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Maintenance light vs. maintenance records

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by egg_salad, Dec 12, 2017.

  1. egg_salad

    egg_salad Active Member

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    Just bought this '08 a couple months ago with around 87,500 on the odo.

    Mileage is now at 89,300. The maintenance light just came on.

    BUT (thankfully the PO had all work done at the dealer!)

    The records at toyota.com state
    The oil was changed 10/12/16 at 84,798
    and again on 3/31/17 at 87,002

    Why would they change the oil at 2200 miles, I don't know! For all the records going backwards, it appears that the PO had the oil changed every 6 months, regardless of mileage!

    I figure that when the change was done at 87,002, the tech neglected to reset the maintenance light.

    I'm waiting until 92k for the next change.
     
    #1 egg_salad, Dec 12, 2017
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Some owners change their oil based on time and not mileage. Ask our resident Canadian
     
    #2 JC91006, Dec 12, 2017
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  3. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    We’ll all be there someday hopefully (y).
     
    #3 Raytheeagle, Dec 12, 2017
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  4. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Just bought the car and wringing your hands over an oil change,
    Wait till the hybrid battery goes T. U.
     
    #4 edthefox5, Dec 12, 2017
  5. egg_salad

    egg_salad Active Member

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    I'm not wringing my hands over anything, but neither am I interested in being wasteful.
     
    #5 egg_salad, Dec 13, 2017
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  6. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    This is a perfectly valid policy, provided that they are not running up excessive mileage during those six months.
    You can reset the maintenance light yourself. I've done it several times after the techs forgot. And when I'm not going in at 5k miles, as I'm rotating tires based on season (with seasonal tire swap), not mileage.
    Considering the oil problems some model years have had, the jury is still out on whether or not 'early' is wasteful, or beneficial.
     
    #6 fuzzy1, Dec 13, 2017
  7. egg_salad

    egg_salad Active Member

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    From what I've read, both on PC and elsewhere, it is the 3G Prius that seems to have more oil issues than the 2G.

    I previously had a 2005 Scion xB, which uses a variant of the same engine that the 2G Prius uses, the 1NZ-FE. I used Mobil1EP in that engine, with 10K mile intervals. At 100k, it was using 1/2 quart in 10,000 miles. I consider that acceptable.
     
    #7 egg_salad, Dec 13, 2017
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Resident Canadian here: it's likely they were just following Toyota USA's maintenance guideline.

    upload_2017-12-12_22-32-18.png
     
    #8 Mendel Leisk, Dec 13, 2017
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  9. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    The 3G has a longer recommended interval than the 2G. Maybe it wasn't really ready for that lengthened interval.
     
    #9 fuzzy1, Dec 13, 2017
  10. egg_salad

    egg_salad Active Member

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    Well it makes sense. Judging by paperwork the POs left in the car, they were Indian. Well-known to be fastidious about car maintenance.
     
    #10 egg_salad, Dec 13, 2017
  11. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yeah, double the time and distance, which continues to puzzle me, make me wonder what factors led to that increase:

    1. Just to address the absurd: maybe the engines got twice as durable, going from second gen to third.
    2. Maybe an increase in the interval was "overdue", had been static for too long.
    3. Maybe #2 coupled with some goading from the marketing department.

    To further muddy the waters: Canadian 3rd gen stayed with 6 months/5000 miles (8000 kms), and then with 4th gen came inline with US.

    And even more mud: Australian 4th gen is 6 months/10,000 kms.

    Wonder what the interval is in India? :whistle:
     
    #11 Mendel Leisk, Dec 13, 2017
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