Maintenance (Oil Change) Every 5000?

Yes, the Ecopias. All the flat spots are on the inside ribs and not the outside. Did the same thing in the Prius C and the PiP.

 

Most people now days who actually do have a spare, have a space saver or full size with the "ugly" steel rim. Direction tires are not so much a problem anymore. Ideally you want 5 matching tire/wheel assys that you rotate on a regular schedule. The fronts always wear first and with 5 each your tires will last longer. There are plenty of illustrations on how to do it, but most on this site have the Dealership or tire store do it so you have to monitor they do it right and consistently using the same pattern. For the rest of you, your car, your money.

 

Full size spares are pretty rare now. I don't know if it's just me, but I'd greatly prefer a (compact) temp spare, one that's not in the rotation, purely for emergency use.

 

Respects to all, but I've been turning a wrench so long I will never go without some kind of spare. Kind of like having spare bulbs and fuses in the glove box for me. Anyways, the Wife's RAV4 HV, my Son's Tacoma and my 2015 Prius all have full size spares installed...only the truck has the matching wheel though. They all have full size floor jacks too, with an adapter for the truck's jack because it's lifted 3" total. As you well know Mendel, I don't mess around when it comes to my vehicles. In fact, I still have those snows stacked in the garage you guided me with when I transferred to Denver...thanks again. My guess is that only 85-90% of Prius owners will even change a spare on their own...so it's really all boils down to choice.

 

so i have gone past the 25k miles... so no more freebies at the dealership... trying to decide if i should go to my friendly local car shop that i used for my previous (2oo5 ford 5oo) or continue going to the dealership... how much will the routine checkups cost me at the dealership, compared to using my guy?

he also told me that he was not 'tooled up' to deal with the electrics when i told him what i bought...

 

If it's just for routine maintenance, that's just oil and lube, tire rotations, filter changes, and fluid top-up. Your dealer should include free multipoint inspection, and cost of other stuff you can look at service invoice you have received during first 5 free maintenance. With my dealer that amount to about $60-$90 per visit. My Prime has one more free maintenance, but I am planning to do DIY.

 

Almost all of the expense of the dealer's service is changing the engine and cabin air filters (often about $130). If you change those yourself from parts bought online for $30, you can tell them to skip that part and the service is about $80 or so. That's the same price or less than a synthetic oil change at a lot of shops. The good thing is that the dealer enters the service record into carfax so if you trade your car in later there's a record that you kept up on all the service.

 

Eight years plus, I've yet to change either filter...

Maybe all that fresh off the Pacific Ocean air, and the winter keeps the dust down.

 

Have you looked at the filters? The funny thing about filters is that the more clogged up they get, the better they work. The problem comes when they impede airflow enough to affect things.

 

Yeah I check them fairly regularly.

The engine air filter has a somewhat darkened area, if you look across it on an angle. If you look at it straight on it looks almost new. I don't mess with it in any way, just put it back in.

The cabin filter looks a bit knackered, I have vacuumed it once or twice. Helps that we don't use the cabin vent system much, through summer, just crack the windows. The AC is used very infrequently, mostly in winter in heavy rain when there's a lot of bodies in the car.

 

Does the RMP know that you haul around a lot of bodies in your car ??

I think a little bit of air flows even when you think everything is OFF......to help prevent exhaust gas buildup in the cabin.

 

Yeah I knew that one was coming back, lol.

 

No need to rotate tires every 5K miles here unless you drive a lot. They get swapped with snow tires every Nov and Mar/Apr. For reasons I do not understand, the rear tires always hold more stones (some dirt road and stone driveway) than the fronts so other than the side of the car (if non directional) they came off I don't even need to mark them as to front and rear.

I can't imagine why tires would get flat spots unless the car sits for long periods of time. And rotating them shouldn't change that I wouldn't think.

Just got an email from the dealership I bought my car from. They scheduled the first maintenance at 4 months! (unless I hit 5K before then) First, WTH??? Is that standard or are they just running through the freebies fast? Maybe they ASSUME people drive 15K miles a year, constant miles weekly so would hit 5K at about 4 months? I generally drive < 150 miles per week with two 450 mile trips a year and since DD1 is now going to university in New Brunswick, two 1,200 mile trips up there.

And second I responded that I would be taking it to my local dealer 6 miles away (they had no Primes at all to even test drive when my 2009 was totalled 2 weeks ago, not my fault!!) rather than the very nice dealership I test drove and bought the car because it is 60 miles away.

 

Yap, I think that's their rational. It's free Toyota Care service. It covers regular maintenance for 2years or 25K whichever comes first. Basically you get 5 free maintenance, so even if you have not reached 5K mile interval, it's your advantage to take the car for service every 5~6 months. That's of course if you trust the dealer service. Thee of the the maintenance are nothing but tire rotation and multi-point check, so it's not even worth the trip if you can do it yourself. That said, I take an advantage of the opportunity to get out of the house to run some errands in the town and also get free car wash. Also, the dealer services are recorded in the Toyota Owner log, and will remain in the record for CARFAX which is a good thing when you are ready to sell the car. BTW, Toyota Care roadside assistance have 3 years coverage from the date of purchase (no mileage limit).

 

That's how I rotate ours: alternating between snow tires (on separate rims) and all-seasons, I mark them when they come off, and when later reinstalling, I swap front and rear, keeping them on same side (per the Owner's Manual). Honda (and the tire manufacturers) say "straight back and cross to front", but with this Prius I've been going by the book. One benefit: the driver's side rims stay in better shape, little or no curb rash to deal with.

Yeah I've noticed that too. Maybe because the rears just roll straight, and have no acceleration forces, they tend to retain more?

Whenever I've taken the wheels/tires off, I like to slowly roll them along the driveway, looking at the tread, and I pry the pebbles out with a small screwdriver. It's a cosmetic chore, but it doubles as an inspection, for any tread irregularities or embedded nails/screws.

 

True, though in snow tires, they can give added traction on ice

 

Ooh, I should take it to YOUR dealer!!!! I bet they are a LOT farther away than the dealer I bought from.