2010 prius taxi blew its transmision

You need a source for this, because it is a complete lie.

A single statically geared planetary gear system that uses two electric motors and an engine spinning at different speeds and even rotations to "select" a gear... I know mercedes had a stepped planetary in a truck, but it is not even close to being the same.

 

The difference here is the vehicles. Notice I mentioned passenger vehicles (Focus, Taurus, Mustang) I had a 94 Ford Ranger which I would have never traded in except I couldn't drive a manual transmission any longer because of a hip and knee issue. It had the original transmission and clutch and had +170K miles on it when I traded it. I miss my Ranger! The Trucks/SUVS are built well, the passenger vehicles... not so much in my opinion.

 

Just when I thought the thread was going to turn down an interesting side road......

 

Socrates ,

I understand your feelings. (Though the ALL CAPS is kind of weird.)

But I have a buddy with a Gen2 with 311K miles on it and has ONLY replaced one cell in the battery pack with a $40 replacement cell from 'Batterybuddy'.
He changes the transaxle fluid regularly.
A simple transaxle like the Prius's can 'last forever' if given clean lube, IMHO.

Side Note: He is seeing 1700 mile/qt. oil consumption. This is not good. But it is most likely valve stem seals and they can be replaced while the head is on the car.
Always Mobil 1 in engine. Always Toyota's ATF WS in transaxle.

However, you have not answered this question: How often has the transaxle fluid been replaced?

Don't get mad....
It is Toyota's fault that this important item is NOT included in the maintenance procedures,
at least in N. American maintenance manuals.

And, we would like to know: What is the FAILURE exactly?
>Chunks of metal when you drained the ATF?
>It just 'No Goes' anymore?
>If it is electrical there should be fault codes.

 

I have owned a few other trucks that used atf for a manual gearbox. Last one was a Ranger 5 speed M50d Mits trans. On that truck the fluid lasted like 50,000 miles before it started to get dark with metal wear. Not so with a Gen II.
I saw metal wear at 5,000 miles the first time I changed the trans fluid after buying my 07 new. It was very dark.
So there is some metal wear there going on. It has gotten better with each subsequent change but leaving that first factory fill in there for any length of time is very very bad imho. This wear is really exacerbated by carrying a load all the time (passengers with luggage)

My point is under extreme duty use like a taxi I would double the trans fluid oci to like every 20,000 miles. Seems
alot but its pretty easy and quick to do and its only $40. a pop. That and it is vital to keep clean Inverter coolant in the car too.

Now from the hybrid battery standpoint if I just drove my car around town everyday stop and go the battery would not be happy. The car would get really poor mileage and the hybrid pack would never see a good charge.
Lot of sitting there with ac on,radio on, headlights on, bouncing off purple all day. Not good.

 

What if I say the Gen 3 transaxle is more robust and much more fuel efficient? Both are opinions. (Except for the efficiency claim.)

We're all talking about something, and we have no idea what the OP is even talking about.

Socrates, What exactly is the failure? What if he never tells us? All speculation....

And why is taxi service considered 'extreme'?
Miles are miles. When I drive around town there is no issue with my battery SOC. Everything gets warmed up and stays warm, not a lot of hot-cold cycles.
And the load the engine sees is no different than someone living in a hilly or mountainous area.
Carrying 5 adults and luggage around a city is way easier than getting up the Rockies on I-70 going the speed limit.

Rereading this thread: It's not even his car. A friend of a friend most likely.
And he is a funny fire-ball ! I hope someone didn't " tell me to drink some conium "

 

Socrates, Buddy,,,, It's only a car. It gets better !!!! Don't do it...

 

Just believe me, it is.

Drive your car hard for an hour, and then imagine doing that for a further 9 hours that day and then every working day. Some days the car has a gentle day but other times you're 10 minutes late and have an irate customer chasing you, so you floor it. You're late again because someone is messing about, so you gun it again etc etc. The car doesn't have time to take any slack like you could give it on the way home on your daily commute. A taxi also spends most of its time in a town/city where it is start, stop, start, stop, wait, gun it, stop hard, start etc etc all day.

I think you're getting the picture. If you still think taxi's have no difference in their use, then you're more than welcome to offer me a good price for mine

 

Based on the pictures of used Gen III fluid I have seen on this site apparently the G3 trans is even harder on the fluid than a 2. And there's not even a chain in the 3. There's alot of torque there.

 

Yeah, and no magnetic drain plug like the Gen2.
And then the "Life Time Fluid" thing...

Life is going to be very hard on the VAST majority of GEN3s out there........

Toyota set themselves up for a bad reputation eventually.....

But still, a taxi that starts from cold once a day and knocks out ? 400 miles ? , is way easier than
a typical city owned Prius that starts from cold 50 times to go 400 miles and the oil never gets up to 180° to evaporate the moisture.
How is a typical urban commute that much different than taxi duty? The taxi at least stays warmed up all day.

 

The fluid does last for the life of the transmission Of course, if the fluid gets changed at reasonable intervals, the transmission will have a longer life.

 

I wouldn't put a brand new transaxle in a 250,000 km taxi.

What would Taxi owners normally do if the transmission or engine blew in a diesel taxi?

 

This is fun !!

In Greece, what does it mean when you say "Lost Transaxle"?

I still want to know this.

 

Woo Hoo,, it is Ouzo Tuesday !!!!!