Maintenance cost

+1.

I have switched to 5W-30 full synthetic oil on our 2010 Prius II with 158 k miles and going strong. I plan to do the same on our new RX450H.

 

Thanks Rebound. I usually follow the "severe schedule" as I drive frequently from the coast, out to the Inland Empire, and also out to the desert. And in between, many short trips.

Oil changes at 5000 miles. Filters checked often. I guess it wouldn't hurt to throw in an occasional brake fluid change and transaxle drain/refill. These Toyotas are pretty tough cars. I have sisters that have never done a brake fluid flush or any transmission oil change. And their Toyota cars are 17 years old and 19 years old, and have 200,000+ miles on the clock. Never had a major problem. (Do they still make 'em like they used to? ) How come some people are so lucky? Typical women, all they do is fill up the gas tank! And drive it.

My father, always used straight 30 weight oil in his 84 Camry. And he rarely changed it! And he only changed the oil filter about every third time. Crazy, I know. And they drove that car to the Midwest twice a year from CA. That old Camry was truly a miracle car. He replaced the tires twice, and put on a new fan belt and hose a couple times. I think he added some brake fluid occasionally, but never flushed it. Finally sold it after 27 years. Very little maintenance. Great car.

 

I keep debating whether I should switch. Then I just mentioned in another thread, that I was going to stay with the 0W-20 oil. And now here's Ray going to 5W-30........... Back to the debate!

How soon are you making the switch on the Lexus, Ray?

 

At the first sign of oil consumption .

Our 2010 Prius II started to show signs around 120 k miles. That's when I switched and I have seen no ill effects in almost 40 k miles. MPG is stable at 51.

The next oil change in about 2k miles will be with Redline 5W-30 oil. I've experimented with various manufacturers and have gotten consumption down to less than a quart between oil changes where it was a quart every 4500 miles.

We'll see how long it takes for the Lexus to develop a drinking problem, but I will monitor and I've got a plan ready when it does.

 

Not sure if the Lexus will develop a drinking problem, the rx400h I'm planning to buy has over 200k miles and I couldn't see any oil usage after 5000 miles. But I believe that engine has never seen 0w-20 oil either

 

Just noticed this item on the 30,000 mile maintenance schedule:
"Tighten Axle Shaft Bolts."

There's no video for that! What will we do? Who shall rescue us?

(Does a Prius have axle shaft bolts?)

 

Uh I don't know what bolts they're talking about, maybe the axle Nut? Lol

 

I know many have a loose nut behind the steering wheel.

 

My bet is it has always had 5W-30.

But I follow this motto: Plan for success and prepare for the worst.

 

It'd be nice if there was an outline in the Repair Manual, saying here's the bolts to check, and these are the torque specs. There isn't , Honda's the same story. This stuff is mostly lawyer driven I think.

 

If I get 8 to 10 years out of my '16 Prius, with no major breakdowns, I will be more than satisfied. (I usually don't keep a vehicle for more than 10 years.) So I'm just going to follow the Owner's Manual Maint Guide, and that's that. I bought this Prius for it's low-cost operation, and low maintenance.

In ten years, I will probably no longer be ABLE to drive! I'll be waiting at the bus stop like all the other old fogies, or calling somebody like Uber, or bothering friends and relatives to come pick up the "Old Man." Or, hopefully soon we will have self-driving cars. But I doubt that will be in my lifetime.

 

I looked in my own maintenance manual. No mention of axle bolts, but it says at every service to "tighten chassis bolts."

 

of course not lol, there's no such thing and honestly, who tightens chassis? don't tell me you do it Mendel

 

Nope.

 

Nobody ever said their Prius broke from having loose chassis bolts.

 

I'd actually like to see a section in the Repair Manual: with titles that reflect the descriptions in the Repair Manual (aka Shop Manual for Honda), a visual index of the fasteners involved, and all their torque spec's. Sadly doesn't exist. Currently, this "maintenance" is only a bogus statement, with no substantive documentation. The mechanics don't know what to do, Toyota (Honda, and all) doesn't know what to do. They should ackowedge it's bogus, or actually knuckle down and produce a comprehensive list, one or the other.

 

When I first checked our fronts and rears around 43K km's, pad thickness was down to around 7~8 mm. New, the fronts are 10, and rears 9.5. It's a misnomer, to say the brakes are never used.

Brake inspection involves removal and cleaning of the pads/shims, cleaning and relube of all faying surfaces with anti-seize compound, removal/cleaning/relubing the caliper slide pins with SilGlyde or similar. The dealership, if they're going by the book, would also check disc parallelism, thickness and runout, using micrometer and dial indicator.

 

If they're going by the book, mechanics will also use a lithium-soap-based glycol grease on the caliper slide pins and boots (Toyota sells this, it's red, also a ilttle packet is included if you buy the seals-n-boots kit.)

As for the composition of Toyota's shim grease (the gray stuff), I'm not sure what's in that. It might be pretty close to run-of-the-mill anti-seize.

By the book, it would only be applied to the shims. Toyota does not show applying any grease to the pad ears, but then, the spring-steel liners at the ledges where those ears slide are replaceable (known as the "fitting kit"), and come with a very slippery Teflon-like coating applied. Perhaps Toyota's thinking is to not add grit-attracting grease to those, but just to replace them when they're no longer slippery.

I changed them on my rear calipers a while back, and I can attest with the new ones it took both hands to put the caliper back together, one to just hold the pads against the rotor because with the slippery new fitting kit, the little V-shaped springs used on the rear caliper would completely spread the pads apart if one hand wasn't holding them.

-Chap

 

the front pads on my '04 only lasted 105,000 miles. it happens.

 

Yeah Honda always recommended molybdenum anti-seize compound, between pad backs and shims, and the points of contact on caliper. Personally I never put anything on the "ears" of the pads (the two ends): it just seems too close to the disc, doubly so if you're subsequently trying to clean that area up.

Toyota's a bit different, calling for little dabs (of the silicone stuff?), but I've just stuck with the Honda credo, use anti seize, seems quite effective. Basically, clean everything, then lightly butter the inside face of inner shim, put it on, then repeat with out shim. Then, sparing amount on the piston rim, and ditto for the two caliper "finger" contact points.