Best Maintenance Practices (beyond just oil change, filters, etc)

i'm at 75k and haven't done anything beyond the toyota maintenance schedule. i suggest you do the same, and possibly consider the tranny fluid as tide mentions above, if you are going to keep it beyond 150k.
we see very few tranny failures here.

 

Remembering the recommendation for Gen 3 (which specifies a 0W-20 oil that I never found available in any form other than full synthetic) it was 10,000 miles or once a year if you have none of the special driving conditions described in the warranty and maintenance guide. If your driving involves any of those special conditions (mine does, for example), then it is 5,000 miles or 6 months. You're on the honor system to evaluate your driving conditions and put yourself in the right category.

Has Gen 4 really done away with the special-conditions category?

 

It's all in the Service Manual which came with the car - or you can get on line from TOYOTA USA website for free.

Interesting, @Tideland Prius said "I'm only at 25,000 miles but my Prime's front pads are at 75% and the rear at 90% life left."

At 30.000km the dealer told me the same. I asked again at 50,000 - they gave me the same figure. If I have a look - they look like new at 65,000km. I don't expect to ever change them.

 

curious what dealership you went to. We purchased our 2020 at Heartland in Bremerton, and did our first 6 month service (grand total of 1,000-1,500 miles driven) at Toyota of Seattle. They seemed competent but I could see how they’d be over inclusive in what they do. Since it is free to me I didn’t care, but didn’t really see the need for both an oil change and a tire rotation at this low mileage (if it were on my dime I’d wait until the year mark). They also replaced the windshield wipers without me asking, and billed Toyota.

I did like their free pickup and drop off service… that’s something I’ve never experienced before even with the various luxury makes we’ve owned (Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, Saab, Acura, Cadillac).

 

I personally like to change fluids every 30k miles (besides oil). I just did them all last month and had a dealer do it just because I want it done right and some of these need access to Techstream to do it properly such as brake fluid and inverter coolant change. There are ways to do it without Techstream but I don't have the ability to do it myself and I doubt a regular shop would go through the trouble of doing it if I gave them instructions.

I do oil changes and oil filters every 5k miles as well as tire rotation and alignments, just because I have lifetime rotation and alignments at a local shop. These are the only services I don't do at Toyota just because they are simple and not that technical.

Engine air filters at 10k miles and cabin air filters at 15k. They aren't that dirty but realistically I'm spending about $40 to do both and its really like once a year. So minimal.

As for the fluids I did at 30k (besides oil change):

Brake fluid
Transmission fluid
Rear motor fluid (mine is AWD)
Engine coolant
Inverter coolant

These were all just drain and fills. I believe each were just an hour labor plus the cost of the fluids. You can bring your own and just pay labor (depending on the dealer I guess as some don't allow you to use you own). I used all my own fluids except for the coolant. I had them use theirs when they did the changes.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

A friend at work has a son-in-law who's a master technician at a local Toyota. I got to sit down with him asked him everything and made notes:

