Walmart does not carry 5 quart jugs of Mobil One in 0 X 20 oil. The only one that is near to this is 0 X 30 Oil. The 5 quarts jugs are I believe $22.00 or so while the single quarts of 0X20 are $6.27 which would be quite a savings if they were available in 5 quart jugs. So, what would be the downfall if I replaced my oil with 0X30 instead of 0X20 Mobil One. I don't believe my engine would seize or blow up or my MPG's would drop down to 20 MPG. Has anyone tried this oil in the 2010 Prius? alfon
While it probably wouldn't hurt anything or lower your MPG's to the 20's remember if you do ever have a problem which should be covered under warranty and the dealership wants to for whatever reason test your oil and they see you were not using the recommended weight oil, they could try and refuse warranty coverage and then your out a lot more money than the few bucks to get 5 separate 1 quart containers of 0w20. While I admit it is a stretch, I'm just throwing that out there. Does the manual say that 0w30 can be used temporarily or something like that if 0w20 is not available?
You need jayman or some other person to explain why, but I think one should stay with the 0W20. I emailed exxonmobil and they replied that 5 qt jugs of 0W20 are not produced at this time. I suspect once the volume increases, we will get the benefits of 5 qt size. Besides price, I like recycling with the jugs so I can just leave them at WalMart versus waiting for them to drain my container. Anyway, as I understand it, the 20W provides quicker lubrication of the nooks and crannies for all the frequent restarting of the ICE. Perhaps if you drive all freeway in warm weather, it would not be a big deal. 5W20 is a closer substitute as I understand it, but Toyota says to go back to 0W20 at the next change. Also, the 10M interval is only applicable if 0W20 is used. Someone with actual technical knowledge please chime in...
Glad you mentioned that about the 5w20, I think every walmart I have gone to has the 5w20 in the 5 quart jugs, but not the 0w20... If you must go with something because you do not want to get the 1quart 0w20, go with the 5w20 before anything else...
Why would you want to go with an oil that will enable your Prius to get worse gas mileage (somewhere in the 0.5%-3% range) than it otherwise would with the specified grade? There are some reasons that one might go to a thicker grade, but they mostly involve extended high speed driving in hot weather. We pump up our tires to get less rolling resistance, choose low rolling resistance tires in the first place, drive with care if not hypermile, and have a car that is capable of fantastic gas mileage. Why operate with a handicap if you don't have to? Go with 0W-20. As far has hurting something, no it won't. Someone from Europe can confirm, same engine there has other grades besides 0W-20 OK'ed, IIRC. As high as 40 weight I seem to remember. Rumple
Don't ask us, officially write Toyota and get a determination from them. Then keep that in case you ever need it. I plan to do this with my Kia van as the dealer is telling me I need to do the 3K instead of 5K OCI because of conditions and don't think that is true.
Jayman from Winnipeg is probably most qualified to answer your question about the effect of that oil on your car. I think he sold his Prius but he still logs on here from time to time, why not send him a PM and ask him? If you check your owners manual on page 560, last sentence, it does mention the use of higher viscosity oils under some conditions but I'm not sure what they mean by that. As to the warranty in the unlikely event that you had an engine problem and Toyota tried to blame it on the use of 0W30 oil the burden of proof would be on them. IMHO it would be very hard for them to prove but it could be a big hassle for you, they have buildings full of lawyers on the pay roll and I bet you don't. I seriously considered using 0W30 in the summer because I thought it might offer better protection in hot weather. I have decided to just stick with 0W20 all year around, same as almost everyone else.
I have used Mobil1 0W-30W Fuel Economy Oil for all of my changes since the first at 3500 miles. I have 22,500 now and have averaged a lifetime 52.12 MPG. Mobil does recommend this viscosity on their website for my '08 Prius.
Don't be cheap. Spend a little extra on the quart bottles for your brand new car and then you don't have to worry about questions that may arise. As I have said before to others, I suspect that Mobil will start producing the jugs of 0W-20 in the near future as more and more Toyota vehicles are starting to state this is the required oil. Maybe by your next oil change you can find it in a jug. ksstathead - thanks for confirming that 0W-20 is not available in jugs, per the mfr. I new I had seen that before on here, but couldn't find it when others had questioned this a week or so ago.
