Miscellaneous questions about upkeep

The key fob battery is a simple DIY replacement. Check elsewhere on here, or try YouTube. Slide out the metal key and pry open the fob at the indentation on the side of the fob. It takes a watch battery.

If the place that does the oil change fails to reset the 5k reminder, I think you can also do this yourself.

 

Just my feel from your questions: I'd recommend you continue to use the dealership.

 

Oil change, which is every other Maintenance, is just the same as any other Toyota, nothing extra due to being a hybrid.

The fob battery is a CR1632, which is a readily available watch battery. $3? smile.amazon.com/Panasonic-Battery-CR1632-Volt-Lithium/dp/B000SOPG5C

http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM47704U/pdf/sec_04-03.pdf (page 45 of the PDF)

At about 4500 miles after the last time it was reset, the maintenance required light will blink, then come on solid as you get closer to 5000 miles. Here is how to reset it.

http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM47704U/pdf/sec_04-02.pdf (page 2 of the PDF)

 

We shifted to synthetic, so it only needs an oil change every 10,000 miles.

 

Eneos by Nippon Oil is good (and inexpensive) 0W-20 oil. There have even been some rumors that they make the Toyota branded oil, and people on other forums have been happy with it.
It's about 40$ per gallon (12$ per liter).

 

agree with mendel, use the dealer. ask for pricing first though, post it here for feedback.
see if they will change the fob battery without labor charge. yes, you can use your other fob, but that will probably need another battery soon, as well. i just changed mine recently, also 2012.
if the dealer is too expensive, try to find a local mechanic. word of mouth, or triple a.
you need oil and filter, air and cabin filter inspection/replace, rotate tyres, rear brake inspection/lube, overall inspection and fluid levels. all the best!

 

I get my oil change at the dealership for under $50 also the battery can be found at any RadioShack or Walmart but you should change the battery out ASAP

 

I actually went for awhile with the same key fob battery after getting the "low battery" message. The fob continued to work for a few months- sometimes the message would appear, sometimes not. Fob worked fine.

 

You can get in by using the physical key, then start car by holding button directly on the start button. Never done the latter; it's explained in the manual tho.

Need the spell check police here, lol.

Ask them what they charge. My guess is they'll be a bit higher, but safer. No offence, but when you speculate about $200 fob battery, I think you should steer clear of the fast lube places: bait-and-switch is their bread-and-butter.

Better the devil you know?

 

My guess is that quote was for the entire fob, not just the battery.

 

I've read posts that seem to suggest changing the battery in both the in service fob and the back-up fob when the time comes is a good maintenance approach.
The reason being that even though not being used as directly as the in service fob, the back-up fob is still transmitting a signal. So after X amount of time is probably also getting low.
What I wouldn't do is simply switch to the back-up Fob, thinking you have a lot of time left. It's more than likely getting low as well.

Given the relatively minimal cost of key fob battery, I'd just replace both.
Watch the above video and gauge how comfortable you think you'd be DIY.

If you think you want someone to do it for you? It still shouldn't be a huge expense.

Good Luck.

 

Yes, please strike all but my last sentence, I'm being a grump.

Dealerships are fairly price competitive, and know the car best.

 

Yes, the way you've phrased all your questions, you should definitely go back to the dealer and let them do the oil change for say $99. I'm just being honest. You sound like a good customer to sell unnecessary services to. If they charge more than $99, ask them what they are doing. Reply here and we'll tell you why all you need is an oil change and tire rotation and maybe an air filter.

Sometimes you get a low key battery indication if the FOB is buried deep inside your bag. Place it in an outer pocket to get a better signal. EYen if the FOB battery dies completely, you will still be able to get in the car and drive by doing things manually so don't worry. Instructions are in the owners manual. Again, I'd let the dealer do it and charge you $9.95 or whatever to change the FOB battery. I wouldn't change out both FOB batteries though. I'd rotate out to using the second FOB. I replaced the battery in my primary FOB after a year a half. The second FOB on its original battery is now giving me the low battery warning after 3 years or 1.5 years full time usage. It's good practice to rotate to the second FOB any way to spread out wear and tear. It costs $400 to replace the Prius FOB according to my dealer.

 

Each dealership is a separate business, there are good ones and bad ones. Do not reward the bad ones.
I have been very happy with my local dealer, (32 miles away) but there is one 55 miles away I would not trust to add air to the tires.

 

Just editorial, the word you want is "gouge", I think.

Well, ask, get their prices. Much simpler then debating here, lol. And check with more than one: the service departments can be very different, depending on the manager's attitude.