Does 2013 burn oil?

1) no, and we don't know what percent. probably fairly small

2) oil burning is inconvenient and polluting. but most importantly, it can clog the egr, sometimes resulting in a blown head gasket.

3) there are a lot of home brew remedies here, but the official fix is new piston rings, maybe cylinder boring and pistons, depending on the condition.

4) i don't think so

 

The quick answer to all your question is no, if you keep up with the maintenance schedule and not drive it hard. You can buy a 2013 w/no oil burn, give to the next person and not change oil on time on schedule, it will eventually begin to burn. Gasoline car engines will eventually burn oil as time goes by, if not sooner than definitely later. The only absolute to no oil burning car is an electric vehicle.

 

There is no true answer to your question. But changing the oil at 5K miles and not driving hard to each red light will certainly help. So with a car with over 100k miles it’s a gamble. Unless you know them or it’s an older person selling it, I would be careful. Make sure you get full service records. Which is primarily oil changes.

 

Make sure engine oil level is at full mark, drive it at least 2,000 mi then check the level. That's the only way to know for sure.

 

1 - My 2014 did not burn oil, and as far as I know, the engine is the same as in the 2013.
2 - It would be an environmental pollutant, cost you (lots of) money in oil top-ups, and likely lead to engine repair costs.
3 - Depends on what is causing oil to get into the cylinders. Sometimes that's an oil seal which is relatively cheap to replace, it could be a cylinder head gasket failure, which would need an engine top-down repair, but usually it's the result of high wear in the cylinders themselves, which would normally need a major engine repair. Typically very expensive.
4 - Burning oil will generally result in blueish-coloured smoke from the exhaust when the engine is running - often more when the engine is cold than warm. Check the exhaust pipe - when cold. If there are thin dry, sooty deposits in the tailpipe, that's normal. If the sooty deposits are dry and thick, that usually means it is burning rich (too much petrol). If the tailpipe has wet and greasy deposits, that usually means it is burning oil.

 

We have a 2010 liftback that does consume oil and a 2012 v (wagon) that doesn't consume oil. And they both have essentially the same drivetrain.

The interesting thing is that the 2010 has around 100K and the 2012 has 145K miles....

Point is...I'm not sure anyone knows definitely what leads to the consumption...lots of theories around here though.. However, once it happens it is very difficult to mitigate and most of of have given up on trying to stop it. There are some tales of success but not anything that has been proven as a definitive mitigation.

 

i think 2014 got updated piston rings

 

Note: One REALLY should be checking the level a few times on the way to that 2000 miles.
What if is uses a quart every 500 miles ??

 

Hello!

The internet is data-rich!
BUT...do not confuse "data" with "fact".

ASK YOUR QUESTIONS!!
I'M NOT AFRAID!

ALL cars burn oil.
The percentage is 100.
Otherwise they would not have (at least one) dipstick with advisories in the Warranty and Maintenance guide about checking the oil every 1,000 miles.

Excellent question!
Oil lubricates the motor. Otherwise there would be excessive metal-to-metal grinding.
Ask anybody over 50 what that feels like.
Oil inside a motor resides inside a sump down in the oil pan from where it is pumped all over when the engine is running.
The Prius has a relatively small oil sump (3.7q) and a relatively long oil change interval (10,000 miles) and sometimes Priuses are driven by younger drivers who have a "closed-hood" maintenance philosophy.
That's a bad combination.
There are other factors like the EGR circuit and piston rings that exacerbate the issue.
If you consider checking the oil every 1,000 miles to be "inconvenient"? then Yes.....it will lead to "more serious issues."

If you mean "excessive" oil then the only remedy is a time machine, and if you have one of those handy I'd go back 10 years and buy a bunch of bitcoins instead.
You may want to run a few cats through the time machine first, though.
A Prius with "moderate" oil consumption can be driven for another 100,000 miles - or even longer if you don't live in California and with a little TLC.
If you decide to go that route, get back with us.

You will want to ask the owner and check the service records ANYWAY.
There might be an entry in Toyota's file that says something like "Customer brought car in after low oil light came on."

