More Frequent Oil Changes For Better Resaleability

one thing we must consider; Toyota wants their owners to be happy. for every one unhappy owner, 20 plus sales are potentially affected.

2nd thing; whether an engine blows at 60,000 miles within warranty or 160,000 miles out of warrranty. it will still cause bad blood. we dont drive our cars into the ground. we sell them with plenty of life left generally in hopes of getting a good price towards the cost of the next car.

buying a car that knowing you wont get more than a few thousand 10 years from now doesnt affect many people's buying decision, but it should. Toyota has had a rep for higher than normal resale prices, Priuses included. obviously the reason the Prius gets the high resale price is due to its reputation for going MUCH longer than the warranty and for its Low TCO.

3rd; if we recall, the original change interval on the Prius with synthetic was 5,000. that was changed about 4 months after i received my 2010. i doubt that decision was based on "other" manufacturers guidelines.

 

I want owners #1 car. Owner two can try to make up the extra grand or two he they wasted on someone else.

 

When the gen3 came out in UK & EU the oil change interval was 10,000miles only in the US was it 5000. I believe thats because thats what the US was used to and was easy to sell.

 

Well, we have had a pretty good discussion in the past that Europe has higher standards when it comes to motor oil and thus they have lengthier OCIs. Since Toyota specifies 0W-20 now, that only comes in a synthetic here and thus the increase in OCI.

One thing Toyota needed to avoid was another sludge fiasco. This may account for the delayed change.?

 

Planned obsolescence ,,, is a marketing concept that has worked its way into the engineering world ,,, this is why i change my oil .,, more frequently .. on my Prius and my Tundra ...

 

Not in the UK they don't.

Toyota dropped the warranty package in late 2009, when they introduced the new model Prius. Then, just a few months later, they upped the warranty all round. The result is that those of us who bought early had the delights of the great brake recall fiasco, and now have two years (general warranty) and three years (hybrid) less warranty than someone who bought just a short time later. Result, significantly lower resale values.

This on top of a whole lot of other things that show Toyota doesn't remotely care about how happy their customers are.

 

I would temper that by pointing out that almost all ICE engine wear is on cold start up and under load. Since the Prius engine is assisted by the electric motor on positive loads, and by the generator (same piece) under negative loads, I would think that knocks most of the potential for wear out of the equation. Having driven and serviced (professionally) cars for 35 years, I would opine that a normal ICE might need such protections, but not an electric assisted ICE, as in the Prius.

That being said, the manual calls for 10K service intervals, but the maintenance warning comes on at 5K. Why would that be? I usually do synthetic at 4K anyway.

 

It is called "Value Engineering," not planned obsolescence. =) GE has been doing this since the 1960's and GM, Ford, Chrysler, AMC have been doing this since at least the 1970's. Sell a cheap car and make all your money on service, where the UAW can't get at it. Be sure to use authorized GM parts! (cause we get licensing money on it.... etc).

 

Value Engineering: Title of the group that engineers the value out of a product.

 

Since I just hit 600, I guess need to put the car up on the ramps. I've heard it in the past but just to clarify. You do the oil change early due to possible metal flakes in the oil from the engine break in period?

 

Yes this is normal and advisable. Particulates can include metal, sand, sealant, moly, ect... Don't forget the filter and use 100% synthetic 0/20.

 

My oil is still very clean at the 10k oil change. It is barely brown. Follow the manufacturer's recommendation. They've studied it in great detail and it is in their best interest that their customers have long-lasting vehicles. Since my last three vehicles were still running fine at almost 300k miles with no engine troubles, I expect my Prius engine to easily last that long since it doesn't run all the time.

I almost always buy used cars. I like to see a well-maintained vehicle that is only driven to church on Sundays. They are not difficult to find.

 

I agree with the 10000 mile oil changes with synthetic oil. My question is, suppose it takes 2 years to go the 10000 miles, is it ok to wait the 2 years before changing the oil?

 

No. The oil change interval in the US is 10000 miles or 1 year, whichever comes first.

FWIW: In Canada it's similar, except: it's 8000 kilometers (roughly 5000 miles) or 6 months, again: whichever comes first.

 

Like so many others, I was taught to change oil at 3,000 miles. This was Dino oil and I did so.

Then after 12 years, I had a car with rusted holes in the fender tops and at the bottom of the doors, 140 k miles on the car and it didn't use a drop of oil.

What was the point of all the obsessive oil changes? I ended up almost giving the car away and never recouped the extra costs of extra oil changes.

I change the oil according to manufacturers recommendations now.

Btw, most good manufacturers feel its in their best interest to do what's best for the customers long term interests. Its just good business.

But not every car manufacturer is a good one.

 

I was changing the oil on my diesels at 10,000mi. and that was considered conservative, so I have no problem with the 10,000mi. change on the Prius. The oil change warning came on around the 4500 mark, so I just reset it.

 

I'm highly sceptical of that. I'd say they are doing what's good for their business. Case in point with Toyota: their recomendation to never change the transaxle fluid.

Anyway, Where we live, in Greater Vancouver, BC, Canada, Toyota Canada says change the oil every 5000 miles or 6 months.

However:

If we were in the States, say just down the coast in Seattle, Toyota USA would be telling us to change the oil every 10000 miles or 12 months. Or if we were in the north central States, where you can get the same -40 winters that the Canadian prairies experience, it's still 10000/12...

Considering the above, there doesn't seem to be a lot of engineering involved: that's a wide variation.

And 5000 miles or 6 months is already a good distance from the old school "3000 miles or 3 months". Works for me

 

10,000 is the recommended interval for synthetic. 5,000 is still the guideline for the basic stuff