lost with choice..

If you feel the investment isn't worth it in convenience or simply satisfaction or price, like with any voluntary purchase, you can look at the expiration of "Toyota Care" as being an opportunity to move on.

I'm NOT necessarily recommending this, but while I haven't sought out independents, I have changed dealerships in an effort to find one I felt comfortable and confident in.

I do think you probably can find "Cheaper".
If that also combines with "As Good" or "Better" service...then the choice is easy.

 

Probably Not.
Again depends on what you WANT to value.

You have the freedom to do whatever you wish.

I don't think there is a wrong choice here.

 

There is nothing special about a prius oil change and tire rotation. Any mechanic and their teenage son can do it. Find a convenient shop to you

 

Changing the oil filter is a little easier to screw up than a typical oil filter, due to the somewhat fragile plastic housing that get's re-used. You want to have the right socket size, a one-size-fits-all band wrench likely won't work, due to all the stiffeners. And for some reason there's been a rash of over-torqueing at dealerships, so that at the first DIY oil change there can be problems busting it loose.

And the housing needs an O-ring at a certain spot on the barrel. This is shown in a picture on the OEM filter box, and it's good to look at the O-ring location on the housing as you take it off.

IIRC there's also instruction on the filter box about the little retaining clip that needs pushing out of the way when commencing to unscrew the housing, and how you need to unscrew about half-way, then cock the housing slightly, at a flat spot on the thread, to drain some of the oil. This is pretty much COMPLETE cargo cult: the clip does nothing, and just take it easy unscrewing as the oil starts coming, give it a sec to drain.

The socket needed is 14 face, a wee bit more than 64 mm inside face to face*. Torque is 18 ft/lb.

* Likely the outside face-to-face of the housing is 64 mm spot-on.

 

Well moving target.
Because I was trying to give an answer to a Thread TITLED "Lost With Choice" where the first two questions asked were:

My experience within Prius Chat....is that most people are advised to NOT extend the "Toyota Care" agreement. However, I like to present the potential converse, and that is that there are reasons one could make the investment anyway. Sometimes it's about MORE than bare bones final cost.

I also assume NO dealership would offer an extension that was more expensive than having the same work done in the same period at whatever their per incident rates are. This is separate from the reality that it is possible and probably quite probable that you could find independent mechanics that might be able to do the work cheaper. Again...your choice.

I also think that when owning a hybrid, there is value in developing and having a relationship with a repair facility that IS familiar with the entirety of a Hybrid vehicle. That way if/when you have a Hybrid specific problem, you aren't stuck seeking a "Hybrid Repair Facility" because all your work has been done by "Billy ($29.99 Oil Change) Bob".

But good luck with whatever your decision becomes. I would continue to say, there isn't a wrong answer. Either choice is valid.