So I had "hybrid coolant fluid service" performed for my car by the suggestion of my advisor at the stealership awhile back when my car was at 145,000 miles. When my car was at 155,000 miles, my advisor suggested my car needed "engine coolant service" which I declined. Forgive me for my ignorance, but are these both the same damn service with the only difference being the word "engine" used in lieu of "hybrid"? I just want to make sure that my suspicions are correct and that these bastards are trying to charge me for the same damn service after only 10,000 miles... I thought it was every 50,000 after 100K? Thank you for your patience.
The fluid is the same for engine and inverter. IMO they should change both when they did that "hybrid coolant fluid service".
The fluid is the same, but there are 2 different systems. Shortly after I bought our Gen 2, I asked the dealer to change the coolant in both. They charged me $150 for each. $150 is probably too much to pay for the inverter coolant drain and refill, but about right to pay for the ICE drain and refill, because I'm told getting all the air out of the ICE system is much more involved. They had my car for a couple of hours and I saw them working on it for most of that time.
Not even close to the same service. As Dave so correctly pointed out. And the engine coolant is more involved due to the extra work in getting out the air bubbles. Both need bleeding but the engine coolant needs burping, too.
@NutzAboutBolts has YouTube videos for both engine and inverter coolant changes, give a good idea of what's involved. Toyota USA maintenance schedule says: Engine coolant change at 100k miles or 10 years (whichever comes first). Inverter coolant change at 150k miles or 15 years. Both thereafter at 50k miles or 5 years.
