Last week, I took my 2006 Prius with 180k miles to Meineke for oil change. They pointed out that my front brakes need work and brake fluid needs to be replaced. I've been told about brakes by another mechanic, so I went ahead and took both suggestions from Meineke. Two days later, my check engine light is on. I'm not very trusting of mechanics, thought I'll get advice from you guys. Do you think there's foul play involved?
You need to have the codes pulled to be able to determine why the check engine light is on. While I love a conspiracy theory as much as the next guy retrieve your codes and go from there.
Error lights after an oil change can sometimes be from oil overfill. Get the codes read and report back here.
they should do it if they have the proper toyota code reader, which they should have if they actually changed the brake fluid. to be honest, i'm impressed that the brakes work at all.
I can only find a couple of those as valid for a 2006 Prius. The combination of the ones I could find would indicate the checking the 12 V aux battery would be in order. One indicates that the brake bleed was not done properly. I'd suggest getting the car re-scanned with a Prius aware/capable scan tool.
I will take it to them right now but I have a feeling they will point me to the error description displayed by the scanner. Any thoughts about that? Also, am I ok to drive the car? I don't want to do any major damage while the light is on...
I did not look up the codes. You could try...disconnecting the 12v battery to see if the codes clear and then reattached a reader and see what codes remain. I would NOT have Meineke do this based on your story. Yet, a check engine light usually does not have a delay so I don't think they deliberately "set you up". Servicing errors...baring the brake bleed procedure errors....air leak at the airbox could be suspect and explain the mpg loss. Good luck.