Foot Brake Adjustment Etc.

[Chris Dance]

Our Prius had its 3 year sevice today, including the recall and hybrid check plus MOT. Also required was a foot brake (hand Brake) adjustment which cost £40. Dealer said this job requires quite a lot of work. I thought it would be like the hand brake on my old cars that I used to do that myself in a few minutes. I would appreciate if anybody knows what is required to adjust the foot brake on a Gen 3 Prius.

I was also a bit surprised to see the pollen filter costs £30. I am not complaining; if these things are required that is OK, I am interested in why a foot brake (hand brake) adjustment has got so involved on a modern car.

[kithmo]

It is a two minute job, the adjuster is at the top of the pedal. Remove the lower dash panel, undo the locknut, tighten the cable and re-do the lock nut up then replace the lower panel. From fully off the pedal should be 8 to 11 clicks to fully on. For £40 I would want a new cable fitted. Pollen filters are only around £7 on eBay, I would expect no more than £15 at the dealers.

[Chris Dance]

In view of what you say Kithmo the dealer is charging top dollar for parts and work. The service manager did say they have to do an adjustment at the rear and rear wheels had to be removed for the foot brake adjustment??

I suppose the Pollen filter price included fitting although the fitting is only glove box removal.

I will mention to the service manager that the prices are on the high side.!!

[FROSTYBALLS]

Seem to remember that last year Toyota had a campaign where they were changing the air con filters for £39 all in.

Cheapest OE air con filter I've come across is:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-TOYOTA-POLLEN-CABIN-FILTER-PRIUS-AURIS-LC-V8-YARIS-HYBRID-VERSO-RAV-/151104520303?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item232e88006f

[kithmo]

In view of what you say Kithmo the dealer is charging top dollar for parts and work. The service manager did say they have to do an adjustment at the rear and rear wheels had to be removed for the foot brake adjustment??

I suppose the Pollen filter price included fitting although the fitting is only glove box removal.

I will mention to the service manager that the prices are on the high side.!!

If you are talking about the foot operated parking brake, the adjustment is on the pedal, they only have to take off the rear wheels if they are fitting a new rear cable. the rear cable can be adjusted under the car without taking the wheels off. Sounds like either they didn't know the procedure for adjusting the front cable or the front cable was stretched to the limit of adjustment and they had to adjust the rear one. As far as fitting charge for the pollen filter, isn't that part of the service you had ?

[Chris Dance]

Yes it was the foot operated parking brake. I never spoke to the Technician who did the job. I suspect the service manager on reception does not really have much of a clue about the actual work involved.

I think the pollen filter is an extra to the service, but I am not sure about this.

I will mention my lack of satisfaction when the service reception manager calls me this week about another matter.

Thanks for your reply Keith.

[LeeroyJones87]

Hi Chris,

To adjust the handbrake on a prius mk3, all they do is take the rear wheels off and there is a good old fashioned, but small drum brake (solely for the handbrake), which they just 'click' up to improve shoe to drum gap The actual brake pedal shouldn't need to be touched at all unless the cable needs taking up, which would be very unlikely. Very quick and easy job.

To charge an extra £40 is outrageous as improving the handbrake is a service schedule item, especially if it's a full service so it should be built into the service charge.

Genuine Pollen filters,on the other hand, do get charged from around £30 onwards.

Hope this helps

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I thought adjustment of brakes was all part of service anyway.

I've never been billed for mine and it appears to have been adjusted once or twice in the past.

The pollen filter is a con as you can get them from a local motor factor for £10, though that's a basic one. I think you have to pay more if you want one with activated charcoal. I change mine every 10,000 miles. You'd be amazed has dirty then get in town driving.

[kithmo]

Hi Chris,

To adjust the handbrake on a prius mk3, all they do is take the rear wheels off and there is a good old fashioned, but small drum brake (solely for the handbrake), which they just 'click' up to improve shoe to drum gap The actual brake pedal shouldn't need to be touched at all unless the cable needs taking up, which would be very unlikely. Very quick and easy job.

This is total bull, there are no brake shoes on a Gen 3 Prius, the parking brake actuates the disc pads.

I don't know what you were doing for 7 years as "Toyota Diagnostic Tech" but I suspect you were not working on the Gen 3 (not MK3) Prius.

[Devon Aygo]

Charges aside and just for clarification, hand brake adjustment is included as part of a Full or Full+ service only, if the handbrake is found to need adjustment on an Intermediate service then it would be chargeable. Toyota have flat rate times for everything and they allow 1/2 an hour for parking brake adjustment on Prius MK3.

As for the pollen filter the part # is 87139-YZZ16 and costs less than £20.00 and should not include a fitting charge as the inspection is part of all services.

[LeeroyJones87]

Hi Chris,

As kithmo pointed out, I am incorrect. I was thinking about the mk2 prius, although the 'bull' statement was pretty harsh!

Regardless, with the handbrake being pad on disc style, you can adjust the pedal but this is not advisable as the calipers have a stop on them so they can adjust properly and won't if the cable is too tight.

Again, this should be done on a full service foc, but still, it's a little unfair to charge you on a small service.

Hope this helps

[Chris Dance]

I appreciate all the helpful comments. I will be taking the pricing etc up with the dealer. I trusted the Toyota dealer but on this occassion I have lost some of the trust I had in them. Just shows how loyal customers can be over charged.

[Chris Dance]

Since my last post I have contacted the dealer. I was charged £29.75 for the pollen filter job. Price as follows:£14.71 filter, £10 labour +VAT. Total £29.75.

