Reason #8,429 why I love the Internet

I bought a new Toyota Corolla last spring, and it happily got me through football season without any trouble, as I knew it would. I had the oil changed at 3,000 miles like a good car owner (well... more like 4,200 miles), and everything seemed fine. Until that one fateful night when I was driving on the Interstate, when the automotive gods decided to switch on the amber "MAINT REQ'D" light.

Dismayed, but also puzzled, I pressed the odometer button and realized that it had just hit 5,000 miles exactly. Being an engineer (sort of), I knew this could not be a coincidence. Clearly the car was designed to turn on this light when I hit 5,000 miles, even though it was highly unlikely the car needed any maintenance (outside of maybe rotating the tires, if you wanted to be super-careful). This dismayed be even further, because it meant...

My new car has an Idiot Light.

"But I am not an idiot!" I protested. "I don't need this light, fool!" I had changed the oil already; my car clearly did not REQ MAINT. But how to switch off the light without taking the car to the dealer, who would surely try to upsell me on rotating the tires, changing the transmission fluid, checking the brakes, replacing the washer fluid with Goldschlager, etc.? My workmanlike, do-it-yourself ethic (cough) demanded that I find a better solution.

Enter the Internet! I had my answer within five minutes of searching:

• Turn ignition key to 'ON' and press the odometer button until the display reads actual mileage... not Trip A or B.
• Turn ignition key to OFF.
• Hold in the same button you used in step 1.
• While holding the button in, turn ignition key to 'ON'.
• The 'Maint Reqd' light should blink and go out.

Sure enough, that vanquished the idiot light. My car's destiny was once again in my hands. The balance of nature had been restored.

So... take that, Mr. Toyota! Take it and LIKE IT!