Maintenance Required Soon After Oil Change

That light's sole function is to turn on every 5000 miles and has nothing to do with anything the car needs other than an oil change and because you're getting your oil change earlier than the light expects the whole car is gonna break down now. All this and more, including how to turn the "maintenance required" light out, is included in your owner's manual. But whatever you do, don't read your owner's manual because it makes you know stuff... And people will have a much harder time taking your money away if you know stuff...

 

Yeah, just follow the schedule, it's miles or months, whichever comes first. And if the light's out of sync, so be it.

 

Was the light on....when you had the oil changed at the Ma and Pa's car place?

If the answer is no, then I suspect Ma, Pa and the youngin's didn't know anything about resetting a maintenance minder timer and light. So it's now just illuminating as it reaches the point where it believes it's time for your next routine maintenance.

If you feel good about your cars maintenance? Then just reset it now. Then you should be in sync, next time it illuminates. Or as noted, you can pick your own personal schedule and maintenance routine.
As you said, it's just a reminder. A reminder that got out of sync with your actual maintenance as done. Now would be a chance to sync it back up. A few days one way or another IMO doesn't matter.

As far as going to a dealership?
I felt with a Hybrid having a relationship with a repair facility trained and equipped to deal with a Hybrid was important. In any given local, there are independent shops that specialize in Hybrids...seek reviews. And of course your local Toyota Service Department...I would still look for reviews.

One can argue that routine things like oil changes could be handled by anyone. BUT....I always felt better taking my Hybrid to a service department that hopefully had some experience dealing with a Hybrid and also the equipment needed to deal with it AS a Hybrid.
Since it is likely that eventually you will have some maintenance issue that is related directly to the Hybrid system, I think it good to establish a realtionship with a service department prepared to deal with those issues.

That way, if and when you have a problem directly related to a HSD component, you aren't then looking frantically for a facility qualified to deal with it.

 

Maybe too: the onus is on the car owner to reset that light? Especially at non-dealership locations.

FWIW, Canadian Prius don't have that light.

 

While I agree with most of your points...

If you don't know how to change your own oil, you need to learn how to change your own oil!!!!

Not only is it easy to learn and saves you lots of money over time, but people who don't know how to change their oil are the number #1 target of criminal mechanics seeking to take all your money to "repair" things on your car that don't need to be repaired. Or as a sports broadcaster once explained it, "What I hate about taking my car in for the oil change is they always come out before they're done and give me this look like my car has a serious problem and it's gonna cost me a fortune to fix it."

If you know the basics of how your car works and can do simple repairs like oil change, light bulbs and 12volt battery replacement a dishonest mechanic sizing you up for how much they can fleece you for will take you off their hook and throw you back in the water because they want bigger fish to fry...

 

LOL!
I've had this debate not only in Prius Chat but other vehicle forums.
I'm 100% and more for anyone who wants to change their own oil, or learn how to change their own oil.
BUT....

I tire of population of people that think since THEY change their own oil, and do various routine maintenance operations....everyone should.

I've gotten old enough now, with health issues, that make even doing something as basic as an Oil Change way too daunting a task. It's just NOT going to happen.

I can respect that you want to, and can, do various routine maintenance tasks. BUT...
I think the converse needs to simultaneously be respected. That is, that there are many people for which changing the Oil is a daunting task, and many more that would simply rather pay to have it done. That's not a sin. It's simply reality.

What people want to do? What they can do? Changes with time. I think it needs to be respected that some of those tasks that seem so easy to those doing it? Do represent a task that for many with various issues, would find daunting to near impossible.

 

Yes, but learning to change your oil is incredibly empowering if you've never done it before and doesn't mean that when you get older or are too busy to do it yourself you can't get someone else to do it.

My point is you don't walk through the worst part of town with hundred dollar bills hanging out of your back pocket because it's a sure fire way to lose that money, almost like having a sign on your back that says please steal from me...

Likewise, you won't have the ability to get your car worked on at a fair price if you've never changed your oil or have even bothered to look things up in your owner's manual... If we lived in a world with way less dishonesty and corruption this wouldn't even be an issue. But truth is it's an issue!

 

I don't think it's an imperative to have first hand experience or knowledge about changing your own Oil to avoid being ripped off by a mechanic.

