just got a 2010 Prius - need advice

If you're not am ASE Certified mechanic willing to replace the engine and hy rid battery, sell it now while it still works

 

The days of this car being bullet proof are soo long gone.

 

Bulletproof.
Brought back memories.))

 

I don't know how close the motors are, but you could switch the electrical connections
and then try the washer again, it if sprays out the back, you know it's the pump.
You can also put a meter on the connector, have your son try the washer, with the car in
ready mode. If you get 12 volts, you know it's the motor...
Cleaning the egr pipe is a waste of time if you are not going to clean the cooler, and the
3 holes for the egr gases on the intake manifold...

 

There is no dip stick for the transmission, only a drain plug and a refill plug underneath.

 

not completely: it gives you some idea, and might get you motivated, to “push on”.

 

The EGR will still get carbon-clogged, and in my opinion, that is what is causing head gaskets to blow.

More frequent oil changes "may" help mitigate the piston ring clogging and ensuing runaway oil consumption. The ultimate cure for that is to replace either the piston/rings, or the complete short block.

FWIW, for one reason or another I've done very frequent oil changes on our '10 (has the "low-tension" piston rings), since new purchase in November 2010. Odometer's currently at a mere 101K kms, and so far no discernable oil consumption, at least going the by the dipstick.

I've also done two EGR cleanings. The first was at 71K kms, and there was significant carbon build-up. No where near the conditions people are reporting, say when cleaning at 100~150K miles, but that's fine by me.

 

It does happen regardless of egr cleanings and oil changes on 10k intervals. They may delay the problem if no oil burning exists and frequent engine coolant changes occur.

Recommended oil change intervals was part of the problem. Toyota went from 5k intervals on gen2 to 10k miles on gen3 and then changed people’s habits by doing the first two free.

The engines burn no noticeable oil when the rings are good; my egr flowed freely for over 100k miles with no oil burning. By 150k miles it was burning oil and the egr cooler, valve and intake was getting gummed up. After oil burning starts there is no turning back without a rebuild with revised rings and pistons. Toyota had a TSB and provided free rings and pistons if you burned more than a quart in ~1200 miles.

There are also revised intakes, egr valves and ecu software for gen3. With all of that proactive recommendations from Toyota, they still do not recommend egr system cleaning or replacement before it codes.