5000 miles on my 07 and scared to death

Your warranty is NOT at risk if you do it yourself! Just keep the receipts, document the date and mileage of the service, and drive happy. Loads of people DIY, including me.

 

Just don't let them try to sell you anything else. Like those dealer recommended service extras. crap.
Don't go in saying you want the 5000 mile service. Tell them you want an oil change (and tire rotation, if you so desire). That's it. Then they can't rip you off.

 

Don't panic, on this forum you only hear the bad experiences. Out of hundreds of Prius owners there have been a few had what I would call minor problems with the service. After seeing a cross section of the engine a slight over-fill of the sump isn't that critical, people worry too much.
Ask the service advisor to ensure your tyres are at the pressure you want them at, and let them handle it. It may pay to ask the tyres be rotated as it may not be in the book.

Relax.

 

deep breath whitespider, you'll be ok

you go in there, you ask for an oil change using the oil you supplied which is sitting in the front floorboard. you ask for a tire rotation and specify you want xx psi front and xx psi rear. you say "no thank you" to anything else they come up with. you say "yes i understand" when they tell you 3 qts isn't enough and you will take care of the rest at home.

then you double check and go home. that's it!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(whitespider @ Oct 9 2007, 05:01 PM) [snapback]523351[/snapback]</div>

Oil changes are about the only thing you can do to vehicles these days without special tools. It is easy to complete yourself and does not void your warranty. Some will say you need to keep receipts of the oil and filter. I have dealt with Toyota on warranty issues in the past and all they require is that "you" keep a record of when the oil and filters were changed. Granted that doesn't prove you actually changed the oil, but then again neither does saving receipts.

I prefer to do my own oil/filter changes because it only takes me like 30 minutes tops and I know it is done right. Plus I save money. So why spend half a day at a Stealership and risk them scratching your car for an oil change? Or worse yet, them forgetting to tighten the oil filter.....this happened to me. Luckily I caught it when I got home or I would have had a blown engine from oil starvation.

 

um....what happens when the oil is filled with more than 3 quarts? I'm approaching 5k miles on my car soon. I can't imagine that the Toyota mechanics wouldn't fill to Toyota's specs (which I would assume to be the 3qts you mention)? Is tire rotation and oil/filter change all that's in the 5k mile service?

 

you should try to change the oil yourself. It really is so easy. I also like to work on computers and as a comparison it is easy to screw up a PC when you have your box open and don't know what you are doing, but it is pretty hard to screw up an oil change. I've been changing my own oil since I was 17. If you have never done it before find a friend or relative to teach you, (probably find someone who you have fixed their computer for) the time and money you save plus the piece of mind that it was done right is worth it.

 

Why pay a dealer an arm and a leg to rotate your tires? Some people have said that Goodyear will rotate them for free (since they are original equipment on the Prius). If that doesn't work, Discount Tire/America's Tire or Wal-Mart will charge around $10 per tire for "lifetime" (of the tire) rotation and balance. If you have the dealer do it, it'll probably cost about $25 to $30 more than the oil change to get it done, and that's only for that one time!!!!

 

All all comes down to how many places you want to take your car to. I'd rather have it all done at one place.

BTW I do my own oil changes, I'm a mechanic (not in the trade any more) after all.

An oil and filter change here would cost about $90AU including fluid top-up and brief inspection under car and under bonnet. 5 litres of <strike>Mobil1</strike> [edit]Mobil1 synthetic[/edit] costs about $45.00AU here in the shops and buying oil in bottles means you have an empty bottle to add to land fill. Well one won't be empty if you use half of a 1 quart bottle. Service centres buy oil in bulk from a tanker reducing waste.
Your engine takes about 3.6 quarts including the filter. I would measure in 3.5 litres and dip to check after starting the engine for a few seconds. I can't see how it would hurt to be over filled by half a litre but I would take all care not to if I was doing the job. If the oil level is near the full mark that's fine. Don't need to sweat on getting it spot on. Of course if you spill the oil you will make a hard to clean up mess so now you need to buy a funnel which you need to store in a clean place between oil changes.

You will get dirty changing oil, you need to jack up the car, you need stands to put under the car, NEVER GET UNDER A CAR WHICH IS ON A JACK!!! have a container to catch the oil, some way of disposing of the oil, not in the trash, that is very bad. You need rubber gloves and clothes you can lay on the ground in, you will need to wash those clothes too. Factor all this in when you decide whether to try doing your own services. When you have 1 or 2 oil changes a year is it really worth the hastle of doing it yourself when you're not sure how? If someone shows you how, will you remember in 6 months when the next oil change is due?

 

Sorry I mean't Mobil 1 synthetic.
No need to sweat over the oil either, as long as it's within the specifications. Use a quality brand 5w-30 oil, synthetic or mineral isn't all that important if you change the oil on schedule.

