But the dealer said...

I'd run away screaming from that dealer!

Although I have posted in the past about how crappy the North American API/ILSAC oil specs are, that dealer is blowing smoke out his butt for making up stuff like that

Wonder what he would say if you told him the Prius in the EU - running ACEA spec motor oils - has a normal 12 month or 10,000 mile oil change interval? Or that some cars in the EU have a 24 month or 30,000 mile oil change interval

That said, my dealer had a bulk oil system that was contaminated. Probably wouldn't help much if I had the oil changed every Friday.

 

Yes. :nod:

 

One word: Scammer.


In europe their oil can run for close to 10k miles between changes.

 

Oil changes is where they make their money.

Go to another dealer for service.

If they ever call you to find out why you haven't come or to remind you you're due for your "3,000 mile oil change", ask to speak to the service manager, then tell him exactly what you learned here. Don't mince words. Be blunt. Be brutal.

And be sure to enjoy yourself while you're doing it.

 

Dealer is a.k.a. stealer for a good reason.

Take for instance, MAZDA told me that my CX-9 needs oil change every 3750 miles. In the manual, MAZDA recommend 5000-mile interval for heavy-duty users, and 7500-mile interval for most common users. Who do you believe?

With synthetic oil (full-synthetic), you could go beyond 10,000 miles. In fact, with most high-end BMWs that come with synthetic oil from factory, the oil change interval is about 12K to 15K miles based on the on-board computer.

IMHO, 5000-mile interval is reasonable with dyno oil.

 

You can even bring in your own oil. Most dealers will deduct that from your bill.

 

That's what I do. I bring synthetic because they use dino. They deduct the cost of their oil from my bill.

 

Jayman your posts are always excellent and you are obviously alot more knowledgeable about oil then myself but at 5000 miles my Mobil One still looks brand new but the only thing that concerns me is the really strong fuel smell in the oil. Like a car with no rings left. Like no car I have ever seen. It reeks of fuel. But the oil is strangely clear like I just poured it. Because of the Atkisson cyle? But short of a UOA what degrading effects do you think are going on here please?
Plus (and I hate myself for this) I have to agree with the dealer. Dino oil for 3000 is just horrible. In our cars? Our fabulous hi tech cars? I won't hear of it!

 

The dealer was not entirely full of sh!t. Toyota does require oil changes every 5000 miles (or six months, don't forget) regardless, because US oil standards are inferior to European standards. If god forbid mine ever needed a warranty repair I would not want to be arguing uphill against the manufacturer trying to prove that a non-standard oil change interval did not contribute to the problem. Following their recommendation is cheap insurance.

And as edthefox alludes, oil gets changed not only because oil wears out: oil also gets contaminated in the course of normal operation.

 

Ever wonder what those letters after car model names mean?

DL = dealer lies
DX = dealer exaggerates
LX = lies and exaggerates

 

I would actually say he is full of sh!t because he told the OP that he needed to have the oil changed at 3000 miles, not 5000.

All the documentation I got with my car (also a 2007) said to change the oil every 5000 miles. The dealer who sold me my car said 5000 miles. Various people in their service department all said 5000 miles. The car itself reminds me to change it at 5000 miles. So any dealer who says 3000 should be avoided.

 

If the car owner lived in really dusty conditions, or drove in "extreme" conditions, then he isn't completely out of line.

But I agree, I would find another dealer.

Have you been to a Jiffy Lube lately? They have brought upselling to a new level. They bring you a vial of your tranny fluid and show it to you right next to a vial of fresh tranny fluid. Lol.

 

Not boneheaded, just preying on the uninformed to get more service visits, IMO. There are threads here about people who have had their oil analyzed after oil changes and it comes back with very good results. That may be the kind of quantitative data you want.

The difference between 3000 miles and 3800 miles is non-existant. I have a friend who went 50K miles without changing oil (then sold the car!) (not a Prius). Nowadays, most owner's manuals don't show 3000 miles even for the extreme conditions - mostly short trips in temperature extremes, pulling a load, etc. My old Subaru had 3750 for extreme conditions, 7500 for normal driving, for example. The 3K myth is a hold-over from the old days with cars that didn't last more than 90,000 miles even with the best of care, but dealers and oil-change joints don't want us to know the automotive world has advanced.

5K is the recommended distance for dino oil, and synthetic is above that. You could point out to him that the engine isn't running for a good deal of the time, so 5K miles on a Prius is maybe only 3K or 4K miles of engine use.

 

My .02 shot in the dark....

Is this the first 5k? Did you change the oil right away after getting the car? If not, is this only the second change (<10k miles)? In any case, do you do a lot of short trips? Any engine gets fuel contamination in the oil and can build up if not burned off by some occasional high speed driving. If it's your first batch of oil or maybe your second with minimal long-distance and/or high-speed trips, perhaps something is not fully seated yet.

Or in the other direction, if it wasn't broken in properly, something could have seated in the wrong position.

 

It's hard to tell just by colour or smell. I always tell people if they suspect there are any issues, to have a UOA performed. The $20 is pretty cheap insurance plus it would be *very* difficult for a dealer or Toyota to question it

That said, there have been a few here who have had UOA and *did* have fuel contamination. It's worth checking into. My Prius has 0.0% residual fuel even at 10 months or 16,000 km

 

The other night, my wife and I went to the dealer's "new owner" orientation. He said that all Toyota's oil filters are designed for 5k miles and that is what is "driving" (no pun intended) oil change frequency, even if you use synthetic. Never heard that before about the filter, have you?

He didn't address any advantages of synthetics except longevity between changes and said that dino oil is the only one that Toyota recommends in spite of this...again referring back to the filter life.

I thought that Toyota has a full synthetic with their name on it. But can't find it. Any ideas?

 

Filters are very important since they remove grains of dust and stuff that would otherwise scratch away at the engine.

Even with the best oil, if it gets contaminated with dust and other dirt, your oil needs to be changed and or your filter too.

 

Maybe I wasn't clear,
I never heard that it is the filter life that determined how often you change oil. Have you ever heard this? I always understood that it is the fluid that dictated when you changed oil, not the filter. And of course you change the filter when you change the fluid.

 

The way to actually determine oil life is to submit a sample for UOA (used oil analysis). They can determine if the oil is still suitable for use and if it is, give an estimate for the appropriate OCI (oil change interval).

It is possible to change the filter and leave the oil in the car (you must top up to make up for the oil contained in the filter of course). Some people have done this when they are using a long OCI.