Prius 3rd gen common issues before buying

I’m one of those out of the box maintenance people so with that being said...

Change redline oil every 12K to 14K miles with Mobil 1 20K filters. Read about that oil and what’s really in it, it doesn’t even have dexos2 approval

 

Majority of the people who comes in here to post about burning oil who have yet experienced head gasket crapping out uses oem oil and filters. That’s enough data for me to conclude that quality of both aren’t up to my standards. At meetups, we do oil changes, I see their filter pleats warped and Ive seen others theirs posted on here also. The oem oil and Mobil 1 oil gets coffee dark & thick at 4,500 miles, same goes for royal purple oil at 4,500 miles. Redline goes dark thick at 13,000 miles for me, but it does have 1,200 ppm of zinc rather than average store bought oil that conforms to dexosgen2 600-900ppm of zinc so it provides additional protection after most other oils turns dark dirty.

 

Btw how many miles your’s accumulated?

 

83K kms, which is slightly more than zero miles?

 

So that’s why you haven’t burned any oil yet with OEM filter and oil!!!

 

As I said in the post you quoted
I had the brake accumulator go on my 2009
At a cost of 4500 dollars to repair
I’ve also had the dash display blank out and replace it with a rebuilt one from a company I found on here
Also the inverter circulator pump went

Both the dash/speedo display and circulator pump were easy fixes and cheap

Which is my whole point

Look at what is KNOWN to fail on whatever car you are considering

If big ticket items like head gaskets or air conditioning or whatever are known to fail ... then pass those models up

Get a car that has circulator pumps or dash displays as known issues (just an example)

In the long run you will thank me

 

The Toyota Prius Owner's Manual specs Genuine Toyota ATF WS fluid, and warns that any other fluid may cause damage.

Toyota gives no interval for the fluid change though. Dealerships too tend to argue against it.

I would recommend to change the fluid on any newly acquired Prius ASAP, unless you know for certain it's been previously changed.

That out of the way you can go a long ways before a subsequent change, yeah maybe 60~90K miles.

 

Here's a boilerplate text I've done on EGR and intake manifold, references, links to the videos and threads (definitely read through those) and some tips:

The simplest way to see where you're at, is to check the degree of carbon build up in the EGR pipe, a stainless steel connecting pipe between the EGR valve and intake manifold. Watch @NutzAboutBolts video #16 here:

Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos | PriusChat

Two or three other videos linked there too, for the full cleaning of the intake manifold, full EGR clean, and Oil Catch Can install.

Good thread:

EGR & Intake Manifold Clean Results | PriusChat

Another:

Oil Catch Can, Eliminate that knock! | PriusChat

Some tools worth having:

E8 Torx socket (mandatory)
E6 Torx socket (optional, but good to have, to remove the throttle body studs from intake manifold)
3/8" ratchet wrench, regular and long handle, flex head, you can never have enough
1/4" ratchet wrench, or 3/8" to 1/4" reducer
Ratchet extensions: you can never have enough
Long needle nose piers, straight and bent tip
Ratcheting 12mm box wrench (optional, but makes disconnection of the EGR cooler from exhaust easier)
Torque wrench (3/8" and 1/4" both good to have)
Floor jack and safety stands (or ramps): basically some method to raise front, if you need to take underpanel off, which you may need to, both for access and to recover dropped items.

 

Kind of interesting to look at a three year old gen3 go no go thread.

@Grit Another humorous quote for your signature

@Buyers at Consumers Reports purchase new and sell early. Prius problems get serious around 150k miles.

One good reference from a guy who did not buy a gen3

Not the actuators as we now know

EGR is the $800-$1,000 dollar job Toyota does not recommend

The dangers of being a spec reader

The worst reason to buy a gen3 and blowoff all the real concerns

True wisdom

 

Mendel, that's a GREAT photo... I'm doing my first jack lift/stands... Dumb Question: where in that photo is the front jack lift point? I don't see any obvious place to lift??!

 

If you have a floor jack there is a center point that lifts the front end, then jack stands on the side rails where your car scissor jack goes. See pics

 

Front jack point is unfortunately just out of frame; @rjparker shows. It’s hard to miss, in middle of round opening in engine compartment underpanel.

 

Got it! Yep, perfect for my floor jack.

I like Mendel's jack stand locations better than the sides... now to bring back my too-tall stands just purchased, and swap for low profile that can fit w/o having to raise the car a crazy amount every time....

 

You have to be careful with jackstands these days; too many cheap ones which have been known to slip when placed in the wrong places and bend when they should not. I much prefer the bigger heavy duty stands even if it requires jacking the car up more.

 

3 and 6 tons jackstands are good for most purposes. Starting with 3 ton probably best.

 

ESCO 3-Ton tripod jacks for the win -- both rubber cushioned/flat and axle saddle tops.