Despite the Synthetic Oil requirement, 5000 mile change intervals are still "required"

For as long as I can remember, I have been changing my own oil. It is a piece of cake. I taught my daughter to change her own oil and my granddaughter. It makes you feel good after it is done for having done it yourself. I take the old oil down to recycling. When I change my own oil, I can let it fully drain because I am in no hurry. I don't mind taking the plate off the bottom to get to the drain plug. Toyota might be using a topsider to remove the oil through the dipstick. Mercedes does that and it is my easiest car to change. The Corvette isn't bad. The drain plug is back a bit too far but it is no problem. I just have to wiggle back a bit further. The Suzuki has a cover that has to be removed to get to the oil filter otherwise that one is a piece of cake. I run Mobile 1 across the fleet from Walmart. I buy filters from the manufacturer because they designed the filter to work on their cars. I use a Premium filter for the Corvette otherwise it is OEM.

I do look forward to changing the oil in the Prius. The filter is a cartridge type but so is Mercedes. I don't know why they all don't use the cartridge type and make it easy to get at from under the hood.

I do plan my first oil change at 1,000 miles or 600 if that is what Toyota recommends and then every 5,000 thereafter is fine with me. Electronics in the Mercedes and Corvette tell me when it is time to change the oil. In the Suzuki, it's very 7,500 miles.

I even change my oil in my airplane where the filter has to be wired in place so it can’t move in flight. My cars are worth more at resale because they have zero wear on the engine due to frequent oil changes using Mobile 1.

Dan

 

How important is it to do any early oil change after the 1000 mile break in period? I've been told that you could just wait to the 5000 miles / 6 months to do the first oil change, but the Lexus vehicles get a complimentary change after the first 1000 miles... What is the reason for this? The cars are both made by the same manufacturer / engineers right?

 

Manufacturers use special lubricating oil and grease, reddish in color, on moving parts during assembly. This is done to facilitate engine startup for the first time. It takes some time to get crank case oil circulating throughout the engine. It can take several hundred miles for engine parts to seed in place leaving bits of metal in the oil. I want to get all those contaminants out of the engine at or before 1,000 miles with fresh clean oil and a new filter.

Dan

 

This is seriously bothering me. I have been literally dreaming about buying a 2010 Prius, but this may be a deal breaker for me. I thought part of the benefit of synthetic oils is not needing to get the oil changed as often. This just seems like a scam and makes me worry about whether there will be many other expensive, dealer only, "regular" maintenance issues. I have always loved Toyotas because they are low maintenance, but if they have made preventative maintenance into this much of an expensive and time consuming pain in the butt.... I am worried....

 

Has anyone priced the oil filter for the 2010 ?
How does it compare to pre-2010 Prii ?

 

would a dealership take your oil to do the change with? as long as it was spec. as far as cost goes, i am pretty sure most places only make money on labor as oil changes are not all that much after overhead and cost is considered.

my sis is service advisor and they provide oil changes at pretty much a break even job

 

Regardless to whether the cost of oil changes can be justified by super-expensive oil, the oil changes are very expensive and very frequent and this will add significant cost to your total cost of ownership.

 

well, maybe... then again, my Zenn cost me 2 cents per mile to drive... add to that another...hmmm... about .001 cents per mile maintenance...but that is only because i got the "winter/summer" windshield cleaner which was a buck more

 

I am still trying to figure out where the requirement for syn oil is found. My owners manual does not state it (or I have been unable to find it) and the service manager at my dealership says that syn oil is not a Toyota requirement for the 2010 Prius.

 

Please see posts #1 and #7 of this thread.

 

I reviewed much of this thread, including Rick's copied instructions for changing '10s oil. I used to change my own oil on previous cars, until I got too busy and found that I could have it done at places like Firestone, Goodyear etc for about $15 more than I would pay for the materials. My garage floor appreciated that move...

I'd love to perform this maintenance on my Prius - but, yikes - seems to be overly complicated esp the underbody panels removal, canister filter, etc. The answer to this question will ice my decision - DIY or dealer:

- can the '10 Prius be driven up on ramps? Or, how does the DIYr gain access underneath?

 

The color of the oil is not an indicator of the "dirtiness" of the oil.

In fact, an oil that darkens more quickly often indicates that the oil is doing a better job of preventing engine wear!

 

Actually changing the oil every 5000 miles at $70 a pop costs 1.4 cents per mile just for the oil changes on the 2010 Prius. So compared to your Zenn, we'll be paying almost as much for oil as you pay to run a whole car. Too bad the cityZenn isn't out.... Wonder what that purchace price will be....

 

Thank you very much for your gracious and helpful reply.

 

oh ya... i guess now would not be a good time to point out i said "about 2 cents per mile"...

umm, fact is, my employer allows me to plug in at work essentially cutting my commuting cost in half, so my actual out of pocket expense is pretty near the 1.4 cents per mile figure

 

yea - not so much feeling better here....

 

Can any of you DIY Gurus address this? Seems as if the lower front fascia is quite low in order to drive up on ramps.