Toyota dealer said my "transmission fluid is dirty". $325 to service it. Seein' as he wants $5,000 for a hybrid battery, $50 to change a light bulb, I was wonderin'. I really can't beleive that the only thing I've seen online is a vague "locate the transmission dipstick" for this 2010 Prius. Still can't find it. Is there one? Just got a new hybrid battery today for $2700 at specialty Prius hybrid battery shop. They said I don't need another 12 volt battery.
How did he know that your transmission fluid is dirty? You don't have a dipstick for tranny fluid. Basically Toyota says that tranny fluid is lifetime but here on PC most of us we change it at least once. I did it for the peace of my mind. You can do it yourself, that $325 dealer quote seems "a little bit" steep for me.
Always fun when Stealerships expand their scams into our DIY territory despite Toyota not agreeing with them....
Yup! WAY behind on his yacht payments. That's about $700 per hour labor. Except that, since there is no dipstick for the transaxle, the only way to know if it's dirty is to change it. Have you told the service manager or the general manager about this service writer? If they don't put a stop to the larceny, then maybe go to the Better Business Bureau or even the state attorney general?
There's a link in my signature with info on transaxle fluid change. The Toyota ATF WS fluid and replacement fill/drain bolt washers are around $40~50 at dealership parts department, and it's no harder/complicated than an oil/filter change. Anything significantly more than $100 USD for dealership to do this is a rip.
I just got the transmission fluid drain and fill done on my 2011 Prius (125k miles) at my local Toyota dealer this past week. They quoted $140 and I had a $10 discount coupon, so I payed $130 + tax. I was taking my car in to get a software update for the engine ECU, so I had the transmission fluid changed while it was there. I did not want to do it myself because it is to cold outside and I did not want to wait until spring for warmer temperatures. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Only thing that's hard about it is shopping around for a socket for the oversized bold... I think it's 24mm and most socket sets don't go that high.
Gen 3 has identical bolts for drain and fill; socket-head-cap-screw style, require a 10 mm hex driver. Torque is 29 ft/lb for both.
Thanks! So many little things that are different between Gen2 and Gen3... Got an old Gen3 restoration project starting up in a week... Looking forward to better knowing all the differences more thoroughly!
You guys reminded me that I had to hunt up a 24mm socket a few years ago, but I couldn't remember why. Now I remember.
Someday all our tools will have little data storage chips so we can ask them questions about why we got them and how often we use them. Could make hanging out in the shop and talking to all your tools more legit than it currently is.
