Had 5K services and Oil Change (Some Drama)

I'd email the service manager. If he lines up with his service writer, you need a new dealership. You could email corporate Toyota too. That's the same filter box as 3rd gen, btw.

 

I'm more amazed that you've driven it 5k miles (and sorry that they lied)

 

Sorry to hear that, ATHiker. My new Prius is my 4th Toyota, and I too have some of those crummy service stories. Have you ever put a white chalk mark on the inside of the tire? (But many mechanics are wise to that trick, and just wash it off.)

I doubt if Toyota Corporate in Torrance would be of any help. I went round & round with them concerning bad (phony and unnecessary) repairs I received on my '05 Camry. They just told me that Toyota has no control over the dealers... the dealers are an "independent business", I was told.

I have the "2 years of free maintenance" on my '16 Prius. How much do you want to bet, that some crooked service departments don't even change the oil?! And have you ever seen the "experience requirements" on the job application for the oil change/tire rotation "technicians?" I was looking at the Job Openings webpage for a dealer I frequent. Basically, if you can just make it into work, you're hired! No Toyota-specific experience required. (And you KNOW they used a hydraulic impact wrench on your lug nuts... not a torque wrench as specified in the owners manual.)

I might take my Prius to a local tire shop, for rotations. I can watch them work. And they use a torque wrench to properly tighten the lugs. And they do oil changes, too. (I bring my own factory Toyota filter and oil.) I hate Toyota dealers so much, that I will gladly pay for the 5,000 Mi service elsewhere. I've been to 3 or 4 various Toyota service depts, and every one of them tries to "oversell" you, recommending work that's not needed or necessary; or the young service writers just flat out lie about nonexistent "leaks", etc. One guy smeared power steering fluid on the lines, then claimed I had a bad leak. He also claimed I had a broken engine mount. Negative on both of those. I did my best to get him fired.

I feel very sorry for women, the naive, and the elderly that get ripped off daily at dealer service departments.

 

FWIW, I've watched Costco torqueing wheel lug nuts, going around the nuts in sequence, not star-pattern. Not sure how critical that is.

 

Good idea to mark the tires! Some places are damn shady..

 

they usually rotate the tyres, and loose the lug key...

 

Never trust a dealer with what you can do yourself...

 

I retorque my wheel right after I return from having them done& retorque them after a week or two! Alway check for leaks under the car and oil level! I have a oil change on 2011 Kia Sportage drove it 0.7 miles and notice oil light cane on pull over there was oil dripping from the front it only had 2,500 miles oil filter had double seal on it! Luckily it didn't run dry!

 

With the rotation would they not have to reset the Tpms also? I know the Prius is not like some that have each sensor with a unique SN that is remembered .... I.E. RF is 3 LBS low. I hope to have a 2016 4 in the next two weeks. I have had a Prius from Gen 2002 (ordered through internet) through the 2014 I have now.

 

I don't think it is fair to group all dealers as being bad. The Toyota dealer I go to has glass walls so that you can see your car being serviced. You just need to find the right dealer. BTW, the first oil change is done at 10K miles, so unless you paid for it at 5K miles, it was not done.

 

AFAIK the location of wheels doesn't matter.

 

Toyota dealer is a waste of time as far as tire rotation comes. Go to Costco. You will never look back.

 

I had my first oil change at the dealer at 3000 miles. Wanted to have it early just in case of manufacturing debris in the engine. The only issue I have is that the dealership did not reset the warning notice. Now that I have crossed over 5,000 miles, I have to clear the error message of "Maintenance Required" and why does the warning show up at 5,000 miles? Shouldn't it be 10,000 miles?

 

Even though Toyota changed the oil change interval for the Gen III from 5k miles to 10k miles, the maintenance required message still displays at 5k for tire rotation and general checks.

 

I had the same problem with my 2011 Gen 3. The cars came with a 7500mi? interval built in but then Toyota changed the official interval to 10,000mi. Carista does not have the capability (yet) to change the oil change warning interval. Something to suggest to them.

A concern of mine is oil. The Prius takes 0-20W synthetic, but I think most other Toyotas take 5-30W or something like that. The dealer doesn't bother with quart bottles, they have a central delivery system, which may not have the capability to dispense more than one type of oil? When I had my Gen 3 in for one of its first oil changes, I noticed a small drop in MPG after that, and talked with the dealer about it. From then on, I supplied 5 quarts of Mobil 1 0-20W when I brought it in for an oil change. Now I'm wondering if I should ask to get the empties back when they return the car to me?????

I prefer the 10,000mil interval because it's easy for me to remember.

 

Agreed. Even though the last three Prii I purchased came with free service up to 25k miles, none of them has ever been to the dealer or a mechanic for service. If you want it done right, do it yourself. And if it ain't broken, don't fix it. Words to live by.

 

One good reason to take your car to a dealer (at least occasionally) is to get TSB updates completed.