Maint Reqd Light is on

A

assilem320

New member
Hello everyone!

So my "Maint Reqd" light is on. It's been on for maybe less than one week. The tire pressure light was also on. This past Sunday, me and my boyfriend found a nail in the front driver's side tire (right as I'm about to leave Tampa and go back home to Ft. Lauderdale). I had to drive back home and thank goodness I made it home safely.

Yesterday, I was able to get the tire patched up by Sear's Auto Center. As I was about to drive away from Sear's, I told them the Maintenace light was still on. He said it would go away once I drove a few miles. I drove about 10 miles so far and the light is still on. At least the tire pressure light is off.

I'm pretty OCD with these things and I want to make sure I'm not doing more damage to my car. I have to drive to Orlando this weekend which is about 200 miles. Should I go back to Sear's and have them look at my car again? I thought it would go away when I got my tire fixed, but apparently not.
 
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assilem320 said:
Hello everyone!

So my "Maint Reqd" light is on. It's been on for maybe less than one week. The tire pressure light was also on. This past Sunday, me and my boyfriend found a nail in the front driver's side tire (right as I'm about to leave Tampa and go back home to Ft. Lauderdale). I had to drive back home and thank goodness I made it home safely.

Yesterday, I was able to get the tire patched up by Sear's Auto Center. As I was about to drive away from Sear's, I told them the Maintenace light was still on. He said it would go away once I drove a few miles. I drove about 10 miles so far and the light is still on. At least the tire pressure light is off.

I'm pretty OCD with these things and I want to make sure I'm not doing more damage to my car. I have to drive to Orlando this weekend which is about 200 miles. Should I go back to Sear's and have them look at my car again? I thought it would go away when I got my tire fixed, but apparently not.
Click to expand...
It's telling you it is time for scheduled maintenance. To turn it off turn key so power is on. push odometer button until you see trip A. Hold button down and turn off then turn back on while keeping the button pressed in. You will see flashing,then it should reset. Heard different stories that some models you have to set it on B on the trip meter. IF A doesn't work ,do it on B. That should do it
 
assilem320 said:
Hello everyone!

So my "Maint Reqd" light is on. It's been on for maybe less than one week. The tire pressure light was also on. This past Sunday, me and my boyfriend found a nail in the front driver's side tire (right as I'm about to leave Tampa and go back home to Ft. Lauderdale). I had to drive back home and thank goodness I made it home safely.

Yesterday, I was able to get the tire patched up by Sear's Auto Center. As I was about to drive away from Sear's, I told them the Maintenace light was still on. He said it would go away once I drove a few miles. I drove about 10 miles so far and the light is still on. At least the tire pressure light is off.

I'm pretty OCD with these things and I want to make sure I'm not doing more damage to my car. I have to drive to Orlando this weekend which is about 200 miles. Should I go back to Sear's and have them look at my car again? I thought it would go away when I got my tire fixed, but apparently not.
Click to expand...

The two are unrelated.

The maint light is going to come on every 5000 miles, indicating oil + filter on the "old" 5K schedule. You are now on a 10K OC interval. The owner's manual will tell you how to turn the maint light off.
 
assilem320 said:
Hello everyone!

So my "Maint Reqd" light is on. It's been on for maybe less than one week. The tire pressure light was also on. This past Sunday, me and my boyfriend found a nail in the front driver's side tire (right as I'm about to leave Tampa and go back home to Ft. Lauderdale). I had to drive back home and thank goodness I made it home safely.

Yesterday, I was able to get the tire patched up by Sear's Auto Center. As I was about to drive away from Sear's, I told them the Maintenace light was still on. He said it would go away once I drove a few miles. I drove about 10 miles so far and the light is still on. At least the tire pressure light is off.

I'm pretty OCD with these things and I want to make sure I'm not doing more damage to my car. I have to drive to Orlando this weekend which is about 200 miles. Should I go back to Sear's and have them look at my car again? I thought it would go away when I got my tire fixed, but apparently not.
Click to expand...

Turning off your maintenance light is OK, but it's there for a reason. If you are using synthetic oil, your oil change interval is every 10,000 miles. If you or your oil change place is using non-synthetic oil, you need to change it every 5,000 miles. It's up to you to keep track of this and change your oil based on what oil you are using and how many miles you drive. Going past a couple of hundred miles is OK, but don't keep putting it off.

Take care of your vehicle and you'll easily get 200,000 miles out of it and still get a great resale value.

IF the Sears was talking about the tire pressure light, then yes, after adding air, the tire pressure light will go off. That is not true about the maintenance light. It has to be manually reset every 5,000 miles whether the oil is changed or not.

IF the Sears guy was talking about your maintenance light, he was clueless about how your vehicle works. That would be a point of concern to me.
 
thanks, everyone! that manual is pretty handy. I guess I will reset the light. I'm surprised the Sear's guy wasn't that much of a help.
 
assilem320 said:
thanks, everyone! that manual is pretty handy. I guess I will reset the light. I'm surprised the Sear's guy wasn't that much of a help.
Click to expand...

That's why you'll notice a lot of us tend to do our own oil changes. We've learned that over time. Not everyone can or wants to do that which is OK. Don't be afraid to watch them like a hawk when they do your oil change.
 
If the Sears Auto center had no clue, I think that's the first indicator to take it to Toyota for regular maintenance. Better safe than sorry. ;)
 
4RnR Grl said:
If the Sears Auto center had no clue, I think that's the first indicator to take it to Toyota for regular maintenance. Better safe than sorry. ;)
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Agreed. At least they see the same type of vehicles all the time and have experience with it. The generic places see all kinds and all different years but not a lot of any one. With a dealer you can always complain to corporate if some thing goes wrong. With Sears or the generics, who you gonna call that cares?

In the end, it's who you feel the most confident with. Some dealers are good, some aren't. The dealer will try to get you to do other maintenance stuff that the generic oil change only places won't. So you have to be prepared to say no, but you also need to know when to say yes. Look at what maintenance needs to be done at what mileage before you go in so you know in advance.

They're going to tell you your cabin air filter is dirty every single time and want to charge you $75 bucks to change it. You can change your own filter in about 45 seconds if you buy your own and save about $55 bucks. It's inside your glove box. VERY, very, very simple to do.

A little advanced knowledge can go a long way.
 
I purchased my first used 4Runner at a Subaru Dealer. They offered free oil changes for the life of the vehicle, so I went there. They never turned off the Maint light. It got annoying. I loved the Runner so much my second one was purchased new at Toyota... again... free oil changes for life (owned by the same large company)... but at least at Toyota they know how to turn off the maint light!

I used to do all of my own maintenance (several Mustangs, Toyota Matrix, F-150, Excursion diesel)... and I honestly had a difficult time letting someone else do it. But so far so good. If I had to pay for it, I would probably choose to do it myself, but so far they have done a good job and I haven't had any issues (plus they don't care if I bring my dog into the showroom to wait). It's all about what you feel comfortable with and who you choose to do the work. Sometimes the mom N pop places are the best... sometimes they charge you an arm and a leg. Shop around and ask around. Most people in your area will have a mechanic shop they trust. Sometimes that's the best way to go.
 
Maybe someone on here from the Ft Lauderdale area can suggest a good shop or two. I can give a recommendation in the Indianapolis area and the DC beltway, but I'm sure someone here has a shop or two they like that does good work at a reasonable price.

Okki
 
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