How much time between oil changes?

From page 38 of the Toyota USA Warranty and Maintenance Booklet, the regular interval is yearly or 10K miles, whichever comes first:



I'd concur it's too long. If you want some justification, there's a stipulation (on the same page, to change every 6 months or 5K miles, under "special operating conditions":



Funny thing: for 3rd gen Prius, Toyota Canada's regular oil change interval is 5K miles (aka 8K kms) or 6 months, whichever comes first. And special operating conditions halves those intervals.

And, the great white North ain't what it used to be. Our west coast winters in particular are a LOT milder than somewhere like Chicago. Or Alaska... And I've heard something like 90% of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the US border.

 

Unless you drive Uber or a Taxi or for delivery, every 6-months or 5,000 miles, whichever comes first. Oil changes are cheap compared to costs like the engine starting to burn oil or a head gasket going out from dirty oil, etc.

 

Last image in my post above, they recommend the shorter interval, for cabs.

 

agree, 5k. does the c have the egr/head gasket issue?

 

5 thousand for me too.

 

i go with 5k or one year. i don't see the value in 6 months, am i missing something?
i figure the change in seasons might create a little condensation.

 

It's a highly debated topic!

It's your car so whatever you're comfortable with.....watch this video from a master Toyota technician who's probably seen thousands of engines in his 10+ years of working at a dealership.

 

if he backed it up with some data, i'd go with it.

gasoline is seeping into the oil even when the engine isn't running? i don't understand this. if you're not driving 5,000 miles, i don't see how it can happen.

but i only watched to 3:15, is there more?

 

i would expect any buyer would be just as happy with receipts from anywhere, showing that it had been done.
i haven't gone back to the dealer since my two free oil changes.

iirc, you can add them to your record at toyota.com/owners, where dealer service is also recorded.

 

I’ve never had any “professional” oil changes with our 2010. Benefits include an engine bay under-panel that is like-new, no missing fasteners, drain bolt threads not near-stripped, no overfill, no great gobs of grease on the door hinges, and no service decals on the windshield.

 

what about that time you forgot to tighten the drain plug?

 

I change at 5k though I did one at 10k and while it felt wrong, I'm hard-pressed to show that it hurt anything.

There's nothing special about oil changes on these cars. Get it done anywhere you find reasonable confidence and convenience. Toyota will often be more expensive- they're fine, just make sure it's worth it to you.

For my money, "special operating conditions" aka "severe service" always, always shows up as low miles per gallon. Think police car idling 7 hours a day at the speed trap with the AC cranked. EDIT: More relevant example.

Taken another way, if you are getting normal MPG, you aren't operating in special conditions or exposing your engine to severe service.

 

If it is a 2010 - 2014 Gen 3 Prius, I'd go with 5k miles OCI due to the notorious oil-burning issue. But for Prius C, I have never heard of that issue. While 10k miles OCI is preferable, 10k miles is probably acceptable.

 

are you saying go longer than a year if you don't hit 10k?

my mech actually tells me every 2 years, but idk what he bases that on.

maybe an oil analysis, but just another expense.

it depends on how long you want to keep it as well.

 

Depends on how that really adds up. If you take a 100 mile trip once a week and that's it, you can run that oil a long time through all weather.

If it's a 0.8 mile trip every 3 hours, that's different. The engine will never hit full temperature.

Atmospheric water vapor can and will condense into water through these temperature changes, and it gets whipped into the oil- an emulsion. That's not as good as pure oil.

Normally, the engine block and the oil temperatures will exceed 212°F, so the water just boils out and exits as steam.

So if your driving pattern is mostly short trips, I'd recommend changing more often. If you decide to do the minimum annual change instead, I'd suggest doing it in May.

 

I just change oil/filter mid-April and mid-October. Miles between changes is VERY low; I don't think about it, just do it.