95K maintenance- should I get an oil change?

Would you feel happier if they had the $83.95 and you didn't? The car will be happy with 10,000 miles/12 month oil changes.

 

Damn that is some expensive maintenance... I would do this all myself and save me all that money. Honestly, you should still do the 10k miles oil change, no need for 5k and wasting all that money on oil. Also you shouldn't worry about the brakes since mine is at 100k and the brake pads are not even half worn. Balancing your tires are a waste of money unless you feel vibrations at 65+ miles on the highway. Also I rarely do tire rotations, each time you do tire rotation, it cost you 28$, you can save that for brand new pair of 4 tires in 2-3 years for 500$-600$. That's just my opinion, most of these you can do it yourself and you're a DIYer, if not, then just pay I guess...

 

how much oil are you burning between changes?

 

This is what I did when the 95k service light came on 2 weeks ago.

1. Change the display to Trip A
2. Hold mph/kph button while holding the start button to start the car
3. Hold until maintenance light turned off.

I expect the light to turn back on at 100k miles and then I will change the oil and rotate the tires.

 

I follow the 6 months or 10k miles interval. I did that with my Honda Accord as well and haven't noticed any difference in my oil. I've gone as far as 8 months without an oil change and my Honda still runs fine. I don't see any oil leaks or change in engine performance either.

Since you bought your vehicle used, I would just do all of the required maintenance such as all the fluids, lube the sliding pins for the front and rear brakes, also inspect the inner and outer brake pads. Change all filters if necessary and anything else on the maintenance list. You want to know you that did everything so you have a peace of mind.

 

i would stay with 10k changes then, you should be fine. if you are concerned, you can send your used oil out for testing.

 

The 10K oil changes require synthetic oil and a filter as well. It's easy for sleazy mechanics to use standard oil and/or skip the filter in order to make more profit.

 

I don't see anything in the Owner's Manual, or the Warranty and Maintenance Booklets (US or Canadian) to corroborate this. Most if not 0W-20 is synthetic, so really a moot point. But Toyota doesn't make any statements to the effect that the 10,000 mile oil change interval is tied to the use of synthetic oil.

 

Really? I thought for sure the standard was to use synthetic, and the Toyota oil is a synthetic. As you say, maybe synthetic is the only possibility, but I'd always assumed that it was a requirement for 10,000 miles

 

It says in the 2010 OM, if you use 5W20, switch back at next change, but no mention of sooner. No mention of synth either, tho both grades likely are.

 

5w-20 can be non synthetic...

 

Don't change the oil. Get a new Prius four touring instead. I saved $65.

 

... which I suspect is likely the other main reason (besides fuel consumption) they specify shorter change intervals with 5W-20, not that synthetic 5W-20 is likely to harm the engine. That way, they avoid confusing naive customers with discussions of synthetic vs. mineral oil.

 

Where do they specify shorter oil change interval for 5W20?

(I'm not trying to debate, just haven't found that anywhere, so far.)

 

So I looked this up...

Toyota says the motor oil must be ISLAC certified. And I looked that up:
http://www.api.org/~/media/files/certification/engine-oil-diesel/publications/mom_guide_english_2013.pdf

The document doesn't say that the oil must be synthetic, but I presume that the ISLAC standard cannot be met unless the oil is synthetic. An ISLAC-certified oil will last 10,000+ miles, they say.

 

In my 2011 Warranty and Maintenance Guide (USA edition), every X5,000-mile maintenance item list includes a highlighted "Note: If 0W-20 oil WAS NOT used at the last oil change, replace engine oil and oil filter." Page 570 of the Owners Manual states "If SAE 0W-20 is not available, SAE 5W-20 may be used. However, it must be replaced with SAE 0W-20 at the next oil change." That seems pretty clear, whether we agree or not.