Finding Shops OTHER than Toyota for Service

You do not list nor mention a location you are in.

 

What's you limit on distance? There is a good shop in Ashland, but that's a fair distance away.

Also the prices quoted seem high, other than the brake fluid flush. With those prices, there must be a large monthly payment someone there has. I would look elsewhere or DIY.

 

My local dealer, Kirk Toyota in Grenada MS, has done 3 transaxle drain and fills for me, 2 at $90, and one at $110. Obviously there is less overhead in MS than in VA.

 

The transaxle drain and fill is oddly high, makes me wonder if they know what's involved?? It is a simple drain and fill. Looking up my parts dept invoice from last time I DIY'd it, the supplies, including two ridiculously overpriced washers, was around $44 (Canadian). Labour is about the same as an oil change, say 1/2 hour, for pros with a lift. Anything up to $100 would be reasonable I guess.

 

Those are all cheaper than my local dealers but similarly arbitrary. Like the inverter coolant being more expensive and than the engine and the trans fluid the most expensive despite being the simplest procedure. I think they just pick what the labor would be in the worst case scenario and use that as a flat fee for those services.

 

I'm in the Bay Area and the dealers in San Jose and Sunnyvale charge a lot for service items. I found a local shop called TLS Autio that does great work. They performed the transaxle fluid change for $100 and while they had the car lifted they replaced all of the missing clips for free. I take my 2010 Prius there and will take my 2015 PiP once my free dealer service expires.

 

those prices look decent, just take it there.

 

You can do all of those for 100$ in parts...

If you're going to spend that much on those services, you should just invest in Jacks and jack stands to do it yourself. It doesn't even take that long to do, take a day out of the weekend and you can do all of it in one session. There's even videos to show you how to do those jobs. I have 133k miles on my vehicle and all of the videos I posted on YouTube is what I've been doing only, and I've never had any major issues with the Prius.

Going hours away for these services is pretty mind boggling

Plus, dealerships will charge you 100$+ per hour, and if you're planning to take it to an independent shop, hopefully they are Prius certified or know what they're doing.

 

FWIW, I did both Gen 3 coolant loops without lifting the car although it would have been easier lifted. Just take down the front half of the splash shield and you can hold a pan under the inverter drain. The trans fluid you will definitely need a jack and four jack stands.

 

Or ramps in the front, and jackstands just 'round the back. But yeah, four jackstands is my MO. Ditto for tire rotations: just raise the whole car.

Still, some people live in apartments, or just have street parking. It can get more difficult. If you're motivated there's always a way though. Just knowing someone with a concrete slab you're ok. With a roof over it and a power outlet: heaven.

 

Or you can go to an empty parking lot and do it there

 

As long they have lax security, but yeah. It is nice have a garage.

 

Or a friend with a garage like when I had to replace a thermostat in 15°F weather and only had an outdoor gravel driveway.

 

I can't believe no one else has pointed out that the first and third items are the same. They are on the same coolant loop! I pointed out the same thing in another thread a month or two ago, so I wonder how many dealerships are double charging for that. As Currahee mentioned without emphasis, there are two coolant loops.

 

No: one's coolant, the other's transaxle fluid. Brain bubble?

 

The brake fluid change without techstream is not that hard. Did you watch @NutzAboutBolts video on that. I did that recently, with my wife pushing the brake pedal. We watched the video multiple times, and I also read through the Repair Manual. Raise the whole car and take off all wheels makes it easier. Two pint bottles of Toyota DOT3 brake fluid were $8.50 per.

Here's my high tech equipment:



The sequence in Repair Manual, a little different than @NutzAboutBolts video, is FR, FL, RL, RR.