Oil change every 5K required for limited warranty

What you haven't said yet is how many miles you plan on putting on the car. If less than 5,000 miles per 6 months, then you'd have to do four of these oil changes during the term of the warranty. BUT, like you said, these warranties are not that useful anyway given all the exclusions, PLUS the 2013 Prius with 46,000 miles is very reliable. Probably wouldn't need to make a warranty claim anyway. So, if it were me, I'd just stick with the usual Toyota service schedule for your car. Are you AWARE you can sign up with Toyota Owner's Online, enter your VIN and get a service history on your car--assuming it had been serviced at the dealer or the DIY owner entered his own service activities? Pretty useful on used car purchase. 50,000 miles for next oil change would coincide with the normal 10,000 mile oil change interval on full synthetic 0W-20 oil. The car will remind you every 5,000 miles with the Service Reminder on the dash. Toyota recommends service inspections and tire rotations every 5,000 miles, so oil changes are only needed every other time the 5,000 mile reminder pops up. Full service schedules can be found online in the Owner's Circle.

 

Sounds like a nice Prius with fairly low miles.

For me, personally, I think I would ignore the "dealer's warranty/service plan" and just stick with the factory recommended service as spelled out in the owner's maintenance guide. One major thing I like about my Prius, (and what sold me on the car) is that they seem to be very low maintenance.

Enjoy your Prius.

 

I just had a "minor service" at the dealer (oil, filter, rotate tires, inspections) approx $95 out the door. The service manager recommended to me to have the oil changed every 5k miles as I do not put a lot of miles on the car and a lot of stop and go. He said that the 10k recommendation was so Toyota could improve the "cost to maintain" which is a selling point for Toyota. Any opinions on this? I somewhat trust this guy as he just gave me a free $200 tire for my other car (2015 Avalon) that blew out on the freeway as a courtesy.

 

Maybe the dealer just wants to keep selling oil changes? Everything I've read, and heard on radio car shows, says the new synthetic oils are much better and last much longer (under normal driving conditions.)

But of course the opinions are so varied on the subject.

Certainly nothing wrong with changing your oil every 5K, however if using synthetic oil its probably unnecessary. Some folks who are uneasy about waiting until 10,000 miles... they might compromise and do it every 7500? But the owners manual says to do it every 12 months, regardless of mileage. (I may only drive 3000 miles in 12 months -- not sure what I will do.)

Seems like a question that will never be resolved for everyone. Just personal preference.

 

simple, 12 months is 12 months or you lose your warranty. simple decision IMHO.
BTW, i would not buy a hybrid for that little driving.

 

Thanks. I was not aware my self-imposed oil change schedule affected the warranty. The dealer that I've been going to for over 20 years, never mentioned anything. But I usually had the oil service once a year.

And I was also not aware that a hybrid vehicle may not be appropriate for a low-mileage, retired "OG" like me? Can you expand on that please? I've read dozens of reviews about the Prius, and that subject was never mentioned. Does low-mileage, short trips negatively affect the battery system? (My 11-yr old Camry had only 49,800 miles when I traded it in.)

Well, it's too late now. Me and Penelope have paired up. My Prius will be the last car I ever buy.

 

In general, you need to follow the recommended maintenance to maintain the warranty; so an oil change every year/10k miles for most people. That said, the only part of the warranty you lose is if something breaks because you didn't follow the recommendations. To quote from the 2010 Warranty & Maintenance Guide:

You are responsible for performance of the required maintenance indicated in the Owner’s Manual and this booklet. Toyota will not deny a warranty claim solely because you do not have records to show that you maintained your vehicle. However, any failure or noncompliance caused by lack of maintenance is not covered by this warranty. ​

So it's really up to you. Not changing the oil won't give them an excuse to not replace the inverter if it fails - but if you don't notice that the inverter coolant gets low, that might.

As far as for whom a hybrid is appropriate, the most common argument is that hybrids are generally more expensive, and if you don't drive much, you'll never recoup the extra cost. That said, most people aren't making their decision purely on a cost basis anyway (whether they realize it or not), otherwise they'd probably be better off buying a bicycle, a bus pass, a moped, or something else. Short trips will negatively affect your fuel economy (the best mileage comes only after the car is warm), but shouldn't be a problem for the hybrid system or battery.

The battery is probably most affected by heat and number or depth of charge cycles; so going up and down a big hill on battery power repeatedly isn't great for the battery. Driving 2 miles at a time should generally be fine. It probably won't last as many miles as a car driven 50 miles at a time, but it'll probably last at least as many years.

 

Thank you very much, macman. I appreciate your reply and the information you provided. This is my first Prius.

I hope I didn't sound like I am negligent in servicing my car. With previous vehicles, even with the low-mileage driving, I probably (and unnecessarily) over maintained them. I will definitely get an oil change every 12 months for my Prius.

I'm retired now. When working, I was very fortunate in that my place of employment was only about 3 miles from home. On days off, I was caring for elderly parents and running short-trip errands for them. Thus the reason for the history of low mileage. I averaged less than 5,000 miles per year. I was driving a 2005 V6 Camry to work, when I should've been riding a bike! (But then my car would sit even more.)

I seriously considered a new Corolla S Plus ($22,000) before settling on the Prius Three ($25,000). Heck, I should've just kept the Camry! Thanks for explaining about the hybrid battery. I now have free time to take more trips of leisure, and I will give the Prius a thorough test. It sure is nice to get 60 mpg, instead of the 17 I was getting in the Camry. Thanks again.

 

Yeah, I was a low-mileage driver for a long time too - my wife and I both biked to work most days. Recently, she's been driving a lot of the time though, so we're probably close to a "normal" amount now. This spring was the first time in 6 years that I've had to do an oil change less than 12 months after the previous one!

 

I don't think anyone manufacturers non-synthetic 0w20 oil that meets the ILSAC standard required by Toyota.

 

Good information. My Honda hybrid had a maintenance system that was triggered based on how you drove. I typically got 7500 miles between oil changes so I'm looking forward to stretching that to 10000 in the Prius.

 

The Honda maintenance alert system (Maintenance Minder) is definitely more than a dumb mileage counter. Also, it says with a code what specific maintenance is needed, and gives a percent countdown, so you have a heads-up of pending maintenance.

 

That is what the maintenance manual recommends for stop and go driving. You can read this for yourself.

 

No, you're right, but you would use 5W-20 conventional oil if you were going to change at 5K intervals. This is what the Gen II used. Not that I recommend this, but it is in the manual.

 

sure, lets say battery lasts for 12 years and you drove 36,000 miles. that's about 10 cents per mile to cover the battery cost (way more than the fuel cost). if you drove 360,000 miles in that time, the cost would be only 1 cent per mile, negligible. this is all common sense.