Hi all, First time long time but have greatly appreciated learning from this group. We have a 2014 Gen 3 with 75K miles and no major issues. We've been happy with dealer for our general maintenance and 5,000 mile checks but they are starting to throw big ticket item "suggestions" that don't seem to align with the Toyota Recommended service and are very pricey. I've searched the threads and have seen similar queries but no strong answers or anything recently so checking if anyone has a good trusting Prius specializing mechanic/shop they'd recommend. Thanks in advance, D
Prius mechanics hasn't made it as far as Venus and Mars yet That's kind of pushing it but if you're up in the DC Metro over in the Virginia's there are some hybrid shops I don't use hybrid shop so I can't really blast out a bunch of recommendations but generally most anybody's better than the dealer especially if you can find some people say above 42 age wise usually nowadays when you look at shops online everybody's real quick to put up pictures of people that work there I am a people person and usually can tell by looking at the staff of a shop whether it's worth my time to ride over there and have a conversation this is a skill some people may or may not have but it gives you some quick ideas to look online for shops like this in the area you're speaking of and look at the pictures they'll be a picture of the secretary in the office and the owner and probably a picture of the shop with a few cars up on lifts and so on and so forth Believe it or not looking at those pictures you can tell a whole lot about what's going on or you can't But I live up near that way and my brother's in Maryland Bethesda and I personally do not know any of the hybrid shop owners in that area now somebody that could probably help you in dealing with that problem would be the man that owns the hybrid doctor and his employees I'm sure they will know a few shops that they use in the area when they have a problematic car that they're trying to get through inspection or whatever for a customer or even themselves they live breathe and drive these cars from DC all the way down to where my other house is in North Carolina which is about 6 hours away so they are in it 100% and I'm sure Eduardo or whoever over there can give you some recommendations and these are the kind of people that are no nonsense they're probably connect you with some South Americans that do this kind of work right up there in your area and good luck.
Worthwhile extras: EGR cleaning, including intake manifold: optimum every 50k miles, 100k at the latest. brake service every 30k miles or 3 years. This is actually noted in the US schedule, but very subtly, with little further explanation. Of note: Toyota Canada recommends brake fluid change at same interval. transaxle fluid change. My take on a good schedule for this, in the absence of any guidance from Toyota, just going on drained fluid appearance, would be a first drain-and-fill around 10k miles or one year, then maybe once more at 50k miles. hybrid battery fan and associated ductwork cleaning. Especially if you transport pets prone to shedding, have a look, clean it up, which’ll give you some feedback as to how often is needed. hybrid battery assessment. Dr Prius app or similar will help. my signature has some relevant links; on a phone turn it landscape to see signatures. maybe update your info?
Dealer is Alexandria Toyota They have suggested- Fuel Throttle Cleaning ~ $70 (I can do myself) "Drain and Refill Trans Due by Mileage" $330 "PCV Valve Rec Due by Age and Mileage" $411 (there seems to be little info about this on PC and what there is implies its a very inexpesive valve to replace so this price was very surprising to me. The dealer noted there is no oil leakage yet) Thanks for all the responses above, much appreciated. I'm fairly inept mechanically so appreciate the links above and other suggestions.
They are going to charge you $330 to screw out 2 plugs, let the fluid drain, re-install the plugs and then pour back in about maybe $40 worth of trans fluid? Toyota says the fluid is "lifetime" (even though I changed mine in about 25 min)...so why would they even recommend it? Seriously, at most it should be "maybe" $100. Watch a youtube video how to.....I'm sure you can do it even if you've never worked on a car before.
That is the dealer I was talking about in the post below. If I need dealer work, I now make the drive to Priority Toyota in Springfield.
