I recently brought in my 2008 Prius to my local dealership to have the recall work done... they guy came out and told me that my hoses were all original and were starting to crack. He wanted $689 to replace them... which seems like an awful lot of money. The car has 131K miles. Any advice?
find a local garage and get a quote. if you don't know any, look up a AAA approved. my daughter took her 08 in for the recall, and they told her she needed two new tires and air filter and cabin filter right away. tried to scare her. she brought the quote home: $450. for two tires and $450. for the filters! what??? happy to find we raised her with some common sense. oh, and they said if she did everything at once, they would knock $15. off. toyota of wellesley, be carefull!!! btw, your hoses should be fine, if anyone else says they need to be replaced, have them show you the cracks.
well... I didn't mention it... because it wasn't related to the hoses.... but they too said the filters needed to be changed along with the plugs... and two new tires. I dismissed all of that as "drumming up business"... they wanted $1,914 for everything.
This kind of price gouging is shameful and is more similar to the antics of carnival "carnies". It is simply legal theft. Everyone who experiences this kind of obvious price gouging should file a complaint with Toyota headquarters. It gives the Toyota brand a reputation of being thieves and untrustworthy. We should never be willing to just go somewhere else without filing a complaint. We may not get any individual monetary satisfaction but the accumulated compaints could cause TMC to put pressure on these crooks.
Of the hundreds of Priuses I've worked on, I think I've replaced one hose in the last 4 years. Even most Gen1 hoses are still good, many with over 200k miles. I smell a money grab (boat payment due?). Get a 2nd opinion.
My advice is that you should squeeze the top and bottom radiator hoses, to see if they are supple or if they show cracking. I agree that the likelihood of the hoses needing to be replaced is relatively low since the car is only 5 years old.
My Camry is 25 years old with 275,000 miles on it and she still has the original hoses, tell that stealer to crap in his hat.
Thanks for this info. I just sent the link to my daughter and my sister. I hope many women read this. Scott
Upwards of $2,000 for filters, hoses and plugs? That's just not right. Second Opinion....or ANY other opinion would be sought after and recommended.
+1 I've worked on 10- and 15-year old cars where the cheapo OEM hoses were just fine. This is totally something you can do yourself... just make sure the engine is cold (not just cool) and it's as safe as kicking the tires. All you need is a bright flashlight.
I've got 2 old vehicles 92 Mercedes 360K and 98 Ford 245K, both have original hoses no leaks, pliable still.
The hoses don't look that expensive. 2008 TOYOTA PRIUS Parts - Champion ToyotaWorld It's all about the labor.
