Quote for 60K maintenance: $700 (US, CA Bay Area)

I can't prove the non-existence of something but I've lived in the South bay my whole life. I haven't found a good hybrid mechanic. I also haven't looked very hard. I'm satisfied with the work Piercey Toyota does. The only reason I would go to Luscious Garage is if my battery failed. It's just too long of a drive, unless we're talking major repairs. On LG's blog, they mention another outfit in Berkeley that they partner with occassional that is also good with hybrid repairs. Still too far of a drive from Milpitas for an oil change.

 

...did a similar drive one week back about NOON to Berkeley from Burlingame I guess Freemont further but it was not bad at the time (lucky maybe)..I mean we're talking $700 in the OP

 

Agree they are adding items that really can be skipped.
But.....brake fluid flush/ bleed (every two years) and transmission oil change at 60K mileage ...well I'd go with those in addition to the service manual schedule.
Plus in SF Bay Area labor rate maybe $150 an hour or more.

 

Brake fluid replacement is now in the Canadian Schedule; this is an excerpt from the 2014 Prius Warranty and Maintenance Booklet:



48,000 kms translates roughly to 30,000 miles

 

PS- I mean shucks I am not mandating Luscious Garage, but they have a great website and might even be willing to give cost estimate for their 60k service, and if so, that would be the region benchmark

 

This is basically to change the oil and filter and rotate the tires? The two filters, I would not do a knee-jerk change, just check their condition, go from there.

 

Hi NutzAboutBols, for the initial 59K+ miles, other than oil changes at 10K intervals, ATF drain/refill at 30K, tire rotations, and 2 recalls, my 2011 Prius doesn't require any other services. However, I am hoping to find a reliable local hybrid mechanic to help service the next 60K miles

Hi mmmodem, the outfit in Berkeley is called Art's Automobile. Actually, I had emailed Luscious Garage and Art's Automobile to inquire about local hybrid mechanics in South Bay, both LG and Art's couldn't provide any recommendation.

Hi Mendel, interestingly, Fremont Toyota recommended brake fluid flush and replacement when I went in for 50K oil change. I declined.

Hi wjtracy, NOON (11AM-2PM) is probably the best time to make any trip in Bay Area. Because north bound (South Bay to SF) traffic is bad from 6AM-10AM. South bound (SF to South Bay) traffic is bad from 3PM-7PM. The 30+ mile trip could easily take 1.5 hours during commute time. I could do a drive to Luscious Garage in SF, but I would need to take a PTO day.

 

Jlim888,

At 60k miles, all I did was change the engine oil and filter. Engine and cabin air filters, transmission drain and refill, rotate your tires if you want. I haven't done anything fancy that you can't do it yourself, unless you don't have the time?

Unless I'm missing something that needs to be done st 60k, let me know...

Whoops maybe I miss read it, so you're looking for someone to do the 120k mile service? If so, just do everything the same but include the brake flush, front and rear brake inspections and sliding pin lubing, engine and inverter coolant drain and refill, throttle body cleaning, PCV valve replacement, EGR pipe cleaning, HV fan cleaning. Basically everything in my video lol

 

My Prius hit 85,000 and I've been gradually working through those videos. I realized that I don't need to do all that stuff at once; I'm spreading it out over six months.
I've done the oil, transaxle oil, and both coolant changes, and of course the filters. And the NutzAboutBolts engine cleaning treatment, which worked unbelievably well.

Then I took a break and replaced all six speakers and installed the sound deadener stuff.

I still have to tackle the brake pins, brake fluid, EGR and that AC cleaning thing.

 

yeah, you don't have to do all of them at once, just wait until its at the time interval or mileage interval to do the maintenance. The only thing that is extensive work is the darn spark plugs since you have to remove the wiper cowl.

 

My Prius has 60K miles. This week I took it to Sunnyvale Toyota for oil change ($60) only. I changed the cabin filter ($15 at walmart.com) myself. The engine air filter is still good, so I didn't change it.

I did the ATF drain/refill at 30K. Do I need to ATF drain/refill at 60K too?

 

I think the first transaxle fluid change is most effective, would double the interval to the next, say 30K+60K=90K. Or do 60K, it's cheap, lol.

 

Really glad I stumbled across this thread... my Prius is at 58,500, but I haven't had it serviced in six months so am thinking about taking it in soon for 60k. I had my last service at Marin Toyota and they seemed fine (didn't suggest any crazy add-ons to the factory rec'd maintenance), but I was already bracing myself for a more expensive 60k service. Good to know it shouldn't be too expensive, and definitely not in the $500+ range.

