Is 15000 mile service needed to maintain warranty?

Pardon my ignorance, but there isn't an oil change scheduled at 15K? AFAIK, all other cars without oil life monitors have oil changes at 3, 5, or 7.5K intervals - all of which would be due at 15K.

When my son's Mazda6 developed rod knock at 30K miles, the first thing Mazda corporate required was documentation of regular oil changes. Luckily, the Firestone store he used could provide a printout of his oil changes and Mazda replaced the short block under warranty.

 

shankyy,

No, you are not required to do the 15k service. Like you say it is only a tire rotation and inspection. You are fine to go to the 20k service. A lot of people on here only do the 10k service intervals.

car compulsive,

The 2010+ Prius uses synthetic oil with 10k service intervals per Toyota maintenance schedules.

 

Ahh, good to know for this future owner. I'm old school and still like to do my first oil change at about 1-3K miles on the theory that engine break-in generates metal shavings that need to be removed. Then again, I've heard that automakers are supposedly using break-in oil that should be left in for the full duration until the first scheduled oil change.

The last vehicles I had with a long oil change interval were Cadillacs (CTS and SRX) with the 3.6L engine. If you drove most all highway miles, as I did, the oil life monitor would let you go to nearly 15K miles between oil changes. Too bad the (seemingly) 2-cycle engines would often burn though 1-2 quarts of oil every 1000 miles once they hit 20-30K miles. Oil starvation was one of the causes of the infamous timing chain failures in that engine. I got used to checking the oil weekly and keeping a stock of Mobil1 on my workbench.

 

You are indeed required to do every 5K miles service in order to keep the warranty intact. However, you can do it yourself. Just annotate on service records online (mytoyota) "15K service performed" after you've done the "inspection."

Tire rotation can be skipped as there's no warranty with OEM tires.

FYI: I take it in on the odd intervals (5K, 15K, 25K....45K, 55K, etc.) so I can avoid the pricey 30K "special." I change the cabin and engine air filters myself.

 

Yes and no. Skipping the 5k services won't void the warranty except for anything the dealer or Toyota can blame on the 5k services being missed. Since the 5k service doesn't do much, the risk is low but still real.

That said, it is always best to do warranty services so you don't give the dealer any excuses.

 

Believe me, they WILL find an excuse when it comes to expensive repair work, even unrelated to services missed. Better to play it safe and annotate all services as done. You do not want them to say "Well, since you didn't have inspection done at 5K, it wasn't caught and this led to much bigger failure."

 

Understand. I am also old school. I have just begun to let my wife's 2007 Honda Accord go to the Honda recommended 7500 mile interval with their Maintenance Minder system.

I changed my oil on my Prius every 5k miles even though Toyota has changed their recommendations to 10k with 0W20 synthetic oil. I just prefer to put my car on ramps and check underneath the car every 6 months or so. While I am doing this I may as well change the oil and filter.

Having said that, many on here have done Used Oil Analysis on their oil and the testing labs have verified that 10k miles is fine and are even recommending 15k mile intervals based on the condition of the oil.

 

Good point. If you can open your hood and check the fluid levels, check your brakes and pads, and check under the car for leaks then you have done the 5k inspection.

 

Just a couple of thoughts:

1. Even though the 15000 mile (or 18 month?) service in the US entails only minor inspections, it's also an opportunity for the mechanic to look the car over, maybe a quick test drive. If they actually do that is debatable, but they might be diligent, and might find something. And if you don't have the service, that something might get worse. Kind of like a check-up.

2. The Toyota oil change interval varies around the world. In Canada it's 8000 km (roughly 5000 miles) or 6 months, still. And ultimately, it's your decision. Personally, I like the 8000km or 6 months. Both the oil and filter look pretty knackered by that point, in my experience: one (DIY) oil change to date, at the 6 mo mark, with km's just a bit over 7000.

 

You are fine till 20k.

Just double check all fluids during a fill up. Nice clean gas station is perfect spot for fluid check and tire pressure check. It also depends on time interval. How long does it take you to do 5k. If its more than 6 months i would suggest to do fluid level checks. If it takes you 2 months you are fine as long as service shop did a good job.

Just because you paid for it does not mean the dealership did a full check. Thats the primary reason why i started to do all my checks myself. Even if they change the oil i check the level when i pick up my car. Overfill is very common at lot of shops. For them its just another car that they have to service. Very few mechanics will love your car like you do.

 

I don't think you would need to unless something breaks that should have been inspected. But why not log on to Toyota Owners - Official Toyota Owners Website and enter the 15K mile service that you did yourself. Then your covered in any case.

As previously stated tire warranties are worthless and 5K miles is a bit to frequent to rotate tires so skip that part.

 

Toyota's brand. Part number 87139-YZZ10 or the cheaper 87139-YZZ08, available through parts.com

The owner's manual has instructions on how to change it and yes, it's easy to replace.

 

Isn't 15k service covered under Toyota's free service plan (2 years)?

 

Hmm..... so 5k and 15k services are not covered under 2 year free scheduled maintenance?

"The plans cover a normal factory-recommended maintenance service including oil and filter changes, tire rotations, lubrication of key chassis parts/components, a 19-point inspection and 24-hour roadside assistance (lockout protection, flat tires, towing, jump starts, etc.)."

http://www.egmcartech.com/2010/10/0...duled-maintenance-on-new-toyota-scion-models/

 

That included the 5k and 15k miles maint because they are "normal factory-recommended maintenance service "