Prius head gasket repair and replacement in Phoenix

• Rideshare and delivery Priuses running Sky Harbor and downtown trips all day. The miles pile up fast, and the EGR carbon with them.
• 2010–2015 Priuses on their second or third owner, bought as cheap commuters, whose EGR system has never been touched.
• Cars that have been topped up with coolant for months because 'it's not leaking anywhere'.
• Prius v wagons and Lexus CT 200hs — same 1.8-litre engine, same failure.

Heat doesn't blow a head gasket on its own. What it does is take away the margin. A cooling system that's quietly losing coolant into a cylinder can cope in March. In July — a 112°F afternoon, the A/C on full, stop-and-go on I-17 at 5pm — the same car overheats or throws a warning, and it looks sudden even though it started months earlier.

For a car that earns money, downtime is part of the cost. A head gasket repair takes the head off and usually sends it to a machine shop, and that's normally the longest wait. We'll tell you realistic timing when we quote, not after the car is apart.

At rideshare mileage, the hybrid battery is the other half of the maths. If the pack is weak too, the total can pass what the car is worth. We'll show you the numbers for a head gasket repair, an engine swap, a battery on top of either — and what we'd pay for the car as it sits.

• If the check engine light is flashing, don't drive it. Call first.
• If the coolant reservoir is empty, don't start it to 'see if it's OK'. Coolant pooled in a cylinder plus a start can damage the engine for good.
• If it starts clean, runs smoothly once warm and holds temperature, a short direct drive in the cool of the morning is usually fine. Avoid midday.
• Bring or text a cold-start video, and tell us how much coolant you've been adding and how often.