$5000 Transaxle assembly

MelS I would not be taking this lying down, and would be talking to my solicitors. The warranty is vague to say the leased, it even mentions rear wheel drive and is obviously part of the standard Toyota vehicle warranty. The part that interest you is the hybrid section and it is obvious that the electric motors are part of the hybrid system, ordinary cars do not have them.
The wording to look at is in the hybrid section and I quote "hybrid related components for hybrid vehicles are covered for 8years/100000miles".

 

Trying a different tack, go back and say there is nothing wrong with the transaxle but the hybrid electric motors have failed, (on there say so) these are part of the hybrid system so replace them under guaranty as you do not require the transaxle to be replaced.

 

UK guaranty

 

That would be a nice, but even though you and I may disagree, Toyota specifically lists the parts that ARE part of the hybrid warranty as per my previous post, and they do not include the electric motors.

 

But Toyota them selves call them hybrid electric motors.

 

I'm with you, but here is the link from the Toyota Canada site and it is pretty explicit.

TOYOTA CANADA: Prius > Warranty

However, when I get home tonight, I'm also going to check the warranty documentation they supplied when I bought the car just in case it conflicts.

 

Did you double check the actual documentation supplied with the vehicle in 2007 in case it is different from the current website?

 

THIS is why one needs to replace the Transaxle fluid, as it ages, metal bits build up until you get a short. Replace the fluid at least every 60,000 miles folks.

 

The scheduled maintenance did not ask for changing of transaxle fluid. I was just asking if he did, which fluid he used. Since he didn't change it should be the original fluid.

 

Just when does Toyota recommend a change of the transaxle fluid?

They are getting major failures like this, and they don't recommend a change by 60k miles? FAIL. Service schedule designed to burn the customer?

.... and I hope to not hear the common retort to hybrid batteries ... but conventional cars get expensive auto tranny failures. Peoples, we've got a problem here. Toyota is not enforcing transaxle fluid change at 60k. Priuschat can't solve that for everyone.

 

I don't believe they call for it to be changed at all (http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...alerships-transmission-fluid.html#post1282144). I don't have my booklet in front of me.

There have been numerous stories of dealer service departments discouraging people from changing it, even when asked w/goofy claims like it's "lifetime" fluid. Supposedly even some parts counters are reluctant to sell it (http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...alerships-transmission-fluid.html#post1281816)...

I posted about my experience at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...24-changing-transaxle-oil-22.html#post1287277 w/my dealer (at the time) being hesitant to change it. It is a bit odd, considering how many dealers push all sorts of unnecessary services that aren't called for.

 

Like many here, I change the ATF every 60k miles or so. However, I don't *really* know if it matters; nor do I know if the reported failures here could have been averted by ATF changes.

Don't jump to conclusions, but do buy yourself some cheap insurance that *might* help avert transaxle failures.

 

I just looked thru the warranty / maintenance schedule booklet ... they do not call for any transmission oil change (transaxle) even at 120k miles, only inspections every 30k miles.

and I confirm the warranty booklet says the ..

'transaxle / motor / generator is covered under 60month/60k miles warranty powertrain warranty.

anyhoo, dealer service schedule is somewhat lax. I'll be following a more aggressive schedule. I don't think they call for coolant changes either.

 

Toyota does call for coolant changes at 100k miles and every 50k miles thereafter. They don't call for ATF refreshes at all.

I and several others did ATF refreshes and lab testing of the ATF after early motor winding (and some bearing) failures started to appear in Gen1 Prii (2001-2003). Our results determined that the older Type IV ATF in Gen 1 Prii should be changed at 30k mile intervals. The results for Gen2 (and this applies to current Prii as well) showed that there is an initial build up of mettalic load in the ATF which justifies an early refresh at 30k miles and then every 60k miles thereafter.

My 2004 Prius is now at 219k miles, has had ATF refreshes every 60k miles (with lab testing) and is doing fine.

JeffD

 

Is preventive maintenance justified if it costs more than the repairs it avoids ?

ATF replacement costs about $100 at the dealer, while a transaxle repair at the dealer is say $5000. Conveniently, DIY ATF replacement and used transaxle repair have about the same ratio of 50:1.

Over 180k miles three ATF drains, costing in total $300 occur. 5000/300 = 17.
So unless the transaxle failure rate of avoidable events is > ~ 6% by 180k miles in the cars on original fluid, a reasonable argument can be made to not change the fluid.

These high cost, but very infrequent repairs are an excellent fit for a reasonable insurance scheme. Danny ?