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Honest hybrid mechanic in sf bay area

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Amazon flexer, Aug 25, 2019.

  1. Amazon flexer

    Amazon flexer Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I'm a newer prius owner and I am needing a major service (120k) to my 2012 plug in advanced. I think it consists of changing coolant, spark plugs, egr valve, and changing transmission fluid. I would normally do this kinda stuff myself but all my tools are in storage right now. So I need an honest mechanic who can do this without charging me an arm and a leg. I'm disabled and on a fixed income. So if anybody knows one or even knows how to work on prii themselves and I can pay them for their labor please reply to this post or message me. I live in the east bay in Antioch but I can travel for a good mechanic
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Plug-in Base
    i think there are some diy meetups in norcal, search the threads
     
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  3. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Prime Plus
  4. Millie21

    Millie21 New Member

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    2010 Prius
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    When is the next meet up... I would also like to know if y’all know anyone or mechanic that can clean the EGR circuit
     
  5. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Maybe early December ;).

    Respond to the meetup thread and follow along there :).

    We’ve cleaned the egr circuit at a meetup, so it’s the right place to do that if you are willing to help (y).
     
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  6. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
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    2008 Prius
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    II
    EGR circuit cleaning.....plan to buy pizza. It'll be a long day.

    And while you're there, change out the plugs too......
     
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  7. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
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    Luscious Garage still there?
     
  8. Max06

    Max06 New Member

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    Aug 5, 2019
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    Location:
    San Francisco
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I live in SF and am looking for someone to remove my '06 Prius MultiFunction Display so that I can send it off to AutoBeYours for repair.

    Anyone available for that? Or are there any shops you'd recommend for this? I'm trying to avoid paying an arm + leg.
     
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  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    My first thought: so much off-the-mark. The US 120K miles (or 12 years, whichever comes first) does involve spark plug change, but the coolant (engine only) was to be replaced at 100K, there's no interval for the EGR valve (Toyota's trying to ignore this problem child), and a transmission fluid (aka transaxle fluid) change is never mentioned by Toyota; it's apparently "lifetime".

    Still, it's no wonder the disinformation abounds: the US publication lists service event-by-event, you have no hope of of seeing the overall picture (unless you're idiot savant or a Las Vegas card counter). At least it's "all in there", you can flip to the 120K page and see what it says. I believe that's the last page though? The end of the the "lifetime"?

    Toyota Canada, used to have a muddled morass of maintenance mush, encompassing EVERY Toyota vehicle, rife with caveats and exceptions. An absurd instruction. In 2014 they turned it around completely, the "Owner's Manual Supplement" (roughly equiv. to Toyota USA's "Warranty and Maintenance Booklet"" had a beautiful schedule: months/kms listed across the top, and services down the left column:

    upload_2019-11-18_7-28-43.png

    This only lasted a year or two though. Now they say squat, just "go see our website", and there you feed in your kms/months, and get the maintenance requirements, just for that interval. Similar to the US book, but without the book. :confused:

    Attached is a pdf of the above image plus the following page. Also, my spreadsheet summary of the Toyota USA maintenance requirements, in similar graph format (various file formats). Also included are extrapolated versions, beyond the 120K limit of the US booklet.
     
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  10. Millie21

    Millie21 New Member

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    2010 Prius
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    One
    Yeah I’m down. I just need to know when and where.
     
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  11. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    If you have a place to work, @SFO might be down:).

    Most shops around here will want upwards of $120 an hour for labor:cool:.

    Not sure how many arms or legs that is in your case:whistle:.

    Good luck and keep us posted (y).
     
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  12. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Prime Plus
    Lafayette will be the location;).

    As far as when:whistle:?

    Hoping early to mid December (y).
     
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  13. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Dash pieces pop off a Gen 2 pretty easily (recently had to change a bunch of the tiny light bulbs in one). Save all your arms and legs, take a glance at the repair manual (more info) to see where to start pulling (far left, IIRC), and dig in. :)
     
  14. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    2012 Prius
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    Four
    Let’s see if Max06 wants to host. I’ll make the drive there
     
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