2007 Prius - Coolant 3-way Control Valve replacement - price question

The OEM part is around $100, and dealers charge $115-$130 an hour for labor. This is a 3-5 hour job so the dealer price is good. I always go to the dealer for anything that is hybrid specific. I use a local trusted mechanic for standard repairs like brakes, suspension, etc.

Here is a thread of a guy who did this himself and it took him 4-6 hours: P1121 - Coolant Control Valve Replacement (with pics) | PriusChat

If you live in a big city, it might be worth calling a few other toyota dealers in a 30 minute drive to see if the prices are consistent. Also check their websites they often have 10% off repair coupons which can help.

Good luck!

 

If those are your 3 choices, definitely don't go to the one that's the most expensive. If the dealer which charges very high labor rates can do it for around $600, there is no way a smaller shop should charge $900+.

The procedure to do this correctly is to drain the coolant out, but most shops don't do this. They will use hose clamps and change out the valve without losing much coolant. This will take them about an hour to finish. Most people won't know if their coolant has been drained or not drained, so many shops will just charge for the coolant and not spend the time doing it.

This really is a simple repair for most DIY people. Bleeding the coolant is not the difficult, just takes a little bit longer than the average car. As the car is bleeding, the technician is doing nothing but waiting for air bubbles to bleed out. There's nothing additional the shop has to do for the extra $300 other than wait, there is no intensive labor involved. You can ask them what the hell is so "intensive" about bleeding the air from a car? What they are saying is if they keep your car overnight, they'll charge you another $600 because it took longer to get the car back to you....crazy reasoning

 

If you're comfortable, I might keep poking around with independent mechanics. Mine is in the Bay Area. He doesn't have a lift station, but what he lacks in a modern service station, he makes up for it with his skills and integrity. I saw him last month and did some preventative replacement work on the coolant valve, engine water pump, thermostat, v-belt, oil+filter, HID bulbs, and replaced my front struts for $350. I've driven it almost 1k miles since, and as expected, runs great! After helping my brother maintain his Prius in another state, thanks to this forum, I was inclined to work on my own. But I dont have the same garage access, and it feels great to support my mechanic who has worked on my other cars for almost 10 years now.

 

Could you please share the contact info for your mechanic, either privately or in this thread. Not everyone can afford the dealership.

 

I had my local dealership mechanic do this valve replacement for me. He does work on the side. He took two hours and charged me $60. He did not use hose clamp-off pliers to prevent the cooling system from emptying. As a result the system needed to be bled. I filled the coolant reservoir and then drove for about ten minutes for each interval of the process. While driving on liocal roads at say 30 to 35 mph, I stopped every 10 minutes to top off the coolant reservoir. After about four top-offs the system was bled. Again this could have been avoided if my guy had used hose clamp-off pliers.

Link.to hose clamp-off pliers: Line Clamp Set, 3 Pc.

 

I tried to message you privately, but don't see that option working? Happy to share. I don't know if I get some kind of special loyal customer pricing so I don't want to promise that others will see the same. At the same time, I'm highly confident that it won't be much more. This guy is just as nice as they come.