I Just Needed an Oil Change, but did I Rooked?

IIRC owner entries are deleted if the car changes hands.

In Canada owners can't enter maintenance.

If you do enter maintenance on Toyota site, I would treat it as a backup, and maintain a personal log as well.

 

I do both, manually enter any non-dealership maintenance items into Toyota owner site just for the heck of it, as Mendel said, owner entries will be deleted when new owner sign up for the same vehicle. I also have a separate, complete record of maintenances, accessories and mods done to my car I keep in my computer.

 

How about "all of the above". I'll will be utilizing an automotive hobby shop, here locally, to do it myself. So I guess all I need to do is get the receipts for supplies and the lift rent. I'm already recording work that I am doing in my personal log, so I guess I could just upload entries from that to the website, and annotate the warranty book along with the usual dealer stamp for scheduled maintenance.

For now I will leave the other maintenance actions to the dealer until I can get up to speed - focusing on one job at a time, doing the easiest jobs first. Right now, other than electrical and sound deadening projects, the only maintenance action on the Prius that I've actually done myself is cabin air filter replacement (installing an R&N washable cabin air filter). The next will be changing oil and oil filter and perhaps the engine air filter.

Maybe, in a few years, I can graduate from "retired Radar systems engineer" to become a mechanic. Thanx for all the suggestions.

 

As has been said keep the receipts and a log. I have my own log and not it on the Toyota owner's site.

As @Mendel Leisk, said, those records get deleted when the car changes hands. At least I'm pretty sure of that. Also, the service department cannot see what you put there. I know that because I asked the service writer last week when I got my free tire rotation.

 

OK. I am logged in my Toyota.com account and I have pulled down my service history. I see where I can put in DIY entries with <+ add a record>.

I intended to upload previous work in a text or pdf file to retroactively document work done since I purchased the vehicle in May this year (about three pages of log entries) but I don't see how I can do this. There doesn't seem to be any provisions for attaching txt/pdf document or scanned receipts. Just <date>, <service type>, <provider>, and <mileage> entries with a short txt narrative <description>.

Does anyone know if and/or how I can attach a pdf file to my service history?

 

The way I remember the Toyota owners' site, and #81 and #84 above seem to confirm, nothing you add there as an owner is visible to anyone but you anyway, so it's not as useful for maintenance documentation as you might want.

It seems to me Toyota could easily fix part of that if they want. If, say, you buy your oil & filter at the dealer (which I do, in fact, there aren't really better prices on 0W20 synthetic around here) so there's a dealer invoice in their system and you enter that you changed your oil that weekend, that seems like they could at least consider keeping that around, flagged as an owner-submitted entry, supported by an invoice. But maybe they don't really want to.

 

A sample of my log, nothing fancy, just .txt format:

====
Thursday, October 10, 2019
km: 84200
* changed engine oil and filter
* drained Oil Catch Can, 50 cc
====
Sunday, October 27, 2019
km: 84300~
* installed replacement block heater
(payed full price, emailed service manager regarding this.)
----
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 test:
Plugged in at 11:05 AM, coolant temp 42F (ambient temp 42F)
Checked around 12:10 pm, coolant temp 95F (ambient still 42F)
Checked around 1:50, coolant temp 100F (ambient still 42F)
Differentail: 58F (32C)
====
Saturday, November 2, 2019
km: 84400~
* Put on snow tires
* changed brake fluid

 

My spreadsheet example...

 

Yes, I figured as much. I don't really care how they use it. My main concern is to ensure maintenance records associated with my VIN (both my logs and theirs) are consistent with each other and show the same work.

For my work dating back to May 2017, I suppose I could just copy the text narrative out of my log and past it into <description> one entry at a time, an label it as "archive record <date>".

Going the other way is not a problem. I just download their records and past it into my log.

 

Here's an example of mine:

****************************************************
08Aug19 PanFlex window tinting Installed Flexfilm Panaflex carbon ceramic film

18Aug19 Uhaul trailer hitch Curt Class I 1-1/4" with Uhaul cargo strap (Uhaul p/n CMF11473 /w p/n CMF18050)

Car Bra Test Fitted Car Bra and removed for later use.

19Aug19 Bumper guard Installed Rear bumper sill rubber protector

Window visor mod Installed AVS 894055 Low Profile Ventvisor (4pc set)

21Aug19 Spare tire mod1 Prepared for Spare Tire Mod1: Removed cargo mat, deck floor and two foam deck boxes (tire repair kit configuration) in preparation Tire Mod1 retrofit. Temporarily stowed spare donut in cargo well (w/o securing). Tire repair kit hardware temporarily stowed at rear seat floor (w/o securing). Re-installed deck floor & cargo mat.

24Aug19 Tailer hitch carrier Installed 1-1/4 inch trail hitch carrier (Hitch-Hall) /w hitch stabilizer & locking pin.
****************************************************

I was planning to include odometer readings for scheduled maintenance only, but after seeing your log, I think I will also include it with general maintenance prior to long trips as well.

 

Yes. Most places charge a lot for labor. That’s how they make their money. And that’s why I’m starting to do basic maintenance myself. They tried to charge me $200 to change an air filter a few months ago. I purchased the filter for $25, looked at a YouTube video and replaced it in 5 min. Go figure.


iPhone ?

 

There are a lot of things you do yourself on a Prius. Any car for that matter.
You don't have to have a lot of skills or tools. And since you are not in a rush, it doesn't matter
how long it takes to do it.

 

Take it to the next level: just remove and inspect the filter, maybe it doesn't need replacement. I've been doing that for nine years, lol.

And that $200 you saved, if you don't feel up to DIY on this: have a proper brake service done. Where they pull the callipers off, clean/inspect relube the pads and caliper pins.

Toyota USA is recommending this tri-yearly or 30K miles, but a lot of owners don't wanna know. Dealerships seem complicit in this, maybe it's not the profitable?

Guess they'd rather be changing air filters, lol.