How often do you change your oil?

Penzoil Platinum Synthetic. 0W-20.

That's what my dealer is using now. They don't even use Toyota oil?

I asked him if they just went with the lowest bidder, and he said, "yeah probably. Whatever is in the big drum."

 

Mind you, that is what "Toyota" Oil is. Toyota is not an oil company, they just buy oil that meets their specification.

 

The mystery deepens. I think they put in 5W – 20 Pennzoil.

 

Ask 5 service advisors, and get 5 different answers.

I was just told that when you come in for the free oil change, the "Toyota care", they use mobile-1 oil because Toyota is paying for the service.

But when you pay for your own oil change, as I am doing today, they use the Pennzoil platinum synthetic.

This dealership is owned by Penske. And one of his big sponsors is Pennzoil. And nobody can tell me if it is 0W- 20, or 5W- 20.

Then I asked him, why don't they use the 0W-20 Toyota brand of oil in the black bottle I just saw in the parts department? He replied, that is way over my pay grade!

 

The OCI...or Oil Change Interval is officially 10K, and with modern lubricants, in modern engines this is probably sufficient for the design life-cycle of the car - which is probably about 250,000 miles.
If you're one of these people who always trade out the car before it gets to be middle aged (125,000 miles or so) then it really doesn't matter how often you change your oil or even check your oil.

However (comma!) if you plan to keep your car for a while, OR if you're one of those high mileage drivers, OR you just like to take care of your stuff then you need to probably think more about an Oil CHECK interval rather than an oil change interval.
You don't even have to be very anal about it, since all you're looking to do is to keep the volume topped off.
I yank the hood open about every other tank - or - 50 MPG....10 gallon fillups.....so I'm checking every thousand miles or so.
Easy, keep-your-shoes-on kinda math.

The problem with modern closed-hood maintenance philosophies is that nobody ever thinks to check their oil level BEFORE they have it changed to see if their baby is drinking or smoking behind the owner's back.
When GM adopted the same base OCI for their motors they kept the 6q sumps.
That means that even if you have an undetected oil burn rate of 1 quart every 10,000 miles you still have quite a bit of oil cruising around in your power plant.
A Priuses oil capacity isn't even 4-quarts...it's something like 3.9q - which is why the HS dropout that the dealer pays $8/hr to be their "mechanic" always overfills it when he or she sets the dial on the dispenser of bulk oil at "4"
BTW....if you're not going to do your own oil changes?
That's cool.
Many people cannot, or do not....but do not get wrapped around the axle about what flavor that they say that they use, because unless you see them twist off the caps and use your oil out of your little plastic containers?
They have a powerful incentive to use the same bulk oil out of the same barrel as everybody else gets.
If I sound cynical, It's because I am cynical.
Read any five "does this sound right?" threads about dealer maintenance in this forum.

Anyway....back to the OCI thing....
Two or three (or four or five) maintenance cycles with an undetected oil burn rate like this is much worse for a Prius than it is for a car with an adequate oil sump, which is why there are a lot of threads in this forum about "sudden" oil usage, which is the same thing as a parent "suddenly" discovering that their little baby is a drinker or a smoker.
It's been going on for A WHILE.
You just didn't notice.


Check your oil.
ESPECIALLY before and after the high school dropout touches your car.


Good Luck!

 

^ Just editorial: the oil capacity at change with oil filter change is 4.5 US quarts, or 4.2 liters.

Also, a tip someone came up with here, for checking the dipstick: remove the dipstick, wipe it clean, then let it sit for at least 5 minutes. Say check tire pressures, whatever. During that time the oil clinging to the walls of the (somewhat serpentine) dipstick guide tube flows back down. When you subsequent re-insert, pull out and check the dipstick, it'll be free of the smearing issue, the level will be easy to read.

 

I've always been very good at checking the oil at least two times a month. Or every other fill-up. Same with the tires at least once a month.

I am done at the dealer. As usual, I think they overfilled it. It's high up on the dipstick. The service order says 5 qts, instead of the factory specified 4.3.

The Pennzoil platinum is so CLEAR,
I can barely even see it on the dipstick. I asked one of the service guys again, are you sure that's 0W-20 synthetic? He said, yeah, sure, if it wasn't your engine would be making all kinds of "clacking" noises.

And how do they tighten down the oil filler cap so tight!? I used all my strength and I couldn't budge that thing.

I was in a area where I could actually see them working on my car. All the
technicians were probably 22 years old, or younger. The service advisors, too. Very young most of them. I even saw two young girls working on cars! I don't know how those little women could lift those big SUV wheels like they did!

I never saw the man check my tire pressure, but it says on the final paperwork he set the pressure at 35 front, and 33 rear. Which is totally wrong according to the specs on the doorjamb.

Go to the dealer, and you never know what you're gonna get...

 

My Prius must like that new Pennzoil platinum synthetic! On the way home the gas mileage shot up to 69. It's never been that high. (But it was only a 30 mile drive home.)

 

My Prius must like that new Pennzoil platinum synthetic! On the way home the gas mileage shot up to 69. It's never been that high. (But it was only a 30 mile drive home.)[/QUOTE]

And the "from the flag" mpg for 30 miles was in the 80's! But, I was only doing about 30 mph on a very congested freeway.

 

@Coast Cruiser I always tighten the oil filler cap just snugly. It's only plastic threads, I vaguely recall one instance, with previous car, of the threads starting to fracture off a bit, due to over-tighten I'd suspect. Give the O-ring a wipe too, make sure it's intact and in place.

I'm the only one dealing with ours though; I can just picture your mechanic: Popeye arms, lol.

 

Today was the first time I tried to open it. After the dealer visit. Somebody in another thread, also mentioned that his cap was welded on there. He thought they had a wrench that tightens it? I never heard of such a thing. What the heck do those guys do??? Did you get your Gen4 cap off?

 

I don't recall ours being overly tight the first time, likely that would have been last touched in the factory in Japan. So it's local mechanic problem. Email to the service manager might help. If you get nothing but pushback, time to start looking around, if practical.

For your immediate problem, try a BIG one of these on the flat?

 

Good idea. I'll try. If it doesn't work, I'll swing by a closer dealer.

 

The wrench worked. Thanks. The cap looks just like it did when I first got the car, with the letters facing the front. Maybe it's just meant to fit real tight. Or my hands are getting weaker.

I checked the oil dipstick again. That Pennzoil is so CLEAR. (Or they forgot to fill it? ) Just kidding, I can see it when I wipe the stick on a white napkin... barely.

 

The tip I relay in post #26 helps with reading the dipstick.

Oh n'mind you've put a like on it, assume you've read.

 

Yes, I had a slice of pizza during those 5 minutes.

 

The car has been parked for over 3 hours now. But when I open the hood, I hear one of those "Star Wars" sounds. A brief buzzing noise. This has happened before, about 3 times.

The HAL-9000 is saying hello to me.

 

I don't think we can go wrong with what Toyota recommends. Does your c use 0W-20 Matty?

My car has done fine this summer. I'm curious to see if there is any change in gas mileage when winter comes.
(when our temps plummet to 68 )