Cabin Air Filter and "Cabin Service" (?)

wow 210 dolllars to clean a mass airflow sensor, might as well buy a new one. 0.3 hour to change cabin air filter is pretty long, usually it takes me a minute. Your PCV valve shouldnt need changing so quick, usually i would take it out and shake it to make sure the valve is working, but if the dealer over filled the oil it would crud it up real bad

i love auto shops, overcharge on labor

 

One thing certainly needs changing: you need a new dealer.

 

Added all that up to $1118. Your service writer must have a pretty nice boat!

Anyway, Evan's right that if some of those things are really needed, they ought to be N/C warranty.

I do think there is value to fuel system cleaning (when it's needed), but those labor hours are silly.

The Mass air flow sensor is the thing sticking in from the side inside the airbox. If a feller didn't know where it was, he might be able to spend 2 hrs looking for it. But cleaning it? Um, no.

Pass on most of this fluff, and think about changing the transaxle fluid instead. A gallon of WS should be $20 (or is it $40?). They could probably find the fill-hole in a couple of hours

 

wow. that's ridiculous. we have the same year, bought in the same month, with approximately the same mileage. nowhere near needing any of that.

read this and be prepared for the next time with a snappy comeback
http://priuschat.com/forums/care-ma...70-what-services-you-need-what-you-don-t.html

 

I bought ~$100 worth of filters from Toyota Scion Parts Accessories Discounted Prices - Metrotpn and was very satisified. The Auto Parts Store - New and Used Auto Parts - Hoy Fox Automotive Group and a dealer in Texas also have good prices. These sites are Toyota dealers' Parts Departments. The list prices on the internet were significantly lower than what the local dealers quoted me in person.

 

I just bought an Air filter and cabin filter for less then 20$ shipping included off ebay but for those prices they are not Toyota filters. See here:CABIN and AIR FILTER PRIUS 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009:eBay Motors (item 350204753246 end time Jun-20-09 09:32:34 PDT)

I agree with the assessment that you should only consider getting the Tranny fluid replaced. Has anyone considered getting the brake fluid changed? It's hydroscopic and on all my other cars I do a brake fluid change every 2 years. However, I understand that it's not easy to do on a Prius and that a vacuum operated brake fluid change can not be done in a conventional fashion. Can anyone confirm this?
-Paul R. Haller-

 

My dealer charged me $90 to flush/bleed the brakes on my '04 Prius. You need the dealership scantool to command the system to bleed properly, otherwise you risk having NO brakes if DIY

On old vehicles where it's simple, it takes me around 30-45 minutes to suck out the old fluid from the reservoir, add new fluid, and have a helper step on the brakes as I'm underneath monkeying around with bleeder screws. I honestly do think it helps braking performance and pedal feel

 

I would NEVER go back to that place ever again. And I can't remember the website, but there are a few of them for reviewing businesses and dealerships in particular.

 

get your filters yet?

 

Odd how I never saw this thread the first time around

The entire list is completely laughible, especially charging what amounts to the price of a NEW mass air sensor, to CLEAN the old one

The FJ and Prius appear to use the same MAF, at least they look the same. On my FJ, driveability and auto trans shif feel is enhanced, along with helping fuel economy, if I clean the MAF twice a year. Counting the time it takes to unplug the connector, remove two small philips head screws, carefully wiggle out the MAF, give a 2 second spritz of mass air flow cleaner

CRC Industries Automotive Product Detail

and put everything back together, MAYBE 5 minutes total time. If I'm being lazy

Two hours?!?!

On the 2004-2009 Prius, here is the MAF peeking out in the bore



A closer view



The shop manual detail. a) is the connector, b) are the two small philips head screws



I've only cleaned the MAF a couple of times on the 2004 Prius I used to have. Honestly could not say if it ran better afterwards. But with the FJ, a very noticeable difference

Here is the MAF from my FJ before cleaning. The bulb thing is the intake air temp sensor, which is also part of the MAF



After giving a 2 sec spritz of the proper cleaner.



The sensor works by means of two "hot wires" inside the barrel. Any deposits of ash and whatnot, impair performance. One must aim the blast of cleaner inside the barrel, and two seconds is PLENTY to clean it

Here are the two hot wires after cleaning



Hope this helps

 

I buy my Cabin Air Filters on ebay from Thailand, last time paid $2.35 and FREE Shipping. Funny thing they were Genuine Toyota in a Toyota Box!

 

Goto your local Toyota parts dept for a comparison.

I doubt what you got was Genuine. The fraudsters are very good at forging packaging, hologram stickers, etc.

Compare boxed and the part. Hold up crapBay & Toyota cabin air filter to the same bright light source (say ceiling light or indirect sunlight). If genuine, the same amount of light should be visible. The material should look identical ude the same light source.

On a similar topic, there is is a bid difference in engine air filters. I stopped buying Fram & Purolator air filters b/c the filter media is crap. Very small holes were visible when held up to a bright light source (indirect sunlight). These air filters came from a big chain auto parts store.

 

Cut your own cabin filter from standard a/c filter elements.

 

Forgot about that. Some people do it.
If you do it, get one that has a high flow rate [high CFM (cubic feet per minute)].