I just noticed that the owner's manual gives a phone number in the back for the Material Distribution Center so that you can buy the "repair manual". Is this the same as what I would consider a "service manual"? In other words, does it have schematics and details of mechanical and electrical operation? Does anyone have one of these? How much did it cost? Is it worth it? :blink: Thanks
The hard copy comes in 3 volumes at around $200/volume. I haven't heard of anyone on the forum's who've shelled out that kind of money for the hard copy. It is also available at the Techinfo site where you can subscribe and download any and all info you want. You can subscribe for 24hrs. up to 1 year.
I bought the three manuals to study before I decided to buy the Prius. Would not own any car without manuals for it. They are great in some ways but somewhat difficult in others. I find them hard to find things in. Some details are not covered. They do have schematics, and lots of scanner trouble shooting procedures.
I've always bought the factory service manuals for my Jeeps, but $600 seems a little rich. I guess it's a teeny bit more complex and sophisticated than a Jeep, isn't it... :blink: Have you done the Techinfo downloading yet? I never went in there, since they won't even let you look without paying up. I tend to prefer working with a book, but I suppose a download would be a good start. Maybe I could save up and buy the books later - if I could stop making that list of parts and modifications I want!
I got that too. It is quite small. Have not looked at it for a while, but I remember lots of attention to sealing seams, how to weld safely on the car, and where to cut for panel replacements.
I have not downloaded the entire manual. Unfortunately the site doesn't make it an easy task. Every chapter is a seperate download and you have to organize it yourself. Thus many many individual downloads are required to get the entire manual. If you were willing to pay for a hard copy it's probably worth just getting an annual subscription so you can access at will, download what you wish, and have access to all the new TSBs and such as well. If, OTOH, you have lots of free time and patience then do a 1 day subscription and have a marathon day of downloading! A final option, someone, on EBAY, was offering to e-mail or snail mail all the repair manual files for a price if you sent proof of a subscription to the TIS site (to try to cover himself for copyright violations I guess--not sure how well that would stand up).
Here's a link for the manuals at the Toyota web site. They are significantly less than $200 per volume. Prius Service Manuals
