Only Mobil 1 For My Prius

I need to get out, and do 94 MPH more often!

 

That your new squeeze

 

I don't get to use oil change coupons at my dealer. My 2016 Prius gets FREE syn oil changes (at 1yr/10k mile intervals - I prefer twice as often) for the life of the car.

JeffD

 

Exactly

 

My Prius was supposed to get free tires for life, free car washes, and free oil changes for I think 5 years...
and then the dealer went out of business/sold the place.

 

I'm admittedly weird: even if could get free oil changes at dealership, I would still prefer buying the supplies and doing it myself. It's all I got.

 

Like the free life time warranty. Not worth the paper it is written on.

 

Where is Bisco today?

 

Me too. I loved doing it when I was younger... back in the days before the Orthopedic Surgeon got ahold of me, and wrapped my spine in bailing wire, duct tape, spit, and glue!

 

Yep. And she's much prettier than me!

What is your rat's name???

 

Jeff,

I'm not in any way knocking this idea....I'm pretty much this way with EVERYTHING else....so, please help me understand this thought. Do you feel Toyota is incorrect in a way that shortens the overall lifespan of their car(s)? aka long-term marketing investment?

 

Huh?

Translate for my old brain...

 

The person I quoted said they change oil every 5K vs. the Toyota recommended 10K.

Why?

 

Maybe he drives in "extreme" conditions? Or some just do it for peace of mind? "Cheap insurance", as the saying goes...

I usually drive only 5K or less per year. (Retired.) So I will basically be getting mine changed every 5,000 or 12 months. They have a Starbuck's and a Subway Sandwich place in the waiting area. That's the real reason I go get the oil changed! )

 

I get that, so that is why I asked...."why" Not contradicting, just curious. I will be driving 5K per year in my Gen 4....just wondering if there is a secret to it all, is all

 

It's worth noting that the maintenance schedule calls for double-frequency oil changes if the vehicle is driven on dirt/dusty roads, towing, using a rooftop carrier, loaded heavily (it's worth noting that four adults can overload a Gen 4 Prius easily enough, the payload's rather low by American standards), driven below freezing for less than 5 miles at a time regularly, or is extensively idled or driven at low speed for a long distance as in police, taxi, or delivery use.

 

Using synthetic oil, and being a low-mileage driver, and being the cheapskate I am... I wouldn't be too concerned to stretch it out to 18 months(?) between oil changes, and it probably wouldn't hurt anything.

I sure hated going to the dealer for an oil change, after I had only driven 3,274 miles! Kind of embarrassing. But, I do a lot of those short trips. And since I'm not working there's no excuse why I can't go every 12 months.

 

I keep cars a long time, My 2004 Prius had 5k mile syn oil changes for all of its 12.5yr/288kmiles (replaced by our shiny new 2016 Prius 3). It did start to use some oil as it went over 200k miles. Our 1997 Subaru Outback has had similar maintenance and is still in use by our son at 280k miles. Toyota and the other manufacturers set up their maintenance plans to make it likely that there will be few problems till 100k -150k miles and they have a bias to sell their cars as "low maintenance". So, in spite of the improvements in metalurgy and better lubricants, I'll err on the side of over doing oil changes (I also will replace the ATF at 30k miles and every 60k thereafter)

 

Thanks, Jeff. I rarely consider maintenance over-doing it, I am just very data driven

 

The thing with stretching out oil changes too far is that you have to worry about condensation and unburnt gasoline in the oil, and combustion products in general spending a long time in there.