Changing 2015 Prius Transmission Fluid

you can't even drain it properly. you have to get it up and level on tripods.

there is no other maintenance

 

You can use jack stands in the rear. That's what I do.
Ramps in the front and jack stands in the rear.
You won't be able to drain it properly if it's not level.
Once it's level, and you drain it. You can use a funnel and long hose
to run down to the filler hole. File SLOWLY, it will take 3.5 - 4qts.
Once you're at 3.5, you can pull the hose out and see if fluid drains out
of the filler hole. If not, add a little more (?pint?), then check again.

Drain and refill is all you need to do. Use the Toyota fluid. It is the best thing for it.

 

The car must be level when you drain and refill.

Before you drain, open the fill plug first. You don’t want to drain and then discover that the fill plug is stripped or seized. We have a big box of leftover pee pads from when our dog was a puppy. They are fantastic for putting on the floor when you’re doing a fluid change. Highly absorbent. Recommend you buy a Mityvac fluid extractor for filling the fluid. The little $28 hand held one will do although the $100 floor mount one is even better, especially if you have an assistant pump while you watch the fill from underneath the car.

Use painter’s tape to attach a bubble level to the door. You put some tape on the door, put the level on the tape so it won’t scratch, then tape the level to the door. This way, you’ll know that you have the car level when the rear is jacked up.

Be certain that the car is firmly raised and secure. Shove it to make sure it won’t come off the stands. I like to remove all four tires and stack two beneath each side of the car, so if the jack stands fail I’ll still be safe.

 

No other maintenance related to transmission that I know of, but if you're planning on doing anything that involves removing the CV shafts, now's probably a good time. If I'm not mistaken, on this car, removing a CV shaft will drain some transmission fluid

 

If you have a suitable slight hill available, you can get the car adequately level by draining with the rear of the car higher up on the hill, and the front wheels on ramps. That's how I did it.
My manual says the capacity is 3.6 quarts.

 

Not quite. If it's sloping, front significantly higher than back, due to the fill plug being toward the back of the transaxle the fluid's going to spill out sooner. Get a floor jack and a pair of safety stands, raise the rear (jacking point shown in owner's manual), settle it onto the safety stands, roughly level, and you'll be good.

There's a link in my signature (on a phone, turn it landscape to see signatures) with info on this.

 

that's a good price

 

This is the repair manual instruction:

 

If you drive it up a ramp you'll under fill it because of where the fill plug is. Put a jack under the back end and put this thing level. I've used Max Life LV 1 gallon jugs from Walmart and more than a dozen Priuses without a problem so far. That said, it's better to get WS trans fluid from the dealer and pay more for it. I've been taking this chance without a problem but it's up to you

 

Not Safe. My life is worth more than saving a few bucks.

 

Front on ramps and rear just on jack, yes: not safe. But going an extra step, settling the back onto safety stands, would be quite safe.

 

It is SAFE to do it you use good equipment.
But, if YOU do not feel safe doing it, do not do it. No matter what anyone says!

 

Do it! #YOLO

 

With safety stands under the car, I still like to put this big block of tree trunk (aka chopping block) under, before getting under myself. Whenever practical. It's minimum dimension is 13"~14", thicker than me.

 

Parking on a hill and putting only one end of the car on jack stands: NOT SAFE. The car can definitely roll off those jack stands.

 

Man if you are an RN I would just work an overtime shift and get it changed by a local mechanic. It's as easy as a manual transmission fluid change. My friend here makes $40 base so overtime at $60/hr would cover that oil change. If not you can always do what I did in college. Go to the local oreillys and change it in their level parking lot. Lol