My one owner, 2017 Prius Prime Premier has 50k miles on it. Took it to a local Toyota dealership for Oil change. They recommended the following which have never been done on my car: * Replace/flush brake fluid * Replace/flush engine coolant * Replace/flush inverter coolant I declined all of the above. Have folks done all of the above, and if so when did you do this service? Thanks, JT
Not quite BS; they want to do those changes based on time NOT mileage. I believe the coolant change is around 100+K miles or 10 years and DOT3 brake fluid has a 2 year shelf life - UNOPENED. There are test strips and test units to measure; if each of those fluids needs to be replaced. I would also consider changing the ATF; if you plan on driving that car until the wheel fall off - for the same reason stated above. The OEM manual states to replace NOT flush the coolant - there's a difference. I would flush the brake system, since your pushing 10 years on that fluid. Old fashion vacuum assisted braking systems didn't have motors and electronic valves to clog up - just my 2 cents. I bet ya' that brake fluid in your reservoir is a lot darker than new. It's your car and your money - so do whatever you like.....
Yep... Creating needless work to make money off of someone who doesn't have any reason to give them money. Modern cars can go hundreds of thousands of miles without these threes fluid system being changes, but dishonest mechanics hope you still believe in the 1960 reality of cars needing lots of maintenance and not lasting long. And on a Prius that has regenerative braking and doesn't use the engine that often you can go even longer. First milestsone will be 120K miles when you could benefit from new spark plugs and intake system cleaning. For perspective my 2007 is on all three original fluids and never changed at 304K miles. As an experiment I decided to see how long I could go before replacing front brake pads and rotors and got 287K miles out of 'em. The exceptions to this is testing the brake fluid with test strips and replacing if there's water in the system. Also 2010-2015 Prius have engine overheating problems and there's preventive maintenance including fluid flush for that, which doesn't apply to your 2017. In other words 50K miles on the car means its pretty much still brand new and you only need to do brand new car things to make it nicer.
Just remember one thing about this forum. Most people commenting here never bought a new Prius. I am the exception to that rule. My dealership tried to roll me for a Prius HV battery filter cleaning of $120. I spent $10 for 2x new filters and changed it myself. The dealership was not even going to put a new filter in for $120. Always decline any suggested service beyond an oil change. At 100K miles there is a list of items that require attention.
You don't have to do any more maintenance at all when you own a near invisble 2012 PriusPlugin because a Chevy Bolt got in the way. It's a perfect fix for the headgasket problem too!
Not true. Many of us have bought Prii new. I have had three new and have well over 500,000 miles driving them. Fluid changes are important especially on gen3s. I recommend twice the book frequency for brake and engine reliability.
So you would notice when people buy new. A Prius lasts forever. A lot of people who buy used pay the price down the road.
This Prius has been in service for nearly 10 years - and these are 'lifetime' fluids - meaning that they last......for the "lifetime" of the car. Toyota designed this car to last for about ____ years and _____ miles on average, and like they say in the battery business these things CANNOT last forever because otherwise people would only ever buy one. MY guess is that Toyota designed the car for a 15 year, 250,000 mile equivalent lifetime. SO.... If you plan to keep this car for it's entire "lifetime" then despite what drive-by automotive experts will tell you these fluids might have to be replaced. The [sic] transaxle fluid too. Since cars are NOT an investment, this will have to be a cost-benefit swag. Will the Toyota service Center do a proper job? How much will this cost? How much longer will you be keeping this car? Is it stored in a garage? Can you do this work yourself? Do you drive a Prius because you want to or because you have to? You also live in Bastan - which has 4 very assertive seasons, infamous drivers and dense traffic. I'd plug those values into the SWAG algorithm as well. It's a binary decision, so at the end of the day and if all else fails you can just flip a coin. Good Luck!
you’re in the States; what Toyota USA says to do, in their publication Warranty and Maintenance Booklet: replace engine coolant, at 10 years or 100k miles whichever comes first. replace inverter coolant, at 15 years or 150k miles whichever comes first. brake fluid is not mentioned. FWIW: Toyota Canada recommends to do both coolant circuits at the engine coolant intervals, and brake fluid at 3 years or 48k kms (~30k miles), whichever comes first. if you’re missing the Toyota USA Warranty and Maintenance Booklet, a pdf can be downloaded from the Toyota Tech Info website, under the manuals tab. Attached is a spreadsheet summary of what’s in the booklet, extrapolated to 24 years or 240k miles, a more convenient read.
Another consideration is that your doing less than 10K miles a year and if your doing a lot of "short hops"; that could be interpreted as driving under extreme conditions - footnoted in the OEM manual. Here's a link to the actual OEM manuals. Toyota Manuals and Warranties | Toyota Owners PS; keep an eye on your engine coolant levels. Your EGHE is known to spring a leak and is covered under a TSB. I believe MA uses CARB regulations, so you get an extended coverage on emissions devices - which includes the EV portions of the car.
A little clearer: engine coolant is passed through a component in the exhaust, just downstream of the catalytic converter, to warm it quicker. In early gen 4 years that component has been prone to coolant leaking into the exhaust.
