Prius c Maintenance Schedule

In Canada it's the standard interval. I believe the severe service interval are halved again: 4000 km or 3 mo, but would have to check.

 

Confusing "Lifetime" fluid for lifetime warranty. But do agree w/ your take on all the exceptions, loss of paperwork, etc; manufactures know this and count on this, otherwise they'd loose too much money honoring "lifetime" warranty claims. Toyota's view of the ATF-WS must be the fluid will survive the usable "life" of the car, which they obviously see as shorter than North American drivers.

As for checking oil. Some people check at the gas station while the pump is filling the tank. This will produce an inaccurate reading as it takes time for the oil to drain back from the upper parts of the engine into the oil pan. How long? Don't know? Is this significant? Possibly? I can guarantee you a reading done this way will produce a false lower reading, than a car that has sat for hours, say overnight. The longer the engine has sat idle (OFF that is), the more accurate the oil level reading will be. This was the point behind checking oil level after sitting for hours (the next morning): lots of time for the oil to make its way back into the oil pan. Will a warm engine give the same reading as a cold. Very likely. All of this is less science, more logic and observation, given how the engine works and oil is circulated in the engine.

Checking regularly is better than not checking at all. Even if one checks while filling up gas.

 

Maybe it's different in the States, more laid back, but I don't think I've ever seen somebody check their oil during a fill up. At least at self-serve stations, you've got to hold the handle constantly. And when you're done, if there's anyone waiting, they're gonna go ballistic if you go into a 20 point under the hood check, lol.

 

Yeah, it's a rare sight. Once a year I see it. If I'm lucky, maybe 2-3x's a year I see it.

Bummer, the gas pumps in Canada don't have the little latch that holds the pump lever up. But this seems to be a State decision down here. When I drove cross country 15 years ago, some States had that latch, others didn't.

 

I stand corrected .. when it comes to a warranty dispute, any legal professional will agree that the the promise of lifetime fluid is not quite the same as lifetime warranty on such fluid

And, since no hair shall remain unsplit in this discussion, there is only one "o" in the word "lose" in this context.

Back to the "when to check the oil" subject: as per the Yahoo! discussion below, it looks like there are 3 schools of thinking (1) When the engine's hot, (2) When it's cold, (3) It doesn't matter

When is the correct time to check your oil: when it is HOT or COLD ??? | Yahoo Answers

 

I check under the hood at least once a month just to make sure everything is still in tact. I check all the fluids and what ever else i can see.

 

I live in Alaska more than 1000 miles north of most Canadian population centers and we are told to change at 10k miles. 10k isn't risky considering the gas motor isn't running as much as a conventional car for those 10k miles. Today's oils , especially factory TGMO don't shear down as much and stay in grade far longer than older oils while giving better protection all the while. Outside of warranty, I'd change every 10k miles without sweating it.

 

how much should I be paying a dealership for the 30k schedule service? Mine said about $300 which seems high for oil, tire rotation and filters?

 

Personally, I'd just tell them to do the oil change and tire rotation (or have it done at a non-dealership with synthetic oil) and do the filters yourself - the markup on those is awful. The oil change should cost $40-$60, and the tire rotation not much more. The filters are $8-$20 each and it should take you a max of 10 minutes the first time, 3 minutes after. The filters probably don't need to be changed that often. Look at them and use your best judgment of whether to vacuum/knock out the crap or replace. I'd be a bit more strict with the engine air filter, a bit more forgiving for the cabin air filter.

 

well its time, I hit 30k yesterday. I called today and asked what an oil change would cost for the C, said $55. OK!!! Before we got any further he asked the # of miles. I said just hit 30k. He says the 30K service is $159 for the filters, inspection, oil and tire rotaton. And I got a $25 coupon just last week from the dealership. So how did it go from "nearly $300" to $130

 

so the oil change alone is $55. Tire rotation alone is $19.99 . But 30k mile service is $155 for the basic and they have add on that go up to $269 where they put additives in fuel tank and transmission and apply rainex to windsheild. I had a $25 coupon too. The filters are the real rip, like $33 in labor for each.

 

It says to change engine oil once a year or every 10,000 miles. I will probably only be putting around 7000 miles a year.. Do I still change it at my year mark or at the 7000 mile. Confused about this.

 

Whichever comes first, so change the oil every 12 months.

 

Tha

Thank you.

 

Brake fluid.

It does have a change interval: 3 years for the first change, and every two years after that. This is not changing just the fluid in the reservoir, but the entire system. Not just a moisture issue, but the additives in the fluid degrade over time. These additives are what protect metal surfaces.

Not servicing this on vehicles with hydraulic-booster style systems (many, many newer cars) has very expensive repercussions down the road. Cost of this unit is thousands of $$.

Not sure what they're putting in the owners manual in the US, but it's in the owners manual for every Toyota sold in Japan.

 

Brake fluid change is also in 2014 (and later, I assume) Owners manual, for regular Prius, in Canada. But not for our 2010, no mention of brake fluid change. Seems to me some notification is owed, to owners of the earlier years.

 

Can this be possible? I admit to a superficial knowledge of regenerative braking - but surely brake linings are wearing. Right?

 

Yeah, I agree. For example, I last checked our fronts at 66K kms, remaining thickness was a pretty uniform 7mm. New thickness is 10 mm, "service limit" is 1 mm, but anything 3 or less personally I would change them. Just extrapolating from the wear so far, ours would be at or below that 3 mm threshold around 150K kms, say 95~100K miles. The rate of wear does depend on the type of driving you do I'm sure; maybe someone who gets on a highway and goes would get more miles.

 

Service manual says to change them at 120k miles... most likely you can go further than that. YMMV.

I'm at 105k miles and the dealership has not even mentioned the front pads to me... and trust me, they try to mention everything to me.