I bought my car at the end of April so it's been about 5 months now, I put on about 2000 miles on it. I got a letter by Toyota that says it is time to service? Should I take it to the dealership for service? I thought the first service is suppose to happen at 10k miles? Also, if I do take it to the dealership, will they check the tire pressure and everything? Is there anything I need to watch out for (read some posts on how the dealership service damaged the car).
The general consensus is that every 10,000 miles, or 6 months you should have the car serviced (Oil change, etc.) Some folks like to do the first one around 3 months, or 5,000 miles. You cannot really go wrong following either of those schedules.
5,000 miles or 6 months Check installation of driver’s floor mat Inspect and adjust all fluid levels Rotate tires Visually inspect brake linings/drums and brake pads/discs Additional Maintenance Items for Special Operating Conditions Driving on dirt roads or dusty roads: Inspect ball joints and dust covers Inspect drive shaft boots Inspect engine air filter Inspect steering linkage and boots Replace engine oil and oil filter Tighten nuts and bolts on chassis and body Repeated trips of less than five miles in temperatures below 32°F / 0°C: Replace engine oil and oil filter Extensive idling and/or low speed driving for a long distance such as police, taxi or door-to-door delivery use: Replace engine oil and oil filter Toyota Parts and Service You can get a PDF of your recommended service intervals, this is on Page 40 of the PDF, page 38 of the manual.
The manual says every 5,000 miles. I agree that 5k miles is excessive (except for the 1st 5k mile checkup). But it is a good idea to follow the manuals recommendations while under warranty. Jimbo posted this list from the manual. These are required every 5k miles, not just at 5k miles. My plan is to follow it by doing the 5k interval work myself and signing the service log in the book, except keep tire rotations at 10k. If you don't rotate the tires, the other work can be done at home and no warranty impact. 1. If the drivers mat come loose, you should have already noticed it. Done 2. You should have already checked the fluids every 2 or 3 gas fill ups. Done 3. IMHO, the tire rotation is overkill unless you have an alignment problem and if you have an alignment problem that should be fixed instead of hiding strange were with overdone tire rotations. Skip and do at 10k. 4. The 5k brake inspection is gross overkill, especially on a Prius. But it's only about a minute a wheel with a flashlight and mirror and that causes you to take a look at your running gear. Overkill but a chance to bond with your Prius. If you are subject to the "Additional Maintenance Items for Special Operating Conditions", then it's more complicated.
Of note, while the manual says to have it serviced every 5,000 miles or every 6 months it also says to change the oil only every other service. Assuming that you are using 0w20 oil.
Moved to Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting. http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...83147-posting-in-correct-forum-sub-forum.html
The warranty & maintenance pamphlet that comes with the car details which service needs to be performed and when.
manuals. a wonderful tool. sarcasm aside... dealers usually only to the multi-point inspection when you get an oil change, which wont be until 10k miles. at 5k miles, like everyone said, the main thing is tire rotations. you can skip those if you want.
Maybe his dog ate his manual, or it was burned by fundamentalist Hummer owners or something. When the manual says "5,000 miles or 6 months" they mean which ever comes first. So I do 5,000 mile services every 2 months, you should do them every 6 months even if you do not have 5,000 miles. If you ever get in a warranty squabble with Toyota, you are going to want to be able to prove you maintained the car per their recommendation. The dealer will try to sell you more, but ignore him unless you really do fall in one of the 'special operating conditions' classifications.
you know it seems like all hummer owners would be like that haha. as for not having a manual, a simple google search of "2010 prius service manual" will yield many fruitful responses.