My point is, there is always a camp of people exclaiming...Change Your Own Oil! And the truth is...that isn't an option for everyone. For some people, health, logistics, tools, experience...pick em...preclude them changing their own oil.

And this is simply NOT TRUE:

" You won't have the ability to get your car worked on at a fair price if you've never changed your oil "

No I think it's entirely possible to make yourself knowledgeable about labor prices, the work being done, without the credential of actually having opened a quart of Oil.

Sure, I recommend opening up your owners manual. I recommend trying to find a service department of independent service center you trust...before a major breakdown.

I even applaud and say Bravo...to those doing various levels of D.I.Y. maintenance.
All I'm really saying is the expectation that all of us join you? Is unfair.

 

Yes, but you're overlooking the fact that there's an epidemic of mechanics that are ripping people off so much that people are willing to carry one upside down car loan after the next the second their car is no longer under warranty because the prices of repairs these days have no checks & balances, no basic consumer protection laws against all the crooks. Being fully informed about what a mechanic or a doctor or an investment adviser wants to do with your money has never been easier, yet so many people blindly stumble into so many unnecessary scams they could easily avoid if they were more informed. And quite clearly Prius Chat is an ideal place to be more informed if you're a hybrid car owner... So let's help people as much as possible.

 

Now your topic drift is getting untenable.
I'm answering specific statements you are making...
You're speculating out of thin air, things you assume I'm overlooking.
Things that really have NOTHING to do with the original debate...whether or not everyone should be expected to do their own Oil Changes.

 

Earmark the page on resetting the light for next time
I only use touchless car washes.

 

Auto wash is fine. Many people of different makes/models have done that before you and the vehicle has survived. That is probably listed as a precaution against liability, so people can't sue b/c they were not informed of the possible damage that might occur from an auto car wash. Its like the idiot signs you may have seen: "dark when night," "slippery when wet," "contents may be hot."

 

1) READ the owner's manual!
Yes, boring. But, vital so you know about the car. Had you bothered to look-up, in the manual, what that light means? Doing so, you would see that it means time for oil change. BUT you just had one done. This most likely means the last person/shop who did it, 2 oil changes ago, did NOT reset the oil change reminder light. Isn't knowledge great?

2) Who said you need new brakes?
What is the thickness of the pads (front and rear)? This means how many mm (millimeter) of brake pad material in front of the ware indicator? A Gen2 (2004-2009) started with a new front pad of 11mm to the wear indicator. It is to be replaced at 1mm to the ware indicator; 10 total mm of pad material to be consumed.

To give you perspective, my 2007 is 11 years old, 158K miles, and is 4mm to the ware indicator (3mm of pad life left; remember replace by 1mm). 7mm of brake material used (11-4=7). 158,000 miles/7mm = 22,575 miles/mm. 7mm/11years = 0.64 mm/year
As you can see, the brakes on the Prius can LAST A VERY LONG TIME.​

I would get a second opinion with measurement of pad thickness left. Each wheel has two pads (inner and outer). You should have 8 numbers total. The pad that is thinnest (front or rear), dictates when that axel (front or rear) gets replaced.

3) Who said you need new control arms?
I would get a second opinion? If the diagnosis is legitimate, you would also need to get a 4 wheel alignment for optimal tire ware. Anytime you replace a suspension component (strut, control arm, tie rod, etc) this should be done.

4) Vehicle warranty just requires proof of scheduled maintenance having been performed at the specified intervals months/miles (which ever occurs first). You can go to whoever you want. A dealership charges top dollar b/c of big overhead (nice waiting room, shuttles, etc). In general, they should know the most about Toyota's b/c they are factory trained; not always the case. You should go to who you feel/know is competent and can do the work correctly. You should contact Steve at Autobeyours, Scottsburt, IN. Maybe he might know of a few good mechanics near you.

You this question in a should ask "Looking for a Prius competent mechanics/shops in YOUR CITY, IN?" in Care/Maintenance section of Gen3 Prius (2010-2015). Other names besides Steve/Autobeyours will likely get mentioned.

5) READ THE OWNERS MANUAL.

 

How dare you telling people to read manual... That's so wrong...

 

+1!!!
......tens of thousands of people in the boating industry could be forced to seek new employment!!