For the foot operated brake. I was charged £40. They do charge for this task. 30Mins work is charged at £50. I was charged £40.

I did mention that other dealers do not usally charge. I was told that is purely up to the dealer concerned.

They do not consider I was overcharged!! The young lady did say she will speak to the service manager about my complaint.

The young lady did mention I did have a discount because I have a service plan!!

[timberwolf]

For a main, franchised, Toyota dealer, I don't think you were overcharged. It seems like a fairly normal "experience" of a Toyota dealer to me.

How much was the MOT?

[orangezorki]

I can see this from both sides: If it's not part of the service schedule, and does take a bit of time, then £40 doesn't sound too bad, as rent/bills need to be paid and a dealer is not a charity.

However, £40 is a tank of fuel (ish), and I would want to know if I was being charged extra. Did you ask specifically for this to be done, or sign something that allowed them to do it without asking first?

David

[Chris Dance]

I still have not received the invoice for the service etc carried out on our Prius. I was promised it would be sent yesterday. (Tuesday) I was promised it would be E-mailed!!! The only pricing I have received is by the phone whem I queried the pricing.

timberwolf: The MOT cost was at a reduced price because I have a service plan, until I get the invoice I do not know the exact price.

Orangezorki: While the car was being serviced I received a phone call to say the technician had found the clogged pollen filter and also recommended the parking brake adjustment. If this work needs doing I trust the Toyota dealer to do the work at a reasonable cost. So I agreed for the work to be done.

I did think the cost was on the high side that is why I asked about it with this thread. It seems different Toyota franchises have different policies on what is charged for. My dealer chaarges for the brake adjustment whilst others do not. (Refer Grumpi Cabbies reply).

[Parts-King]

Since my last post I have contacted the dealer. I was charged £29.75 for the pollen filter job. Price as follows:£14.71 filter, £10 labour +VAT. Total £29.75.

For the foot operated brake. I was charged £40. They do charge for this task. 30Mins work is charged at £50. I was charged £40.

I did mention that other dealers do not usally charge. I was told that is purely up to the dealer concerned.

They do not consider I was overcharged!! The young lady did say she will speak to the service manager about my complaint.

The young lady did mention I did have a discount because I have a service plan!!

You could have been charged the FPS cost of £39 because that's how much a pollen filter change is. They could have handled it far better by saying FPS cost is £39 but we are charging you £29.75

Dealers shoot themselves in the foot when not explaining properly what they are charging for or not, if they told you that they charge "time taken" and it was 30 minutes to adjust x £ PH then everyone would be happy. I don't think you have an argument saying some dealers don't charge, they are entitled to charge, but you are also entitled to know how they arrive at the price and a decent explanation of work carried out, for that alone they could say "sorry" and offer you something back

Kingo

[barrycoll]

I have a first service on a 2013 Gen 3 coming up in 2 weeks.....

my question is will I be stung for a pollen filter, and a brake adjust as well??

once upon a time, the only filters were Air and Oil, and the car and owner seemed to survive OK.....is the pollen filter any more important than wearing , or nor wearing, a surgical face mask all day????

[Parts-King]

Not at all, but you should see one after a couple of years, completely black and often full of debris, after all, you would not wear the same face mask for two years would you? Would you?? :D:

[barrycoll]

Well Kingo, the fact is that I dont wear a face mask at all....ever

so having survived 3 score and ten years walking and cycling with my conk totally unfiltered, should I really be concerned about

my personal air quality now......if I ever open my expensive sunroof, I am negating the possible effects of any filter,anyway, and just why have pollen filters slowly crept into the market place really??? Customer demand???

sure, the filter will be extremely dirty after 6 or 12 months, but that suggests that we should never go anywhere other than in a pollen protected vehicle

[kithmo]

Well Kingo, the fact is that I dont wear a face mask at all....ever

so having survived 3 score and ten years walking and cycling with my conk totally unfiltered, should I really be concerned about

my personal air quality now......if I ever open my expensive sunroof, I am negating the possible effects of any filter,anyway, and just why have pollen filters slowly crept into the market place really??? Customer demand???

sure, the filter will be extremely dirty after 6 or 12 months, but that suggests that we should never go anywhere other than in a pollen protected vehicle

You'll be ok, as long as you don't trim your nose hair

[Chris Dance]

Hi Kingo, Thanks for your comment. As you correctly say they could have handled it better. Only this evening I got the invoice. The service manager had phoned earlier but he did not sound very sorry. He said there was more to adjusting the parking brake cable than just the adjustment at the pedal!! He did explain things better; he admits he gave me a higher price for things last Friday but that price was not the price I was invoiced for. I am reasonably pleased with it all now.

[Chris Dance]

Had another problem today following last week service on the prius. This morning I noticed slight damage to the passenger side sill near the jacking point. The damage can only have been caused by a direct impact from beneath the car. It was not easy to see as the paint is not damaged just slight metal distortion. I rang the dealer and was asked to bring the car in. At the dealers the service manager stated it was one of those things that can happen and he agreed they would rectify the sill distortion. The car is booked in in 2 weeks time. I am pleased they are doing the rectification without any hassle. Just shows you have to go over the car very carefully after trusting it to a garage. I was fotunate to spot it.

[timberwolf]

Impact? Isn't it more likely that the car was jacked up on the sill rather than the hard jack point?

I wonder how an extensively trained Toyota Technician could make that mistake? http://www.toyota.co.uk/service-and-maintenance/car-servicing

[MLW2233]

I always change the air and pollen filter myself just before a service. They are so expensive at Toyota's and always seem to 'need changing' if not very new. Both take minutes to change at home.