Hi gang. Sorry I've been absent, but 'tis the season, you know... tax is my bag. I just hit 6 months and 3910 miles. Should I follow the maintenace schedule that came with the car and go ahead and change the oil, etc? or wait until 5K mi? Thanks - Jason
I would go ahead and change it, just to make sure you are complying with the warranty requirements. Technically, it probably won't hurt to wait, but in the very unlikely event that you were to have some sort of problem, they could try to argue that the warranty was void. I think its somewhat a grey area because the oil is probably still fine, but that is what I would do. BTW, my GF and I have 3 vehicles (Prius, Toyota Avalon, Ford Explorer). The Prius is the only one that reaches the mileage limit before the time limit. On the other two, I change on a time basis, every 6mos for the Avalon (because some have oil sludge problems) and once a year for the Explorer. If I was going by mileage, it would be about 1 1/2 yrs for the Avalon, about 4 yrs for the Explorer. 4 years is way too long.
Esp. since it's your first oil change I'd go ahead and do it now. You must have a pretty short commute, cold engine I presume, so your engine/oil wear will be a bit higher than your average Prius driver would at the same mileage. Plus, many of us believe it's a good idea to get that first oil change done a bit early anyway since engine wear is likely to be greater for those first couple thousand miles.
It would be fiscally prudent to change your oil now in compliance with Toyota's stated maintenance policy, rather than risk the cost implications should they not wish to honor their warranty based on your failure. This is a forward looking statement.
concour with all previous comments, change it out..no biggie. Perhaps drop some syn oil in, the oil your prius came with is standard, which is fine honestly, but syn will give you that 3-5% bump in mpg, and engine life is improved by a narrow margin. Enjoy your car
