Advice Needed on Dealer recommended maintenance

The prices you mention are typical for dealerships.

However, both services you mention can be performed by you if you're even a little bit handy. Search this site for discussions, videos and helpful guidance on the procedures.

 

Both services can be performed by you. There is debate even here about either being necessary. My opinion? Neither are mentioned in the owners manual. I'd skip both.

 

What precisely do they mean mean by "service"? I think I know, but it never hurts to know precisely what they're talking about. If they're at all evasive, not a good sign.

I would suspect throttle body service entails removal of the air cleaner housing, applying a little carbueretor cleaner to a rag and wiping out the throttle body throat. That's at most a 1/2 hour chore, easy to do yourself, and I certainly wouldn't pay over $50. I'd be reluctant to take them up on that one, since they'd likely fluff the cost, it's just hard on the blood pressure, discussing the most larcenous "services" without losing your cool.

The transmission service, again: a bit of a mystery. Do they mean drain and fill the transaxle fluid? If you can do an oil change you can do a transaxle fluid change. Four quarts (or liters) of Toyota ATF WS are a bit more than needed, and they will set you back (together with a couple of replacement drain/fill bolt washers) around $40. I would not pay the dealership more than $80~90 for this.

The transaxle fluid change is very worthwhile, sooner than later. If you're interested in DIY I can go into more detail. At the drop of a hat, lol.

 

Per Toyota, the transmission fluid does not require changing. However, many owners here on PC strongly suggest that it be done at about 100K miles.

Many owners have reported that the throttle body does get gummed up and cleaning it will resolve some rough running issues. Again many suggest that 100K miles is the right interval barring there are already issues.

Whether you do these services yourself or have a mechanic do them for you is mostly based on your comfort level doing them yourself. Watch the videos that have been posted and decide for yourself. Neither are very difficult if you have the proper tools.

 

If you enjoy keeping the hard earned money you made working 40hrs a week, I suggest staying away from the stealership. Valvoline ws atf 18$, full synthetic oil 23$, 10k mile oil filter 8$. Walmart and amazon have the best prices of for fluids and oil /cabin/air filters. Rockauto has great prices for parts. Advanced auto, autozone, pep boys prices for oil and atf fluid are retarded. Throttle body does not really get dirty. It's the oil under the throttle body in the intake plenum that finds its way there through the pcv valve. An oil catch can will help prevent buildup. I would clean your egr cooler, egr valve, egr pipe and intake plenum. All of this work can be done yourself.

 

There's a thread here on PriusChat which has YouTube links to videos which explain exactly how to perform every Prius maintenance task. Even if you don't do your own work, they will show you precisely what the mechanic needs to do, so you'll be educated about what each given procedure is.
Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos | PriusChat

I've performed all of these tasks on my 120,000 mile, 2012 Prius Plug-in. The videos make it very easy to do the work.

 

Personally, I think changing engine oil and filter, air filter, coolant (both), and transmission juice are vital to the life of the car. Can you get by without doing those things? Yes, for a while, but not for long. OTOH, if you trade cars every two or three years, don't worry about it. Almost any car will make it that far without maintenance. I also think maintaining proper tire inflation, and rotating every 5,000 miles is time and effort well spent (just passed 75,000 miles on my factory tires). BTW, I only use Toyota parts and fluids. Again, is using other stuff okay? Maybe, but why take a chance. Finally, I would have to be pretty desperate to take my car to a dealer -- every one I have ever encountered is a criminal enterprise.

 

I did a transaxle fluid change at the one year mark, at around 15,000 km's. It was markedly darker than the new stuff. I did a second change at the three year mark, around 40.000 km's, the drained fluid looked pretty clean still. I did a third change at the 6 year mark, around 65,000 km's, the drained fluid looked pretty much like new. My conclusion: do the first change sooner than later, then slack off if you like.

Also, I would be inclined to stick with Toyota ATF WS: there's a no nonsense warning in the Owner's Manual, to use that and nothing else, or risk damage. I'm not bright enough do elsewise.

For DIY, you basically need the wherewithal to get your car safely raised and level, say 6" minimum, 8" gives you more room for wielding a long handled breaker bar or torque wrench. My method is to raise the whole car and set on safety stands. I do NOT use the proscribed scissor jack support points. If you're interested, I can post a pic regarding my bearing points. Another approach might be to run the front up on ramps. Then raise and support the rear on safety stands.

The transaxle drain and fill bolts are identical, socket-head cap screws with 10 mm heck sockets. Don't even think about using an Allen-key, get a decent set of sockets with Allen-keys. Stanley's one manufacturer readily available. They look like this:



You should also have a decent long handled breaker bar, ratcheting swivel-head 1/2" drive (with 3/8" reducer) are the bees knees. And a torque wrench: both the bolts are 29 ft/lb. Breaking them loose takes moderate effort, with a decent breaker bar style wrench, but it's not tough. I'm 150 lbs, and manage it without a lot of drama. Start with the top (fill) bolt, just in case you have problems: better to find out with the fill bolt, not the drain bolt.

The simplest way to add new fluid is with from above, with a funnel with hose extension. I would start with four foot of hose, which will be a bit long, then trim once you've got it in place see what's needed. Three foot is likely about right. Keep the hose outside diameter 16 mm or less and it should fit ok, into the fill hole.

The fill method is basically to fill (with the car level) till it starts coming back out, which should happen somewhere around 3.5 quarts or liters.

There's an instruction in the Repair Manual to recheck level after driving a bit. I did this the first time, and found the level had not budged. I would say don't bother with this, just torque the bolts and call it done. Do use fresh washers, available from the dealership parts department, along with the (4 quarts or liters) Toyota ATF WS.

 

Fuel injection service is something I've always avoided, suspect staying with decent gas brand is all you need. I used to daily walk by a Mr. Lube, and often they would be hooking up a bottle of some solvent to the raised hood, instructing the driver to raise idle speed while they trickled this stuff in. The main obvious result was a big stinky cloud.

Wheel alignment too: if you have no complaints I would decline that.

Really sounds like they are fishing, btw. Dealership service departments really run the gamut. I think the Service Manager sets the tone, some are a lot more straight and conscientious than others. Sadly, the best don't seem to last long, not making the dealership enough profit I guess.

 

No Prius has a timing belt, your Prius has no belts at all. It may be time to select another dealer more honest than this one.

 

Yeah, it has a timing chain, running between the crankshaft and cam shafts, but that item is permanent, for the life of the vehicle. There is no drive belt either, the kind of belt that drives accessories, like coolant pump or AC.

 

I have 2010 Toyota Prius with low mileage (23,569). Planning to do yearly oil change as well as recommendation from last service: brake fluid exchange, inverter coolant exchange, engine coolant exchange, trans axle service. Can someone explain what it all means? Is it really necessary? Purchased in January 2011 and is doing perfectly fine. No issues so wondering if truly necessary. Thanks for the help.