trans. service and alignment questions... Hi Everybody, this is my 2nd post, as I am brand new to this site. I have a 2007 prius, and I have driven it since new (it had 38 miles on it when I got it). It now has 104,000 miles as of last night. The only thing I have done out of regular maint. (tires, wipers, light bulbs, etc.) is replace the 12 v battery at about 30,000 miles (I left town with friends for 3 days, and left the interior lights on). THAT'S IT!!! That is the only thing that has been done to the vehicle mechanically, and, it was my fault, not a toyota defect/failure. The car still has the orginal brakes on it, and I run Mobile 1 extended performance 5w 30 motor oil. I have to admit, when I first took delivery of the car (company car at the time), I was not sold on the looks of the car, but, over time it has proven itself to me, and I am sold ( i think it's beautiful!! hehe). This has to be one of the best quality,most reliable cars I have ever owned. I am currently averaging 49.5 MPG, and just installed a new set of good year fuel saver weatherhandlers on the car... (3rd set of tires). I have a couple of questions: 1.) My local dealer says that a tranny service (just the fluid drain and fill) will cost 177.00, and I think that is a rip off...what is your exeriences? 2.) Alignment- I need to get an alignment done, but the dealer says in order to align the rear wheels, parts need to be replaced rather than adjusted....other service shops say they use shim kits to align it, but the dealer shy's away from doing this because they claim that the bolts will loose over time, which is dangerous (obviously). Again, what are your experiences? Any feed back is greatly appreciated!!
1. You could do it yourself for around $40 worth of Toyota ATF WS (~$10 per quart x 4 US quarts) and $3 for two aluminum washers. If you have the dealer do it, it would be fair to add 0.5 hours labor, or around $50 depending upon the labor rate in your area. 2. The Toyota repair philosophy does not allow shims to be installed. If the rear suspension alignment is off, new parts are supposed to be installed. Hence if you want shims to be installed it would be good to find a specialty alignment shop to do that. Although it might be possible for the rear suspension bolts to loosen due to the shims, in practice I have not noticed anyone reporting that problem here.
Re: trans. service and alignment questions... Yotaman: Congratulations for getting 100K miles of trouble-free service out of your Prius. You car is definitely overdue for the transaxle fluid drain-and-refill. $170 does sound a bit too steep for that. I would shop around different dealerships or seek out an independent hybrid mechanic who can do that. Your SLLC engine and inverter coolant is also due for a change-- Toyota says the SLLC is good for 8 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first, so you are definitely due for that too. And your throttle body can probably use a cleaning too, if it never had that done before. Also check the engine air filter and cabin air filters-- That requires no tools and you can clean them out with a vacuum cleaner. Hope you get many more years of service out of your Prius!
Re: trans. service and alignment questions... Thanks for the tips justlurkin! You are correct, the inverter coolant was changed today (recall for pump), i check the air filters every 15000 miles when I change the oil (Mobile 1 extended performance), and I will get the fluid changed this week (within about 500 miles). Thanks again everyone for the advice!!
