Hello folks, My maintenance required light has been on for a week now and I have been deliberating over what to do. My car currently has 155k miles on it. I bought it four years ago with 123k on the clock. I have the vehicle serviced, with oil change, every year, and six months ago bought a brand new set of tires. Yesterday I attempted to book a service appointment with my local Toyota dealer, using their online system. The option that is being offered to me is a 120k Required Maintenance Package that will cost me $790.65 plus tax. Frankly, I can't afford to spend that sort of money for what seems a fairly rudimentary service job. The list of maintenance work that comes with this package is as follows: Replace engine oil and oil filter (0W-20) Rotate tires Replace cabin air filter (except solar power ventilation system) Replace engine air filter Replace automatic transmission fluid Replace front differential oil Replace spark plugs Check installation of driver's floor mat Inspect and adjust all fluid levels Inspect automatic transmission fluid Inspect ball joints and dust covers Inspect brake lines and hoses Inspect brake linings/drums and brake pads/discs Inspect drive shaft boots Inspect engine/inverter coolant Inspect exhaust pipes and mountings Inspect fuel lines and connections, fuel tank band and fuel tank vapor vent system hose Inspect fuel tank cap gasket Inspect radiator, condenser and/or intercooler Inspect steering gear box Inspect steering linkage and boots Inspect wiper blades Tighten nuts and bolts on chassis and body Visually inspect brake linings/drums and brake pads/discs I'm no mechanic, and have highlighted in blue the items that I am unable to do myself. I'd also prefer most of the inspection items to be performed by a trained professional. However, this seems an extraordinarily expensive maintenance package, given what is actually being done. I'd really appreciate any and all advice before I commit scarce resources to this service.
This is why the most dealers don't want to sell EVs...this is where they make all their money. Ask to pay for just the things you want done. Maybe they'll do the inspections anyway hoping to find something else to charge you for. Mike
do you have access to the service records? http://www.toyota.com/owners, you can also find toyotas recommended maintenance schedule there. a lot of that stuff might already be done, and even that list is missing a few important things
60k/90k/120k services are where dealers make ALL their money. You have correctly concluded that you are paying a lot of money for very little actual work. That's because they do very little with these services. Don't worry about it. Find a good indie mechanic if you are really worried and ask for the blue items.
So watch a few videos on brake jobs suspension jobs car parts in general and the inspection part of all this nonsense is very easily You're looking for leaks drips grease squirting out of rubber ball joint boots so on and so forth I can tell you on your Prius you're not going to find much of any of this unless you have the car lifted or an off-roading person or living in the car or I don't know something extreme or more extreme or you live on dirt roads you're some kind of contractor that is not on paved roads those kind of things this can put a little more activity on your suspension and car in general can make things fail quicker. But on the several Gen 3s that I service they are pretty boring cars where nothing goes on except for the head gasket leaks engine replacements hybrid battery workups or replacements preferably that sort of thing I've done brake jobs on Toyotas for 40 years The Prius is one of the least needy of suspension and brake work it's almost well unheard of unless you're wrecking things rolling over big things whatever then that changes but most of these inspections common sense kind of handles that business in your mind but if you don't know anything about any of this you could always go to like a local garage what you're asking for is not scientific discovery here a regular mechanic all wheel bearings and ball joints and tie rod ends and end links on sway bars they're the same on all vehicles nothing special fancier anything to worry about. So you could just go to a regular garage pay a guy's 30 bucks burn one with him whatever and he'll show you while he's walking around the car and doing the look and lifting it up and whatever at least I would and most guys probably would you hand them 35 $40 tell him you need 40 minutes of their time. So on and so forth and if there any kind of person they'll probably be like yeah no problem buddy they even might take up an hour talking to you if you sit there and talk to him when they're done with your car and they're fiddle farting around with something else you'd be surprised man You really will stay away from the Toyota dealer nobody has any business at the dealer per se.
The both inverter & engine coolant should be changed, if it already hasn't been or you don't know it's been changed. `$100 Transmission ATF and differential oil is the same, just one fluid to change ~$100 oil-, cabin-, engine air-, filters should all be changed ~$100 Spark Plugs, if they haven't been already changed ~$120 Now that you have a base-line, just follow the 0-100K mile maintenance routine outlined in the Toyota service manual. Hope this helps....
Thanks. I finally managed to access the online service records and it looks like when I bought it the dealer had not performed the 120k service. What important items would you say are missing from the dealer maintenance package I listed? The frustrating thing is I'm out of state for a while so don't have access to my usual mechanic who I trust. Thanks, this is helpful. I had new shocks, struts and brakes put in just over a year ago, so its the spark plugs, head gasket and hybrid battery I guess I need to be wary about, right? It helps a lot, thanks. The cabin and engine filter I do every couple of years but I don't have the space/facilities for the fluids so I'll see if I can find someone who can do this and the spark plugs for me. Cheers.
i think all of the fluids should have been changed by now, but the maintenance schedule will have it listed. one thing not on the schedule, and dealers are unaware of is the egr circuit. do-all-gen-3s-2010-2014-need-egr-cleaning.222853 watch
This isn’t making a lot of sense to me. to be fair, the Toyota schedule stops at 120k. I’ve extrapolated it to 240k, and in a bit can post spreadsheet and pdf format. No pun intended: you’re in the driver’s seat, you find out what’s required, and have them do it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s an oil change and tire rotation, full stop. that assumes you have been following Toyota schedule so far.
Attached is a spreadsheet format summary of the Toyota USA maintenance schedule, extrapolated to 240K. 155K would be literally a tire rotation, lol.
