1st oil change at 5k or 10k?

Yes I would agree that on the Prius there seems to be no data to support early oil changes, it may be mostly a feel good thing or it might pay dividends way down the line. You can pretty well be sure that the taxi cab companies that put a lot of miles on these cars just follow the maintenance schedule, if that. On the other hand, I have changed the engine early (1500 miles), and changed the transaxle at 20K. But in my case why not? working on my vehicles is one of my hobbies and I consider the cost of oil and filters to be minimal. If I were counting pennies and planned to trade the vehicle soon I would not bother.

I am curious about the European oil change interval. We have at least one DIY poster from the UK that has said they have the same 0W20 requirement we do and I inferred from his post the interval was 10K as well. Is that incorrect? or is the rest of Europe on a different schedule?

 

I looked at the European Toyota Service Information and their oil change are every 15,000km (9,000 miles), or every 12 months, under normal conditions. This seems to be for the Gen II but I don't know why it would have changed with the Gen III.

 

How Many Oil Changes Did Your Car avoid ? How Cheap Does That Make You ?

Oh, and ask Toyota about WHY they even sell a TRD Oil Filter when the "CHEAP ONE" fulfills the Warranty ? HINT: They Know that Some people aren't CHEAP, and want a better product, and Better Engine Protection.

 

The reason they sell them is because there are people to buy them (supply and demand, this is capitalism) and are ready to spend money for it (for whathever personal reason/belief).

It tells nothing about the usefulness of a product (or about its un-usefulness either).

 

Which is why people buy junk from Wal-Mart, but none of them ever delude themselves into believing that the junk they buy there is anything better than junk.
P.T. Barnum also specialized in selling such people.

 

I am confused too. The salesman said my new Prius is one of the new ones that can go 10K miles before an oil change. The odometer is now in the mid 4000 mile range and the maintenance light is coming on.

I guess the maintenance light didn't get the memo.

 

I've got Ten UOA on two different Prius's (01 and 07) that I used to set my oil change determination. No debate for me. Ether UOA shows an early indicator for change (usually fuel contamination starting to rise) or perfect oil.

This UOA check and determine approach seem good enough for aircraft jet engines. It's almost only in passenger cars that the brute force approach of blindly changing the oil on a fixed schedule is the norm.

 

Exactly, they did not reprogram the maintenance light. The party line from Toyota is that you still "need" to do the other maintenance, i.e. brake inspection, tire rotation, etc. I do not usually rotate my tires so I do the other maintenance myself and reset the maintenance light. You can use the Toyota Owners Online site and log your own maintenance if you wish.

 

Because they know there are suckers out there who will shell out MORE for what is usually a CHEAPER filter!

At least for the FJ motor, the TRD filter is NO BETTER than the dealership Made In Thailand oil filter. It just costs twice as much

These results are backed up by used oil analysis reports

If the TRD filter was "better" somehow, wouldn't they offer a longer engine warranty as a result?

 

Why do they sell K&N air filters that are expensive and actually don't protect the engine as well? The dealer sells all kinds of BS fuel additives and oil additives, junk that provides no benefit at all. The dealer is a retailer and like your friend PT Barnum says, there is a sucker born every minute.

Look, nobody is saying don't change the oil, and I don't have a problem with you changing the oil every 500 miles if you want to. Its your insinuation that people who follow the manufacturer's oil change interval are cheap and don't care about proper car maintenance and that their cars will not last as long. Its a statement that has no basis in fact and you have no proof, yet you won't stop condemning people who do things the way the manufacturer says to do them.

I have spared no expense in maintaining my cars, and they have rewarded me for that with very long life and great reliability...and I've followed the manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedule.

If Toyota thought the oil should be changed at 1,000 miles...they would suggest that and charge you for it. Why would they go from 5k to 10k intervals and take all that revenue away from the dealers unless they really felt 5k was unnecessary when using synthetic oil?

 

Before the oil analysis . . . . ? So you took 2 identical Prius Cars and did the same driving with each, one had the TRD and the other the cheapo filter, Why do I just know that's Bull SH_t ?

New Engine ? CHANGE, CHANGE, CHANGE THE OIL ! And Don't Be So CHEAP about IT !

 

Can't believe this thread is still going strong. There are just way too many cheap people out there. Or just people who are just dumb. Don't want to look after a new car then go get a second hand one. Makes more sense.

 

So what's the answer to the question hsiaolc? Toyota says 10k, my indicator says change at 5k. What is your recommendation?

This wouldn't be an issue if Toyota hadn't promised to do the maintenance for the first two years.

My plan is to change the oil per the maintenance light and write off the "free" deal as just a marketing thing. I'm not wasting my time to take the car in to the dealer to just have them reset the light and check off their multipoint inspection which is a joke. I'll stick to the plan unless someone like hsiaolc has a better idea.

I'll save the quality rant for later.

 

I just had mine done at 3500 by a local mechanic with Mobil1 0W-20 and a TRD filter. I plan to do it again at 5K and every 5K thereafter. It's just cheap insurance for the engine. The cost of a new engine just a whisper past the mfgrs warranty for using an extended oil change interval just worries me to no end.

 

free oil change at 2k, did another at 5 with tire rotation, plan to do it every 7k.

 

I have posted used oil analysis results on this forum, what have you done? So before you call bullshit, back it up with facts

Take apart the TRD filter, inside its very cheaply constructed. The made in Thailand regular filter (I mean the spin-on for <2010 models) is a very well made filter

Nobody uses the TRD filter on the FJ. Having established baselines for both my Prius and my FJ, I concluded the dealership oil filter worked fine

Avoid Fram, they are junk. But to suggest that TRD actually implies quality you can be sadly mistaken

Go ahead, compare the elements side by side

And based on used oil analysis, at least my Prius was very easy on whatever oil it ran. I never had the fuel dilution that others have reported

But my FJ motor IS hard on oil. The only way around that is to use a very good oil, such as the Mobil1 European Car Formula 0W-40 or the made in Germany Castrol Syntec 0W-30

I'm comfortable basing my maintenance and motor health decisions on used oil analysis

 

jdk2, epi117, New York,

When you do your oil change, please post your oil analysis results so we can know whether or not these more frequent oil changes were useful or simply a waste of time/money.

 

Since you might be waiting a little while, here are the UOAs on the 2007 Prius showing that an extended interval is not causing a problem.

http://priuschat.com/forums/images/silk/attach/jpg.gif

As you can see the one parameter increasing is the fuel percentage. All the metal levels show no engine deterioration (metal contamination) of any short. Nor is any oil breakdown (TBN, cSt) occurring.

 

I'm so tired of you saying everyone is cheap.

WHY DON"T YOU POST ANYTHING BUT THOUGHTS IN YOUR HEAD????? We asked for proof you just call people cheap and say that our cars will not last cause we don't think like you.

You have had weeks to come up with proof ?? you give us nothing!!! yet other people on here even get their used oil tested and provide proof that there is nothing wrong with using the oil for 10k. Yet you call them cheap.

You and the UK guy should hang out together and change your oils every month, and make up more stuff about how you two are the Gods of the motor oil, yet have no facts.

 

They wont pay to find out they are wrong. Also i'm willing to bet they will just find some bad oil report and try to post it as their own, or send in oil that was not in their car.

Plus whats the point of them sending in thier oil at 5k to be tested we all know it will still be in good shape. And they wont drive 10k on the oil cause it's a known fact that the car will wear out and need a engine rebuild if you follow Toyota/ Moble1 or any other oil/car makers.