Service recommendations located near Las Cruces, NM

Well I guess coming from Sacramento California to New Mexico is quite the shock I don't know how much driving you're going to be doing as a senior in New Mexico now You may want to rethink the car you're driving after doing extensive reading and research If you do that sort of thing you may not want to stay in this vehicle as it may become well costly as a senior now or whatever you're calling yourself If you don't drive a lot of Prius is generally not a great thing to be storing in your carport or garage when you least expect it it's not going to run they don't like to sit p e r i o d they just don't like it so if now you're just going to be going to the grocery store every so often and the dog park every other week and things like this you may be wanting to reign the car business in and get it leahed up well. A car that will sit in always start and do well we'll be like a Corolla or a Yaris they don't care about sitting The Yaris will get about 6 mi to the gallon less gas mileage than the Prius at our age I wouldn't think this is a huge important thing If you do the math it just doesn't work out to be so great especially the expense when it's time for batteries 12 volt or HV because the cars just sitting. It is something to think about if it interests you

 

How long have you had it; do you know the service history? Attached is a table conversion of the US schedule I did, in Excel and PDF formats, which may help. Toyota only goes to 120K miles, but I've extrapolated the patterns to 240K.

Kinda reluctant to mention, but with 140K, you've likely got EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system clogging up with carbon, and that can lead to head gasket failure. Compounding the issue, professional mechanics, knowledgable and reasonably priced to deal with this are scarce. Toyota corporate is basically waiting for the issue to go away. Hopefully someone local to you will have suggestions for local independent mechanics.

 

Can you afford to sell it and buy a simple gasser?

 

Don't let what prior Toyota has done for you cloud or jade the picture I'm almost 70 and I've been with Toyota for 47 some odd years and didn't get bitten by Toyota USA until 2010 so there's always that It looks to me like and it's just stupid little me talking that planned obsolescence became full swing after the 2009 model year It seems to be engineered in extremely well they've really worked hard at getting this right.

 

If you can run your Prius a hundred miles a day it may be worthwhile for you to stay in a Prius If you're much closer to the national average for American drivers about 40 mi a day it definitely will not be least that's my observation in the last long time.

 

The wipers and cowl need to come off for spark plug access. This is also necessary for EGR access. And if you want to incorporate and engine coolant change (due at 150K miles or 15 years, whichever comes first), that would also be opportune for the following:

With 140K, you are well overdue, for the maintenance Toyota doesn't want to talk about. With 3rd gen they introduced an EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system, which returns exhaust gasses to the combustion chamber, both for emissions compliance and to allow them more control of the combustion process, maybe to run leaner, improve mpg. But it doesn't look like they did sufficient testing of this new system: it reliably clogs with carbon. Sensors to detect insufficient flow are apparently too late to trigger, and owners are stuck with blown head gaskets somewhere between 150K~200K.

If you're not capable of DIY cleaning of the EGR system (including intake manifold EGR passages), and not in LA* or Tampa*, options for keeping the EGR system are extremely spotty.

See top two links in my signature for more info on EGR cleaning, and more links near the bottom for head gasket. Last link, the full engine section from Repair Manual may be of interest, say if you have a mechanic doing head gasket down the road.

(If you're on a phone, turn it landscape to see signature)

* A couple of places that'll do EGR system cleaning properly, for reasonably price:

Tampa Hybrids, Tampa, Florida
Hybrid Pit Stop, Buena Park, California

I believe both places also do head gaskets and/or engine swaps.

 

because we've seen the problems people who can't repair their own vehicles have had with 1010-1015 prius generation, and yours is right at the mileage when problems can begin.
plus, a lot of us older folk don't drive as much as we used to, and prius like to be driven. and you don't save any money if you don't drive much.
it's just a word of caution, i hope all goes well for you.