 

Don't know if it's policy at all Toyota service facilities but when I asked to have specific tire pressures front and back I was informed that because of warranty/liability reasons they were only permitted to apply the recommended pressures. :huh:
Not a big deal 'cause I check 'em regularly anyway and adjust them to suit myself.
Gary

 

You may not need to jack up the car, either.
My Dear Hubby changed Rudy's oil, without jacking it up. He's not real skinny, either... but, the oil plug and filter are very easy to access.

Things you need:
Proper size crush washer for the oil plug (some people reuse them, I don't)
Decent oil filter (not FRAM)... we bought Bosch
"Something" to drain the oil into. It should be something you can use to take the oil to a service station in for recycling (either they'll have a place where you can drain it, or they will take the container, depending on what you are using)
4 Qts of (for instance) Mobil1 Synthetic 5-30w (you can use regular-old-oil, of course... but why?).. you will end up with about 1/3 of a Qt left when you are done. Save it.
Proper size wrench for oil plug (see your owner's manual, or someone smart can tell you the size)
Oil filter wrench.
Funnel.
Paper towels.
Rubber gloves are nice.

How to do it:
Put a hunk of cardboard on the ground under the front of the car. This is to lay on, slide on, and to catch drips with. It's harder to lose the drain plug if it's on cardboard.
Position the oil catcher under the drain plug. Use the wrench to loosen the drain plug. Use your fingers to unscrew it completely, and catch the crush washer.
Let the oil drain until it stops.
Take the oil filter wrench, and unscrew the oil filter. Turn it upside down into the oil catcher.
Slide out from under the car, and wipe off your hands. At this point, I would take the oil cap (on top of the engine) off, and set it aside.
Take the new oil filter, and pour it full of new oil. Rub some oil on the rubber gasket. The oil will suck into the stuff inside the filter... that's okay.
When the oil has stopped dripping, get the oil catcher out of the way, and put the new filter on until it is pretty tight. A strong person should be able to loosen it by hand, so you don't want to overtighten it, but you don't want it loose, either.
Put the new crush washer on the drain plug, and replace it in the drain hole. Use the wrench to tighten it pretty tight (same as the filter). The washer will "crush" when it is tightened.
Wipe yourself off again, and get the rest of your oil.
Using the funnel, pour 3 Qts into the Oil tube. Wait a moment, and then check the dipstick... wipe... check it again. It should be just below the bottom dot. Pour in another half Qt, and then check it again. It should be between the dots, or very close to the top dot.
Put the oil cap on.
Peek under the car at the cardboard. Any drips? If not, start the car, and crank up the AC to max cold (or, max hot)... you want the ICE to start. After it's been running for a couple of minutes, you can shut the car off. Check your cardboard again, and then check the oil level.
As long as it's at or below the top dot, and above the bottom dot, you are fine. It should be closer to the top dot. Okay, a lot closer to the top dot.
Get out your Maintenance Passport (blue booklet) and write down the date and mileage.
That's it!

 

Whitespider, if you can change a muffin fan you can change your oil and filter.

I normally take mine to the dealer , but 2k miles ago I did my own and even rotated the tires, no jacking the car up for the oil change, and I too am not skinny those days are long gone.

Also I am disabled and did it so you can too.
confidence is all you need ( rubber gloves help too)
just keep the receipts I staple mine to the service passport and sign and date it just as the dealership would do.

 

Don't forget to put the drain plug back in and tighten with the spanner.
The plug is most likely 14mm or 9/16" should fit.
Only tighten the filter tight by hand, never with a tool. The tool is for removal only.

 

Here's a question for all you DIY types doing your own oil change:

What are you doing with your old oil filters?

I know that many of you talk about bringing the used oil to a service station, but do you have arrangements for them to take the filter as well? As someone who works with autoshops on pollution prevention, I know for a fact that those things should ideally be left to drain overnight and then crushed to drain any remaining oil out before they can go into the solid waste. I know many shops shortcut this process by just sitting to drain for a little while and then crushing, but they most certainly should not go straight into the landfill.

So, here's hoping that no one is just tossing the filter into the household trash to end up in the landfill and a true logistical question of how you dispose of them.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(whitespider @ Oct 9 2007, 07:01 PM) [snapback]523351[/snapback]</div>

That's really enough. It's safer to rotate tires only as needed to keep the less worn two at the rear. And you can change your own oil if you (1) actually do it per the schedule, and (2) keep the receipts for the oil and filters until the warranty expires.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Oct 10 2007, 06:23 PM) [snapback]523862[/snapback]</div>

The whole idea of tire rotation is to maintain equal tread wear amount all four tires.
With your advice one would never rotate the tires on a FWD car, because the front tires always wear more.


Besides, if the front of your car carries the majority of load bias, traction, corning stability, steering and braking......where would you really want the least worn tires?