[PQSpin]

How is the cost of maintenance of a Prius compared to a ...say Corolla? Is there much more involved?

 

[bradca21]

I would imagine if it's a hybrid related component it would cost more, but other than that I imagine it would be about the same.

 

[Bob Allen]

How is the cost of maintenance of a Prius compared to a ...say Corolla? Is there much more involved?

There have been posts on this and other Prius chat lines that some parts are ridiculously expensive; way more so than for other cars. This is because Toyota has decided not to sell many parts individually; one has to buy the whole assemblage of parts that comprise a given "unit". This cuts their inventory costs, but forces us and insurance companies to pay outrageous prices to replace a small damaged component that can't be purchased separately. One woman reported a bill for more than 4k to replace a damaged inverter when the only part of the inverter that was actually damaged would cost, alone, about 30 bucks. There is something of a scarcity of parts as well. Repairs and maintenance issues are the one not-so-rosy picture of an otherwise truly remarkable car.
I don't know how this compares to the Corolla or other Toyota models.
My hope is in their quality control so that I won't likely have to make a huge out of pocket repair. Of course, my insurancd rates will likely go up as the insurance companies try to deal with the high costs.

 

[richard schumacher]

*Repair* costs appear to be nasty, so drive defensively. Regular maintenance OTOH promises to be absurdly cheap, hardly more than an oil change every 5,000 miles up to 100,000 miles (!).

 

[mrv]

You can view the 2004 Prius Passport to Performance (scheduled maintenance guide) here:
http://www.toyotapartsandservice.com/sm ... ice_04.pdf
http://www.toyotapartsandservice.com/sm ... &year=2004

You can view the 2004 Corolla scheduled maintenance guide here:
http://www.toyotapartsandservice.com/sm ... &year=2004


Essentially the 2004 Prius' service is every 5000 miles/6 months (in the US), and is normally just an oil/filter change and tire rotation. nothing really special. you can do the services yourself.

(2001-2003 US Prius came with the first 3 years/37500 miles of services free from Toyota (6month/7500 mile services).)