So I've had my Prius since 2005 and only put 40,000 miles on it. It's my main car, but I almost never drive because I cycle to work. I tend to put off routine maintenance because getting an appointment and going out to the dealership always feels like such a pain. And it takes me over a year to go 5,000 miles. At this point, the car is worth like 3 grand so frankly it's not something I worry/care to much about. I just don't want to kill it unnecessarily (or drive something unsafe). Can I just go to some local non-dealer place for routine maintenance? I've always thought of my hybrid as "special" from a maintenance standpoint (ever since I bought my first in 2000), but is that silly now that they've been in the market nearly two decades?
Well, good news for you......a 2005 with 40k miles would likely go for a heck of a lot more than 3k, unless you have some significant body issues. Or is it now a flood car? Your biggest concern would be under use of the HV battery, but that can be cured easily enough. Houston is a big place, I'm sure someone here will be able to hook you up with a good maintenance facility.
So you've never changed the oil, air/cabin filters and such over the last 12+ years? Yes, if you don't want to go to a dealer, you'll want to find a hybrid specialist shop in the greater Houston area as many regular places "don't fool with them hybrids much" nor understand the special procedures some things like the brake system involve. The owners manual will tell you what you need to do (go by time not mileage) as there's quite a bit that needs to be done by now. GOOD LUCK!
With the exception of brake work where I would go to a hybrid specialist, any mechanic who is willing to can do Prius maintenance. Call first just to make sure they are not intimidated by a hybrid, but it is all the same as they are used to. (there are two cooling systems, but each is just the same as they are used to. If you have done no service, I would consider changing ALL the fluids: Oil Engine Coolant Inverter Coolant (same stuff, just in a separate loop) ATF WS Brake Fluid and Engine air filter Cabin air filter
Thanks everyone. - To clarify, I've been doing routine maintenance, just more like every 1 to 2 years for the last 5+ years, rather than on the schedule of every 6 months/5k miles (whichever comes first). I was better about it when the car was new. Basically, I go to the dealer and guess at what makes sense on the maintenance schedule. I haven't been keeping records, and I don't remember what's been done. - May be worth more than $3k, but I doubt much more. Edmunds estimates trade-in value at $3,040 for "clean", $2,457 for "average", and those numbers take into account the low mileage. The body is generally in good shape, there's 12 years worth of wear in the interior, but I rate the whole thing down because a dude T-boned me (at fairly low speed) about 6 years ago. Insurance fixed it, but I feel like some things were never put quite right -- the gap when the hood closes doesn't look exactly right to me, handling at highway speeds feels a little off to me (and dealer has never been able to fix it), perhaps related but whenever I get it aligned it comes out a bit outside of spec but that's "the best they can do", and the 12VDC port doesn't work (I assume it never got reconnected, probably an easy fix, but I just don't care). Sounds like I'll call around to a couple nearby mechanics, see if anyone is willing to work on it. But my path-of-least-resistance solution may be to stick with taking it out to a dealership. Thanks for the input!
