Just a reminder to anyone reading this in the future: While the 2021 uses WS in the transaxles, the gen5 uses TE in both front and back. I'm still three or four years away from needing to do my transaxle fluids(I plan to do 5-7y/50k-70k), but I think I'm going to have a trusted shop do it instead of doing it myself. It's not that you or I can't do it yourself(we absolutely can), it's just that I like taking the car in every year or two just so it can be put up on a lift and given a thorough inspection by an actual professional. It lets you spot small problems before they become big ones, and helps you to plan future repairs so you can do it on your schedule and budget. I'll have the transaxle fluid be the excuse to take it in. I'll probably do coolants at 5y and transaxles at 7y*. Of course the real trick is to find the trusted shop that knows your type of car inside and out and knows what to look for. I'm lucky that Chicago is one of my favorite cities and it's not an absolutely insane drive(it's only mildly crazy ). That means I can use TCCN as long as I can schedule a few months in advance. *TCCN recommends WS replacement in eCVTs at anything from 6-9y and 60k-90k. He's currently recommending TE replacement at 6y/60k, but that's only because it's new and doesn't yet have the track record the WS transaxles do. When I schedule my coolant at 5y, I'll probably ask if he's seen enough TE transaxles at that point to keep to the 6/60 or if he's altered the recommendation because of experience.
I've done three transaxle fluid changes on our 2010. The first around 12 months, something like 15k kms, was by far the darkest. The second and third were done at longer intervals, yet were increasingly clean looking. Haven't really read through the attachment; the 5th Gen Repair Manual appears to have multiple instances of "transaxle fluid change". Also dead-links abound. There's another fluid change instruction for the AWD system? Haven't found as yet.
Benefits of AWD: * worse fuel economy * greater tire wear * greater expense to maintain and repair * more accident prone because drivers feel that since they can accelerate faster in poor driving conditions they can neglect the fact that they can't stop in shorter distances * higher car insurance rates - see previous two bullets
Like for like, an AWD Prius should get fewer miles per gallon owing to an additional 140 pounds. This approximates the penalty of carrying a small adult. That weight penalty is even less than toting around the extra weight of a plug in system. I've seen this observation before and am not confident it's true. The rear motor puts out modest power at low speeds. One of the problems of front wheel drive is understeer in harder cornering; this is a pronounced problem in the current Corolla, a similar car feeding less power to the front wheels. The AWD system cuts torque to the front wheels in order to send more power to the rear motor. It doesn't eliminate that front wheel scrub in harder cornering, but it should reduce it. Anecdotally, the AWD system may ping pong power back and forth from front to back while applying power in a turn. No doubt. While the service doesn't seem complex, that wouldn't stop a dealership from handing an owner an off putting bill over it. Those are not attributes of the car. Of course, the attribute that would have someone buying an AWD car is AWD. If you live somewhere that presents limited traction, it can help a driver sidestep some FWD issues.
Indeed. That's what I've done. I'm in the great lakes region and only ever had a set of winter wheels once. All my previous cars were front wheel drive or rear wheels drive. People in these environments learn how to deal with snow. If the snow gets higher than the bottom of an ordinary car, just having snow tires isn't going to get you around very well either. Feeding all the power through only two wheels is a greater disadvantage in snow than I had thought before I used and AWD Prius last winter. This is particularly noticeable on inclines. Yes the rear motor has modest power, but where your traction is very slight doubling the traction available to move you doesn't take a lot. But good snow tires are better than AWD with all seasons! I don't doubt that, but since I didn't get winter tires anyway and just used the tires that came on the car, that observation has limited value. A snow cat gets even better grip in snow, but it wouldn't be what I want to drive on a warm March day either. But what about braking? Whichever tire you use you'll need to account for long stopping distances. The Dunlop Enasaves that came on my Corolla hatch provided much better efficiency than the Michelin Defenders that replaced them, but would break free with little warning in rain. If anyone finds his OEM tires insufficient in summer, I wouldn't suggest that person use that tire over the winter.
The issue for many drivers here is the variable timing of the seasons. There's been snow here in May, but also warmer temps beginning in February. Sliding all over with a set of snow tires on a sunny 70 degree day might not be ideal.
