New Prius Owner, 116k, recommended initial maintenance

Welcome
ALL those rates are excessive, IMHO!!!

Yes, part of the ATF.

Engine coolant drain and fill....Every 50k or 5 years....168.00; Do it yourself or find an independent shop, many DIY videos on YouTube

Hybrid coolant drain and fill....Every 50k or 5 years....247.00; Ditto

Spark plugs.....Every 120k or 10 years....345.00; Ditto

PCV valve....Every 50k miles.....205.00 - Not needed - The entire PCV system should to be de-carbonized and cleaned out, get more info.

Trans service.....Every 60k miles or 5 years.....295.00, OK, but a bit on the high side - may be safely pushed to every 100K IMHO.

Brake Flush.....Every 25k or 3 years....188.00; a bit on the high side and excessive - dip a brake fluid tester in the reservoir. Should be done every 3-5 years, depending on test results. I know of cars with over 300K and 20+ years old, with original brake fluid - but these brake by wire systems isn't going to take that kind of abuse.

Throttle Body cleaning....Every 25k or 3 years.....90.00; Do it yourself or find an independent shop - excessive, every 100k miles is fine. @1/2 hour labor - they're probably just spraying some Berrysmen carb. clean down the throttle body.

Engine decarbon service....Every 25k or 3 years.....330.00 with oil change, Get more details, what's actually being done? Chemical treatment? Most likely don''t need it; If your using full synthetic oil on all the oil changes - definitely not needed.

The Carfax maintenance record should drive your decision. If the car was maintained as stated above, you've got a winner. Just a FYI: These 3nd gens are know to blow head gaskets and malfunctioning brake by wire systems; both costly repairs ($3k+ each)

Hope this helps.....

 

run, run away as fast as you can.

job #1, clean the egr circuit before the head gasket blows.

watch

 

Hybrid battery filter service...Every 30k or 3 years or as needed...183.00

-There is no filter... off to a bad start. First the intake is under the passenger rear seat and only has a plastic strainer to keep socks out. Second, if the car had animals shedding in it, the blower squirrel cage may be dusty. Usually fine and has no official schedule.

Engine coolant drain and fill....Every 50k or 5 years....168.00

-Yes but its one of the easiest drain and fills ever. No fancy bleeding or flushing needed.

Hybrid coolant drain and fill....Every 50k or 5 years....247.00

-Yes after the first at 150k. Also pretty easy.

Spark plugs.....Every 120k or 10 years....345.00

-Yes. Somewhat difficult as it requires complete removal of the wipers, housing (cowl) and wiper motor. Many go 150k with oem plugs. Maybe 4 of 10 for difficulty.

-PCV valve....Every 50k miles.....205.00

It is hard to get to, generally requires removal of intake manifold and various hoses and pipes.

Trans service.....Every 60k miles or 5 years.....295.00

-Transaxle service maybe a 3 of 10 drain and fill.

Brake Flush.....Every 25k or 3 years....188.00

-Every 75k-100k would be fine. To do it right on a brake by wire system requires Techstream.

Throttle Body cleaning....Every 25k or 3 years.....90.00

-50k to 100k would do it. About a 2 of 10.

Engine decarbon service....Every 25k or 3 years.....330.00 with oil change

-A complete waste of money the way they do it. Most never do it.

-A key item missing is oil burning preventative maintenance. These cars have many flaws and oil burning can run you out of oil in 5k miles. 5k oil changes like your wallet depends on it as a priority over any of the above.

Many of us would have recommended against this generation of Prius bought on the used market.

 

Just cherry picking from the worst offenders:

I DIY’d both of those about 4 years back, and the hybrid coolant drain/fill is easier of the two, and less coolant needed as well.

That’s absurd, shouldn’t be more than $100. It’s different-but-similar to an oil change.

yeah I would back away from that place, get the Toyota schedule. If you do business with them, tell THEM what you want done.

I would look into EGR cleaning, soon. More info in my signature (on a phone turn it landscape to see signatures).

 

If your going to pay that kinda rates, try this guy: TCCN Automotive; don't know how far he is from you - but seems to be no fuss, honest. Beware, I haven't dealt with him personally, but he puts out pretty accurate and honest videos (the car care nut).

Good Luck....

$150/hr is on par with a large city; I believe SF is closer to $200/hr. What I don't like it the questionable services and value, they are recommending! ($90 to point a can of carburetor cleaner down the throttle body)

 

Maybe don't do any of that until you're sure you're going to keep it.

Lots of stories of new owners of that model over-spending on vaguely preventative stuff only to be faced with a real wallet-buster 2 months later.

They really were great when new but they haven't aged well.

 

It is a good indicator of egr flow and is calculated per drive in most cases. The system will code on poor flow OR excessive flow when the egr has been commanded closed - such as at low rpm or wide open throttle.

Which is the reason almost no one outside of Priuschat cleans them including TCCN Automotive. It is true these engines often burn oil which can clog egr passages and reduce catalytic efficiency. For those reasons I monitor both several times a year.

I replaced the egr cooler at 150k and swapped for a cleaned cooler around 300k miles. I also have the revised egr valve and the latest US ecm software.

 

If you’re saying the only reason EGR system is clogging is those pistons rings, I would disagree. I’ve yet to see any dipstick drop between changes, but getting the usual EGR carbon build-up.

thoughts about EGR flow monitoring:

1. even with “sufficient” flow, the carbon on the cooler fins may be reducing its cooling efficacy.

2. even with “sufficient” flow, the EGR capillary passages in intake manifold (one per port) tend to carbon-clog sequentially, with cylinder one end fully clogged ahead of the rest.

 

1st I would like to apologize, I do not know how to post a private message to Mendel Leisk. Maybe this will be helpful for others idk.
Mr. Leisk a few years ago you had posted an Excel spreadsheet regarding maintenance for the Prius. My question is once you surpass the mileage on the spreadsheet (185K) do you return to 85k and follow the maintenance schedule from that point moving forward?
Thank you

 

I extended the Toyota USA schedule for 3rd gen Prius (should be applicable to Prius v as well) to 240k miles, in the attached spreadsheet, so at 185k you'd still be within that table. It's pretty straightforward, if you wanted to extend it further; once a service has repeated, you can extend the table as far as needed, just maintaining the same intervals.