Prius C Routine Maintenance Schedule

The oil change interval is every 10,000 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first. Tire rotation is 5,000 miles or six months.

Your dashboard display will show a maintenance reminder based on mileage.

 

You should have a second book, beside the Owners Manual, titled something like "Warranty and Maintenance Guide".

Maintenance is outlined in there, interval by interval. Some stuff is more valid and doable than others. For example, it stipulates to check suspension bolts, that is not going to happen. Just too vague, no easy to follow list or instruction, just there to keep their lawyers happy.

But that Guide is pretty much ALL you have to do. Read it through: the dealerships are notorious for piling on extra services.

The ONLY extra I'd seriously consider is a transaxle fluid change. Maybe first one around 30k miles, then every 60k thereafter.

 

Shannon - congratulations on your new car! TOYOTA says 10,000 miles for oil changes, some owners say every 5,000 miles, so if you do it early or wait for the computer reminder, you will be good. You should be fine following TOYOTA's oil change schedule of 10K miles. Do change your transmission fluid at 30,000 miles, the lifetime fluid is something I would not leave in for more than 30,000 miles.

 

what the big stuff?

 

when was your first oil flush?

 

Especially with the long US interval: check the oil level on the dipstick periodically. If it's similar to the reg Prius, pretty difficult to read: the oil smears and it can be a challenge to make out the true level. Look at both sides, usually one's clearer.

 

I had a Gen II lift-back with an engine very similar to the Prius c. The recommended oil change was at 5000. I have decided to split the difference and do my changes at 7500.

The maintenance booklet mentioned above also gives alternate maintenance schedules for vehicles driven in dusty conditions or used for delivery and other 'heavy-duty' purposes. You should tailor your schedule to suit your personal needs and comfort level.

In addition, since the c is a hybrid (duh), the ICE only runs a percentage of the time, not full time; so whatever percentage it's not running reduces the interval for certain maintenance requirements in standard vehicles. If, for example, your EV figure in the driving information screen - example in my avatar at left - shows 50%, for 500 miles on the odometer, you have in essence only used ICE for 250 miles.

I would say use the maintenance schedule Toyota recommends as a bare minimum and do what suits you. The maintenance reminders appear at 5000 miles intervals. If you do your own service, you can find out how to reset the reminder on page 349 of the manual.

 

Doing oil & filter change @ the 4,500 intervals, I get the maintenance required light anyway. This "little Prius C One that could" is driven 92 miles a day, at least 5 times a week, in the warm weather of the Caribbean. I think using Royal Purple and the 4,500 interval will keep it happy forever