2012 PIP 90k service - highway robbery?

There are definitely some crazy dealers out there. I definitely wouldn't go to that one! Just looking at the "minimum" one the whole thing till you get to the bottom is just -change the oil and air filters. So that's like maybe 20 minutes of time and about $100 in parts. But at a dealer, yeah that could be $400...

So the question is how much they charge for the transmission fluid and coolant changes. I guess I've heard people say they charge$400 or more for each of those services so I suppose it adds up. Now how important each of those is at this moment... None of it is a bad idea. The problem is probably more that it's 10 years old. Otherwise I'd say wait longer based on mileage alone.

But if you find yourself a good independent shop you should be able to cut your costs in half.

As for buying your car, yeah from what little I've dug into the car market at the moment it is crazy. I've seen a 2012 Pip with 250k miles like mine ask $12k. To get something like a 2019 awd the prices are like $35-38k where a new one is like $30k. But then you go to find a new one and it's listed as "sale pending" at the dealer.

 

WOW, that's crazy......being a DIYer, the first thing I would have done is ask if they had lost their ****ing minds, and then laughed the entire time I was driving to the local store to pick up about $150 worth of material. Then spend about 3 hours knocking all that stuff out.
oil $30
oil filter $7
cabin filter (if I didn't just blow out the old one) $20
engine air filter (if I didn't just blow out the old one) $20
Health Check: (10 minutes with my old version of Techstream)
washer fluid $5
transaxle fluid (for a Gen 2 it's Toyota WS, about $40), but I thought the transaxles were a lifetime fluid? Is this different for a PIP?
Engine coolant? test it and see if it needs changing. Otherwise, I basically just drain about a gallon and replace it each summer. ($20) or like the inverter coolant, just replace it when you have to do other cooling system work like a new pump.
Inverter coolant? meh...replace it when you have to do other maintenance like a pump replacement.

 

As another DIYer I'm surprised you still would even bother asking.
Seriously, I know it's just a figure of speech and I got a good laugh from it too, ya know?

Beside the stealership asking Monk to open his bank account to their service dept, the chances are the service would be sub standard too as seems to be the case in most of the ripoff cases I've heard about and or experienced.

B monk. If you have to, you have to, but if it were me I'd steer way out of my way to avoid that establishment, even if that meant weathering an emergency, which your car doesn't sound like it or you are experiencing, except possibly the sticker shock.

Take a drive up to SanFran is you dare and give Luscious Garage a chance to win your business
https://lusciousgarage.com/

 

Does Toyota impose ANY obligation to dealerships, to at least offer just the specd maintenance?

 

It's a scam, they want to sell you a new car and "flip" your old one. 90K miles on a Prius that age is a low mileage car and very sought after. There are plenty of reliable independent Prius specialty shops in the south and north bay area; just ask around. Perhaps some of the people in this forum can chime in, on where they take their cars.

Good Luck and pat yourself on the back for avoiding this obvious scam. IMHO, even if you knew nothing about cars -They wouldn't let you take the estimate is a BIG red flag!!!!

Try using Repairpal for a real world estimate on getting work done in your area.

Hope this helps..

 

Here are Toyota's recommendations. A lot is "fluff", I've highlighted what looks to be meat-and-potatoes. Note: every 30K Toyota recommends a more in-depth brake inspection, and 90K is one of these:



^ Even the engine and cabin filters replacement I would question: inspect them first, and only replace if warranted.

A full four-wheel brake inspection, without parts replacement, shouldn't exceed $400 USD.

 

Yep, definitely NOT a quick visual inspection.
If whomever did the job per OEM manual - I'd expect measurement numbers on every wheel. NOT estimates. 2 pad thickness numbers in mm; rotor thickness, run-out dial-indicator numbers, for each wheel. Clean-out and re-lube caliber slide pins; for that kind of money - otherwise how do you know, if all they did was a visual inspection.

Color me suspicious; but there seems to be a lack of transparency and honesty these days or I might just be getting old and crusty.

 

When I had dealerships doing such an inspection, they'd never give such a report, might be a bit overwhelming.

Still, just looking through the wheel spokes you could tell the pads had been off: everything looked clean, and there'd be a little bead of squeezed out anti-seize compound, around the perimeter of the pads, shims, and caliper contact points. Reassuring.

@rjparker linked this yesterday, very interesting SMA video:

This is part two, still looking for part one.

Ah, here it is, was linked in the description:

 

is this your first go round with them? no upsell in the first 85k?

one kind of important task is a cleaning of the egr circuit, before the head gasket blows

 

those service menus have been around since they started making cars. i got one at the chrysler dealership where i bought a minivan back in the 80's for the 15k service.

never went back

 

I just went through the lists in the pic in initial post, don't see anything about brake inspection, lol. And that is the one above-and-beyond item Toyota recommends for 90K.

I get the impression Toyota doesn't give a damn what the dealerships do, as long as they get their cut.

 

Thank you @Belgian Monk for this VERY USEFUL thread. Funny why they didnt let you have a quote but glad that you tricked a snap of it to share with us. Also too funny that you got a text following the threat (of the huge bogus quote to loot you).
I am now running just around 70K miles, will read this thread word to word to prepare for my upcoming 90K. So far, I had a mechanic, who charges $30 for oil change when I take my own oil filter($10 from the Toy Dealer) and Kirkland Signature Oil from Costco. He checks all other things in the car each time. No major servicing so far except replacing the air filters(off Amazon) for every 6 months by my own.
I guess, I will have my mechanic touch base the above 90K list in my next 90K service time.
Again Thank you for the thread.

 

The Antiques Road Show always said- beware if someone gives you an appraisal and then offers to buy the item.

 

Well, to be fair, I think it's the time that's the thing, so you'd need the service for the 120 months

 

what would be a fair price point to look at for the basics when bringing in the prius for the 120 month appointment?

 

For 3rd gen and specifically the plug-in (it's the same as reg 3rd gen), right? It's basically an oil/filter change, tire rotation, and engine coolant change. $250?



Note, if you go to footnote "3", it says this:


Which contradicts/supersedes the earlier statement to change both engine and inverter coolant. FWIW, Toyota Canada says to change them both at this interval.

 

you'd never get a dealer around here to do it for less than 400 or so