What maintenance required on 2010 Prius from 0-36k miles

Oil change, tire rotation, alignment, cabin filter, air filter and maybe brake fluid change if you really care

 

Oil is the main thing, then the lease ends and the next guy gets whatever problems you created for him. Be more concerned with dings, dents, scraches that the dealer will demand be repaired at lease end because they will cost you actual money. Similarly the interior has to be relatively clean and undamaged. The car holds 54% of its value in that time, makes for a cheap lease. Makes never owning the car a good idea.

 

I am thinking about buying a Prius.

Can somebody say unequivocally that ONLY that which is in the manual is necessary to maintain lease/warranty requirements? Also, I do all maintenance on my own cars. Can I still do that for this as long as I maintain receipts?

I have always thought the larger maintenance intervals on cars, unless specified in the warranty, are a waste of money, such as excessive brake fluid replacements, tranny flushes, coolant flushes. These are uniformly done more than necessary by stealerships. I don't need any of this junk, right (from a lease and warranty perspective, I mean, I already know it is in reality a waste of money)? My guess is that all the manual calls for within 36k is oil changes, probably less frequent than a stealership claims, and then regular inspection, the only other replacement being maybe a cabin filter once and coolant at 30k, if I had to guess.

 

You can just do oil changes every 10k, and check the air filter each time, if it doesn't get dirty before 30k just replace it then, and you can clean the cabin air filter every 20k or so. That is all you have to do, until 100k. Yes you can do your own oil change, just be able to provide prof of it.

 

Hi. I've tried to do my due diligence, so be gentle. Some folks have said that it is worthwhile swapping the oil at 1000 miles on a new prius. Well, I have a new 2010 Prius with 950 miles on it (~2 weeks old). Here are a couple of questions:

1. Should I swap the oil/filter? I know there are a lot of opinions but I'd like to hear them again (thanks!).
2. Is the car shipped with synthetic oil?
3. I have the 2 year/24K maintenance (it was free in that they wouldn't give me a lower price by removing it) so I was thinking I would take it to my independent shop and bring them the oil and filter. Is there anything else I should bring (drain plug gasket, etc...)?
4. When I bring it in for its 5K maintenance, are they going to tell me to come back at 10K and/or try to charge me for synthetic oil?
5. Do you have to flush the engine to swap from petroleum based to synthetic oil?

Thanks for your patience!

 

Question 1 is one of those endless debates, but it really is particular to the car. Most of the time you can do what the manual says and it's ideal, so if it says not to bother with a 1k change it's likely not giving much benefit. However, in some cars they have a special break-in oil from the factory and it's absolutely important that you follow the specifics from the factory. I think this is a major inority of cars, though.

3) if you bring it somewhere, oil/filter is all you need. I think OEM filters are best for all cars; quick-change places use whatever the cheapest thing they can find is, so always go OEM. And that includes K&N, too; i.e. don't use K&N filters. I think they are vastly overrated.

Not sure on your other questions so I won't answer, other than 5): absolutely no need for a flush of any kind; you can go from dinosaur juice to synthetic with nothing but an oil change. Years ago some people experienced, or say they experienced, seal issues when switching to synthetic unless they prayed first or did a rain dance or whatever; this is of no concern now. Synthetic is a better oil, period. However, it's also not better enough that it's going to make much of a difference even over the life of a car. I personally put it on one vehicle and not the other. It's good, but return on investment is going to probably be mild and hard to identify.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

You can check on-line by going to Toyota / dealership's web-site ....maintenance schedule ... follow instructions on the screen:
Toyota Parts and Service
My dealer's web-site used to have the price for each service included; not sure if they have it where you're. Also note that synthetic oil change option is more expensive (but well worth it IMHO).