Maintenance required soon message

Usually putting the odometer in the full reading (non-trip) position and powering up the vehicle with the odometer button held down and continue to hold down until the odometer blanks out.

Basically you are nearing 5000mi so it is oil change time according to the car.

 

It on the center MFD screen in the settings tab.

 

Or whatever the schedule says, not oil change till 10,000 miles?

I'd vote for oil change anyway, but that's me.

 

The maintenance alert still triggers at 5K, although on newer models the synthetic oil change interval is 10K. Your service manual probably says you still have to rotate your tires every 5,000 miles.

Easier than getting the engineers to reprogram the idiot light, and the dealer doesn't lose a service stream . . .

 

And if you aren't using synthetic but used regular oil as your last change, you should use a 5K interval.

Dino juice is not recommended by Toyota for the newest models. There was a transition period as they phased in synthetic when cars had both schedules listed in the manual, and it was up to you (or your dealer) to keep track.

(Curious how the 10K oil change is twice the price of the 5K ones at most dealerships).

 

I've yet to see any mention of synthetic oil and/or it's correlation to the oil change interval, in Toyota's documentation. Yes, between second and third gen they switched from a heavier oil to 0W20, and that oil is invariably synthetic. And when synthetics came out they were touted as being longer lasting.

But Toyota's not say the longer interval is tied to the use of synthetic. And around the world, various intervals (some longer, some shorter) and various oil grades are spec'd.

 

Acton Toyota of Littleton | New Toyota, Scion dealership in Littleton, MA 01460
and toyota-recommended-maintenance-prius
are dealer sites that list a 10K interval for synthetic oil under Toyota recommended service schedules for a Prius.

 

The owner manuals do not mention anything about "synthetic" or "non-synthetic" in relation to 10,000 miles between oil changes. The only criterion mentioned in the Warranty & Service Guide (separate booklet) is whether 0W-20 was used on the last oil change. This appears first in the 15,000 miles portion of the Maintenance Log, and then every odd 5,000 mile section after that (25,000, 35,000 and so on...). So, if you don't use 0W-20 oil, you're supposed to change again after 5,000 miles. The Owners Manual says that if you don't use 0W-20, you're supposed to replace with 0W-20 at the next oil change, so Toyota doesn't want you to use other than 0W-20 for more than 5,000 miles at a time.

 

As I understand it, 0W-20 is only available as a synthetic oil (and is the manual-recommended weight for most newer models), hence the 10K Toyota interval is for that oil.

(Always the best advice is to follow your individual year/model service manual as Toyota guidance continues to evolve on this. There also are differences between different countries and continents for the same year/model vehicle, leading to a bit of head scratching , but since those are the terms of your warranty it is best to follow them!)

 

The pitfall on focusing on the word "synthetic" instead of the weight (0W-20) is that some may assume that any synthetic oil is good for 10,000 miles; and this is not what Toyota recommends.

 

I have a 2018 Prius. It is well maintained. I take it to the dealer every six months and do whatever needs to be done. The oil is changed (by the dealer) once in a year using the type of oil recommended by Toyota. It is driven very less as I don't drive that much to begin with and also due to covid. I have put in only 23,200 miles so far in 5 years and 4 months.

The last two days I am getting the message "Maintenance required soon" message. I have never got this message before. My owner's manual says this message will appear once you reach 4500 miles since the last maintenance. I am pretty sure, I have not driven that much since the last maintenance (which also included oil changes). I am positive that I have not driven more than 3000 miles since last maintenance. But, I have driven more in that last four months than in any other period since I owned the car.

I have few questions.

1. I believe that this is a message that appears based purely on the number of miles driven since the last maintenance and is not appearing because there is something wrong with my vehicle; Is that correct?

2. I am taking a trip (about 350 miles one way) for the July 4th holidays. There is only one or two days left, if I need to take it to the dealer before my trip. Is it safe to ignore the message for now and go on my planned trip.

3. Is it safe to wait until end of August when my next maintenance comes up as per time (I always hit the time deadline before the miles deadline as I drive very less).

4. Also, I do oil change only once in an year and not every six months. My next oil change is due only at the end of February, 2024. Should I do the oil change this August because the warning sign is coming?

Thank you for your assistance,

-Gopal

 

Yes, the message is based only on the miles driven

Yes, you understood the manual correctly. The "required soon" message will appear between 4,500 miles and 5,000 miles and will clear off the display after a few seconds. After 5,000 miles from the last service, the message will change to "required now" and stay on permanently. You can still clear this message manually by clicking the "return" or "back" button.

Yes, since you are only out only six months from the last oil change, this intermediate service will only rotate the tires and do other fluid level checks.

No, you can still wait the full 12 months between oil changes, as long as you do not exceed 10,000 miles.

 

Thank you for the reply. I am now relieved that there is nothing wrong with my car.

However, the message is still puzzling as I have definitely not driven more than 3000 miles since last oil change. Is the 4500 miles figure fixed one or is it something that the mechanic at the dealership can play with and change to something else?

 

It is fixed, hard-coded into the car. Cannot be changed. So, what is likely is that the counter was not reset at your last oil change and you are finally getting around to traveling 4,500 miles since it was last reset. Resetting the counter is not connected to completing the service, it has to be reset manually from the steering wheel buttons in the settings menu on the car.

 

Thank you for the response. You nailed it.

If I look at mileage on my car at the time of Aug. 2022 service and add 4500 to it, it happens that I crossed that number a few days ago. This means, they must have forgot to reset the counter during Feb. 2023 service.

From what you are saying, it appears that I myself can reset the counter. Is that true?

 

Of course, maybe look at this YouTube video for help with the reset,

 

Your owners manual under the maintenance section (section 6-2) tells you how to do it. Page 502 for my 2022.