All, We own 2 2011 Prius cars bought at the same time in late May. Both have around 4600 miles on them. However, one has started showing a, Oil Maintenance is need soon , screen each time now at start up. My question is first off, why is happening ? It was my understanding that the oil change level is 10,000 miles. Both cars were made well into the new 10,000 mile oil change requirement, so why is this light going off? Or could this be a low/bad oil sensor or something? Any help would be appreciated, I searched before posting this and could not find anything about this Thanks in advance
There is no sensor for oil changes. What you are seeing is a mileage based reminder programmed by your dealer. Obviously they would like your business, so they have set a short interval. On the Gen II Prius you can clear these messages yourself. I assume you can do the same for the Gen III, but I don't know the procedure. Tom
The programmed message was originally set for 5000 miles because that is what oil change intervals were before the corporate change to 10,000 miles. Owners manual explains how to clear that message, page 428. It will return every 5000 miles, takes 5 seconds to clear.
On the 2010 the oil change warning starts coming on at 4500 miles momentarily and then continuous at 5000 miles. IIRC between 4500 and 5000 once you change MFD screens it disappears. After 5000 miles you can change screens but the warning screen remains in the screen rotation until the warning is reset.
Yes , they are both 2011's. Ordered them together from same dealer, same pick up day, ect ect. So basically , from what i read here, these reminders are set by the dealer. I am just wondering why the same dealer set both differently, but stranger things have happened. I am just worried that one has synthetic oil and the other conventional. I just hope this is not the case. Oh well maybe I should just change the oil now, it is the first 5,000 (break in) miles anyway, can't hurt. However, should I say will it help......
There are several threads on here about when to make the first oil change. Many of us "old schoolers" on here chose to change their oil at 5000 miles for peace of mind. Many others have had Used Oil Analysis performed to verify that it is safe to go 10000 miles and further on the 0W20 synthetic oil. Toyota has also agreed that it is safe for 10k miles by increasing their maintenance schedule. The dealers would still like your money every 5k miles even though they are only tire rotation, fluid checks and inspections in between the oil and filter changes. I would recommend doing whatever gives you peace of mind. If you are a DIY changing the Prius oil and filter is very easy.
Aloha, My 2011's reminder interval is set at 5,000 miles. But I am going to use the 10k mile oil change schedule, so I rotate the tires and reset the minder for another 5k miles. I don't think Toyota changed the cars software maybe it will be done in the future? I wonder what interval the reminder comes on at with the 2012's?
Are both cars really at 4600 miles, or could the one without the oil warning really be at 4499 or less?
I got a 2011 and mine turn on today after hitting 4500 miles, I was also told to take it in at 10k but ill change it on my own sometime this week..
As we speak one Pruis (the one showing the oil reminder), has 4671. The other 2011 not showing a oil reminder yet has 4621. heck maybe at some point it will show a reminder too, but at this point it hasn't, thus the reason for my post to clarify.
As Lenjack said this reminder is not set by the dealer and Toyota has not issued a software change to reprogram it for 10K miles. It's a leftover, the interval was 5K miles when the Gen3 was first introduced. There is another reminder in the Nav system that can be programed by the owner (or dealer), most of us leave that one off.
I had previously called Toyota about this one. Reminder will go off around 5K miles and Dealer will rotate the tires and do some minor checks as outlined in the Maintenance Book for Synthetic Oil vehicles. Dealer will NOT change the Oil at 5K for cars running Synthetic Oil. For piece of mind, some folks are changing synthetic oil at first 5K, then 10K, 20K, 30K, etc. Possibly a 5K Oil change may help long term on the Engine say at 160K. If you plan on getting rid of the Prius before that, its probably not needed, but an oil change, especially if done yourself is not that expensive.
Reminder comes on every 5k to indicate the need for "maintenance." At 5k a tire rotation is done, then at 10k a synthetic oil change and rotation is done. Then the cycle repeats. My dealer charges $99 for the 10k service and $39 for the 5k services in-between.
