5000 Mile service, Bay Area PriusChatters chime in

Your 5000 mile service should cost about $29. All you need is an oil change, maybe a tire rotation if you want to go wild. You can go to any dealer you want, or you can go to any garage you want - you do not have to get service at the dealer you bought the Prius from.

 

Or you can do oil change for about the price of oil and oil filter. You can go to American's tires for free tires rotation.

 

My two Prii come with the 5000K service for free. They are a ways off yet as I only am at 1200 and the wife is less than 300.

Maybe this is just a South East Toyota thing? dont know.

 

Don't ever tell a dealer that you want their X miles service. Dealers invent fixed-price service packages that include everything that could possibly be done on any car, including things that cannot be done at all on a Prius. Instead take with you the Prius scheduled maintenance guide, show the X miles/Y months page to the service writer, and tell them that you want those items, no more and no less. 5K miles/6 months items should cost about $30, less if you provide the oil.

There is no reason in the world that you have to get service at the sales dealer, unless you locked yourself into one by buying a pre-paid maintenance contract. Find a service provider that you like.

Whenever and wherever you get an oil change, *always* check the oil level yourself before driving away. This simple act can catch gruesome errors that would cause expensive damage.

 

Sounds good Richard --

I have about 1300 mi. on mine, and am wondering whether the local Firestone place (who'd been changing my oil on previous cars) should be trusted for a Prius ...

Is the Prius oil filter & oil drain plug in a relatively traditional location?

And, when a warranty issue comes up, does Toyota balk when they see stamps of non-Toyota garages in the maint. book?

 

The oil is very easy to change in the Prius yourself. You can reach the filter and drain plug from in front of the car while laying on the ground. I found the filter to be overtightened on my first oil change and bought a metal cup shaped thing that fits on a ratchet to remove the filter. I only put it back on hand tight (snug). Put three quarts of new oil in and then start checking the oil level and add a little at a time being careful not to overfill.

 

Dude, My dealer does the first for free also. Toyota policy??

 

good deal, hoop -- thanks!

 

I got the first 3 services for free .Please note i did my first change at 1000 miles oil and filter and went with Mobile 1.This car is very very easy to do a oil change and what took the longest was for the oil to drain .

 

If you're going to change your oil yourself, I highly recommend the Fumoto Oil Drain valve. I had one of these on my old car, and I definitely plan to get one for my Prius.

FUMOTO ENGINEERING