 

I was in the area for work and they tried pushing the same 60k at 70k.

 

I just was checking with my local dealer as I am looking for 60K service, and was quoted $700 for it, they added on the throttle body, transmission and one or two other things.

When I asked just about a minor service, add on cabin air and engine air filters like the manual says, it came down to below $200.

Now outside of knowing a mechanic personally, I am worried about how to know when I might actually NEED any of those add on services. The manual says they are supposed to check them every time but how do I know when to trust that I actually need it other than just go off the service intervals.

Part of the reason I got the Prius was so that I could just trust it to be reliable, and go with regular scheduled maintenance and no add-ons.

I have an average commute, no special dirt conditions.

 

Wouldn't that be great if it's all taken care of for you? Unfortunately, you have to do your due diligence. Blind trust will empty your pockets fast. If you have question ask and there will be plenty of people that will answer your question.

 

What are your expectations?
Do you expect to sell this car after 100K to 120K miles and 5-6 years, or do you want to own and use it as long as possible?
If you're going to sell it after 100K to 120K miles, and you don't drive hard (no regular jack rabbit starts, hard cornering and slamming the brakes), then here's what you need to do:

• Visually inspect the fluid levels in the engine compartment (they have clear plastic indicators, except engine oil and windshield wiper fluid)
• Oil & filter change every 10,000 miles
• Cabin air filter swap every 30,000 miles
• Engine air filter swap every 30,000 miles
• Replace the tires when they're worn (probably around 50,000 miles)

That's it! You can do the 5,000 mile tire rotations, of course, but tire wear isn't vehicle wear. If your tires wear early, your car wont' be affected. Whether you rotate the tires or not, you'll need to replace them once in 100,000 miles of driving, and probably not twice.

But what if you want your Prius to last as long as possible? That's different, isn't it? If you want that car to last 10+ years and go for 250,000 or 300,000 miles, then more maintenance is called for. And with all those monthly payments you aren't making, the cost-savings is easily justified. Although the list below is debatable, the key additional items, in my opinion, are:

• Change the transmission fluid every 30,000 miles (some recommend changes at 30K, then every 60K afterwards)
• Lubricate the brake caliper sliding pins every 30,000 miles (inspect brake pad thickness while you're there, of course)
• Replace the engine coolant at 80,000 miles
• Replace the inverter coolant at 80,000 miles
• Flush (replace) the brake fluid at some debatable interval
• Replace the spark plugs at 100,000 to 120,000 miles
• Clean the EGR pipe every 60,000 miles
• Replace the PCV valve at some debatable interval
• Clean the throttle body at some debatable interval
• Clean the HV battery fan every 30,000 miles if you transport pets
• Replace the 12V battery when it goes bad, but who knows when that will be?

These procedures are all shown in a sticky thread in this Maintenance section, call the Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos. All of these procedures are things you can do yourself, in a home garage. Nothing magical happens if you do these 5,000 miles early or late. The car doesn't really know. If you keep the brake pins lubricated and you don't slam on your brakes, the rotors and pads may likely last for 200,000 miles or more.

 

Oil and filter change at 10,000 miles is pretty long, think Toyota USA is pushing things. If you want to baby it, 6 months or 5000 miles is good.

The two air filters, I would just check, no set schedule. The cabin filter I'd be inclined to abuse/neglect, the engine filter not so much. We seem to have amazingly dust free air here; I'm over 60,000 km's on both filters, the engine filter in particular looks near new.

 

I did my 60k not too long ago on my Plug-in. I paid a Toyota dealership to do the oil change with one of their monthly coupons. And I bought the OEM charcoal cabin air filter and engine air filter from Amazon for about $50 and did it myself (literally took me less than 2 minutes, luckily the glove compartment came out much easier than on my C). I skipped tire rotation as I'm replacing the tires with the next good Costco sale. If a Toyota dealership tried to quote me $700 for a service on my Prius, I would never return. I'm not saying there aren't additional services that might be worth it (such as ATF fluid drain and refill), but I would assume the dealership was just taking me for an expensive ride.

 

I always thought the idea of maintenance is to pay a small fee to avoid a larger fee later for repair. $700 sounds like a lot of money to avoid a potential $800 repair later.....