Service rep. told me it’s necessary to have an EMISSION TUNE UP every 20 to 25,000 miles ??? Cost is $200. This is where they burn the CARBON off so the fuel sprays vs. spits ?? Purchased my car new - and salesman never mentioned this requirement to keep mileage up.
Service person also told me yesterday that the ELECTRIC / HYBRID system will not turn on when the temperature outside gets to 32 degrees. IS THIS TRUE ??
In addition to the above mentioned service your Prius also needs regular blinker fluid changes. OK, just kidding.
Fuel injection service is a great thing and effective when targeting specific issue, but certainly not as a preventive measure every 20,000 miles.
Follow the maintenance schedule as outlined in your owner’s manual. Alternately, seek out and use a local independent shop that has mechanics trained in the maintenance and repair of your Prius and follow their advice.
Also known as a wallet flush. Not needed. As for the 32 degree thing, it will always use the hybrid system, but it will go electric-only (no IC engine running) much less, if ever, when it’s cold out. So MPGs are a bit lower in both cold weather, and hot weather (a/c running), highest in the middle.
@asemaster that brings up a “funny” story
My neighbor was bringing their vehicle to a dealer for all of its needs
At EVERY service, the throttle body would get cleaned and the injectors would get flushed
I know this, because I looked at all of my neighbor’s receipts
I advised them to decline the throttle body services and injector flushes, UNLESS they were experiencing driveability issues
While those services are good to perform occasionally/as needed, it’s certainly NOT needed every 5000 miles
@acemaster & @texases The rep is “upselling” OP. These are things that are not needed unless the engine shows irregularities. Certainly not evry 20,000 miles.
We sold a 1994 Nissan Sentra last year which had NEVER had a “fuel sytem tuneup”. We did put a bottle of the cleaner @ $9.95 through it every year or so. My mechanic told me unless the engine runs rough or is hard to start not to worry about the fuel system.
The reason the salesman never mentioned it is that he does not get a commission on this stuff, and it would detract from his sales pitch.
I think you should keep getting those emission tuneups and make you Prius go even greener with some accessories from http://kalecoauto.com
Sherye – Not infrequently a smart person like you gets suspicious about some suggested service (often from a dealer) and posts a question like yours. Many of these proffered services are such scams that the regular responders here lose track of the poster’s genuine interest, and they start getting humorous. Sometimes the jokes might escape the OP, who, after all, is not as knowledgeable as the experts here (else why would the question be posted?)…
You did good to ask. You do NOT need that service (unless you are having a problem). Chuckle your way through the responses here and dig the good advice out of the sarcasm.