I'm sitting here with my 2008 Prius "Scheduled Maintenance Guide", and reading cover to cover I do not see any mention anywhere of a transaxle oil change. I plan on changing it at some point, but am I missing something or does Toyota really not recommend a transaxle oil change until beyond 120k miles (the last entry in the maintenance guide)?
No, Toyota USA has no transaxle fluid changes in their maintenance schedule. However, Toyota Canada does--at about 60,000 miles. Many owners have had oil analyses done (myself included), which suggest an initial change at 10,000 miles is wise, followed by changes at around 30,000 mile intervals. Not everyone agrees with this, but it seems cheap insurance against component failure, and replacing the transaxle is rather expen$ive.
I have a 2007 and based on my experience with a failed transmission on a different car that had "lifetime fluid" I changed mine myself at 60,000 miles. Its easy to do yourself and takes about as long as doing an engine oil change. It takes just under 4 quarts of Toyota type WS fluid @ about $7.50 qt and you should replace the washers at both the drain and the fill plugs $2 each. Be prepared for the parts guy at the Toyota dealership to argue with you that there is no reason to change it because its a lifetime a fluid. After initially arguing with me my service guy then tried to tell me that I should at least wait until 100,000 miles. I will tell you that I am glad I did it and regret that I didn't do it sooner because at 60,000 miles my fluid was almost as dark as used motor oil with only a hint of red in it. Check out this thread http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...e-troubleshooting/50444-cvt-fuild-change.html Post #9 and #29 are extremely helpful if you plan on doing this yourself.
