Dealer told me I need these things done at these costs....should I?

Cleaning and adjusting the rear brakes will only affect the parking brake if they also adjust the parking brake linkage.

The crazy/funny thing about all of this is the rear brakes are self adjusting and virtually self cleaning. This is just a bogus service. There is no possible way your rear brakes need cleaning or adjusting. If you really want the parking brake adjusted, have them do just that. With the way they have tried to rip you off here, I wouldn't allow them to do another service to my car.

Any independent shop should be able to adjust the parking brake linkage.

 

Yes and yes.

 

Ah, a question I can answer, since I asked it in June.

Short answer, no.....cleaning and adjusting the rear brakes will not adjust the parking brake. You have to adjust some items up in the cabin of the car. If you look at my thread from back in June, a dear, helpful PriusChat member posted the instructions so I could "ruin" my weekend working on it. Here is the thread from June:

Parking Brake Adjustment? | PriusChat

 

To the OP - 2k1 Toaster hit the nail on the head.

If you let the dealer do the work for that amount of money, Ive got some swamp land for sale

 

It sounds like scare tactics on the Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve. One that's starting to clog will just give "less than positive" ventilation, LOL. Can't see it breaking the engine...

Any rear drum brakes these days are self-adjusting, or should be with semi-regular inspections: the self-adjusting mechanism, typically called a "star wheel", will usually work fine, but might sieze or get gummed up with brake dust, if neglected long enough. With the PRius's regen braking, I kind of doubt it though.

If they're just pulling the drum off and maybe blowing out the dust and lubing a few contact points, .9 hour is a bit much. If they're going to disassemble the components and do it proper, that's a good price. But a little premature.

All-in-all, you might want to shop around, feels like they're a service department with largely their own agenda as to what needs doing. Is there another Toyota dealer you could try?

 

The rear brakes are used for the parking brake. The rear brakes are supposed to adjust themselves and if they do not the parking brake can be effected. Keep in mind there are other reasons that could cause the parking brake to not operate properly. It is possible that your brakes have stopped adjusting themselves and that cleaning and lubricating them would fix that problem.

I noticed some responses say you do not need to clean and adjust your brakes. I feel that is kind of impossible to determine through the internet. A few months ago I noticed my rear brakes on my 2005 (90K miles) making noise whenever I took my foot of of the brake pedal. This was a common noise I hear when the grease dries up on drum brakes. To remedy it I cleaned and lubricated them for the first time. The important part is the lubrication, the dirt is no big deal. I didn't see any mention of any lubricating going on. I sure hope the plan wasn't to clean off the old lube and not put any back on. I have seen this sold to customers every 5K-30K miles. I don't think it is ever necessary at those intervals, especially here in sunny southern California. Given your climate and road conditions you may need the service.

Here are some before and after pix

 

Lies

Lie, and if this were true, why would your car have a "rear brake automatic adjust lever" as shown in the parts diagram below.

Possibly a lie

Lie, unless he meant blindfolded with one hand tied behind his back.

Good idea.

 

This is not always true, just as adjusting the cable inside the car will not always fix the problem.

 

None of it is really needed IMO. Swap the PCV yourself at 100k miles, they're like $5. The belt will probably last for 20 years/250k miles, unless you happen to drive consistently offroad or in some other high wear situation. The rear drums adjust themselves, and have since like late seventies or something.

 

The might be "like $5", but they're also very hard to get at, I believe.

So you're advocating ignoring the brakes, LOL? Again, with regen braking the Prius seems to very gentle on the brakes, but any and all automotive manufacturers recommend periodic brake inspection.

 

The PCV isnt bad to get at all. Took me 15 minutes from start to finish.

And the dealer isnt proposing a brake inspection; they are telling the OP that they need IMMEDIATELY or VERY SOON a clean & adjust for $59.95 - Mind you, the OP went in for recall work only. There were no prior brake complaints. As well there shouldn't be, rear drums are usually very low maintenance in automotive applications. They are designed to be completely maintenance free for the life of the shoes/drums and in some cases the life of the vehicle. I've taken drums off cars with 150,000 miles and the shoes and drums were still in good condition. Its interesting that the dealer thinks that the OP at 50,000 miles on a Prius where regenerative brakes do most the work anyways, that the rear drums would even need adjustments or cleaning at their mileage.

 

They're in the middle in terms of ease of access. A pain to get to, but much easier to replace than other types (some tend to break during removal and drop pieces of hard rubber/plastic into the top end as they age).

So you're admitting that you don't know the difference between inspecting and adjusting something, LOL? Again, most dealers, will charge for all kinds of useless BS. Inspecting something is different than adjusting something, especially adjusting something that's self-adjusting. If the self-adjustment mechanism isn't working, then it's not functional, which is a repair, and is not an inspection or adjustment.

Then again, I'll be up in Vancouver this April. If you're game I can come by and adjust your front driver and passenger seats, radio settings, steering wheel position, etc, etc... All for the low low price of $500. Such a deal!

PS - I have an 82 Toyota Pickup (~275k miles) with self adjusting rear drums. They've been replaced once and adjusted never. They still self-adjust fine. The only thing needed could be a repair if the self-adjusting mechanism stopped working, which could be anything from a little pb blaster and a smack from a rubber mallet, to replacement. Adjusting a self-adjusting mechanism is BS, plain and simple.