MotorWeek: Auto Basics: Goss' Garage Not particularly enlightening: Hummm, does that include Motorweek articles? Bob Wilson
Re: Motorweek: Pat Goss on hybrid maintenace Quote lacks context. the "99% pure garbage can refer to "you can do all the maintenance on a prius with a pocketknife" garbage or the "if anything touches the car, the car will explode action-movie style" garbage. I just wish the show didn't look like something out of the 70s. I mean they even manage to make this car look dated and boring: MotorWeek: Road Test
I don't like that Mr. Goss is selling all these after market additives in the show, which are useless.
I read that interview and I got nothing out of it. Sure, anyone can service the engine (oil, antifreeze, etc) because, well, it's an engine! Moving beyond that - which is what hybrid owners really want to know - is the MG-wires-battery portion of the vehicle. They said "don't touch!" Now, how in the hell is their webpage supposed to be of any help to anyone? Seems like a useless waste of server space to me. Does the Prius require any maintenance on the EV portion? Do the electric motors need to be disassembled and greased every two years, or is the EV portion maintenance-free? That's what people want to know. Based on my own experience with Toyotas, you should never need a third-party product. Toyotas today are almost 100% maintenance free beyond the basics (oil changes, trans fluid, and antifreeze, etc).
Besides things that one ought to know about any car, there are a few things more or less hybrid specific Don't mess up polarity when connecting an external 12 volt source. Do learn how to 'read' the correct flow in the inverter coolant reservoir. Do consider transaxle fluid changes even though some parts of Toyota Inc. say it's not necessary. Beyond that we enter some areas influenced by personal opinions such as max tire pressure and appropriate engine oil change intervals.
