How To Reset The Maintenance Light On Your Toyota

When many of us think of the most reliable car brands on the market, Toyotas come to mind. As good as they are, even these durable vehicles can succumb to wear and tear without regular maintenance. Toyota knows this and tries to make it as easy as possible for owners to keep up with when their cars need to be serviced. A big part of that is the maintenance light that automatically turns on every 5,000 miles to let you know it's time to change the oil. Since the light appears on the dashboard as "MAINT REQD," it's hard to miss.

Once you've changed your oil, the light won't go off on its own. Instead, you'll have to turn it off yourself. Even if you plan to have your vehicle serviced at a Toyota dealership, once you've scheduled your appointment, you might want to reset the light and not wait for the service appointment just so that you don't forget. Given Toyota's range of vehicles, as you'd expect, the process for resetting the light can vary slightly depending on the model you're dealing with; the good news is it's generally a quick and straightforward process, whatever model you own.

While the process may change slightly from vehicle to vehicle, resetting the maintenance light for a manual ignition Toyota generally won't change much across models. Before moving forward with this step, you should be sure you know why the maintenance light came on. In most cases, it's because it's time for an oil change or other routine service, but it's usually best to leave the light on until you know exactly what's going on with your car.

Follow these steps to turn off the manual ignition maintenance light: 

1. Insert your key into the ignition and turn it to the first or "On" position, but don't start the engine.
2. Push and hold the trip reset button on the dashboard until "Trip A" is displayed on the center screen.
3. Keep holding the trip reset button and turn the key back to the "Off" position.
4. Turn the key back to the "On" position.
5. Continue holding the trip reset button until the odometer reading resets to 0.

Once you've completed these steps, the maintenance light should go off. If it doesn't work, repeat these steps one or two more times. This method should work for various Toyota models, including RAV4, Highlander, Camry, and Corolla.

If you have a newer Toyota vehicle with a color display, the process for turning off the maintenance light will be slightly different. Like manual ignition cars, the steps for vehicles with multi-information color displays won't change much across models.

Follow these steps to turn off the maintenance light in a vehicle with a color display: 

1. Turn the ignition key to the second position, often labeled as "II," or simply to the "on" position.
2. For vehicles with a push-button start, ensure the brake is not engaged and press the start button twice.
3. Navigate to the cog icon on the multi-information display.
4. Select the "Scheduled Maintenance" option on the screen.
5. When prompted to confirm that you want to reset the maintenance light, select "OK."

As you can see, this is a quick and straightforward process, made a bit easier since you can do everything on your car's touchscreen display. If you encounter any problems, consult your vehicle manual or get help from a Toyota dealership.

Your vehicle will operate the same whether you leave the maintenance light on until you go to the dealership for service or turn it off beforehand. The maintenance light serves as a reminder that it's time to change your oil and doesn't indicate anything is wrong with your vehicle. Of course, you may find driving around with the maintenance light on your dashboard distracting, and that's a good enough reason to turn it off. After all, you can enjoy a clear, distraction-free display with it turned off.

Another thing to keep in mind is if you do turn it off or simply ignore it without scheduling maintenance, you may forget to get your car serviced, which could lead to some big (and expensive) headaches down the road. That's why it's always best to schedule maintenance before resetting the light. If you stay on top of periodic maintenance, your Toyota should serve you well for years.