You might also look for 12 10,000 mile oil changes followed by a 6,000 mile oil change.

- Also have a mechanic look at the car. Pay them about an hour's labor (about $200) to thoroughly check out the car. They might yank a plug or even bore-scope the car or look at the cat.
- Ask the owner to drive the car and follow him or her with the windows down. If the car is burning an excessive amount of oil then you will quickly know why I asked you to do this.
- Look at the MDF and see what the current Trip A and Trip B fuel efficiencies are and when the last time they were reset. If they're in the 30's, that might be a clue. If they're in the 50's that might be another clue. If the data have been cleared lately - that might indicate a trip to the doctor's office.

Remember...
You asked for it!

You're welcome!
It's what you do in a herd.

 

A lot of good tips in there, thanks.

That's the quandry, that a prospective car MIGHT be an oil burner, and how to tell, when you're looking it over.

Here's the breakdown, at least according to McGeorge Toyota's database:



Preventative maintenance that might help:

1. Regular oil/filter changes, maybe following the US "extreme" service (twice as often).
2. Cleaning the intake manifold, installing an oil catch can, and ongoing monitoring of it's condition.
3. Cleaing the full EGR circuit, and periodically recleaning.

Maybe too, sustained high speed driving knackers engines faster?

 

The ways a car can meaningfully lose oil is through burning it: piston rings or valve stem seals

or losing it: leaks

Generally for this car it will be piston rings. As said 2014 saw revised ring sets. It also, AFAIK, saw a revised intake manifold.

You can do a little detective work if you're shopping for a used car and try to simply ask the owner if the car burns oil. They could lie, yes, but if you talk to the person and get a sense for whether or not you're honest, you can get a good feeling. I imagine most prius owners aren't horrible people. Watch out for dealers. They will lie.

You can also ask when the oil was last changed, see if they have a receipt showing. Then look at the oil. If it was 5,000 miles ago and the oil looks too clean, then maybe they've added some. Also look for signs of wet stains around where the oil cap is as if someone recently or frequently adds oil. wipe marks etc. a little detective work and simply asking questions and poking around can go along way.

but if you really want to avoid it altogether, just buy a 2014 to be safe, if budget allows.

 

For what it's worth I own a 2013 with 147K. The car has been well maintained since I got it with 40K, 4 years ago. The engine does not use any oil. 10K OCIs through 140K, now doing 5K OCIs. The EGR System has been cleaned at 120K. OCC installed.

So the long and the short if a 2013 has been well maintained, it should provide many trouble free years of driving.

 

It's the 2015 MY that @Mendel Leisk pointed out has both the revised pistons and rings. It's too early to know whether the changes will circumvent premature oil burning.

 

See the graphic in this post (just up the page):

Does 2013 burn oil? | PriusChat

2014 just got revised pistons, and 2015 got both the revised pistons and rings. One question that goes begging: how much better are the revised pistons and rings? If you replace the pistons and rings with original p/n's, that's also likely to stop oil burning, for another 100K miles.

If we get a few more responses by 2015 owners to this poll, there'd be more consensus on how much better the revised pistons/rings are.

 

I see too many 2010-2013s knocking down lunar mileage to be very worried about pistons and rings.

If I had to go into the bottom end of a Prius motor?
Yeah.
I'd use the new stuff - or just get a used motor from a 2014 or a 2015.....but the only thing that that the "oil burner" rumors mean to me is that if I have to get a beater today - then a 2013 would be a GOOD bet for me.

YMMV

 

In that case I would just drive it off a cliff

 

My 2012 haven’t burned oil yet, I check all fluids and dipstick every other day. My oil change intervals are 12,000 mi because I avoid cheap Toyota oem filters and Mobil 1 oils all together. And the great advice here on PC to keep it burn free.

Maybe you should include 2012s on the list to look ate also

 

I disagree and only use Toyota Filters and I use 0W-40 Mobil 1 as it’s the only true Synthetic they make. Toyota filters were disigned for the car and should have the best flow rate.

 

Unless severely clogged, any other filter would allow the same flow rate, because the engine has a positive displacement pump.