Battery maintenance.

the only thing i can think of is cleaning the cooling fan

your car came with a maintenance schedule

at 50k, all you need is oil and filter, rotate tire and a few inspections.

take a close look at your brakes if you haven't, and lube the slide pins if necessary

 

Find a different shop. Period. I've got an appointment to have my transmission fluid changed tomorrow morning. The dealer quoted $140. I considered doing it myself until I watched the video and saw NutzAboutBolts pulling out his Harbor Freight hand pump. No thanks to that mess.

 

same

 

Prius C has drum brakes in the rear, you can open them up take a looksee and grease up the contact points.
I blew out drum with brake cleaner then greased up
Lube the front caliper slide pins and grease the shims/pads

You do not need a hand pump to refill the trans.
Funnel and hose can do both the Gen3 and the PC
Loosen the fill bolt before emptying the drain bolt.
Keep the car level (a 4 wheels on jacks, ramp on fronts/jacks on rear, or what needs to be done safely)

Clean the battery fan intake, and can also rip out the rear seat and do a full cleaning if/when necessary.
On my C, I have 46k and I will be doing a full cleaning of the fan soon (within the next year)

As for throttle body egr cooler etc, your call.
I have not checked mine yet on my C or my Gen3 @28k
but over time, those will be checked upon

I also did full brake flush on both with the listed mileage above just past couple months.

 

even tho a prius has no need for a flush when it comes to tranny fluid it wont stop places from selling you that. it books at dealers around me for around 100 bucks with parts for a fluid drain and refill of the transaxel/transmission of a prius 450 is them probably trying to sell you a flush. you don't really need to change the fluid early but it doesnt hurt. the cost of the parts for it is around40usd for 4qts at 10$+- a qt depending on where you get it from. maybe the 400$ battery service is them charging you some nutty price for a new replacment 12v battery or there insane price for cleaning the fan shroud which is way easier on the pc then it is on the standard prius

 

The transmission oil refill is a very easy job. I used a cheap hand pump from PepBoys that cost like $5 and after draining the nasty used oil you just fill it until it starts to drip out of the hole. Better to do it sooner than later because the original oil comes out very dark and nasty. I wouldn’t trust any oil in that condition to properly lubricate all the gearing. Also remember this is not like an automatic transmission on any other car that needs a “flush” to change the oil. The tranny on the Prius is more like a manual transmission in that it is as simple as a drain and refill.

 

How many quarts do your trans fluid change usually take? I did mine today and I probably got around 2.9 quarts drained, since when I refilled, it was overflowing at 3 quarts (I had my C on some rhino ramps)



also I guess I have better peace of mind, as the old tranny fluid was on the darker/purpler side, while the new fluid was bright red.

Also, instead of hand pumping (I calculated that I'd need to pump way too much), I just used a $1 funnel attached to some plastic tubing (bought from any ole home improvement store...another $1) and ran the funnel+tubing from the top of engine bay to the fill hole below

That old fluid is about 65k miles old.

 

The capacity is 3.5 quarts. I believe I drained maybe a little more than 3 but not 3.5. It’s normal, not everything will come out.

 

used 2 rhino ramps (don't think using 4 would be recommended, since it would entail using jacks on the other end of the car to lift it, then putting rhino ramps under them, lol, and doing the same after you're done to get the ramps from under the car). Although I think I'm going to have to get at least 2 jack stands to be able to do tire rotations

and after driving the front end of the car onto the ramps (and use your e-brake along with chock blocking your rear end wheels (safety 1st)...you just crawl under the car with your least favorite clothes

In totality, the ATF is very easy to change out and probably takes a total of 30min (with all the right tools prepped before hand) AND if you also do your oil change, the oil pan and filter is also just right there

all you probably need are
-some kind of jacks/ramps - $30-40
-3qt of ATF fluid - $30
-wrench + 10mm hex bolt attachment - $10
-30min of your time
-drain pan (anything you/the old lady has that's laying around and doesn't leak?)
-maybe a torque wrench?

 

its always good to check the fluid level on level ground after, as putting the car up on ramps will skew it a little. But they engineer most things with some tolerance. for anyone who attempts there atf change or really any fluid change for that matter. Its good to follow the rule of thumb ,and make sure the fill bolt , fill cap,etc or what ever it may be can come off before you drain eveything out.

 

There's no battery maintenance. Changing trans oil involves less steps than changing the engine oil. Throttle cleaning is a good PM step, but much later in life.

Have you changed the brake fluid yet? Three years, and then every two thereafter.

Cars lasting longer, and requiring less maintenance/breaking down less has led many shops to start selling unneeded "services" as a means of staying in business...

 

When they say battery maintenance most times,they are refering to cleaning the hv battery cooling fan. But in the C its so easy to get at. It's a little more involved to get to the standard prius's . but the c is literally a few clips on the plastic shield on the driver side rear seat.