pet peeve: improper usage of the word maintenance vs. repairs I figured I'd post here since it's not Prius specific. One pet peeve of mine whenever anyone posts on a message board or someone discusses reliability is the improper usage of the word maintenance when they really meant repair. I just came across such a post today and a friend of mine improperly used it in email the other day. Example: Today someone posted "I have been driving my 2006 Prius since April 14th '06 and have just passed 50,000 miles this week. Never had a single maintenance issue with my car." That's just wrong in my book. I think the above should be reworded to discuss repairs or lack of. Maintenance should cover preventative work such as oil and other fluid changes, inspections, repacking bearings, etc. to prevent failure/repairs and maintain one's warranty. Repairs are when something fails, is failing or doing something abnormal and should NOT include wear items such as brake pads wearing out unless it was premature. maintenance - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and maintaining - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary seem to support my definitions. When people use the wrong word, it's not always easy to tell what they mean. Example: A car could be described as "high maintenance." Are they saying it needs lots of regular scheduled maintenance or that's it's very costly or that wear items are expensive to replace or that it in fact is unreliable? It'd be nice if people use the right words to describe their situation.
I would add shocks and struts into the list of maintenance items that are often reported as repairs. All shocks and struts will wear and need to be replaced every 50K to 75K miles. It seems that a significant percentage of the populations believes that anything other the the purchase cost and oil changes are "repairs".
Maintenance is the act of maintaining. Effecting repairs is performing maintenance in order to keep an item in the condition it is supposed to be in. I can't see a difference between replacing oil because it's knackered or replacing a bulb because it's knackered but you are suggesting one is maintenance and the other isn't.
I consider the following now as "routine" maintenance, depending on whether the vehicle is my Prius or my FJ - Clean MAF yearly with approved cleaner - Change/flush brake fluid at least once every two years (Prius is dealer-only, FJ can be done by me) - Change CVT fluid every fall (Prius) - Change rear axle fluid yearly, front axle/transfer case fluid every two years (FJ) - Check caliper slide pins yearly (FJ) That may seem excessive, but considering the extreme climate I live in, I don't take any chances. Actual *repair* bill for both my Toyota's so far? $0
In the world of Logistics Engineering, there are two types of Maintenance--Corrective and Preventive. Repairs are actually Corrective Maintenance actions.
