Recommended Maintenance Advice Needed

I think your assessments are spot on!

When you remove the filters yourself, you may find one or more of them to be perfectly fine. Just put it back.

 

I get my filters from Amazon, and change them on a two-year schedule

 

The engine and cabin air filter are easy to do on most cars. The hard part about Toyota cabin filters is that the space behind the glove box is poorly lit, and everything is black plastic.

Sounds right about what you found for the battery filter. The dealer price is likely because they have to use a tool to do it.

The throttle body cleaning is mostly a money making plan for dealers. It is something you can do yourself, but really isn't needed unless you are seeing problems like reduced fuel economy.

There are likely Youtube videos covering all of these.

 

Geographic location, air quality, road conditions (driving on dirt roads or not), will effect filter condition; how often replacement is needed.

I finally replaced both engine and cabin filters (myself; it’s easy), around 88k kms, mainly because I figured I better do it at least ONCE, and that was around 10 years in. The cabin filter was looking modestly dirty, and the engine filter virtually as-new.

hybrid battery “filter” changing: I’d hope for that money they’re actually going to clean the whole system, including the fan. Again, that’s a reasonably easy DIY. Doing it yourself you also get an idea, if it was needed, or too early.

Fuel injectors I wouldn’t mess with, other than maybe an occasional dose of good injector cleaner in the tank. Do consider cleaning the throttle body, maybe around 60~70k miles, again eminently DIY’able.

The intake manifold is something else to consider cleaning, sooner than later. And consider an oil catch can install, to reduce the goop introduced by the PCV system.

 

So glad someone is interested in taking care of their vehicle!! Way too many car junk yards are full of vehicles who were neglected and the owners thought a car wash was "maintenance" Learning how to do things yourself is great because nobody loves your car more than you and you can be assured the job is done right. Because I keep my cars until the wheels fall off (15-20 years) this is my schedule:
-Engine Oil/Oil Filter every 6 months
-Engine Air Filter: Check every 6 months replace when dirty (most last about a year)
-Cabin Air Filter: I buy the charcoal activated ones from Amazon and change once a year
-Hybrid Battery Filter: Take cover off once a year and clean the filter and also shine a light in there to inspect the blower fans and vacuum out if dirty (we have dogs so dog hair is a worry)
-Radiator Coolant: Every 5-years
-Hybrid Coolant: Every 5-years (I change it along with the radiator in my hybrids)
-Transmission Fluid: Drain and refill every 6-years
-Spark Plugs: Every 10-years with OEM iridiums
-Brake Fluid Bleed: Every 4-years
-Throttle Body Cleaning: Every 25,000 miles
-MAF Sensor Cleaning: Every 25,000 miles
-Power Steering Fluid: Drain and refill every 3-4 years, based on how black it's looking (N/A for our Hybrid cars)
-Lube Job: Once a year (for my Tundra)
-Front/Rear Differential and Transfer Case Fluids: Every 3-years (for my Tundra) but my Prius AWD has a rear differential so I'll service that every 3 years. (I don't know if it has a transfer case, I'll have to look at the next oil change, I wouldn't think so)
-Hybrid 12-Volt Battery: Every 5-years unless it dies sooner.
-Remote Battery (CR2032) every summer

 

Please, DIY all that stuff, save $600-700 or MORE!!!!

You have us here if any questions along the way.

Filters can be changed if they look dirty, otherwise they can last years.
Can change cabin filter when you like, if stench in car is there.
Just check up on HV batt fan filter. vacuum and replace every so often.

Use a bottle of techron in gas tank once a year if worried (or use top tier gas, same diff)


I still have not tried the charcoal filters, maybe next time around (could be a few years lol)

I have put some peppermint drops on the filter for the cabin, since we do park
in detached garage and mice are around...so a deterrent
Adds nice scent strong for a few weeks then gently fades over 6 months or so.

 

Install rodent mesh on the egress points.

 

Yeah never got around on the Gen3 with that......now I will have to study here on PC for the Gen4/Prime locations. thx!

 

Good point, Dig4Dirt...I also add a small bottle of Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner in the gas tank a couple times a year and also refuel at Top Tier gas stations. (Having a fuel injector get dirty is NOT a fun thing and I've never had one since I started using the Lucas stuff years ago.)

 

good call!
skip the throttle body, do the rest yourself, easy peasy. and read your maintenance schedule.

 

Throttle body for this price. Cost same as hv filter cleaning means only thing dealer will do is pour in that CDC cleaner.no disassembly or anything. It's a 10 min job
This is a$10 spray cleaner by CDC or other.

