Fluid Alternatives

Given how few fluid changes the Prius requires through even an extended lifetime, I've never felt that the dollar savings of alternatives ever added up to anything meaningful.

I use $3 oil filters and $5 windshield wipers to save money, and use the real Toyota juices.

 

If you didn't think the other threads you looked at reflected a consensus or arrived at an agreed list of acceptable alternatives, what's the plan for making this thread different?

 

Toyota stance on the various fluids seems reasonable to me.

The ONLY fluid they get strident about is in the transaxle; with that they strongly recommend to only use Genuine Toyota ATF WS, and caution that the use of alternate fluids may damage the transaxle. That's what I've used.

With engine/inverter coolant they recommend their Toyota Super Long Life Coolant, but allow that alternate coolant would be ok if they meet (a fairly lengthy and esoteric) list of criteria. It's over my pay scale, so I'll just stick with the Toyota fluid.

Brake fluid, they only say DOT3. I used Toyota's.

Engine oil: they have a brand, but they don't push it. I used the Toyota oil up until this year. Was purchasing their bulk oil, but it became insanely expensive, and finally they wouldn't sell it to me. I used Costco's Kirkland oil last time.

 

If your doing 5K mile oil changes $3 filter are probably good enough.

I tend to stray towards either OEM or another quality filter. That's just my humble option; unfortunately most of those alternative fluids and parts are steep in opinion and nonscientific terms that don't mean anything. ie. the fluid looks cleaner or the engine runs smoother - not quantifiable controlled test.

At least with OEM; you know what your getting. And a word of caution for those who think they're getting a great deal on an OEM part - They are probably knock-offs. Use OEM parts where they count; you can recover from bad wiper blades.

Just my 2-cents

 

It's pretty much whatever is in the remainder bin at rock auto. Sometimes it's a fancy brand, sometimes just an okay one. I was psyched one year when I got a bunch of premium Manns for $2.80 apiece. Last year it was a mix of Fram, Motorcraft and ACDelco, this year it was Bosch & Denso, but now up to $3.32.

Same strategy got us through about 250k miles on prior vehicles without any mishap.

 

i'd like to see a breakdown of cost between oem and aftermarket maintenance for 10 years or 150,000 miles. hard to believe there's much savings if you're using known quality products

 

For oil changes? If you do 150,000 miles at 5,000 mile intervals, you'll do 30 changes.

At my local dealer, that's $74.95 a pop, $2,248.50 for the life of the vehicle (we will assume all prices stay flat over the vehicle's lifetime.)

At home, that's about $27.50 for oil & filter, $825 for life.

Lifetime savings of at home/aftermarket vs. oem at the dealer: $1,423.50

Meanwhile, coolant is going to be changed what, twice in 150k miles? It's $32 for a jug of the Toyota stuff and $25 for something Autozone says will work.

2 jugs of Toyota LLC for $64 vs 2 jugs of peak for $50. That's a $14 savings over the life of the car.

$1400 vs. 14. It's worth it for some things, and not at all for others.

 

na, i mean diy oem vs aftermarket all fluids. i know diy saves a bundle.

if you could find a mech willing to use either, that would negate labor differences

 

Well, it looks like Amazon is selling Toyota oil in bottles and what appear to be OEM filters... working from their prices it would be about $41 per or $1,230 lifetime, $405 more than aftermarket.

 

if you change every 5k? but compared to what?

 

If you do your oil changes at a different interval (7,500 or 10,000 miles) the number of oil changes needed for the life of the car drops correspondingly

 

All I can say is I have a Toyota with just barely 200,000 miles that someone else owned before me. It has galling in the cylinders and burns oil.
Why? Stuck piston rings.
Why? The oil didn't get the crud out of the rings.
Why? Probably didn't do frequent oil changes or didn't use the correct oil.
Now it needs another engine to fix the problem, or just keep driving it until it dies as it gulps down a quart every 500 miles.
What could have been done? Use the oil recommended by Toyota (any oil that fits their criteria) and done the oil change as per what Toyota really says. (For most people it's not yearly or every 10,000 miles. That's for people that either drive on a flat straight highway in Arizona all day or that don't plan on keeping their car for more than 100,000 miles or so).

 

i mean, are you comparing the toyota oil and filter price to an aftermarket?

 

when I do oil changes at home, I'm using aftermarket filters. It's always one of 4 or 5 major brands. I get what's cheap that week. More or less the same for the oil- I'm using one of four national brand retail motor oils, again keyed to whichever was cheap when I was stocking up.

$825 for a lifetime of the opportunistically-purchased big-brand aftermarket
$1,230 using Toyota oil and Toyota filters

both cases DIY

 

thats my point exactly. so half that if you do 10k?

 

Yep. And that reduced potential savings/overall reduced maintenance cost might tip the balance for you, it'll be different for everyone.

 

if someone comes up with the other fluid coolant alternatives, o/p will have good data to make a decision on.

 

It's usually easier to find "cheaper" aftermarket oil and filters, but you can definitely find cheaper OEM oil and filters than "expensive" aftermarket.

It is easier to decide on OEM and look for sales than trying to compare many aftermarkets. But if the lowest cost is the objective, then yeah, go for the least expensive no-name brand you can find on a big box store shelf or online.

 

Depends on driving conditions and how long you keep the vehicle. If 150,000 miles later you start burning a ton of oil and the alternative is to replace the engine and you kill your cat and live in a California compliant state the 10K mile oil change is no longer half.