Dealer told me I need these things done at these costs....should I?

I can't comment on 2 and 3 since they are parts that can and do fail but I have never in my life heard of "clean and adjust" brakes.

 

Cleaning and adjusting the rear brakes is not a bad idea as crud builds up in the drums. I had mine done at 150k miles, so your dealer may be being a bit premature.

The "serpentine" belt on a 2004-2009 Prius only drives the engine water pump. I replaced mine when I replaced the water pump at 150k miles. Have him show you why he believes it need replacing.

I replaced my PCV at 100k and again at 200k miles when doing the plugs. It is a pain to get at this inexpensive part that can contribute to oil usage if it gets stuck. His price actually seems low for this job.

JeffD

 

1) Clean and adjust? Lol. No.
2) The belt is $8 from the Toyota dealership itself. Takes 10-30 minutes to replace. Easiest if you can raise the car up, but it can be done from the top down. It is an important belt, but you should get about 100K out of it before it starts looking like it needs to be replaced and another 30K after that of wiggle room at least before you replace it.
3) 60K is about the time it could be replaced. Not necessarily needed. Another extremely cheap part ($6) but it takes a bit to get to and replace. This is from Patrick Wong:

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It sounds like your dealer is trying to take advantage of you...​

 

1) No
2) Maybe
3) No

You're lucky you got out of there without paying for service you didn't ask for.

Let me say it again - I HATE STEALERSHIPS !!!!!!

After 55,600 miles, you might need the drive belt and that's it. An OEM Toyota belt might set you back $20 - a good quality aftermarket belt is about $10 plus shipping. Changing the belt takes about 15 minutes. So $145.02 is a nice mark up for those crooks.

 

Toyota Part number: 90916-02570

 

boat payment due?

 

With only 55K miles, the PCV valve won't need to be replaced. Toyota installed a very robust steel PCV valve that rarely, if ever, becomes clogged. As a lifelong DIY mechanic, I replaced the PCV mainly out of curiosity to see how long it would take me and how difficult it would be. I needed only about 20 minutes to do it after thoroughly researching what I needed to do beforehand. As I expected, the old PCV valve was fine but I put in a new one since I had bought one already. A Toyota OEM PCV valve costs about $12 at the stealership.

A Toyota OEM serpentine drive belt lists for about $24 retail. It's more challenging for the DIY mechanic to handle because you need to crawl under the car to remove and replace the belt after moving a plastic cover out of the way. Still something most can tackle without too much trouble.

You should just go the parts desk and ask for the part numbers and prices at the stealership you're returning to. The parts guys are usually willing to do a search and print out the data for you.

 

Time to find a good Independent Repair Shop. These are services that are maintenance not repairs. A non hybrid shop should be able to verify if any of these actually need to be done at this time. I repeat at this time. Mileage is extremely low for some of these services. If your dealer is this willing to oversell services and price of services start scouting for an independent hybrid specialist. What will that dealership do to your checking and savings when something more serious comes along. Both Reinvolt Battery and Fixhybrid.com (ACDC) have a list of qualified independent repair shops. Hope this helps. "Mac"

 

Ualdriver, where in the midwest are you?

But I'd say No to all 3 of those service items. My 2007 has 62,000 miles and my belt looks like new on both sides still. Ive never had my rear drum brakes cleaned on any of my vehicles and all automotive rear drum brakes that Ive worked on have been self adjusting for the last 30-40 years. If you are close to Metro Detroit, I'll replace your PCV valve for you for free, you just buy the part. I did mine in ~10 minutes. Not that I even think it needs to be replaced, but if you wanted to replace it for peace of mind....

 

The tragic part, is that while all these are being recommended in half the mileage I would have thought, the Tranaxle Fluid Change is a good idea about now. And they missed it looking for needless repairs.

 

Very well said Jimbo, and I agree 100%. The transaxle is the ONLY thing I would consider servicing, and then it is a simple drain and refill. No flush involved.

Ron

 

I see that there is little interest in preventive maintenance on this board. This is unfortunate, as vehicles need periodic inspections and additional repairs should be carried out based on those findings. Unless the recommendations by the dealer are absolutely asinine, it is impossible for a person over the internet to make the conclusion that these repairs are absolutely unnecessary.

1) The rear drums have self-adjusters. These self-adjusters rarely work well enough. It is necessary to remove the drums, clean off the dust (so you won't get noise), and move the star wheel several clicks to optimize the functionality of the system. $60 seems like a reasonable charge...that's about 1/2 hr labor.

2) The belts on these cars do seem to crack with age. 60k and 5- yrs is not an unreasonable life. It seems like Toyota was not using EPDM belts on these cars since EPDM belts rarely show cracks. The belt is around $20 retail and I think book time is about 1/2hr for these belts per the labor guide that I have. So, $143 is on the high side (dealers have to make-up for those underpriced $35 oil changes). I would still get this done, but I would probably try to negotiate a better price. You can confirm the belt's condition quite easily by opening the hood and examining the belts condition with a flash light.

3) The PCV valve may be clogged. It's hard to say without inspecting the valve. I would remove the valve and check and see if it still rattles. The $120 charge may be based on the book time, but it sounds like this dealer may be using a menu price for certain items.

 

The Critic - respectfully, we have heard the horror stories of the Toyota dealer "recommending" services during a visit for recall work. I would take the suggestions from people on an internet board saying that you dont need services that are recommend as much as I would from people claiming the services are needed.

Of course, the OP could obtain a 2nd opinion from either another Toyota shop or an independent garage. Or check the service items themselves if they are mechanically inclined.

 

Most cars need some additional services beyond what their owners believe. I get a fair # cars from friends and co-workers and I usually find a laundry list of items needed, and these are mostly cars with under 75k.

The recommendations from this dealer do not seem out of line based on my experience and what I've seen on this board. The prices are on the high side, but someone has to balance out the loss-leader oil changes...

 

good responses.. i came across this post last night but didn't respond. i was doing laundry and such..

anyway... i have to replace my rear brakes because i'm down to 1mm left. i'm somewhere around 190k miles. i've never had them cleaned and adjusted. i believe it adjust when you put the car into reverse and use the brakes. i'll most likely replace them myself since toyota wanted to charge 300 and something dollars.

pcv... I'm on my original. i was curious about 10k miles ago so i disconnected the pcv valve hose and did a suck and blow test to see if i heard the valve respond by clicking in a timely manner.. it did. about the same time (just after) i had a mechanic clean the entire emissions system because jiffylube did an oil overfill, so now i know it's clean (that's a whole other story). first signs of the pcv not working is oil being burnt up (from what i've gathered so far)

as Jimbo stated, it's probably a good time to change the transaxle fluid. i heard from a friend who refurbishes and sells parts that the main failure he sees is the transaxle (mg1/2 windings) he assumes it's because the fluid staying in there so long. he recommended no further than 60k miles between changes. him doing personal testing... he said he sees less wear and tear (lab tested)... (i should change mine again, come to think of it. i used third a 3rd party fluid last time and i'll do the same again. i don't recall the type)

as for the belt.. visually inspect it yourself with the car off.