Why a time limit for oil and filters as well as a mileage limit?

they want to sell you products and service

but maybe some condensation might play a part. you'd have to have it analyzed i guess.

my mech told me every other year is fine, and he has a ton of experience. i only drive 4-5,000 miles a year.

 

Because it depends!! If you are using the car as a taxi, you can easily put 1,000 miles a week. So if you just go by the one-year rule, you'd have 50,000 miles before doing an oil change. But if you are like my wife, you only put 5,000, at best, in a year.
This is what I go by as far as maintenance (I take care of my familes vehicles, we have 7, only two are hybrids):
Engine Oil/Oil Filter: Every 6-months (sometimes go a little longer with the hybrids because engines don't run as much)
Engine Air Filter: As needed (they usually last 12 to 18 months) Inspect every oil change
Cabin Air Filter: Every year, and use carbon activated
Radiator/Hybrid Coolant: Every 5-years
Transmission drain and fill: Every 6-years
Front/Rear Differential drain and fill: Every 3-years
Transfer Case drain and fill: Every 3-years
Lube Job: Every year
Spark Plugs: Every 10-years (all our vehicles have iridiums, if it's not, then every 3-years)
Brake Fluid change: As needed (check with an electronic tester pen)
Power Steering Fluid: Check yearly and drain and fill when looks very dark

So I do maintenance myself....I called the dealership just to get a price check on draining and filling my wife's 2017 Prius CVT transmission...$319! The job is almost as easy as an oil change...this is why I do it myself. (But I do use OEM parts/fluids as much as possible.)

 

Oil and filter questions always brings out lots of comments, but Honda has been recommending oil filter changes every other oil change for a long time. I don't think there would be an issue, especially if you are doing only a couple thousand miles a year

 

chemical & physical media break down...except for the mighty lifetime atf that comes with the Prius!!!

 

Because they break down over time. And when it gets hot, the cold, then hot, etc...
It's a chemical break down. You have to weight the options of how long you wait to change the parts and
what damage it may cause it you wait too long...
I think PART of it may be to sell more parts, but believe it or not the manufacurer of the part actually tests
then to see how long they last before breaking down.

"Brake Fluid change: As needed (check with an electronic tester pen)"
Brake fluid obsorbs moisture. I you want to keep your brake parts working well, change every 2-3 years....

 

Some of the recommendations are "Legacy". From the days of mineral engine oil. Also the "Precaution Principle" plays a part in nudging us towards being cautious. People come to car forums and ask into the virtual ether ... and all the answers get mixed up... leaving people often confused.
I find a source of reliable information about oil and filters to be the websites for quality oil and filters (none OEM) .. yes they want to sell you more .. but also they want you to know that their products are good and worth the price and so their specifications and advice are pretty good..
I live in Mexico, where the desert meets the mountains, it's hot and dusty, very dusty. I just bought a Prius C 2021 (same more or less as a Prius C 2019 in the USA). I did my first oil change after two weeks with 1000km / 621 miles +/- on the clock. My next oil change will be at 5000km / 3106 miles after that I'll be looking 10,000km /6,212 mile changes as recommended by Toyota Mexico. As this Prius is to be used by four people as the hop across town car and will rarely see a highway or get above 70mph I feel the 6,212 mile change ought to be OK. However other factors I have to take into consideration here are the poor quality of the gasoline and the dust so I'll be using a valve cleaner additive and checking my air cleaner bi monthly. I lived in New Mexico for a while and changed my oil and filter at 3000 miles without fail along with checking the air and gas filters ... all that dust!

 

Filter quality varies widely. But once a year or every oil change is the safe choice.

The number one issue for a Prius is the oil. Change every six months or 5k miles whichever comes first. Once that oil consumption starts its downhill from there as the oil and blowby carbons up everything and causes head gasket and engine failures. In mid 2014 the piston ring problem was improved. The real engineering solution happened in 2016 with the gen4s.

 

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$6.50 usd. ... I replace it every oil change.

 

so how do you just throw the filter media away from those filters?

 

You can screw them onto a spare filter mount bracket that has the gozinta and gozouta sealed off with pipe plugs. Pump in a little bit of pure O₂ and provide a spark.

Then collect as much of the filter media as you can find, and throw it away.

Not the method you were looking for?

 

more of when you change the filter, you just replace the media and gasket. Can’t do that with those filters.

 

I’m hard pressed to make 4K kms a year. And of course I DIY the oil change every 6 months. Hey Toyota Canada tells me to.

 

mine are longer than 10,000 mi oci, Toyota usa is not the boss of me.

 

Well a pretty wide gamut of opinion has now weighed in, lol.

 

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Grit ... I replace the entire filter. The old filter screws off and the new filter screws on.

 

What'll they think of next?

 

Interesting... I did an oil change for a 2001 Honda Insight at start of Summer and we had a miscommunication about who was going to buy the oil filter and had to change oil without a new filter. I've never done that and was uncomfortable about it and am eager to do another oil change ASAP.

But I guess oil filters have a bypass function once the filter is too clogged to work. So that's really when you should replace it. Of course knowing when that bypass function is in use might not sell as many oil filters as not knowing... So... You know... Capitalism...

 

The time limit catches the drivers with a 1 mile commute. All these many cold starts still cause issues over time, but miles alone won't get them in for maintenance anywhere near in time.