own a 2011 Prius with 15,000 miles on it. The dealer is recommending fluid changes (inverter, brake, coolant and one more). Cost is about 600-800. No issues with this car. I am not “car smart”, so what happens if you don’t do the suggested maintenance? Thoughts and opinions are welcome and appreciated. Thank you. I’m
Read the owners manual. There is a list of when each service is due. With the added service of replacing the transmission fluid at approx. 50,000 miles.
https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/omms-s/T-MMS-11Prius/pdf/T-MMS-11Prius.pdf On Page 48 is the 90 month service, combine that with the 96 month service and you are up to date. Never trust the dealer, insist on the Toyota service. Changing the transaxle ATF WS is not a bad idea, as well
Or 115k miles. Either is more reasonable for the dealer recommendations. Easy to not put in a one or zerowhen there are a couple in series.
It is 15,000 miles. The reason I am asking the question is because of 1) it's age and 2) the low miles. I want to make sure that the dealer isn't ripping me off and that the maintenance is truly required. Thanks to all/
don't trust the dealer, follow the schedule that came with your car. some things are due at mileage, some at time, some whichever comes first.
Most here won't agree with this but.....I'm 65 years old and have never changed anything due to time...only usage (miles). Never had a problem either. I keep my cars a long time and I've never changed the following in any of them...engine coolant and brake fluid. I've never had a problem related to either of those. I do stick to oil change schedule and I tend to change the transmission fluid earlier than the recommended intervals...especially when it's supposed to be "good for the life of the car" as some cvt's fluids supposedly are. At 15k miles I would only change oil until at least 50k but probably even beyond that. But hey that's just me.
Yeah 15k miles is VERY low, almost a "stored" car. I'd be thinking about the 12 volt battery, and maybe considering a brake fluid change. The latter is not mentioned by Toyota USA, but their Canadian counterpart says tri-yearly or 48k kms. Honda Canada says tri-yearly, regardless of miles.
Good link to the manual, although there is so much in their about special driving conditions and needless CYA stuff ("Check drivers floor mat") and basic "inspect / check" that it is a bit hard to distill. So creating the Reader's Digest version In terms of "no inspection, just replace" maintenance. It seems like they recommend every: 5,000 miles = tire rotation 10,000 miles = oil and filter 30,000 miles = engine air filter 100,000 miles = coolant (every 50,000 thereafter) 150,000 miles = inverter coolant (every 50,000 thereafter) Did I miss anything?
Cabin Air filter Clean at 30,000, replace at 60,000 Spark Plugs replace at 120,000 (or 150,000 in CARB states) I would add PCV valve (with Spark plugs) and Transaxle drain and fill, (30,000, 100,000, and than every 100,000) but they are not in the manual. If you really skip the inspections, do not take passengers, no point in killing others.
