WE CAN'T CHANGE YOUR OIL / you have the WORLD FLUID in there...

This is my first time starting a topic:

Yesterday, I took our 05 Prius to Longo Toyota here in So Cal. I wanted a transmission fluid drain and refill, and my coolant system to be drained, flushed and refilled with new coolant. 2 hours later, my car is ready and the price was a lot lower than I thought it should be. I looked at the paperwork and discovered they only performed the radiator coolant drain flush and fill job order. The reason given for not completing the transmission fluid change was stated as, "HAS WORLD FLUID, NOT ABLE TO CHANGE IT".

I paid the lower price and then asked to speak to the service writer, who said, "they can't even check the oil or replace it, it has the world fluid". I said, but I like to do preventive maintenance and I already have 70K miles in 2 years of ownership and I want the fluid changed. He was polite and stuck to his story.

This is the dealer where I bought the car from. I have the extended warranty, and I just want my Prius to last a long time. I mentioned all that to the service writer and he agreed with me, but said his technicians could not do the job. I said OK, and scratched my head while I drove home from the dealer. Let me say that I really like Longo Toyota, they are a first class operation and I trust there opinions. But I want to know from any of the hybrid trained technicians here on PC what they think of this.

Can somebody tell me if I should accept this or demand a fluid change? Why did this dealer deny me the service and should I be OK with it?

Riddle me this Batman.......

 

Thanks Evan,

I will be calling their service department this week and inquiring further into why this cannot be done. Hopefully somebody there will be able to explain this to me and possibly convince me if it sounds right. I would much rather change it out and do the right thing. But the service writer almost made it sound like it was not recommended.

Will report back later after I start calling today.......

 

Protect the ICE? I was hoping to protect the eCVT. All of my oil changes since 5K miles have been Mobil 1 synthetic. Hopefully the ICE is protected. How does the tranny fluid so to speak, protect the ICE?

....going to the phone....

 

Roger - copy,

I just called, and they're real busy now, but I will call during the week when the chances are much better that I will be able to speak to a service manager, and not my service writer. My service writer was with another customer, and his voice mail was offered to me, but I declined and said that I would rather ask my questions to a service manager.

So I'll try on Monday and post the results right here.

 

...hopefully they are a dealership, and not a Stealership. I may try it myself, but I would feel better having them do it. I do my own air oil and cabin filter changes myself.

wish me luck.

 

UPDATE:

I just got a callback from one of the Service Managers at Longo. He mentioned that Toyota does not recommend that service until 120K miles or at 60K miles if you are towing a trailer. :blink: He also stated that they would do it if I wanted it done. Later this week I will have it done, probably next Thursday or Friday.

While on the phone with him, I mentioned that I would like a discount of at least 15% because I had to go to them again and I live a considerable distance from them. When I went the first time for the coolant drain and fill, plus the tranny fluid change, I had a 15% coupon that they had sent me in the mail. He agreed to the discount and said that he would add this request to my account info. Maybe I will just ask for an oil change coupon instead?

I made it clear to him that I was not calling to complain about the service writer, A couple of times I mentioned him by name and stated that he was polite, and also agreed with me that he would feel better having it done sooner than later. So I did not want to get the guy in trouble. My faith has been restored with Longo. During the conversation I mentioned that I had spoke with several people on-line about this, and that many hybrid technicians recommended the service sooner than later. Maybe this is why they will do it? Anyway, I will report back when the service is complete, and if there is any noticeable improvement in the vehicles overall operation / fuel efficiency / yada.

Our Prius will never tow anything, except my brother in laws fat-nice person...... :lol: