Brake "service" at 30K

pretty much unneeded for most people. depending on how you drive most people don't use the brake pads much so they will accumulate dust/debris/etc. a lot of use just use the brakes a bit harder than normal once a month or so just to clean some of that off if you don't want to take the time to use some brakleen on them. We have 180,000 on our gen 2 with original pads so it's common for them not to get much use.

Also an invertor test is something they will probably already be doing on their end. If you had any problems you'd just be going back to them anyway for a free fix since they just changed it out due to recall.....

i'd say this is just typical of most dealers....when bringing ours in for service I asked if they could check the brakes just to see how many mm we had left on the pads...they tried to charge me for cleaning them (close to $50 if I remember) I had to argue that I never asked that. Any local shop can tell you within 2 min if you need new brakes or not...free of charge...and probably would spray some cleaner on them for you too just for the hell of it.

 

Of course you should question these bogus assertions.
There is no "brake cleaning" or "inverter test" service recommended at 30,000 miles. There is a brief reference to checking the brakes. Read your service guide, it will help you stay out of trouble with issues like these.

BTW, if anything, the Prius has experienced much slower brake pad/lining wear than non-hybrid vehicles. Even the fluid seems to last longer.

 

With 30000 miles a brake service seems a good idea to me. No clue about the inverter test. Coming from a long string of Hondas, their brake service, with typical mileage, came about yearly, and consisted of:

Disc brakes:

* Take off the pads and disassemble from shims, check thickness, clean, reassemble shims with molybdenum anti-seize compound.

* Inspect calipers, piston and brake lines. Clean points of contact with pads and apply moly.

* Inspect disc runout, thickness and parallelism. (Note, if there are no apparent problems, pulsating, noise, just a check of thickness is usually sufficient)

*Reassemble pads on calipers.

Drum brakes:

* Inspect brake cylinder and lines for integrity, leaks.

* Remove the clips holding the the shoes against the backing plate, check shoe thickness, lube the shoe points of contact against the backing plate. Reinstall the clips.

* Check parking brake operation, adjust if excessively loose.

Typically brake inspection would coincide with tire rotation; it just makes sense to rotate the wheels as long as they're off.

Toyota's maintenance schedule is very vague on brakes, imo. They have two terms I think: brake inspection and brake service. The Canadian schedule is very difficult to follow. One thing: the Prius is very easy on brakes, due to the regen braking. The flip-side: there might be more rust occuring, due again to this lack of use.

Anyway, 30000 miles seems a longish stretch between brake service, worthwhile. Here's the US 3rd gen schedule, for 30000 mile service, likely similar intervals:



Addendum:

Comments "3" and "4" in the above are as follows:

3: Inspect thickness measurement and disc runout.

4: Refer to "Engine/Inverter Coolant" in the "Explanation of Maintenance Items" section in the back of this guide for more information.

And a bit more from the "back of this guide":​

Brake Lines and Hoses​

Visually inspect for proper installation. Check for chafing, cracks, deterioration and signs of leakage. Replace any deteriorated or damaged parts. A qualified technician should perform these operations.​

Brake Linings/Drums and Brake Pads/Discs​

Check the brake linings (shoes) and drums for scoring, burning, fluid leakage, broken parts and excessive wear. Check the pads for excessive wear and the discs for runout, excessive wear and fluid leakage. Replace any deteriorated or damaged parts. A qualified technician should perform these operations.​

Engine/Inverter Coolant​

Drain the cooling system and refill with an ethylene-glycol type coolant. Inspect hoses and connections for corrosion and leaks. Tighten connections and replace parts when necessary. A qualified technician should perform these operations. (For further details, refer to Radiator, Condenser and Hoses in the Vehicle Maintenance and Care section of the Owner’s Manual).​

Your Toyota is equipped with Genuine Toyota Super Long-Life Coolant. The replacement intervals for engine coolant recommended in this booklet are based on replacement with Genuine Toyota Super Long-Life Coolant or similar high-quality non-silicate, non-amine, non-borate ethylene-glycol coolant with long-life hybrid organic acid technology (i.e., a combination of low phosphates and organic acids). If another type of ethylene-glycol coolant is used, replacement intervals may be different.​

 

It doesn't hurt to have a quick inspection performed: check lubrication of the caliper slide pins, and dump the brake dust out of the drums. But it is not something to pay more than a few bucks for.