-Oil/Oil filter every 6 months
-Engine Air Filter: Check every 6 months and replace if dirty (hold it up to the sun)
-Cabin Air Filter: Replace once a year and the carbon-activated are the best to get
-Transfer case (automatic transmission) Every 60,000 miles or every 6-years. It's almost as easy as changing your oil (no pan to remove or filter to replace.) USE ONLY TOYOTA ATF WS (World Standard) in the transmission and the rear differential (for Prius' with AWD, like mine)
-Rear Differential Case: Change every 3-years or 30,000 miles
-Car Gasoline: 87 is fine AND he said to check your gas station you regularly go to see ensure they have "Top Tier" gasoline...you can search for them on the internet. (We have a 7-11 with Conoco gas and it's Top Tier) Never get gas at one of those Mom&Pop no-name places...one tank of bad gas can do a lot of harm.
-Toyota Radiator Coolant: 100,000 or every 5 years then every 50,000 or 5-years and ONLY use the Toyota brand.
-Hybrid Coolant: Change it at the same time you change out the radiator...uses the same Toyota coolant.
-Hybrid Batter Air Filter: The access door is located on the right passenger side. There's cloth-like filter you can clean out and he said to also shine a light at the round air blower and inspect to ensure the fins aren't all clogged up....you can vacuum the crud out if it stuff like pet hair in there. Do this yearly or more often if you have animals who ride back there. (And never clog up that vent with anything...heat is the biggest killer of our EV batteries.)
Spark Plugs: Replace when the car is warm, not hot or cold, so they come out easier. Replace only with Iridium every 100,000 miles or 10 years. (Never put anything on the new plugs like anti-seize lube.)
-Brakes: Our hybrids have a special system on our brakes that generates electricity when we hit the brakes so our brake pads last a very, very long time but replacing them is the same as any other car, just need to not mess with anything down there that's not in the calipers. (And I've always replaced rotors with my brake pads...never had any issues doing that.) I've done lots of brake jobs on cars but never a hybrid so waiting for my wife's 2017 to need her pads changed...not even close to ready yet.
-Fuel Injector Cleaner/Maintenance. He said if you are going to Top Tier gas stations, running a tank of high-test gas a few times a year will do the same thing as having the Toyota service done...will clean out those injectors. (And flooring the gas on your car once a month or so does help blow out the built up crud in any engine/exhaust, even in a hybrid...just get it warmed up to operating temperature first.)

He did mention that hybrid cars that aren't driven much seem to develop battery problems sooner...so if you're car isn't driving much, take it on a 1-2 hour drive at least a few times a month to keep everything happy.

 

Toyota USA “seems” to recommend a more in-depth brake inspection every 3 years or 30k miles, whichever comes first.

Their wording is vague though, and it seems like both dealerships and owners enable each other, in ignoring it. I’d speculate dealerships don’t like it doing it, and owners are happy to dodge an expense. So we hear “my pads still have lots of life”. Only problem, there’s more to it. And for DIY’rs, and third party pros, it IS easy to screw them up, the rears in particular.

OP should just crack the warranty and maintenance booklet, see what’s involved according to Toyota, get back in the maintenance drivers seat.

AND…, look into the worthwhile extras Toyota USA keeps shtumph (sic) about:

Exhaust Gas Recirculation and intake manifold cleaning

Periodic brake fluid replacement (recommended by Toyota Canada tri-yearly or 48K kms)

Transaxle fluid replacement

Throttle body cleaning

Also consider an oil catch can install. And a 5k miles or 6 month oil change interval.

 

Don't forget about tire mounting. Making sure that the wheels and tires are balanced is important. The wheel alignment interval can vary considerably depending on the type of vehicle you have, your driving habits, and other factors.

Another thing will be putting air in the tires, I check my tires monthly to make sure they are inflated to the proper pressure.

 

So true...I forgot about tires! We buy at Discount Tires so get free rotations and balance checks which we do yearly.

 

I never owned a gen 3, just a gen 2 and gen 4. What is the EGR maintenance?

 

The main EGR problems with the Prius seems to be for the years 2010-2015. It can cause heavy vibration when the gas engine is running. (Can also throw a code if it gets worst.) The EGR helps recycle the exhaust gas from the exhaust and recycles it, but cools it first. So the valve in the EGR can start sticking. If it sticks open it can actually kill the engine from running. (2nd Gen Camry Hybrid has the same EGR issues.) I haven't heard of any EGR issues for any other years. My wife has a 2017 and haven't had any issues. I do run a tank of high-test gas (and we fill up at a Top Tier station) so that's supposed to help clean out injectors and stuff in there, hopefully also the EGR valve!
There are videos out there on how to clean it out yourself but, for me, if it ain't broke I don't fix it....just watch out for signs of a problem.

 

Exhaust Gas Recirculation cleaning info:

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