Diy Servicing On Gen 3

[drives 15]

Hi all, I may have found a suitable Gen 3 Prius to buy finally- it's relatively high miles at 100,000 so I'm going to hazard a guess that it won't have had a coolant change, and probably lucky if it's had a brake fluid or transaxle fluid change in that time....

I'm not a mechanic by any means but I have for the last 10 years done my own servicing. One of the appealing things about the Prius was the not-overly-complex service schedule. I was wondering, I appreciate these cars are only just going to be out of warranty so most will have just been using the dealer but does anyone on here DIY and how do they find it?

Secondly, the only thing that looks too complex for DIY thus far is a brake fluid change (surprised that this seems to be only a recommendation rather than requirement which most probably decline to have done- hence why I presume the car I'm looking at won't have had any fluid change). How much does the dealer charge for this typically?

Thanks

[valmiki 23]

I thought brake fluid change was every 3 years or so? About £50?

[drives 15]

I thought brake fluid change was every 3 years or so? About £50?

Might be- I'm just guided by googling and a few threads cropping up re: it only being advised. It certainly isn't on the service schedule that I found. That said, £50 sounds very reasonable...

[valmiki 23]

https://www.toyota.co.uk/caring-for-your-toyota/service-and-maintenance/car-servicing.json

£39

[drives 15]

https://www.toyota.co.uk/caring-for-your-toyota/service-and-maintenance/car-servicing.json

£39

I did see that but wondered as the fluid change was slightly more complex on the prius whether this was the right price.

Edit- cancel that- just gone through the website and it is indeed the standard prius price. Seems very reasonable..

[MEP's Yaris GS 173]

it's relatively high miles at 100,000

No it isn't. That's nothing for a Prius :)

[johalareewi 249]

Hi all, I may have found a suitable Gen 3 Prius to buy finally- it's relatively high miles at 100,000 so I'm going to hazard a guess that it won't have had a coolant change, and probably lucky if it's had a brake fluid or transaxle fluid change in that time....

100,000 miles in a gen3 prius is nothing.

I have done over 120,000 my friend's taxi is over 150,000.

Transaxle fluid is never changed by MrT but some owners have been known to do their own.

One of the benefits of having MrT service your hybrid is the hybrid health check.

https://www.toyota.co.uk/caring-for-your-toyota/service-and-maintenance/hybrid-health-check.json

[PeteB 896]

or you can pay for a Hybrid Health check on its own for (I think) £35 - can give an extra year's HV Battery warranty if the car us under 10 years old

[PeteB 896]

Hi all, I may have found a suitable Gen 3 Prius to buy finally- it's relatively high miles at 100,000 so I'm going to hazard a guess that it won't have had a coolant change, and probably lucky if it's had a brake fluid or transaxle fluid change in that time....

...Transaxle fluid is never changed by MrT but some owners have been known to do their own...

My last Gen 1 Prius had done over 163,000 miles when I sold it, still with original transmission fluid.

I discussed changing it with my dealer once or twice, but it was pointed out that Toyota didn't require it ever to be changed and deemed it unnecessary. To a degree, it's almost unheard of for one to fail, even at 400,000 miles, so they may have a point.

However, the chap who bought my car does a lot of work on various Hybrids and changed the fluid himself. He reported back that it was very heavily discoloured (no sign of the original red colour left), but fortunately no significant metallic debris.

On that basis I probably would have it done on my current Prius if gets towards 100k (half way now!).

He did state that my Gen 1 had no transmission whine at all, unlike some Gen 1 & 2 models that had passed 100K, so I guess the jury's out, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. A fluid change costing maybe £60-£100 once every 10 years or so isn't going to drastically affect the overall running cost, whereas a new power split device (aka transmission, transaxle) probably would!

[tonino 16]

Fluids must be changed every 60k miles or 5-6 years. No matter if dealers says not necessarily but if you love your motor just do it.

I will do mine.

Cheers

[kithmo 265]

Fluids must be changed every 60k miles or 5-6 years. No matter if dealers says not necessarily but if you love your motor just do it.

I will do mine.

Cheers

"must" ?? says who ?

[drives 15]

As tonino says I think it comes down to how much you well you want to maintain your car. From the several cars I've looked at now owners are just having the basic Oil and filter service, and that's it, so I'm banking on certainly having to get a brake fluid change done as soon as I buy one, and I'll probably do CVT fluid myself. Can't imagine it does much good having the same brake fluid for 100,000 plus miles personally..or CVT fluid for that matter. I'm planning on keeping it for ages and racking up the miles in it so I'd rather keep everything ticketyboo.

[MEP's Yaris GS 173]

Fluids must be changed every 60k miles or 5-6 years. No matter if dealers says not necessarily but if you love your motor just do it.

I will do mine.

Cheers

Fluids - which fluids???

[MLW2233 10]

Brake fluid change at Toyota's is £39.

[drives 15]

Brake fluid change at Toyota's is £39

Thanks, all booked in with Toyota tomorrow actually to get this done, which is a pretty good price (as long as it's a proper flush and not just a turkey baster job, which I will double check with them).

And as for the rest of the servicing, started this today and it's all appears to be pretty basic stuff.

[drives 15]

And all done- WKB Toyota actually ended up doing it for free as apparently there was a problem connecting it up, which caused a bit of extra waiting time for me (which I didn't really mind)- result!

[JD 1]

On 17 November 2015 at 9:01 AM, johalareewi said:

100,000 miles in a gen3 prius is nothing.

I have done over 120,000 my friend's taxi is over 150,000.

