No service at 6 months?

The 10,000 mile oil change interval was a late decision by Toyota so there is some confusion about the 6 month interval (12 months is probably OK). I am a bit old fashioned and always do an early oil change to handle break-in issues. So I would insist on the 5k/6month oil change even if I had to pay for it. I would then follow the 10k/12month that that dealer suggests thereafter.

Since you are a low mileage driver, I suggest that you keep an eye on the little 12v battery as it may tend to slowly get discharged. The charging system in your Prius is slow and assumes longer trips to maintain the State of Charge (SOC) of the 12v (not the big one) battery.

JeffD

 

There is nothing on the 6 month/6k mile list that can't wait 12 months with the low miles you are driving, assuming you are keeping an eye on fluid levels on the 6mo/6kmile check list.

My other two cars (A Honda Product and a GM product) both say they should get maintenance when an oil change is required or 12 months, whichever comes first. There is nothing about a Toyota that makes it require scheduled maintenance more frequently than those cars.:cheer2:

 

With only 1900 miles on the car, wait for the 12 month service. As jdenenberg stated above, your 12v battery will need watching since you don't drive the car much.

 

I was in the same situation with my 2010 Prius. Toyota made a late change in service schedules that is not in the manuals. Any way, i had the oil change done at 5000K and paid for it. I know engine break-ins make the oil dirty and it is advisable to get it changed.

 

Ah, the Prius loves to be driven, and you don't give it enough love by not driving so much.

On the other hand, just do 10k/1 year service, which basically is just oil change and tire rotation.

 

Kudos to your dealer for giving you some money-saving advice! Don't let your oil go longer than a year.

 

In addition to the comments above, I'd suggest reading the warranty/maintenance booklet that came with the car. Your dealer's comments are not exactly accurate.

 

I might add that the manual addresses jump starting the Prius. There is a "dock" in the engine compartment for jump starting, but it can be used to slow charge (2 amp) the 12 v battery too. You can also easily check voltage there.

 

True, but they're mostly small potatos, especially considering the mileage:

(I've managed to pry ours out once for a vacuuming: it is tenacious! This seems purely a concession to the unexpected acceleration issue. It's every 6 months in the States, never mentioned in Canada)

(With the mileage, pretty safe bet that'll be just the windshield washer fluid)

(They mentioned this. And yeah: pointless with the mileage.)

(A little more significant, but: with the mileage, even "visual" inspection is near overkill. Toyota also uses the word "service", at least in the Canadian literature.)

FWIW, Honda recommends a brake "inspection" every 12 months, and I'd speculate it's comparable to Toyota "service". Though, so far I've not discovered just what Toyota expects for "service". Honda's description for "inspection", in a nutshell, for disc brakes:

Take off the bottom caliper bolt, rotate up and secure caliper, and pull off the pads/shims. Disassemble pads/shims, inspect (pad thickness/condition, shim condition), clean and re-assemble with anti-sieze compound (sparingly) on all points of contact. The main two issues: pads worn down near service limit (1~2mm remaining), and/or shims rusting out.

Inspect caliper for signs of leakage, cracking. Check it's moving freely on pins. Check piston boot condition.

Inspect all brake lines, for integrity, leakage.

Check disc with micrometer and dial indicator for thickness, parallelism and run-out. (In practice this tends to get old pretty fast, ie: 12 months is overkill, especially for a hybrid)

Pull off and inspect any anti-rattle clips, typically the clips at both ends of the pads, pushed into recesses in the caliper (check that they're solid, unbent, not rusting out), clean and re-install them. (This also get's old fast, I've never seen a problem with these, maybe depends on design)

Reinstall pads/shims, with anti-sieze at contact points with caliper/piston/anti-rattle clips.

Swing down caliper, re-install and torque bottom bolt.

 

Invest in a decent digital voltmeter and you can verify: should be around 12.6 volt or higher.

Another worthwhile investment: a modest amperage, portable charger with intelligent charging, ie: you can leave it on indefinitely if you like, as the battery charges the charge rate goes down to trickle charge. I went with a CTEK 3300, but there are a number of choices. You can just hook it up overnight, periodically, say every month or two.