 

That filter - I've taken out and it was spotless. But, if you had a hairy dog, a very dusty environment, maybe it would be dirty. But from what I see in the Owner's Manual, you just clean it and put it back. I suspect they're charging for the time mostly.

And - with THROTTLE BODY - should be fine for double/triple that mileage. I've only done it once, on a car with 160,000 kilometres.

 

Proper throttle body cleaning is easy. With our 3rd gen, I can have the air intake snorkel and air box off, throttle body in my hand (with coolant lines still atached), in 15 minutes. Clean with carb cleaner on cloth and q-tips.

torque values for throttle body hold down bolts in attached.

 

- Engine air and Cabin air filters on our Gen4 are 2 minute jobs (5 min. if you're slow). At 34,000mi. ours had some dirt deep in the pleats but the majority of filter surface was clean - changed it anyway. Cabin air filter was past due at 20,000mi. so checking it more frequently now.
- Removed the cover and checked hybrid battery filter at 54,000mi. It was clean except for one cotton wood tree seed, vacuumed it off and reinstalled. Fan was clean.

- Choose any good brand of filters, Toyotas are fine but pricy. We're using Wix engine air and oil filters and Bosch cabin air filters on our Prius - Rock Auto prices are very reasonable. Have been using Wix for many years and sometimes Denso.

Throttle body: suggest inspecting from time to time, maybe every 30-50,000mi., clean when actually needed.

Injectors: wait for signs that somethings wrong (rough running, mileage drop). Running Top Tier gas, we've never needed injector service and have kept several cars well over 200,000mi. If not running Top Tier gas you can dump a can of a cleaner like Techron into the gas tank every 10,000mi. or so for peace of mind. Don't do it too often and some suggest doing it a tank full or two before an oil change as gasoline additives can dilute engine oil. Don't over use fuel cleaners and they're not needed if running Top Tier.

Other things:
- Wiper blade changing is easy and blade refills (just the rubber) is inexpensive at the dealership (maybe the only thing that is!). To be fair, Toyota prices for oil and oil filters also are reasonable.

- If you're comfortable getting under the car (much easier with ramps) you can pop off the engine covers and perform the visual inspections for torn half-shaft boots, fluid leaks, transmission fluid level, flexible brake hoses, exhaust system condition, fuel tank hangers, etc. Otherwise have a well regarded mechanic perform a full, wheels off safety inspection ~ yearly and before major trips.

Follow the schedule in the car's maintenance manual. Doing the easy jobs yourself will save considerable $$, use mechanics for the jobs you can't or don't want to do.

- If you purchase tires from Discount Tire (aka America's Tire in CA) , they'll perform regular rotations/balancing and simple flat repairs for free. Others may, too.

 

I've seen it recommended not to use additional fuel system cleaner when using Top Tier gas, concerns about excess cleaner getting past the rings and diluting the oil. I suppose you could check this by performing an oil analysis shortly after running a tankful of cleaner.

 

The Car Care Nut on YouTube has videos showing how easy all of this is (including cleaning the throttle body without removing it).

 

It’s “relatively” easy to lift off the throttle body with coolant lines still attached, affords easier and more complete cleaning. It’s the “gateway drug” for intake manifold cleaning.

 

Hear hear.

I saw another poster on the reddit prius forum where a dealer quoted someone $289 for "service" on the hybrid battery fan filter....I HIGHLY doubt dealer tech will spend more than 10 seconds taking a look at the thing. From what I read the vast majority are going to be pretty clean looking 90% of the time (unless you have very hairy shedding dogs or somehow lots of fine debris gets into that passenger rear seat footwell area). They'll inspect it, and if its good they let it be and will still charge way too much for this "service." The wording is genius since the service wording covers inspection...which anyone can do in less than 2 minutes and some Googling/Youtubing.

I've always replaced engine and cabin air filters myself....again super easy to DIY and dealer charges way too much for those.

TB cleaning service is also snake oil as well. I imagine with modern engine/fuel injection tech and most of us using Top Tier gas...there's really nothing to clean at the throttle body.

 

Throttle body cleaning (and intake manifold) is worthwhile periodically, every 25~50k, dependent on your degree of OCD. Lift throttle body off (leave coolant lines attached), then intake manifold. Clean the throttle body with carb cleaner on a clean cloth, and the intake with brake cleaner shots, brushes and rags. Not that hard. Good access to PCV valve while you’re at it, and EGR pipe.

leave EGR proper for another day, when wiper/cowl are off, say for spark plug change.