Hello Everyone, A couple of months ago we brought our 2014 Prius C (Around 172,000 miles) in for an oil change and tuneup. Of course we were hit with some other recommendations. Among them: The hybrid transaxle fluid service (We opted to do this) Replace Air Filter (We did this) Brakes - R&R Front rotors and replace front pads. They mentioned shims/rotors being rotted so we did this too. We passed on the engine coolant and hybrid inverter coolant services this time but the real reason I am writing today is to ask your opinions on the two other services they brought up: Struts - Front - Include Links for $1618 Control Arm - Lower: Dry Rot /Split. Front lower both for $1334 with an added alignment for $140. Does anyone have any experience with these services? We pushed them off for next time but next time is rapidly approaching in August and I asked our service person if we could safely wait another 10,000 and he said definitely. He mentioned one being cosmetic but from a cost standpoint we should do them at the same time because when they are already in there doing one job it saves time and labor for the other and said that if we plan to keep the car he recommends doing it. Am I better off asking around for quotes from local mom and pop garages? We have had some work done at some local garages but I can't say I have any kind of rapport with anyone local. We travel around an hour to get to our dealer (it's further now since we moved) but we feel we've been treated pretty well by the same service advisor we've used for the last 9 or so years. I was just hoping to get everyone's opinion. Is it a safety issue with the dry rot? Can it be pushed off further? Are these quotes as outrageous as they seem? I appreciate in advance any help/assistance you can provide! Thanks and have a great day!
you definitely want a second opinion, even another dealer, or you could try a tyre/suspension place. don't tell them about the dealer, just ask them to look things over and see if it needs anything. certainly, at 172k, you probably need suspension work, but i wouldn't do anything that was purely cosmetic for $1,300., but i'm not sure which service he was talking about. 5013682243 dealership_says_that_lower_control_arm_bushings if it were me, i would be shopping around for pricing
Yes almost any shop with good references can do any of those jobs. The key is to request Toyota parts and fluids in most cases, especially coolants and struts. Note: Hiding your location in your profile "US" only makes sense if you are on the run from the law. Otherwise you may miss out on some shop recommendations.
IMHO: both coolants need to be replaced; if they have never been replaced before. You can have the shop do a test strip to verify that the coolant needs replacement. Old coolant becomes acidic over time and start eating away at the internals of the coolant's pathway - in this case the engine and inverter internals. Rubber dry rot; IMHO they don't need replacement. When those parts start getting bad, it'll throw off your alignment, steering wheel will vibrate, and you might even get a 'clunk' when you go over speed bumps - rubber bushings has rotted away, that normally cushion the blow. If or when you need new tires, you'll need to get this work done; otherwise you risk tearing-up your new tires, because of your worn-out suspension system. Your current set of tires has already been worn into these 'supposed' defects, so no harm, no foul. Get a second opinion. When dealerships see years and miles on a car, they usually recommend suspension work. They gotta to eat too - that's why they're refereed to as stealerships. Hope this helps......
