I've had my Prius for about 18 months now and have been religious about the oil changes, but wondered if the 15k service that Toyota is pushing is worth the money? Will not having it invalidate my warranty? I just turned over 15k on the mileage...most of my driving is around town with the occasional road trip over the mountains or to the big city. Thanks for your input.
No, it's not worth it or necessary or helpful. Just do the 15k mile service as outlined in the "passport" that came with your car. There's a sticky at the top of this forum that tells you what services you "really" need...worth printing and keeping.
Just follow what the owners manual says and do it yourself. Pretty much just oil/filter changes and tire rotations anyway.
When you wrote "Toyota" did you mean "dealer"? I've never received any mail from Toyota concerning service. Dealers in contrast will try to sell you everything, including stuff that makes no sense for a Prius. Take the scheduled maintenance guide with you. Show the X miles/Y months page to the service writer. Tell him to do those items and nothing else. You should get away for something like $60.
If you perform maintenance yourself, KEEP THE RECEIPTS for oil, filters, etc. The one time you need warranty work, they will request proof the car has been serviced as recommended. ZC1
Thanks for your input everyone. Yes, it is the dealer that I purchased the car from that is pushing the 15k service, but I also receive mail from from Toyota...probably prompted by the dealer. When I bought the car I purchased the lifetime oil changes at my dealer. I'll do as you all recommend and get things done at a reasonable price.
Actually you don't need receipts. We had an engine warranty issue with Toyota once and all they wanted was my hand written record. They totally paid for a new short block.
For the 15k service be sure to top off your break fluid, if you diced not to go to the dealer ship. After 2 years of driving my prius the fluid was clean, but it looked a little foggy so I did a top off.
Does it have to be hand written? I do all the maintenance myself and keep a log of it on a spreadsheet. I wonder if that would suffice. Maybe if i were to print it out and sign it? I probably have the receipts somewhere. Guess I should find and organize that stuff just in case. Of course the dates on the receipts don't always match when I did the service. I buy the filters in bulk from Metro Toyota will typically buy the synthetic oil when I'm at BJs getting other stuff. Tire rotations, they're just going to have to take my word on anyway.
Can you elaborate on this, clean but foggy? Was the level low? I've never chaged brake fluid before, so appologies in advance if this is a dumb question.
When I opened the can the fluid wasn't fully see through. It had little white things inside. From the out side it looked pretty clean.
