I'd be quite happy doing routine maintenance meself, oils coolants filters etc, i'd read up on things like brakes and see if they are a standard item, if so i'd happily sort the brakes out meself too (proper parking brake no electric rubbish here), but anything more than that i'd only use the Toyota dealer, as much for my own personal safety where such currents and voltages are present, thats all only my opinion mind.

Luckily Toyota servicing is very reasonably priced, so finding the right preferably family owned and ruralish dealer would be my quest.

Edited by gordonbennet on 09/03/2014 at 19:50

My local, much-trusted indie's son (who is in fact half of the outfit) is running his own Prius, with the stated aim of familiarising himself with the whole set-up. The last time we spoke, he said he had been addressing the issue of the hybrid battery failure. He said he had dismantled the battery into its individual cells and the usual problem when the battery fails is that one cell has gone, not all of them.

I was impressed. This suggests some independents are indeed up to speed with the technology.