What does '6 Month Maintenance" entail on a Prius?

October 22, 2017 9:58 PM

Every 6 months or so this thing pops up on my Prius- 'Maintenance Required'. Then I get an email from the dealership. I take my car over, pay about 100 bucks, the message goes away and my car doesn't blow up. So far, so good! However, the dealership is ~1 hour away. Can a regular ol' auto repair shop take care of this? What kind of magic is the 'Required Maintenance'? What should I ask for?
posted by GilloD to Technology (10 answers total)

Your owners manual will detail the maintenance schedule.

It varies by make and model , but usually, every 5000 miles or 6 months, you should have the engine oil changed and tires rotated. Less often (30,000 miles), things like the mass air filter or sparkplugs need replaced, or the driveshaft greased, for example. Less often than that (90,000 miles), you may need to change the timing belt. If you don't have the manual, the Toyota owners website will have it. Generally speaking, any mechanic can do the work. If you're handy, you could. Most maintenance tasks are not very hard.

Point is, you can find what needs to be done, and when, in the manual.

The toyota owners website also allows you to update the maintenance log - which is handy in the event of a warranty claim.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 10:17 PM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

That’s the oil change indication, or at least it is on my Prius.
posted by Maecenas at 10:17 PM on October 22, 2017 [3 favorites]

You should get in the habit of asking the mechanic what you're paying for and they should be giving you a receipt. Call them and ask them what was done at your last service.
posted by bleep at 11:19 PM on October 22, 2017 [5 favorites]

You should get an itemized list with a check mark by every system that was treated. If you are not getting one, go to a different dealer.
posted by Cranberry at 12:06 AM on October 23, 2017 [3 favorites]

This is an example maintenance schedule taken off a random Prius forum - not sure how it differs from yours.

Replace Engine Oil and Filter every 10,000 miles (1 year).
Replace Cabin and Engine air filters every 30,000 miles (3 years).
Replace Engine Coolant at 100,000 miles (10 years). Replace every 50,000 miles (5 years) thereafter.
Replace Spark Plugs every 120,000 miles (12 years).
Replace Inverter Coolant at 150,000 miles (15 years). Replace every 50,000 miles (5 years) thereafter.

Someone in that forum thread also mentions "we are told to replace engine oil and filter every 8000 km (6 months)" so presumably that's what you're having done.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:43 AM on October 23, 2017

On reading that whole thread there seems to be some debate about US Priuses requiring yearly oil changes and Canadian Priuses requiring 6-monthly oil changes for some reason. In theory the Prius uses the petrol engine less than a normal car and so should require less frequent oil changes (disclaimer: I am not a car guy).
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:45 AM on October 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

You should be saving your service receipts in a nice fat folder. If you sell, this will be a huge advantage!
posted by jbenben at 6:39 AM on October 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

You can take your car wherever you like! A reputable car mechanic is probably ideal, though.

I err on the side of caution and go to the dealer for the period of my car's warranty, if applicable. There's nothing wrong with having service performed somewhere else as long as you keep records, but it tends to streamline the process. They also tend, as you've noticed, to keep track of your particular car's maintenance schedule.

Really, all you need to do is go to the page in the manual that everyone's already mentioned that has the maintenance schedule, and when your car tells you to make an appointment, check the mileage/age against the schedule and tell the mechanic you want those services performed. They'll tell you if there are any other issues.
posted by mikeh at 9:14 AM on October 23, 2017

On my Prius, it's a mileage based indicator that I need an oil change. That's it. Once you get an oil change you or the mechanic can reset it. I found the instructions to do it by Googling.
posted by quince at 2:29 PM on October 23, 2017

The Prii manuals tell you to get maintenance performed every 6 months, and as everybody stated, they tell you what should be done; there's always something on the schedule. The maintenance required notification is set to turn up every 5,000 miles. My (2010) manual says that oil changes are necessary every 5,000 miles, but Toyota later clarified that they're actually only required every 10,000 miles. I once skipped a 5,000 mile service interval. It's not about time, it's about miles.

When it comes to auto maintenance more generally, how much of it you do depends on whether or not you want to avoid the possibility of failures later. The Prii are reputed to be long runners with little going wrong over their operation, and that's been my experience; after 96,000 miles, all I've done is replace the tires (everybody was astonished I got 50,000 miles on the stock tires) and the brakes. Ordinary wear and tear. I've also gotten the dealer service regularly, because I reasoned it was the likeliest way to keep it running with minimal fuss. It hasn't cost much, and I have yet to have any real surprises, unless you count damage to tires, which is not the car's fault. I also have never had a garage or a real great place in which to service my car or supplies with which to do it other than the most minor things.

Ordinary repairshops should be able to handle all the service, though it probably can't be warranted like a Toyota dealer would be. It's probably not much of a risk to use a decent regular repair shop. As to how often you get it serviced or service it yourself, that's balancing risk and expense to your liking.
posted by Strudel at 11:05 PM on October 23, 2017