Dealer first service, oil overfill, brake spec, EFI cleaner

short story -

Engine oil overfilled 5/16" above dimple, fixed same day, rear brake shoe said 3.5mm - low (?), tried to upsell me on EFI cleaner at 3,500 miles.

Is 3.5mm getting low for rear brake shoe thickness? Car's at 3,500 miles, geeez.

I suppose Fuel Injection cleaner a good idea when oil changed, please confirm.

Next time I'll ask, wherever I go, to underfill oil slightly and I'll top up at home.

I suppose maintenance light will pop on at 5k miles. Also suppose the turn off procedure here.

Long story -

Yeah, I was a bit of a pain checking into service, saying not completey satisfied with the car, blah ...

Advisor notes Master Tech put on first service job. Car comes back, oil looks overfilled about 1/4". Drove home 20 miles, waited the 5 minutes, measured overfill of 5/16" above top dimple.

Checked Priuschat, went straight back to dealer. Got a respectful attendant to check the car back in. Service advisor seemed to think it all no big deal, awfully chatty, cracking laughs with coworkers. Through dealing with that dude.

Remeasured 1/16" above top dimple. I'll roll with that.

 

should have known his character when he blew off Priuschat saying 'don't listen to people on the internet ...'

Bought 3 yr. prepaid maint. at purchase time.

thanks all...

 

EFI cleaner would have been charged as extra even with pre-paid manintenance plan.

 

I wonder if the slight overfilling of engine oil is an old trick, knowing that over much time, the engine seals may wear out quicker.

How does a Master Tech not know that X amount of oil pumped in will indeed show up over 1/4" above the top dimple on dipstick?

I could refill the oil exactly to the top dimple in my sleep, although it may take some topping off and time.

As someone else said in another topic, owner's manual clearly states -

'Do Not overfill engine oil or engine damage may occur'.

 

Won't be buying any quarts of oil, that's rolled into the purchase contract. Maybe 1 quart to top up at home.

Won't be servicing the car at home, just looking after it per owner's manual. I've taken a few cars to a low-cost shop in Fremont for 10 years with good results. I doubt they've done anything with Prius cars yet though.

So, I'll do my best with Toyota dealers. There are many in SF Bay Area. If they mess up, at least they're factory backed to fix things.

I think it's important to establish a good relationship with a dealer service department. They like repeat customers. I won't pan them, call them all bad. I need their expertise to service the car.

I realize dealers are in business to make money. Piercey Toyota is pretty big and fancy. So, it will be a battle to not get oversold.

For the record, I've sometimes seen dealers fix problems that indy shops could not. '86 Jetta with ECU problem, indy shops could not diagnose problem. VW dealer did diagnose and replace ECU.

However, Hayward Toyota once could not properly diagnose a bad temp gauge, kept saying it was temp sensor. An independent electric shop replaced the gauge.

So, results are a mixed bag. Kind of like diagnoses from Doctors.