How to see estimated oil life?

You will get a notification on your Hybrid System Indicator (HSI) informing you of your oil change. Also, I recommend you go to Toyota Owners Official Web Site: Service Coupons, Owner's Manuals, Service Scheduling And More and registar your vehicle. You will be able to see the entire maintenance history of your car assuming the maintenance was done at a Toyota dealership.

 

If it's used, might as well change it to start off fresh.

 

You get a 'Oil maintenance Require' message on your display, IF the 5000 mile counter was reset at that time.
The oil change interval is now officially 10,000 miles if synthetic 0w-20 oil is used.
However the message pops up and has to be reset at 5000 mile intervals.

It's all there in your manual...

 

right, but he bought a used car. who knows if it was reset on time.

 

If the onboard computer does not display the maintenance schedule and you are unsure of the previous entries, just take a sample from oil gauge (few drops on fingertips) - if it is black, dirty and smells of ... hmm. dirty old oil with a touch of gasoline - replace it.

 

Just change your oil and you won't have to worry about when it was last change. You would rather have a peace of mind knowing that its been changed rather than guessing if it has or has not

 

He will also then know what oil is in his engine.

 

Change the oil/filter and ATF now. Always reset a used vehicle. You are buying someone else's probable abuse and you can always trust the seller...right?

 

My recommendation stands. Your car, your choice.

 

The reminder comes on at 4500 miles (and every Start thereafter), and times out. Then it changes to a more stern warning at 5000, which doesn't time out, though you can change displays to get back to the regular displays.

 

Never assume without proof of service done to the vehicle. Rather be safe than sorry

 

car doesn't automatically know by detecting that your oil needs to be changed, its just set to alert you when you reach certain mileage. i think you should change it sooner than later, but have you checked the oil level and the condition of the oil yourself? warm up the car by driving it for a few miles, wait a few mins, then check oil.

 

At 36,000 full maintenance as defined by Toyota for the Prius amounts to nothing more than oil/filter change, rotate the wheels, and give it a once over. As it applies to reselling a lease return, they do a quick detail (clean it up). Nothing more than a visit to Jiffy Lube with a car wash. If you trust the seller/Dealership, at minimum have the transmission fluid changed. The need is well documented by 30,000 miles, or sooner for Mechanic/Owners like me. I realize some level of faith is expected, but have everything check over once more by a third party. All used car sales departments are motivated to spend/do the least amount to maximize high profit and a quick sale.

 

Keep the filter and just dump and refill 4qts.5min job

 

Oil life % is the same as another maintenance reminder, it doesn't actually know your oil life, it just estimate by your mileage and just indicate the oil life %.

Since you have the carfax info and the oil has been changed since January, change your oil every 6 months or 10k miles with synthetic oil 0-20w.

 

Respectfully disagree with this bad practice. There are some applications where you might change the filter and not the oil, but not here. You should always change the oil and filter together on your Prius. Why run fresh clean oil through a dirty filter which may hold around a 1/2 qt of old oil as well. Bad habit and only takes a couple extra minutes to finish the task.

Change the ATF techno-zen.

 

Better than the oil he's got