 

Consider flushing your brake fluid every 4 years. No other service is necessary. The pads will last the life of the car if driven normally. On a prius the pads don't engage until you drop below 7 MPH and only above 7 MPH when braking hard.

A brake inspection is a good idea when rotating the tires. This should not cost anything.

 

I agree, or even sooner. Toyota says nothing about this. Honda, on the other hand, recommends to replace fluid every 3 years, regardless of mileage. Likely best for dealer to do this.

Uh, not according to Toyota, and any other major manufacturer. It's your life, though.

Really, LOL. I'd invert that, say:

A tire rotation should not cost anything, when doing a brake inspection. But you get what you pay for if you demand free brake inspections.

 

Um, please back that up with a link or some proof. Toyota recommends *inspections* only. There is no regular maintenance in the schedule or extended schedule for brake service.

They don't even recommend a brake fluid flush which should be done but isn't recommended at all. In fact, inspecting the brake fluid isn't even recommended, but you'd be an idiot to not replace it after 4 years.

 

Mendel, Sorka, your cars are pretty new. I can tell you, there are a whole bunch of idiots out there will several years and tens/hundreds of thousands of miles on their cars with the original, very clear and clean looking brake fluid, and no hydraulic brake problems to report. A flush at some arbitrary time or mileage is just not necessary with these cars. It is also expensive, probably $300+ to do it correctly, given the amount of time required to bleed all components. For reference, replacing the master cylinder is a 5 hour job.

 

Our last car, a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid, had brake fluid replaced by the dealer at the 3 year mark: set us back $65.95CAN for the service and $14.00 for the fluid.

Addendum:

Digging a little: at Club Toyota, the Canadian Owners website, the scheduled maintenance for 2010 and up Prius shows brake fluid replacement every 64000 kilometers. I could post a link, but I believe you need to be registered for it to work.

The following is verbatum from page 54 of the US Warranty and Maintenance Guide, an expanded description of brake maintenance, service, description, whatever you choose to call it:

Now, coming from thirty years with Honda, IMO the only way to get a decent assesment of disk brake pad condition is to remove it and have a look. And when putting it back together, clean all faying surfaces and lightly lube with moly anti-seize compound. It is not complicated: you can do one side or the other in 1/2 hour tops, yourself. The pros are much quicker. But you can't do it with a quick glance while rotating tires.

Neither can you check the above mentioned disk runout with a quick glance. A dial gauge with sturdy mount, and a micrometer are needed. This second item is not as frequently needed, more so when you notice a pulsation.

Anyway, letting go

 

Maximum regeneration is reached at lower braking force than many Prius drivers seem to realize. Friction brakes must be engaged for moderate braking at medium speeds, and for all but the lightest braking at highway speeds.

 

I've never had a car that went more than 4 years regardless of mileage before the brake fluid turned a dark green whether I used synthetic or not. Perhaps the Prius is different. If the brake fluid is still light and clear, I agree it doesn't need to be flushed, but I've never seen that.

 

Yes, the Prius is very different when it comes to all aspects of the brake system. Please look at 100K maint - 1

Scroll down to the brake section. Look at the pictures of the fluid. This is typical for 5 years/100,000 miles. It looks nothing like the stagnant swampy muck that a conventional car would have for that amount of age and mileage.

I would suggest testing a sample of brake fluid before spending the money to have the system flushed. The Pruis hydraulics are not anywhere close to as simple as those in a Civic Hybrid, and the job cannot be done properly without a factory-level scan tool. If you are quoted less than $200 US or CDN, they don't know what they are talking about and all they are going to do is mighty-vac the reservoir to add half a pint of new stuff.

 

The drum brakes need periodic cleaning and adjustment for optimal performance. Self-adjusters do not work as well as they claim and a manual adjustment is needed. $50-$70 for this job every 30k is reasonable.

 

Steve - Just look at it this way - you paid $80 to find out 2 things - that your brakes are OK and that your dealer will try and milk you any time they can - it could have been far worse.

 

Since your car is 4 years old I suppose it doesn't hurt to inspect the brakes for reasons of safety, though if you didn't notice anything wrong with them it was probably unnecessary.

As for the inverter test, your Prius is still under the hybrid warranty. Does paying for that make sense? I'm glad you second guessed the service manager.