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Low usage

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by cmstlist, Jan 21, 2014.

  1. cmstlist

    cmstlist Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Toronto, ON
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    I wonder if I may have a record for the lowest usage on a 2012 Prius C in this forum. I bought it with about 300 km on the odometer. When I took it in for the 1-year service (theoretically 16K km) I had just been laid off a month earlier, and the odometer was around 8500-9000. Today I've had it for 19 months and it's at 9502 km. Still unemployed. I filled up the tank in late April 2013 the week of the layoff, and my next fillup was six months later.

    Anyway, at the 1-year service I got the oil & filter change but skipped the cabin air filter and tire rotation due to low usage. Now I'm less than 1000 km more than the last service. I phoned in and they suggested I can continue to postpone the air filter and tire rotation, but should still be bringing it in for the twice annual oil & filter. I booked an appointment for tomorrow.

    Any other thoughts on low usage?

    It truly is uneconomical for me to be holding on to the operating costs of this car, save for the fact that most jobs in my field require awkward commutes. So selling the car would potentially create more problems than it would solve.
     
    #1 cmstlist, Jan 21, 2014
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    This would only hurt you if you can't afford to keep the car financially. If you can....why not.
     
    #2 JC91006, Jan 21, 2014
  3. Snowball

    Snowball Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius c
    Model:
    Three
    Maybe the recommendations in BC are different, but here in the US the recommended interval for oil change is 1 year or 10,000 miles. So it sounds like their recommendation of twice a year is excessive especially with the low miles you are driving.

    Edit:
    Sorry, I re-read this and you say twice annual oil & filter. Did you mean the 2nd year oil change? If so, disregard my original post above. When I originally read it, I thought it meant they were recommending two oil changes a year.
     
    #3 Snowball, Jan 25, 2014
  4. SwhitePC

    SwhitePC Active Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius c
    Model:
    Four
    What operating costs is there if you're barely even using the car. You probably won't even need to hit the gas station that much, and you'll probably just drive/run the car once in a while to keep it in shape (fluids, mechanical, battery, etc)...other than that you probably won't even use the car often enough to warrant much visit(s) to a mechanic for checkups, repairs (unless you really have bad luck), filter changes, etc.

    If you can afford to keep paying it off along with whatever annual recurring Canadian tags/registration has, then do so, b/c you never know when you'll need something to commute in, and not be regretting the day you find a job, but no means or complicated means to get to your job.
     
    #4 SwhitePC, Jan 25, 2014
  5. frodoz737

    frodoz737 Top Wrench

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    Keep it or not, with six months between fill ups...add some Sta-Bil fuel additive to your tank if you have not already.
     
    #5 frodoz737, Jan 25, 2014
  6. kingnba6

    kingnba6 Active Member

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    i think i am a low user of cars. i have a 2004 toyota rav4 with only 31k miles. but i have done everything needed according to the miles. i change oil and filter at least once a year. change the air and cabin filters when they need changing. if you are handy, you will be able to tell what your cars needs when it needs it. my prius C just hit 8k and it has been 10 months of owning it.

    i dont see nor have experienced anything wrong with low usage as long as you do the basic stuff.
     
    #6 kingnba6, Jan 25, 2014
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
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    Model:
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    Regardless of the Canadian 6 mo or 8000 km oil change interval, you might have a case to switch to yearly, with such low mileage. Discuss further with your service department?

    The cabin air filter is a very insignificant item. Same for tire rotation. There's really no point to either service with such low mileage.

    We're low mileage, not as low as yours, but getting there. My wife was the prime driver, but packed in her job a few months back, and now we're averaging maybe 600 km's per month. I commute via WCE.
     
    #7 Mendel Leisk, Jan 25, 2014
  8. cmstlist

    cmstlist Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
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    Two
    The oil & filter recommendation in the CDN service manual is to change at 8000 km / 6 months, 16000 km / 1 year, 24000 km / 1.5 years, then every 16000 km / 1 year. I am at 1.5 years but only 9500 km. From this point onwards it would appear that only annual is recommended. So I guess it's a moot point now.

    What can I say, I'm not particularly assertive in the face of car dealerships. They told me that even with low usage it's not good to skip the oil & filter service so I did it. The cabin air filter I had skipped at the 1 year mark, and this time they told me that even with low usage it can start to get stale, mildewy etc, so I said fine, inspect it and change only if it needs replacing. They said it was dirty enough that it's worth replacing.

    Anyway I am leaning more and more towards moving back to Ontario so that would at least put a few thousand more on it. Going to wait for the country to thaw though first :)
     
    #8 cmstlist, Jan 28, 2014
  9. Michael Wood

    Michael Wood Active Member

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    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius Prime
    Model:
    LE
    I haven't seen any 0w16 on the shelves at Walmart since early summer 2021. My decision to switch to 0w20 on my Prime might be easier than I thought.
     
    #9 Michael Wood, Oct 30, 2021
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