More On OW20 Oil Confusion

When I took my car for the first oil/filter service, I told the service advisor I wanted to ensure they used 0W-20 synthetic oil, and he said the Toyota system the techs use specifies 0W-20 for the 2010 Prius.

 

It's amazing that some stores aren't up to day enough on their vehicles to read Toyota's own literature on these subjects, not to mention PC.

 

I had mine changed mine 2-3 weeks ago. Service knew all about it. Said they only have it in quarts not in bulk as other older threads on this subject have mentioned. Cost $62.**. Service ticket showed that is what was used.

 

I priced Mobil 1 at my local WalMart; it was just under $7.00 per quart for one quart containers. If the dealership is charging $62.00, for the oil only as I read mccats post, that's what - nearly an 150% markup of all profit, if I figure WalMart's cost is $5.00 per quart. And, I'd guess a retailers cost is closer to $3.50.

You've got to feel so sorry for retailers in this free market economy. . . --TK

 

I just picked up 5 qts of Mobil 1 0W-20 at Auto Zone. They had a store deal where you get 5 qts of 0W-20 AND an oil filter for $32, including tax. Then, Mobil is currently running a $10 mail-in rebate on 5 qts of Mobil 1. What a deal! For around 20 bucks I got 5 qts of oil and a filter for my 2010.

 

Went to do paperwork on our ordered Prius yesterday. I asked about oil, and the salesman took me back to talk to the head of the Service department. Asked her about oil changes, and she said:

"We always use 5W30 on all the Priuses we service".

I'll admit, that was the one answer I was not expecting to hear. I mentioned that I read about 0w20 being specified, and they just kind of looked at me, puzzled. Didn't ask much else, as I was kind of dazed.

Now I'm thinking of looking at other dealers for service.

 

I just traded in a a Mazda RX8 sports car for my Prius. I was required to run 5w20 oil year round or void my US warranty even though I know 5w30 is better for the engine In fact everywhere else in the world Mazda requires 5w30 to be used in this engine. Engines began blowing up at an alarming rate, especially in the hotter areas of the US. Owners realized this and began a campaign that resulted in Mazda extending the warranty on the engine to 100,000 miles, but the thin oil requirement for the US remained the same.

Now why does this situation exist? Simple really. Mazda was right on the verge of failing to meet the US fleet mileage standard. The thinner oil eeks a bit more mileage from the engine. The financial penalties to Mazda for missing the government standard would be higher than the cost to the company of repairing the larger number of blown engines under warranty. Of course the inconvenience factor to the owners does not enter into the decision.

 

The oil cap has 0W20 printed on it

At least my 2010 Prius IV has 0W20 printed on the oil cap.

 

After you hit 5000 miles, just go with 0w20 Mobil 1 synthetic, everyone will be happy.

I got rid of my Corvette to buy a Prius and RX-8, go figures

 

So does Mobil 1 make an oil filter in the 2010 Prius size? What's the size called (M ...)?

 

The 0W20 oil is a very light oil, but the engine in a Prius doesn't operate like a conventional engine.

As for the shops using something else, just specify what YOU want to have put in YOUR car. As Dave Ramsey says, "I write the check, if you can't do what I want, you're fired."

Joe

 

If that's a response to my post, the dealer said they'd be glad to put in any oil I wanted. But the regular oil change (5W30) would be $21.99 and the 0w20 would be "$70 or $80". Not going to worry about it now, but the first thing I'll probably do is get a firm price, and then find out what they'd charge me if I supplied the synth oil myself. Plus there's a Toyota dealership in another town that I visit at least once a month that I can check with.

 

I know I'll probably get flack for this, but the brand they had for the 2010 Prius is STP #S10385.

 

SCJoe,

NOW I get it! The difference in the price is because the other oil is a conventional, non-synthetic. If the manual calls for synthetic, definitely stick with it!

I was planning to put synthetic in my Prius once it is out of the break-in period, but apparently Toyota does enough of a break-in at the factory for the engine to come with synthetic already in it.

With synthetic, the engine will virtually last forever!

 

Do US Toyota dealers have the quart size containers of the synthetic Toyota oil 0W-20? And, if so, how much does it sell for? Thank you.

 

Do you have any idea whether either dealership has sold a 2010 Prius yet? (I know you aren't in the middle of nowhere, but to the best of my knowledge not many 2010s have found there way outside of Des Moines or Iowa City. Are there many in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area?)

The 2010's manual says the car should take 0W20. It allows 5W20, but only if the next oil change is 0W20.

It isn't worth it to take your car for service to a dealer whose service manager hasn't yet read the book on the 2010 Prius.

 

In all honestly, I don't know. There's one 2010 on their lot that's already been sold but is apparently waiting on loan paperwork, and I've seen maybe ten previous years' models here in town in the last month or two (i.e. since I've been looking at cars), which seems kind of high considering I only drive on one side of town, and the population is only about 85,000. Haven't noticed any in Omaha, but to tell the truth, I wasn't really looking.

edit: I guess it's possible that they haven't done any oil changes on 2010s yet (they came out in May/June?), but I'm not sure I want to give them that much of the benefit of the doubt.

Here's a weird fact, though. The dealer in a town called Carroll, IA (pop. ~11,000) has four 2010's in stock, and eight more showing "available".

Yeah, that's the first thing that crossed my mind. I was literally dumbstruck when I heard they used 5W30. Although, maybe that was ok for 2009s? What was the oil spec for the previous years' models?

 

+1 on Dave Ramsey! What a guy.

 

I believe the recommended oil was 5W30 for the 2009.


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