Maint Reqd light on Prius

I have to travel for work, about 90 miles on monday and friday. About 45 miles during the week. (tues-thurs)

I rented a car, and they gave me a Prius, which was a thrill, because they are very rare at the rental places, and I have never been in one before.

Now today, I just hit 5,000 miles on the Prius (so it is still brand new!)

Now I noticed tonight the 'Maint Reqd' light is on.

What could it be?

With only 5,000 miles on it, I doubt anything could be failing. It is winter right now, so the 'under 37 degrees' light is usually on.

I should probably bring it back to the rental agency, but then they will take the car and give me a Ford Focus :(

Any ideas? Thanks

Reply to
tforms1
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Check the gas cap.

Reply to
Pat

The car needs an oil change.

Reply to
Ray O

A loose or missing gas cap will give you a check engine light, not the maintenance required light.

Reply to
Ray O

Nothing is wrong - as Pat O says, it is a reminder to the driver that the next scheduled service (primarily oil change, at this interval) is due. You ought to call the rental agency as a courtesy, since this is the interval the break-in oil gets changed out. They probably don't want to let that go too long.

It would probably make it clearer if the light were marked "Maint due" but what's done is done :-)

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

at 4500 miles since last reset, the Maint Reqd light will blink when you turn on the Prius. at 5000 miles since last reset, the Maint Reqd light will stay on solid.

It is just a reminder light (based on miles driven) to take the car in for service (oil/filter change and tire rotation).

(I'm guessing that the rental car doesn't have an owner's manual in it? The light is explained in there, as well as how to turn off (reset) the light (such as if you do your own oil changes).)

Reply to
mrv

Idiot light for oil change reminder, the instructions to turn it off are in the Owner's Manual

Reply to
Glenn Arsenault

tforms1:

Push in and hold mileage/odometer reset knob while turning on ignition switch. Hold the knob in for about 10 seconds, release and shut ignition switch off. (you may see disappearing horizontal bars on the odometer display as you do this procedure) It should be described somewhere in the manual usually as "resetting the maint reqd indicator". It's function usually is a reminder of an oil change and is triggered by a pre determined mileage setting programmed on the computer. Hope this helps you.

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:

Reply to
nowhere

replace the Japanese squirrels in it, aka, change your oil...

Reply to
Dan J.S.

In a rental car?

Reply to
Mike Rosenberg

That will reset the 'Maintenance' light, but do it AFTER talking to the rental agency. If you reset it without telling someone, they might not know to do the work when you turn the car in, and when oil changes get skipped that's how oil sludging starts.

If you'll only need the car for another week, put a piece of black tape over the light. Going 300 miles over on the oil change won't hurt anything, it's when you go 10,000 miles over that the fun starts.

If your car is going to be down for several more weeks and you really love driving this car, perhaps the rental agency can have you pop by their maintenance shop after work. They can do the 5,000 Mile service and send you on your way in a half hour or so. If there's a mechanic waiting for you that can jump right on it, an oil change and lube does not take very long.

Considering it's a Prius and not your normal run of the mill car, they might have you take it to the local Toyota dealer on their dime. The Trained Prius Tech will know what special areas need checking, and he can do them a LOT faster than a regular line tech.

I'd choose to spend a half hour cooling my heels in the Customer Lounge drinking their coffee and reading the paper while they do a fast oil change on the Prius every time, over doing all the paperwork to exchange rental cars and then being stuck in a (Eew!) Ford Focus.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

Well, the OP doesn't do it himself, but he has the rental company do it - it's their car. I go into more detail elsewhere in the thread.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

Thanks for the replies everyone. Ok, if it is the oil change light ONLY (so it cant be something else?) then I will leave the light on when I return the car.

I figure its at 5k now, an extra 1200 miles wont kill it/should be safe to drive.

When I had my old Corrolla, I sometimes went 7-10k miles without a change.

The agency does not do the servicing there, they only do it at the main places at the airport, and Im nowhere near the airport.

Hell, they didnt even know how to start the car when I went to pick it up!

So the Maint Reqd light is ONLY for the oil change? Why dont they just say "Oil Change needed" ?

Maint Reqd - sounds like the kill is about to blow up soon.

Thanks

Reply to
tforms1

I can't be sure without looking at the owner's manual, but I suspect that the maintenance required light will also come up when it is time for other maintrenance like a tune-up.

Reply to
Ray O

Well it is really turn on the car. I start my other car and turn on my Prius. :-)

Reply to
Dan Beavers

It's a rental. The light means time for service interval. (nothing else.) Not really your job. And the fact that the light came on doesn't neccesarilly mean the job was not already done, it may have been done and the mechanic at the rental place had no clue how to reset the light. When you take it back let them deal with it. (Unless you plan on driving way over the 5000 mile mark.) This is why I would never buy a car from a rental fleet, no telling how good a job the rental company did taking care of the car. But really just let the light stay on, it's not your job to keep up on the maintanence.

Reply to
OscartheGrouch

That light comes on every 5000 miles, indicating it's time for whatever maintenance is specified at that time. At 15K, for example, it would be time for a whole lot more than just an oil change, but at 5K all that's specified is the oil change and tire rotation.

And, of course, if it were your car, not a rental, you would have the manual to look this up in, so it would be no big deal.

Reply to
Mike Rosenberg

That light comes on every 5000 miles to remind you that you are due for an oil change and tire rotation. It's the *real* idiot light (for people who can't remember to change their oil without a light). Don't worry about it.

Reply to
TJim

a true case of yelling wolf. soon noone will pay attention to a real problem. samm

Reply to
SAMMM

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