Warranty and Maintenance 

Many hybrid car customers do not understand what is covered under their new car warranty. We advise that you read up on your new car warranty and understand what is covered and what is not, especially since the hybrids have new component systems that conventional gas engine cars do not.

A 2011 Toyota Prius. Flowers not included. (Photo credit: Toyota)

Basic monthly or yearly engine maintenance is the responsibility of the owner and is not covered under factory warranty.

Here is a list of things we recommend based on personal experience with the vehicle needs that is not covered under manufacture warranty:

1. Cabin air filter: At 30,000 miles we recommend checking your cabin filter. These filters are known to collect a lot of debris.
    
2. Transaxle oil change: We recommend at 30k intervals. Doing this service is fairly inexpensive. But we believe it will prolong the life of the of a $5k transaxle.
    
3. Spark plugs: replacement should be around 110,000 miles.
    
4. Brake fluid: This is an easy service on non-hybrid cars, a bit more complicated on the Prius due to the very sophisticated brake system. We recommend at 100k and 30k intervals after that.
    
5. 12 volt battery: Toyota factory batteries last between 3 to 4 years. They do not do much of anything except power up electronics, so failure is seldom anticipated. When they do quite, the doors may not unlock and that is rather a brother. You should have a key in your remote but since it is seldom used some people forget they have it.
    
6. Oil change with semi-synthetic: 5k intervals extend to 8k with full synthetic.
    
7. Tires: Front tires wear out much faster than rear on the Prius, Rotate at every other oil change for somewhat longer life.
    
8. Long-life coolant: Replace at 120k in both engine and transaxle.
    
9. Brake life varies with driver habits, but front brakes typically last to 120k miles on it. Reason is regenerative braking really extends the life of the brakes.

A Used Hybrid? 

You will now find available used hybrids on used car lots. The cost of this type of hybrid would vary depending on the model year and usage.

Before you consider buying a used hybrid take the time to inspect the vehicle. Find a qualified hybrid repair facility like ours and perform a bumper to bumper or should I say battery to battery inspection. It would be worth your time and money to do so. 

A word about the battery. I’m now talking about the battery that runs the electric motor in a hybrid. Technology on these batteries has come a long way. The Toyota warranty for 2005 & newer hybrid batteries is 8 years/100K miles. This is great, but if you are looking at a used hybrid, battery life is something to work into your calculation.

We service a good number of 1st and 2nd generation Toyota Prius and other hybrid cars at our location. Buyer beware, there are many repair facility that advertise that they are qualified, but in truth they are not. As far as I am aware, there is very few repair facility like ours that are equipped to work on hybrid cars.