Dealership maintenance, worth it?

Summary: If you don't know how to do any of this work, $299 is a little expensive but not bad. However, you should make sure that at the 30,000 mile brake inspection phase, they "lubricate brake caliper sliding pins," at no added cost, and at the 30,000 mile point, they should "replace transaxle fluid" at an additional price of $100 to $125.


Setting aside the "inspections," here is what they will do:
30K: Rotate tires, Change the engine oil and filter, replace cabin air filter, replace engine air filter
35K: Rotate tires
40K: Rotate tires, Change the engine oil and filter
45K Rotate tires, Clean cabin air filter

Let's value an oil change at $60 and the air filter replacements at a generous $40 each. That's $200, plus four tire rotations. Not too bad **IF** they really do the inspections they say they're going to do and not just put the car on a lift and look at it. And this also will make them friendlier if an out of warranty "good will" repair is needed. This deal isn't a huge value, but it's not a rip-off.

The brake inspection should include lubrication of the caliper sliding pins, which they probably will not do. You need to tell them that you want this service performed: "Lubricate the brake caliper sliding pins." They may charge you extra but what matters is to have it performed.

At 30,000 miles, they should not "inspect" the transaxle fluid, they should replace it, and they shouldn't charge more than $125 for this service, because it's easier than an engine oil change. Again, you will need to ask them for this and expect to pay for it. If they tell you the car will need a transmission "flush" and 10 quarts of transmission oil for $300+, they are misinformed or lying. I had two Toyota dealers tell me that. This is true with many conventional transmissions but not with a Prius transmission. Don't pay that kind of ridiculous fee, but you should expect to pay about $100 ~ $125 in addition to the $300. You definitely should change the transmission oil at 30,000, even though Toyota has no service interval for it. To be clear, Toyota officially recommends only "inspecting" the transaxle fluid, and they have no schedule for ever changing it. At PriusChat, we disagree with this. Members have collected used transmission oil data from many Prius' at different mileages and had it sent for analysis, and they conclude that the transaxle oil should be changed at 30,000 miles and every 60,000 miles after that (30/90/150/210K miles).

For these reasons and more, I prefer to do these tasks myself, because I know how to do them properly and I don't want the wrong transmission oil used and I don't want a lazy person to skip lubricating the brake pins.

There is a thread full of videos which show how to perform every single maintenance task on a Prius. You can use these to do the work yourself or to teach yourself so that you know what you're talking about with the dealer, especially the brake and transmission oil items.
Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos | PriusChat

 

great write up^^^ i would look into what an oil change is going to cost, will you do the air and cabin filters yourself? tyre rotation cost and etc. add it up and see which is the better deal.