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Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified!)

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by hkazemi, Dec 22, 2009.

  1. Eddy

    Eddy New Member

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    I think the extension is great in terms of costs. To change the 0w-20 oil through a TM dealer is expensive compared to conventional non-synthetic oil changes.

    Do you think the costs will come down for an oil change using the 0W-20?

    I wonder whether Toyota changed the mileage from 5k to 10K to keep up with Honda and it's other competitors. I know Honda had already had this interval for most of its vehicles already. It brings down maintenance costs by doing so.

    The question I have is whether this a good idea in terms of the long term engine health? We may be saving money by extending the oil change interval but will it be at the expense of the gas engine? Most consumers only hold onto their vehicles for 7 years on average so this may not matter given the high turnover rate.

    Have there been long term studies on the use 0w-20 synthetic oil?

    A seperate side question: Is 0W-20 oil type good for areas that are very hot like Phoenix, Vegas, etc?

    I posted a lot of questions and thanks for any feedback.
     
  2. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    The truth lies in Used Oil Analysis (UOAs). Everybody's driving habits/environments are different so if someone like yourself is concerned about longevity, they should order up the UOAs on occasion. This will tell you what is going on inside your engine.
    I have to admit, that I first learned about UOAs on here about 4 months ago. I plan on performing one @ my 15K change to see how things are going. From what we have seen from other's UOAs, 10K does not seem to be a stretch in general.
     
  3. Philosophe

    Philosophe 2010 Prius owner

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    The answer mostly lies in the oil quality. We should also remember that the Prius ICE by its design will have an easier life than a regular car (gets oiled before any combustion happens, RPM almost always kept low, (probably?) no way to run it very high RPM, in city driving not running most of the time, etc.).
     
  4. Prius Team

    Prius Team Toyota Marketing USA

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    All, seems there are many questions about prepaid maintenance so I wanted to call your attention to Q&A #18 in the OP....I think Toyota Financial Services (a separate arm of the company) will be producing customer communications in the near future that will help answer your specific questions.

    Remember, Prius Chat is (of course) out ahead of this in may ways, most customers won't hear about the switch to 10K intervals until they receive their official notifications in February so let's give TFS a bit of time to answer the below.

    Best,
    Erica Gartsbeyn, Prius Product Marketing, Toyota USA

    The FAQs state this:
    Q18: How will this change impact the Toyota Auto Care Prepaid Maintenance program?
    A18: Toyota Financial Services will provide a separate communication outlining the handling of prepaid maintenance plans on Toyota / Scion 0W-20 certified vehicles, including product change information, installation dates, handling of existing prepaid maintenance customers, revised rate sheets, FAQ’s and more. Interim TFS questions should be directed to your TFS Area Sales Manager.
     
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  5. jstack

    jstack New Member

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    I've been doing that since I got my first hybrid. When you drive easy it hardly uses the ICE, it never idles or runs hot.

    I now have a pligin PHEV50 and go 30-40 miles all elecvtric. I think I'll have to change the oil every 5 years just to be sure I remeber where that old engine is. LOL

    :D
     
  6. gtstang88

    gtstang88 Junior Member

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    I was shown paper work from Toyota that 10k oil changes are only allowed when using Toyota's Syn 0w20 oil. If you use Mobil 0w20 or any other brand it is only 5k.
     
  7. risingsun

    risingsun seeker of the way

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    That's a new one... Sounds fishy to me. I'd like to see a copy of that paperwork. Think you can get it and post it here?

    I would have thought that the letter we've seen here from Toyota would have outlined this if it were true.
     
  8. gtstang88

    gtstang88 Junior Member

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    I'll try to. It was official looking with normal toyota heading. It stated that they was special additives that allow for the extened oil changes and better fuel economy over other brands.
     
  9. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    I would argue that any 0W20 synthetic that meets the same standards as the Toyota 0W20 would qualify for a 10k interval. Otherwise, that's a fantastic way of vendor lock-in. Even still, 10k at dealer pricing vs. 5k on your own would probably wash in the end.
     
  10. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    Doesn't the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act prohibit a manufacturer from trying to use the warranty to coerce customers into using a product only marketed by them (such as only Toyota brand oil) unless they supply it free?
     
  11. Cactuscoug

    Cactuscoug CactusCoug

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    For those looking for further confirmation, I just received this from my local dealer in Arizona:

    "Toyota has approved the oil drain interval for vehicles that use (SAE 0W-20 synthetic) motor oil from 5,000 miles to 10,000 miles if the vehicle is not operated under Special Operating Conditions.

    Special Operating Conditions-

    Driving on dirt roads or dusty roads; towing a trailer, using a car-top
    carrier, or heavy vehicle loading; repeated trips of less then five
    miles in temperatures below 32 degrees; and or extensive idling and/or
    low speed driving for long distance such as police, taxi or door-to door
    delivery use."

    Brian Bradley
    Service Manager
    Desert Toyota of Tucson
    520-296-8535
     
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  12. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    Does it say anything about the motor oil having to be the Toyota specific brand?
    Thanks for the info!
     
  13. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    Suggest doing a Google search for Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act with references to motor oil. Everything I can find indicates that it would be illegal for Toyota to require the use of their oil unless they provide it free. Such items as oil, filters, etc are called "tie-ins" and the manufacturer can not specify what brand to use.

    Here are a few interpretations of the law:

    Will Aftermarket Install Void Vehicle Warranty? Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act | BestCarAudio
    Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and You
    Magnuson-Moss Act
     
  14. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    I realize that from our other discussions but thought I would ask this poster to double check the document he/she got. An eariler poster mentioned that they saw an official looking document stating that 10K was OK if they used the Toyota brand oil. Which I really doubt too but just wanted to make sure. Thanks T.
     
  15. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    Yes I noticed that post also, by Gtstang88, and I think that is probably exactly what he was told, a lot of dealers won't hesitate to tell their customers stuff like that. I hope Gstang can get a copy of the document.
     
  16. gtstang88

    gtstang88 Junior Member

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    Well I was not able to get the same info that I was shown before, but was shown this document that talks about toyota oil have an additive package and not being compatible with other 0w20 oils. Sorry the pic. is a quick one with my cell phone.
     

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  17. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    Thanks for trying to get it anyway. Looks like what they did give you is Q17 from the document in post #1 with the answer changed.

    At any rate I am sure it is just fine to use any 0W20 synthetic that has the ILSAC symbol on it, refer to pages 560 and 561 of the owners manual. Most of us on this forum seem to be using Mobil 1 0W20 in the Gen3, some use the Toyota oil, and a few are using Amsoil.

    If you want to be 100% sure you could go the the Toyota Owners site Toyota Owners Online | Official Toyota Owners Website and send them an email asking if what your dealer told you is true.
     
  18. macdonald

    macdonald New Member

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    I had my first oil change this week and was told by a service guy in Little Rock that the 10,000 mile interval was official. I already knew that, lol. I said that's fine, but I will stick with 5,000, and he said he would too if it was his car.
     
  19. gtstang88

    gtstang88 Junior Member

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    Re: Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified

    I think that I'm going to stick with 5k also, 10k just seems too long to go on an oil change ( syn. or not) until we know what the long term effects are. Remember the toyota sludge problem in the late 1990's.
     
  20. going red baby!

    going red baby! still a n00b

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