We had a mild spell today (48F) so I thought I would change out the oil early. The car has 2,200 miles on it. I used Honda 0W-20 oil for reasons I listed here. Going forward I will be using either Honda 0W-20 or Toyota 0W-20. The oil filter looked clean after 2,200 miles. It's more cramped under the 2010 on the ramps than my old 2007 Prius, but still straightforward. I did manage to half break one of the plastic pins - it's still functioning but next time I'm near Toyota I'll pick up some spares. My plan is to change out this oil after 2,800 miles (when the car hits 5,000 total) and put in the Toyota 0W-20 oil I bought for 10,000 mile intervals from then on. Rumple.
Is all that oil changing really necessary? By all means, do it exactly by the owners manual .. Just doesn't sound very "green" to me.
I didn't mean to sound rude. I did basically the same thing when I got my new scion. Congrats on the new car
Why not change the oil that is in there at 10k miles? It would only have 7800 miles on it, and you would be well under the 10K recommendation. Lots greener as well, and that engine will never know the difference, so why bother.
If the proud new parents of an infant change its diapers every 10 minutes, even if they are not "dirty", does that make them better parents? Will the baby be happier and grow into a better person? Live longer? -Or- would they just be wasting time, money, diapers and land fill? Enjoy your baby.
Some of you don't seem to understand that there are owners that would like to rid their car of some of the original contaminants introduced to the engine during the manufacturing and assembly process. This may take an early oil change or two. If the oil is properly recycled, what difference does it make to you? It is a very small price to pay when considering the cost of the car, and don't even get me started about impacts to the land fill. If we were worried about that, why would we be buying a new car in the first place? What do you think happens to older cars?
When my wife get a Prius, and that's what she wants, I will have a hard time not changing the oil till 10k, that will be about two years of her driving. I will continue to change oil every six months in both cars, the price of oil is not that high, Mobil 1 at wally world is $22 for a five quart container, any weight. Of course this is just my opinion and don't expect everyone to agree with me. My MB ML has lifetime transmission fluid in it and it is not recommend to change it but at 100k I did and changed the filter and gasket also and have been told I have wasted my money but I plan to keep this car for a long time and feel that I did right. Also just my opinion. I keep my cars for 200k and the cheapest maintenance for longevity is changing the fluids on a regular basis.
Isn't it even greener to maintain a car so you can keep it longer foregoing the need to have the planet incur the manufacturing hit of making a new one for a bit? While there is no peer reviewer double blind scientific tests giving evidence either way on an early new car oil change or not (i.e. you cannot say it makes no difference just as I can't say it does), there is some reason to believe that it might make a difference. For me, I want to do two quick motor oil changes before going to the 10,000 mile OCI. I will also be changing the transaxle fluid out, most likely at 15,000 miles for the same belief. Toyota has no recommend interval on this fluid. All oil goes into the recycling stream, rather than dumped into a stream which I agree is a bad idea. Some of the oil may appear as a lubricating fluid somewhere, but most likely most of it is burned for heat - still not a bad second use. Rumple