Transaxle fluid is never changed by MrT but some owners have been known to do their own.

One of the benefits of having MrT service your hybrid is the hybrid health check.

https://www.toyota.co.uk/caring-for-your-toyota/service-and-maintenance/hybrid-health-check.json

Hi you mentioned your prius having done more than 120,000 miles so in your opinion how many miles do u think prius 3rd gen can go for if serviced regular from dealer?

[MEP's Yaris GS 173]

2 minutes ago, JD said:

Hi you mentioned your prius having done more than 120,000 miles so in your opinion how many miles do u think prius 3rd gen can go for if serviced regular from dealer?

Easily 300k miles plus. Several gen 2 and gen 3 Prius out there with this sort of mileage in them. 

[tonino 16]

Regular change of all fluids in your car can only extend the life of the car and its components (engine, transmission, brake system, cooling system and hydraulic power steering all needs a fresh fluid at some point of its life).  Even some manufacturers says fill for life Oil or maintainece free it's a good idea to get it done if the car turns over 5-6 years old or certain mileage. In regards to the life of the 3 gen Priuses they can do easily over 200k , there are some examples there with those miles from Prius and Lexus CT200h. 

[drives 15]

9 hours ago, JD said:

Hi you mentioned your prius having done more than 120,000 miles so in your opinion how many miles do u think prius 3rd gen can go for if serviced regular from dealer?

As above I think dealer servicing is okay to a point, but if you want to run the car into high miles I would definitely make sure the extras are done which are not on the dealers schedule- brake fluid, preferably slider pins re-greased as well, and the CVT fluid. Just taking it to a dealer will probably serve you well for the first ten years, but for instance brake problems from lack of maintenance start appearing 10yrs plus in most cars such as sticking calipers etc. CVT may be fine but it may not be, so personally I am going to change mine this summer.

Also there are some people who assume taking it to a dealer once a year removes all owner obligation to lift the bonnet once in a while to check fluid levels. There are quite a few posts on Priuschat re: Gen 2 and Gen 3 priuses using Oil and this goes un-noticed until it is too late.

[JD 1]

54 minutes ago, drives said:

As above I think dealer servicing is okay to a point, but if you want to run the car into high miles I would definitely make sure the extras are done which are not on the dealers schedule- brake fluid, preferably slider pins re-greased as well, and the CVT fluid. Just taking it to a dealer will probably serve you well for the first ten years, but for instance brake problems from lack of maintenance start appearing 10yrs plus in most cars such as sticking calipers etc. CVT may be fine but it may not be, so personally I am going to change mine this summer.

Also there are some people who assume taking it to a dealer once a year removes all owner obligation to lift the bonnet once in a while to check fluid levels. There are quite a few posts on Priuschat re: Gen 2 and Gen 3 priuses using oil and this goes un-noticed until it is too late.

I have a 3rd gen prius 5 years old done 120,000 miles and other than normal services i havent replaced any parts yet and i use it as a taxi so do u recommend i should change cvt fluid?

[drives 15]

Personal preference but it's so cheap and easy to do, and there are instances of 2nd gen cvts failing on original fluid, I don't really see why anyone wouldn't get it done. Dealer charge for this seems to be a bit of a rip off though

Even more so I would say if it's used as a taxi and at that mileage

[tonino 16]

5 hours ago, drives said:

As above I think dealer servicing is okay to a point, but if you want to run the car into high miles I would definitely make sure the extras are done which are not on the dealers schedule- brake fluid, preferably slider pins re-greased as well, and the CVT fluid. Just taking it to a dealer will probably serve you well for the first ten years, but for instance brake problems from lack of maintenance start appearing 10yrs plus in most cars such as sticking calipers etc. CVT may be fine but it may not be, so personally I am going to change mine this summer.

Also there are some people who assume taking it to a dealer once a year removes all owner obligation to lift the bonnet once in a while to check fluid levels. There are quite a few posts on Priuschat re: Gen 2 and Gen 3 priuses using oil and this goes un-noticed until it is too late.

Fully agreed with you. Cvt in gen 2 has a belt and gen 3 has not, so much more reliable, but again if Oil gets old and dirty will be more likely to cause trouble in the time. Dealers are always been rip off, don't understand here so many people trust them so much!? Also depends how the car has been driven, (mostly in town longer life on cvt Oil, regular motorway journeys shorter life) how the fluid been working, few overheats on the tranny can make oil dark as night and viscosity is lost forever. I strongly recommend cvt Oil check and change at 60k miles or with the first service after you got the car if buying used one, it's kind of like timing belt bomb, you don't see it, you don't know it's condition, your neighbor one has done double the mileage and no trouble and at the end you may end up screwed, so ££ Oil change won't hurt you, don't see what is the problem. As I said dealers are rubbish, we are all men here aren't we, shall we use our brains how machines works or trust dealers to rip us off. They make money from service not from selling new cars, the profits from new car sales goes to manufacturers. 

[kithmo 265]

Neither Gen 2 or Gen 3 have a CVT, so no belts in either. Gen 2 has a chain connecting the motors to the diff and Gen 3 is connected directly to the diff with gears. There are no clutches, belts, valves or any other parts that would benefit from regular transmission Oil changes, if it ain't broke don't fix it. 

[tonino 16]

The chain you are talking about is also called a belt, and despite there are no other belts or chains and pulleys there are bearings that would benefit fresh Oil plus the gears, and yes there is a dry clutch in. If you don't like to change don't have to, but there is no reason ppl that want not to do it, a regular change with the correct Oil  will extend the life of the tranny no doubt. 

Cheers