Ok let me first say that I love my Prius so much that I bought my wife a 2010! The reason I love my Prius so much maybe a catch 22. I have had my Prius going on 5 years and I bought it used with 18000 miles, it now has 170k on it. The only maintenance I have only replaced the brakes and shocks on it along with having the oil changed at 5k intervals. I am getting scared now cause this seems just too good to be true. So I am wondering what would you all suggest I do as preventitive maintenance? Keep in mind that I am not a mechanic and will be going to my dealership to have this done. Thanks in advance for the response.
I'm assuming that you depend heavily on your Prius and would be substantially inconvenienced if it had unscheduled downtime. On that basis, I suggest that you: Change all fluids: engine and inverter/transaxle coolant, transaxle ATF, brake fluid Replace engine and cabin air filters now, if not previously replaced within 30K miles Replace iridium spark plugs Replace serpentine drive belt and engine thermostat, inspect and replace engine water pump and radiator hoses if needed Replace inverter water pump Replace 12V battery, if original equipment
Yes you are correct that I depend heavily on my vehicle. Thank you for your advice I got prices earlier on all but the transaxle coolant. Let's see what you all think of the prices. I called two of the closest dealers to get prices and here is what they told me: Maint. Toyota Knoxville Fox Toyota Clinton,TN Engine/Inverter Coolant $139 $180 Transaxle ATF $89 $60 Spark Plugs $109 $103 Also I have a check engine light which I have had checked at AutoZone and Advanced for free, but they each told me different things for the same code. So I figured since I have it in there go ahead and have the engine code read Toyota Knoxville wants $85 and Fox wants $59. If anyone knows another source I could check in the Knoxville, TN area I am willing to call and ask. So let me know what you all think. Thanks again for the advice already given. Brandon
Do you happen to know the DTC retrieved by AutoZone and Advanced? If so, please post and we can help you to interpret them. It's good that you listed replacement of the iridium spark plugs, I forgot to list those above. MSRP of the plugs is around $12 each. Your car will use around 3 gallons of Toyota Super Long Life Coolant for the inverter and engine, and MSRP is around $22 per gallon. (Inverter and transaxle are cooled by the same coolant loop.) 4 quarts of Toyota ATF WS are needed for the transaxle, and MSRP is ~$9 per quart. Therefore, the dealer prices that you showed above are quite fair assuming that they include labor. Good luck.
Yes they do include labor. I will have to look for the code again. The check engine light is intermittent. It seems like when I had them checked one place told me Mass Airflow or MAP I can't remember what the Prius has and, the other place told me the Coolant system was clogged. I have the Haynes repair manual at home I will have to check and see if I can find it again or I will stop by when I am out today to have it check again. Also I forgot to mention I am having trouble with aftermarket Halogen bulbs blowing quite fast on me. I have had the current set for about 3 months and both have already blown. I was extremely cautious to not touch the bulb while putting them in the car. I have used the mid grade and high end Sylvanias. I am not too worried about this last pair because they have a one year warranty from the Auto parts store I bought them from, but I just hate changing them every 3 months. The only Headlights I have had last any length of time is when I had the dealership replace them with OEM parts and they lasted about 2 years, but that was quite expensive to do. Anyone else have this problem with aftermarket Halogens? Thanks again for the advice.
If you have the original 12v. battery, it has been know to give you wierd codes and lights on when the battery is on it's way out. Since you mentioned your check light was intermittent, this makes me think about the 12 v. bettery.
If you have never replaced the 12V battery, this reminds me to suggest you add it to the top of your list.
The good news is that the OP logged 34K miles per year, so the 12V battery has had plenty of charging time. It should be in very good condition as compared to other 5-year-old batteries in cars lightly driven, with low miles on the odometer. Even so, I suggest replacing it based upon time-in-service and with the goal of minimizing unscheduled downtime. With that many miles logged, it wouldn't surprise me if the MAF sensor needed to be cleaned or replaced, and the cooling system has clogs within since the coolant was not previously replaced. I would also expect to see a DTC related to engine misfire since the spark plugs are original. Regarding the short life of the halogen lights, I would suggest measuring voltage across the 12V battery when the Prius is READY. The voltage should be ~13.8V. If much higher, that would explain the short bulb life (although I would also expect other lights to also show a short service life in that case.) If voltage is normal then I would assume you were unlucky in your choice of bulbs. Is it your practice to leave the headlights on at all times; or only at night?
Good info all. I'm going to break 150K on my 05 next month ( 145K now ). I've done the OCI's religiously ( they're Free so why not ) I also replaced the 12v when it got flaky at ~ 110K I did the inverter coolant change at ~ 105K I change the cabin air filter myself and do the engine air filter every 30K From a friend that went 246,000 mi on his 04, he had the plugs and serpentine belt replaced at 150K and he was told that his water pump was 'weeping' so he had that replaced at that time too. Brake and transaxle fluids?? Is the water pump for the inverter a separate item? Shocks probably are somewhat down the road. I'm aiming for 275,000 to 300,000 miles which will be about another 3-1/2 yrs.
Hi Bob, Yes, I am referring to the electric water pump located behind the driver's side headlamp. I've found that the struts/shocks last ~60K miles or so, so I've replaced the front struts 1x on my 2004 and replaced the rear shocks 2x so far. With the Prius, the difference between good and bad struts/shocks isn't that much, so if you have to pay the dealer $2K to replace all four then I can understand the motivation to defer that particular service.
Brake fluid does tend to collect water and copper so it should be changed periodically. A Prius is easy on Brakes so the issue is time and the cost at the dealer. I'll do mine this Spring at 180k miles. ATF should be changed in a 2004-2009 Prius at 60k mile intervals. My dealer charged just over $100 at 120k miles. Yes. I replaced mine at 150k miles when doing the second required coolant change (at the same time I did the ICE water pump, thermostat and serpentine belt). I'm still on the originals. The cost is causing me to delay. My 2004 is now at 169.4k miles; also hopefully on its way to 300k. JeffD
I mix it up sometimes I forget to turn them off and run them all the time and then my wife drives it and turns them off. Most of my driving is in the daytime, but the car is going from my Field Service car/ Family car to just my field service vehicle. So I am thinking anything I do now will last a good while. What is the best practice for headlights? Leave them on or only use them at night? The 12V battery is the Original that came with the car. I didn't realize that it could cause so many problems! I guess it makes sense though, kind of like your CMOS battery in your computer going bad. So what does something like that cost to replace? I have read some threads on battery replacement, but it sounds slightly complicated. Thank you ALL again for all the advice and pointers. I love my Prius and I love this forum!!! -Brandon
Hi Brandon, Regarding headlights, the best practice in terms of longevity clearly would be to turn them on only at night. However some drivers think their safety is enhanced with DRL and prefer to have the lights on at all times. If you're in that group, then I suppose you will want to leave the lights on. The 12V battery costs ~$135 or so at your dealer's parts counter. The dealer might charge you 1/2 - 1 hour of labor time to replace. Some owners have been charged $300+ for this work but it seems like your local dealers charge fair prices.
Yeah I called one dealer today and they said 117 for the battery and they will replace it for free. Thanks again for EVERYONE'S HELP!!!
