45k - need new 12v? & 45k maintenance

Yes the symptoms listed do point to the 12V battery.

Regarding scheduled maintenance it is recommended to follow Toyota owner's manual, not the "dealer recommended" services. Also see here:
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...70-what-services-you-need-what-you-don-t.html
Good luck!

 

I agree that it sounds like your car needs a new 12V battery.

It's good that you changed the cabin air filter, but it is more important to periodically inspect and replace the engine air filter, which lives in a black plastic rectangular housing easily visible when you open the hood. There are four metal clips that secure the top of the housing. Remove the housing top, then lift up the filter and look at the bottom to see the accumulated dirt. Hold the filter up to the sun, and if you don't see much light coming through, then replace it. The price for this filter will be ~$20 at your local dealer's parts dept. (You can buy it for ~$13 plus shipping from one of the Toyota dealers that sells discounted parts over the web, for example toyotaworld.com)

When replacing the filter, note that it has a rubber gasket, and the gasket has a tab on one side. That tab fits into a corresponding indentation in the filter housing, at the rear.

At 45K miles, the most important service is replacing the engine oil and oil filter, and checking the engine/cabin air filters (and replacing if needed.) You may also want to have the various inspections performed as suggested by the Toyota maintenance guide cited by 2009Prius; those are lower priority.

 

In the USA are you still changing oil at 5000 mile intervals when Toyota now state 10,000 miles as has been the norm for Europe for many years, if so why. This is just a waist of good oil, and more profit for the dealer.

 

Save your $200 inspection for something else. Usually these special packages are nothing more than a 5 minute inspection on top of the usual $39.99 service. You shouldn't need to touch the brake system on your car for the first 100,000 miles. Consider a transaxle fluid drain and refill instead (you don't need a "flush" as there is no torque converter).

$209 installed is not unusual for the 12V battery, unfortunately.

Brit, the problem we have here is that our conventional 5w-30 oil is crap compared to what is available to you in Europe. 10,000 miles is okay if you use a good synthetic. I'm running 0w20 Mobil 1 right now in the '05 and will see how it performs, and might even spring for oil analysis. On the other hand, engine failures are so rare that 5,000 mile change intervals on conventional is a little conservative. Is 7,500 miles better? Hard to say.

 

Dealers should be using Toyota spec oil witch is good for 10,000 miles, this spec oil is used for up to 12,000 miles in some cars in UK and the Prius is not hard on oil. I use MOB1 0W/20 in my 2008 with 60,000 miles this grade of oil is standard for the Japan GEN2 and they have a warmer climate than UK. I find between 3&5 mpg improvement using this oil. Using the better grade of oil saves oil, money in labour and oil, and your time running to the dealer for service no longer required by Toyota.

 

We now have extended range oils in the UK for 15to20,000 mile oil changes.

 

Yes, this symptom definitely points to a weak 12V battery.

Several years ago, Toyota settled engine oil sludge litigation in the US by providing an extended engine warranty. Shortly thereafter, US Toyota vehicles were required to have oil changes at 5K mile (instead of 7.5K) intervals. This continued for the Prius until 2010 where the current model uses 0W-20 synthetic oil and now 10K mile changes is the standard.

MSRP for the battery is $139, so your dealer is charging you ~$70 for the installation labor. This is somewhat high for a 20 minute job, but not a terrible price - others have paid more.

Unless you note a problem when you apply the brakes, I would pass on having the rear brakes cleaned/adjusted.

I am not familiar with the particular Michelin tire you have, so I can't comment on that. I have Bridgestone Ecopia on both of my Prius.

Maybe they should be, but in fact 5W-30 "bulk" Mobil mineral oil is what is typically used.

 

According to TireRack.com, the GoodYear integrity tire weighs 17lbs and is a LRR (Low Rolling Resistance) tire, while the Michelin Primacy is 20lbs and is not LRR. This will hurt fuel economy. I just bought a set of Michelin Energy saver A/S tires.
Info about LRR: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=175

 

Brit, thanks for the info on the 0w20. There have been mixed messages from Toyota about this, where a service bulletin seems to insist that only API 5w30 can be used. One issue that we do have in the States when it comes to the 0w20 debate is extremely hot weather.

Unfortunately, dealers can put in any API 5w30 that they like, and sometimes 10w30. It is quite possible that a dealer uses the same generic oil as the quick lube place down the street. API is American Petroleum Institute, which is funded by the American Petroleum Industry. So, you have the self-regulating licensing authority API, who sells to anyone willing to pay to brand their product with the 5w30 stamp, with little or no quality control for even the minimal 5w30 specs. At 5,000 miles, conventional oil comes out of the crankcase already looking pretty dark and dirty.

 

With the 2010 Prius and the change to Synthetic motor oil, the interval is 10,000 miles. But this is a 2008 Prius and I bet they are using the cheaper motor oil, so 5000 miles is right.

It is far more common for us US owners to make assumptions about European Prius that are not true. But it does happen.

 

In UK "Europe in general" nearly all grades of oil including gear and auto transmission are available in fully synthetic is this not the case in the USA.

 

It is not that you can't get synthetic oil but to keep Toyota's OCI of 5,000 miles with synthetic oil would be a waste. Once I have no warranty anyway, I might violate Toyota's specification and use synthetic oil for longer periods.