Brake Adjustment?

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racer12306

racer12306

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So I'm sitting here at the Toyota dealer waiting for my 2008 Toyota Prius to get serviced and the sales person just came out and gave me the usual, you should replace your engine and cabin air filter and said the rear brakes should be adjusted. I'm having them put the filters back in because the engine filter only has some dirt on it, can go probably til 30,000 and the cabin filter just has stuff in it that could be tapped out, no real dirt accumulation.

However, this brake adjustment puzzles me. I have never heard of having to adjust the rear brakes at only 15,000. I know my neon has only had the drums off just to knock the dust out and I have never touched the rear brakes and it has 84,000 miles on it.

Do you think they are trying to pull on over on me or should this be taken care of? Also, they charge in the area of $55 for this service to be done. I'm used to being the service advisor, not the customer, but I know for my own personal conscience I was never able to suggest services that weren't needed/recommended.
 
If anything the brakes haven't been used much because that is one of the features of the cars. The electric motor acts as a brake unless the speed is
I was thinking it sounded like a crock of [insert explitive]
 
Originally Posted By: racer12306
Do you think they are trying to pull on over on me or should this be taken care of? Also, they charge in the area of $55 for this service to be done.


Did they top off the washer fluid?
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I may have worded that bad. The brake adjustment was $55. I'm getting the 15,000 mile service for $19.99 because of a free oil change for life program and all that the 15,000 mile service requires is an oil change and tire rotation.

In the past they have topped off the washer fluid. What I'm surprised about is that I don't use a whole tank over the course of an oil change, must be a bigger tank than I realize. I'm a little on the particular side about my windshields.
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What design are the rear brakes for the Prius?... servo?... nonservo?... or is this an adjusment for the parking brake?

My experience with cabin filters is that they are nasty at 15K.

I've personally started extending air filter changes from 10K to 30K.
 
The cabin filter just had stuff like leafs, etc in it. I knocked that stuff out. It appears to me that the regular air filter should be good til 30,000 miles.

I will check into the brakes though, just to be sure on how they are adjusted. I do set the parking brake regularly because I don't want any extra strain on that trans. I'm sure it would be pricey to fix.
 
Most modern car brakes self adjust.
I would direct your questions to him about this feature.
Maybe a bit of internet homework about your specific brake system first, so that you are well armed.
 
There is a brake adjuster with drum brakes.
A wheel needs to be adjusted,but a real mechanic will do it for free.
$55 will get you a complete brake job on one axle if you have a friend who works on cars.
 
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There was nothing in the service manual about it. I would have been prepared for that. I was a little surprised when he came out with the cabin and engine filters since they weren't due til 30k.
 
The drum brake adjuster should not need manual manipulation, expect maybe on initial assembly to quicken the final correct clearance - this is standard procedure. AT this point however, only if something was broken or stuck.

A 'real' mechanic would do it for free? I dunno about that - Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves.
 
The is pretty interesting Gary. Thanks for that link. That is the same body style as mine, maybe I missed where he said the actual year of his car, but mine looks just like that.

So I'm gonna chock this one up as the dealer is full of coohockey.
 
When times are tight, they typically come up with "value added" services. When times aren't tight, then stuff is flowing too fast and they just add stuff on because they can.
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I have done this to my own car and friend's cars, and it does make the brakes react faster.

That in mind, the prices charged for this stuff are insane.
 
Well, I just drove 400 miles today andit stops great. I'm not gonna worry about it. If the brakes really do adjust when the pedal is pushed then the brakes should never be out of adjustment.
 
Still braking good after a little more than 1000 miles in the last week.
 
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