We took my wife's 2010 Prius w/ 134K miles to a non-dealer shop that specializes in Prii to get recommendations for services needed. Then I compared the shop's recommendations to the owner's manual. Background: The car has started to need a quart of oil every 1700 miles or so, and the oil gets dirty faster. I put cardboard below where the car is parked and no leaks are evident. The shop says this amount of oil consumption isn't unusual, so they don't recommend any service. They said it couldn't hurt to add Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabilizer at the next oil change, but it likely wouldn't help much. 1) The shop recommends changing the automatic transmission fluid, but I can't find an interval in the manual. $57 parts + $155 labor = $212 total. Reasonable? 2) The shop and the manual agree that the spark plugs are due for a change, but $108 USD parts plus $238 labor = $346 total seems high to me. I plan to call a Toyota dealer to ask what they would charge. 3) The shop recommends changing both the engine and inverter coolant. $34 parts + $100 labor = $134 for each, so $268 total. Judging by how long it takes to get an appointment, most shops have high demand for their services and I realize that maintenance costs more than it used to. I'm just trying to see if these prices are reasonable, as I am no longer equipped to change my own spark plugs, coolant or oil. I searched threads on Prius chat for these services, but didn't want to create separate posts. While searching I notice that cleaning the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) pipe was often recommended. Any estimated range on the cost for a shop to do this, and is it worth doing? Thanks for any advice.
Well when you find out how easy all this stuff is and the few wrenches it'll take you may be shocked to see how little time it takes in your driveway I understand if you live in an apartment and have all kinds of restrictions so be it but these things you're talking about doing here can almost be done with the hood mostly down seriously I know the spark plug seem like there something but to pull the tray out or pull enough bolts to make the tray move around enough to get them out is really not a big to do I mean if you can do basic things this may not be a thing for you to me 346 or whatever you said to change the plugs takes about an hour and a half seriously even standing there talking to your son on a Saturday morning hour and a half tops He might lose a bolt that holds the tray in big deal there's nine of them That's about it I mean if you're like my dad and don't own a hammer and can't hang a picture up then maybe you could say to me not possible but when you're motivated like not to spend $400 you'd be surprised what you can do changing the spark plugs you can't really mess anything up per say there's nothing that you need to know for the most part same with the invert or cool it has its own pump everybody talks and talks about bleeding and bleeding and bleeding If you feel slowly and carefully and put the car on it's bled by the time you have it full and on the full mark and not dropping anymore it's just that simple it's almost the same with the engine coolant but I doubt you'll be changing that. With the oil consumption that you're talking about things are starting to happen in your open deck motor and they're not going to get better from this point on so given the fact that you may not be able to do any work you can spend four or $5,000 repairing stuff on this car that's about to happen or you could try and get out of it before anything happens and move to I don't know what. Every all the guys here seem to like the new p h e v you know 20 to $40,000 depending upon how you buy newer cars me personally I do the exact opposite I buy the generation twos '04 to '09 for very little money they will last forever that's a fact you even hear those people talking about expensive to replace the ABS pump not really get a JDM spec unit for $200 It may last 10 years It may last five for the couple hours it took me to put it on standing up and what have you compared to the thousand to $1,500 people want to charge even with a used part involved no way I can spend that kind of money I can but I don't.
Changing the plugs on this car is not easy, with the amount of disassembly/reassembly required. It's not something that I would want to do. The Gen 3 is the worst car I've ever owned for owner performed maintenance. Hondas I've owned, in contrast, were pretty good; plugs and oil filter are easy to access. Those costs seem higher than what I paid at the dealer for some of them.
I can relate to "no longer equipped...." LOL. So it doesn't matter how easy a maintenance service is in that situation. Assuming you plan on keeping the car, the services recommended are definitely reasonable. The prices are high, but the service should be done, especially the coolant (the corrosion and other additives are pretty much depleted just due to age). The transmission service, while over priced, is still cheap insurance; Same with the plugs, since it seems you are burning oil. If you have had the car since new, and just did the minimum maintenance, your oil burning may be the price you're paying for those "savings" over the years, and I would definitely be servicing at a much higher frequency (the oil does a LOT more in these cars than just lubricate the moving parts, and dirty oil, the wrong weight oil, and oil with depleted additives, is guarantying major problems, beyond burning oil). Getting rid of a vehicle you rely on just because it "might" have problems is like shooting a horse because it might break a leg. Do the EGR cleaning, and be diligent with maintenance in the future and the car could last a long time. And stick with shops that know what they are doing with a Prius (avoid the quick service joints).
Getting to the plugs for our 06 Civic Hybrid got involved. Checking the valve clearance, doubly so. It has a steeply raked windshield, so similar issues. https://www.cleanmpg.com//community/index.php?threads/17946/
On the '09 Civic I had, plugs and oil filter were easy. Plugs were on the front side of the engine for easy access. Same with the older Civic I had (forgot what year that was). Don't know why Honda doesn't use hydraulic valve lifters, which don't require adjustment.
Changing the transmission lube would be no more complicated or time-consuming than an engine oil change, except that the under-engine plastic cover must be removed, and the new fluid must be either pumped in from below, or poured through a hose from above.
Maybe it's more complexity, or adds mass, or something. I had an '88 Mazda with their B6 1.6L engine, and it had an overhead cam and hydraulic adjusters, right out there on the ends of the rockers where their mass was moving up and down all the time. I never noticed any problem, but some engineers seem to have steered away from that. Toyota's hydraulic adjusters in the 2ZR are a neat design. They act as the fulcrum for the rocker arm, so their mass doesn't matter: they don't really move. I bet somebody patented that, but I don't know who did, or what year.
$100 would be reasonable, $125 max. True. I take the whole underpanel off for every oil change, adds about 5~10 minutes. Drain and fill of the transaxle is a bit different, but on par with oil change. And no oil filter change. For refill, just using funnel and hose from above is dead-simple. Helps to have assistant pour, while you watch for when it starts to overflow. See link in my signature on the subject, for some idea of what's involved (very little...).
Toyota has never published a replacement schedule. They expect it to be a lifetime fluid. I'm on the fence- not quite ready to call Toyota wrong, but also not convinced that the ATF needs replacement. Definitely not ready to pay anybody else to change it. If it ever happens it'll be a DIY. The prices you've related don't seem out of line to me.
