Very low mileage. To service or not to service?

OK....so let's clean a few things up here:

@ Warranty
You do not have to ever go back to the dealer again to honor the terms of your warranty, and if your engine sucks a valve tomorrow the dealership has to PROVE that your lack of maintenance or abuse caused the failure and it was not a manufacturer defect.
Otherwise they have to fix whatever is covered by the factory warranty, and if you were foolish enough to purchase an extended factory warranty they have to honor THAT too.
In other words the burden of proof is on THEM.

.....that's the GOOD news.
The BAD news is that you obviously have never read your Warranty and maintenance guide....and you HAVE violated the terns of the warranty.
https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/omms-s/T-MMS-19PriusPrime/pdf/T-MMS-19PriusPrime.pdf

The above link is for a 2019 Prime but it's probably a nearly word-for-word copy of the 2018 Warranty and maintenance guide.
They've been doing it the same way since WAAAAY before Priuses came to save the planet.
Typically....maintenance items in your warranty are grouped in periodicities based on the number of miles (or those funny kilo-thingies for those living in backwards nations) that a vehicle is in service.
Usually 5,000 miles...... AND A NUMBER OF MONTHS IN SERVICE. (usually 6 months.)
You "should" have changed your oil out a few times by now if you're worried about your warranty - or at least established a relationship with an independent mechanic to check the vehicle over every 6 months and make a note in the maintenance guide that the oil was (wink-wink!) "changed" and save the receipt.

@ Dealer.
Money is obviously NOT your North Star, otherwise you would not have a $30,000 car depreciating away in your garage so it really will not matter if you take it to the dealer or a mechanic for the remainder of the factory warranty, but it WILL be an interesting experiment to see if they try to charge you for OTHER things that are not on the Warranty and Maintenance guide.

You see....it goes both ways.
They PROFIT because owners are ignorant of the terms of the Warranty and of the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act but they can also be caught in some pretty embarrassing situations....like trying to shank an owner for 'carbon' cleaning on a two year old car with less than 5,000 miles.

@ oil and metal shavings....
You do not have to worry about this for TWO fundamental reasons:

1. For the most part, humans do not build engines, but rather they operate and monitor the machines that build the engines.
2. There is a relatively new, space-age device that prevents Foreign Object Damage (FOD). in 1923....Ernest Sweetland and George H. Greenhalgh patented the first automotive oil filtration system. They called their invention “Purolator”, short for the words “pure oil later.”

Even PRIUSES have fairly good oil filters.
There are other things happening in your engine that (some say) necessitate oil changes at least annually.
Long and very passionate arguments about acidity and condensation, additives and dilution leave people breathless and dizzy after hours and hours of verbal abuse and insults.

Me?
I like things simple.
WHILE THE CAR IS IN WARRANTY, I do what THEY say.

Afterwards?
I do it MY way.


Your call....

 

While that is true, in theory, they don't actually HAVE to do anything and it is sometimes necessary to go through arbitration and the courts.
That is NOT a pleasant or inexpensive experience for an individual. In my opinion, it is much better to NOT give them any excuse.
That means doing exactly what is recommended, when it is recommended and documented by a third party.....or by THEM.

As far as an extended warranty goes, what you wrote above is not totally accurate at best and dangerously misleading at worst.
The dealer is not legally obligated to "work with" any 3rd party warranty company.
AND the extended warranty can be written with odd ball provisions dictating EXACTLY what is and is not covered and where you must take it to get repairs under their terms.
Many people are shocked to find out that their extended warranty is essentially worthless when something goes wrong.

 

Edited my original quote to specify extended "factory" warranty....
As foolish as it is to buy an extended factory warranty, buying some cut-rate, fly-by-night third party warranty is in the same league as answering emails from Nigerian royalty.

It goes without saying that dealerships sometimes do not honor warranty claims. They are simply required to under the law.

However (comma!!!) it's been my experience through friends and family members who have been victimized by the crossed-bunghole company that even though Toyota has some of the scummier dealerships I've encountered they do have a fairly good reputation in the industry for AT LEAST honoring their factory warranty....and I say this as a person who has not bought a Toyota product in over 30 years.
They can afford to.
They charge outlandish prices for their products and services.....especially for a middle-shelf brand.

YMMV

 

That is what my Nissan dealer told me when I got my Nissan 350z in 2005. Said the first couple of oil changes should be done earlier because the engine is new and the wear down process is new.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I would imagine a 350z to be driven differently than a Prius.

So maybe this is different as I bought a 2010 and 2019 Prius new and this was not mentioned, nor does the maintenance schedule reflect that .

I also asked the dealer each time I purchased the Prii (2 separate dealers in different locales) and both said no .

When I changed both early, no signs of metals there.

 

Thats good, every engine is different and so is the wear even on the same engine from car to car.

Still happens though even if your eyes can not see the metal.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

In this day and age, NOTHING "goes without saying".

Anyone under 40 or so has spent so much of their life with their nose buried in a video (game) screen that they don't have half of the "common knowledge" that they should.

EVERYTHING needs to be explained, often in painful detail.

 

Might have been true in 1950.....but not today.
Some old ideas die hard.
And by "dealer" I assume you mean "salesperson"......who are famous for their mechanical knowledge......NOT.