter, and like the snob appeal. Besides, how many owners of SUV actually take their SUV 4x4ing? Very few. Essentially the SUV is the station wagon from 60 & 70s, on steroids.

For your peace of mind, get it looked at again. It if were me, I would do w/o.

You will have to find a competent mechanic who has sufficient knowledge of Toyota Hybrids. Many will say they do, since talk is cheap. Ask what OBD2 reader they use to diagnosis warning lights for a Toyota Prius. Good mechanics will actually use the Mongoose cable and legitimate Techstream software (subscription based); This is what the Toyota dealers use. We DIY folks use the Chinese imitation Mongoose cable (mini VCI) and hacked Techstream software, readily available on Amazon/eBay for $20-$30.

 

I wish my dealer was like yours. Returning unused oil? Sounds like you have found that one in a million honest dealer.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Looks excellent! Lots of oil changes and tire rotations. Very good! Toyota recommends oil change every 10,000 miles but this car's had 5,000 mile intervals, which is terrific.

The cabin air filter was replaced but it doesn't mention the engine air filter. You can buy that part at a Toyota dealer and install yourself. Doesn't take any tools and there are plenty of YouTube videos to show you (I like NutzAboutBolts the best).

There was a repair order around 26,000 miles that you should read, just to be thorough. But obviously it is a well-cared for car.

 

Toyota makes no mention of transaxle fluid change in the maintenance guide, and (obviously) offers no change interval guideline. I changed ours at the one year mark (around 15,000 km). The used fluid was very noticeably darker than new. I did a second change at the three year mark (around 40,000 km), and this time the used fluid looked surprisingly good. I'll be doing a third change at the six year mark (around 64,000 km), in a week or two.

I expect the used fluid will be looking pretty good, but hey: a simple DIY, every three years, for around $40 in supplies and an hour?

 

And lubricate all eight of the brake caliper sliding pins, which is another DIY, if you have a few tools.

 

If we look at the post above, (post #14,) on 3/25/15, it says that a Repair Order was requested. There's a "Download Details" button. I think if you click that button it should tell you what they repaired. I'm sure it was nothing, but you might want to read it.

Anyway... the Engine OIL Filter is different from the Engine AIR Filter. This is basic car stuff: The inside of your car's engine must be kept very clean of contaminants. (I don't mean that you need to hose off the engine, I mean INSIDE the actual engine).

Your car's engine has motor oil inside. This motor oil needs to be changed regularly. This oil circulates through a paper filter (the engine oil filter) to catch any contaminants. Whenever the oil is changed, this paper filter should also be changed. In your car, this filter has been changed with each oil change, so you're good there.

Your car's engine works by burning gasoline and air. As it runs, the engine sucks in a lot of air. This air is filtered to make sure that no debris enter your engine. This paper filter needs to be changed every 30,000 miles or so. There is an Engine AIR Filter and a Cabin AIR Filter. The cabin air filter is for the air that gets sucked into the passenger compartment when you turn on the heater or AC. Totally different filter. You've had this filter replaced, so you're ok there.

I attached a photo of a Prius engine and I circled in red the engine air filter area. You can see two metal clips along the bottom of that box. You pop those clips up, lift the black plastic up, and remove the paper filter. Then you insert the new one and put the clips back in. You're worried about what happens if you knock some dirt inside the engine when you do this? Don't, because in this case, the air goes UP into the engine. So if any dirt falls off the filter when you replace it, it will be on the "dirty" side anyway.

You can find a YouTube video of this replacement (and every other Prius maintenance procedure) in the NutzAboutBolts Video Thread.