I'm looking into a 09 Prius 1 with 137k miles. Clean in and out. Assuming this car hasn't had the 120k service, but just motor oil changes and smog checks. What will I need to perform on this car? How much will they cost? I'd like to know whether or not this may be a good purchase if it doesn't have too many times that needs replacing soon...
the o/m has all required maintenance for 100k and 120k. but you can plug the vin into the toyota owners website and see all dealer maintenance. all the fluids need changing, spark plugs, serpentine belt and etc., can be quite expensive. should have plenty of good miles left on her, but like anything, reliability is only an average, and some people get the short end of the stick.
What is o/m? The seller told me they had a family mechanic take care of the recent maintenance, although they did mention that no maintenance was done except oil changes. Does this car use brake fluid as well? not really sure since its regenerative braking
o/m = owners manual. yes, there is brake fluid, and two coolant loops. you might want to change the tranny fluid.
Seems like a lot of maintenance to catch up on with can add up as bisco stated. At least the hybrid battery is still under warranty up to 150k or 10 years from date of purchase.
You will need to download both the Owners Manual and the Maintenance Schedule, readily available in PDF formats from Toyota. Family mechanic may not have been the most highly trained hybrid/Toyota mechanic that could be found, or may be the most careful mechanic to ever work on it.... YMMV. All cars and pickups use brake fluid in their braking systems. Regenerative braking simply uses the hybrid system in addition to what are called "service brakes" - the normal hydraulic system. At a minimum, coolant change, transaxle fluid change and brake fluid flush if the fluid is not nice and CLEAN looking. I suggest getting estimates/quotes from a couple local shops (dealers) for these tasks.
