Red Triangle Warning Light and NO OIL after 5000 mi service!

Thanks for the good report.

Anyone can make a mistake. How the service manager responded speaks highly of the dealership. I don't think this is the time to avoid them.

 

i agree with the crowd.

to err is human, to forgive... is a necessary part of life.

give the dealership a chance to rectify their errors. obviously this is something that doesnt occur very often or they would be out of biz by now or spending a lot of time in court.

 

This appears to be a straight ahead person. I would go back. Best of Luck.

 

Like I've said before in other contexts, there are still honest people out there. Do keep us informed of developments. And good luck to you.

 

Re: Red Triangle Warning Light and NO OIL after 5000 mi serv

Prius has it's own Roadside Assistance? Cool.

 

This scenerio with dealers is exactly why i do it myself, i had a dealer not tighten a filter and boom, i lost it on the highway...i was redoing a new oil change on the side of the road...i trust some mechanics as far as i can throw them

 

there is one thing to keep in mind when you do your own servicing, is this, if for some reason you have a problem like has been told here with loss of oil and you ruin the engine, your the one responsible and your on the hook for the repair. Not Toyota or the dealer who last looked at your car but you. The onus is on the tech to do it right the first time and the difference between you and a dealer is the liability insurance carrier.

 

The ultimate question in anything you do is alledged liability...i feel if i do it myself, i know its done right...(been doing oil changes for 30 yrs)...personal responsibility,which is lacking in this society is the main problem of people not wanting to be self sufficient( due to sue-itis)...if i can change oil in the airplane, which my life depends on it, i, by george, can change oil in the prius...

 

Yeah me too, until I didn't Of course not seeing the old gasket still on the engine would never happen again, as I am capable of learning from my mistakes.

 

I'm with you on this one. Especially when I remember a time in the 1970s when I did some brake work on my MG Midget. Everything was fine there. But when I was driving a day or so later, I kept hearing some kind of knocking sound. It seemed to happen when starting up and slowing down but went away at cruising speed.

I had forgotten to properly torque one of the lug nuts. (Well, OK, maybe more than one of them.) It had loosened and was rattling around inside the hub cap.

 

Re: Red Triangle Warning Light and NO OIL after 5000 mi serv

GEEZ - One would think that with all the technical innovations of the Prius, that the Oil Light would have come on due to insufficient oil in the engine.

I always thought that was what the oil light was for.........

 

Re: Update

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(twenty8moons\";p=\"34748)</div>

Jennifer,

The suspense is killing me. What was the outcome? Is the car OK? Are you? Are any mechanics still employeed there? Inquiring minds want to know

 

Re: Red Triangle Warning Light and NO OIL after 5000 mi serv

I also would be interested in the outcome.

I'm new here, and just read this issue. When I bought my Prius in March, 2004, I read part of the owners manual, and at page 207 it recommends checking the oil with each refil of gas, and states that the maximum oil consumption is 1.1 qt/600 miles. This means it could use two quarts in 1200 miles. Initially I worried about this, thinking the Prius used extra oil. After 10,200 miles, my Prius seems to have used no oil between oil changes. I still wonder about the 1.1 qt/600 mile statement.

I own a 1991 Toyota recreational vehicle that used no oil until Toyota did a warranty "head gasket" job. Thereafter it uses one quart every 1600 - 1800 miles. I complained, and Toyota said this was OK, and they would only correct the problem if the consumption exceeded one quart every 1200 miles.

 

gee craig i dont know where you heard that but i have driven 4300 miles in my Prius and it has not used a drop of oil

 

Similar circumstances here as well - the car doesn't actually lose ANY oil that I can detect. I check the oil every couple fillups and it's never moved so much as a millimeter on the stick (probably because the engine is so new and the seals & all are still good).

It does darken from being almost crystal clear to being a light honey-brown colour at change-time, but nowhere near the "opaque brown" that my old Corolla was at

I'm firmly convinced that no damage was done to the original car in this thread - the engine would cut-off as soon as the oil sensor (which is operated by oil-flow pressure and not by oil level) detected a problem. As soon as the flow pressure dropped too far, it would show a warning and shut down. Because of the lighter-duty on the prius ICE, it shouldn't have been harmed at all.

Dave.

 

ya i kinda wonder how far you can go on the oil changes. the dealer placed an oil change sticker on my car for 3000 miles, but the oil had just started to change color so i decided to go 5000.

now that i am at 4300, it is a light honey color and still now where near the near black color my corolla was after 3000 miles.

makes me think that i should have been changing the oil faster in the corolla!!