0W-30 will have higher hot viscosity than 0W-20. I use 0W-30 in my 2007 Prius because it meets all requirements of 5W-30 and it is the same price in the 5 qt jugs. I do not have the owners manual for 2010, but if it were my car, at least during the powertrain warranty period, I would read the section to determine what viscosity grade(s) are acceptable. I believe that either 0W-20 or 5W-20 are acceptable for the 2010, but again, I don't have the manual. I am not saying that other viscosity grades won't work; but IMO you should follow the manual for warranty purposes.
Here's what the Owner's Manual says: "Engine oil selection “Toyota Genuine Motor Oil” is used in your Toyota vehicle. Use Toyota approved “Toyota Genuine Motor Oil” or equivalent to satisfy the following grade and viscosity. Oil grade: ILSAC multigrade engine oil Recommended viscosity: SAE 0W-20 SAE 0W-20 is the best choice for good fuel economy and good starting in cold weather. If SAE 0W-20 is not available, SAE 5W-20 may be used. However, it must be replaced with SAE 0W-20 at the next oil change. The 0W portion of the oil viscosity rating indicates the characteristic of the oil which allows cold startability. Oils with a lower value before the W allow for easier starting of the engine in cold weather. The 20 in 0W-20 indicates the oil viscosity when the oil is at its operating temperature. An oil with a higher viscosity may be better suited if the vehicle is operated at high speeds, or under extreme load conditions. [Emphasis added.]" I conclude from all this that (1) using Mobil 1 0W-30 is OK, and (2) IMO, Toyota cannot void any part of your warranty because of your use of Mobil 1 0W-30 oil. But on the other hand, why give it anything to hang its hat on in order to save a few bucks every 10,000 miles? I'd save that for modifications that mean a lot more to you than a few bucks in savings.
Your engine's not going to explode, and Toyota isn't going to even be able to prove, let alone take legal action against you for using 0x30 oil instead of 0x20. I don't even think you'll take a very big ding in MPG---if you're able to tell any difference at all. Yeah, if you put 20x50 in this engine and run it for 50K---bad things will probably happen (eventually) but 0x30 'should' be OK for you, even in Oregon.... Having said THAT---I still wouldn't do it. The price delta between 0x20 and 0x30 every 3-5K simply isn't worth the level of worry that you've already invested in this problem (no way I'm going 10K between oil changes---I don't care what the "experts" say!) It's a $25K car...why cheap out on oil??? JMHO...
The only difference between 0W20 and 0W30 would be fuell efficincy and mostly in short trip scenario. Hwy difference would be minimal. The 0W30 would actually provide potentially better engine lubrication in high speed driving in hot climate (less oil pressure drop due to hot oil.). So basically no need to "worry" whatsoever. One more thing. People who block the grills should consider moving from 0W20 to 0W30
Alfon, I've been using Mobil 1 synthetic 5w30 since my very first oil change. Yes, it gets hot in Oklahoma. As to the loss in gas mileage (in my area) that's just not true. See my signature line and Fuelly page. All of my high mileage attempts were accomplished while using Mobil 1 5w30 oil. If I liven in a colder northern latitude, I might look at this differently but I run it 12 months of the year. I'm at 25,935 miles and have no intention of changing. You'll read a lot of "emotional" arguments about oil viscosity but not many are fact based. Do your own research and you'll fell better about your choice.
Odd how I missed this post when it was first made With my '04 Prius I switched to Mobil 1 0W-30 when I had 8,000 km on it. By 40,000 km I had switched to Mobil 1 0W-20 as a "winter" oil I do routine used oil analysis. Based on those reports, my Prius motor was just fine with 0W-20 so I used it year round until I sold my Prius last year to a taxi operator Some, such as Patrick Wong, had problems with oil consumption when they switched their GenII to 0W-20. Perhaps that was due to the motor having run most of its life on a conventional 5W-30 The new 2010's, at least in Canada or the Northern plains would be fine on 0W-20 year round. Hot climates, run a xW-30 but keep in mind that a lot of Mazda's, Ford's, and Honda's in the Southern states run 5W-20 year round with no apparent problem My FJ motor is hard on oil for some reason. It seems to give the best used oil analysis reports on the made in Germany Castrol Syntec 0W-30, the Mobil 1 European Car Formula 0W-40, and Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5W-40
