I drive a Toyota Prius. I was told by the dealership that I could only get oil changes there. Is that true?

Question

Or can I get an oil change at any garage?

What receipt?? The receipt of where I'm getiting the oil change? or receipt of car purchase?
Sorry, I'm quite stupid at vehicle maintenance.

Answer 1

Any Toyota dealership with a service department will do. The only reason why you can not take this to any place is because the Prius is a hybrid car!! All car manufacturers that have hybrids are set up this way. Any old tune up place are not set up for hybrid cars. Only the dealerships with service departments are set up for this. Besides your regular oil change and other mechanical check ups they check your cell life and other things that are on the Electrical side of the tune up, that Econo lube or others DO NOT NO HOW TO CHECK FOR !!!! Also there are certified Toyota garages outside of dealerships, but be weary of these, because almost none of them are set up for hybrid cars!! and more than likely they will be more expensive as well.

Update: Ksyrium (poster 2 down) is a complete idiot and will eventually f**k his car up. Other things have to be looked at beside just the lube and tune of a normal car. These are NOT regular cars!! There is cell life to look at, cell damage, cell memory displacement, electrical issues and other items that the poster below me (cgriffen1972) also mentioned that Tune up Masters or Econo lube no nothing about !!! and again I will say this: they do not have the proper equipment or training to accomplish this. So good luck to ksyrium in your car, because shortly down the line you will have trouble, guaranteed !!!

Answer 2

The oil has nothing to do with the fuel pump. The usual reason for a fuel pump to die is either running the gas very low often or using cheapo gas. The 2001 Prius doesn't require synthetic oil--you can read that in the manual. Many folks like to use synthetic. The fuel pump is located inside the fuel tank which is at the rear of the car. The steering is at the front. it's quite a stretch to think that one was connected to the other. The question I would ask would be "Why does the dealer think the fuel pump is broken?". Was there a problem with the car?

Answer 3

the Prius has a gas engine just like any other car on the road, and routine service on that engine is the same as any other gasoine engine. the dealer is trying to scam you, no big surprise there. i have a highlander hybrid and change my own oil.

you can get your oil changed anywhere. just keep all your oil change reciepts and maintenance records.

also the prius has a maintenance reminder that pops up every 5000 miles, and has to be reset, consult your owners manual on the procedure of resetting this.

my rule of thumb is that anything that does not have to be done at the dealer, is not done there. thier prices are exorbitant.

carbuyingtips.com has a wealth of info of this and many other car care subjects.

Answer 4

No, as long as you can get the oil filter at advance or napa or whatever. They just tell you that to make money. Some cars have a maintinence counter that tells you the oil should be changed, they can only reset those but as long as you can remember when you changed it dont worry about it. Then before you sell it (if u do) take it and have them reset it.

Answer 5

I know that Pennzoil Platinum Synthetic is approved for your car. As long as you keep your receipts for your cars services, you should be fine. Perhaps your dealer was telling you that if you want free oil changes you can get them there.

Answer 6

You are talking regular oil change for a irregular car.

This is a HYBRID there are certain things on the car that need to be looked at:
such as battery life
Generator
wiring
and lubricating the suspension.

I would only trust a mechanic that is trained for servicing a HYBRID car.

Answer 7

It's a do it yourself job if you wanted. It takes 3.5 qts of oil, and it's stressed not to overfill. If there is warranty on your vehicle, I would recommend the dealer just for peace of mind.

Answer 8

Anywhere. I usually change the oil myself on mine. Though be wary of quick change places, they may not know how the car works.

Answer 9

you can have the oil changed anywhere you want to have it changed ,they tell people this in order to make them think the warranty wont be any good if they have it serviced some where else,by law their really not supposed to tell you this,its against policy ,but some of them still do it,but its your choice,you can have it changed anywhere you want to ,and it doesn't hurt the warranty either,good luck ,hope this helps.

Answer 10

NOooo change the oil somewhere cheaper!