1st oil change at 5k or 10k?

New Yorker is the classic liberal type who knows what's best and is not afraid to scold anyone who shows a hint of not bending to his "enlightened" ways. Ironic and revealing of the mindset to say the least.

 

I think you may need to replace the word liberal with another word....

 

I think there are a myriad of other words that can be susbtituted

 

Come on, this is at least as ridiculous as anything anybody here has posted, no matter which camp you're in. What do political/social views have to do with the merits/lack thereof of changing a car's fluids early?

 

"Fluids are the life blood of the machine, and changing them insures longer life, and protects the investment."
Completely agree. As to how frequently is the root of the debate. I waited to purchase of a Prius for several reasons; one of the most prevalent reasons being the fact that the ICE is stopped/started many more times than a typical internal combustion-powered vehicle. This starting/stopping/starting cycle is where most internal combustion power plants suffer the most significant wear. Cold starts are of course the worst part of that cycle. But it remains a fact that just like a filament light bulb, most of the wear comes from the on/off frequency cycle. It is apparent that the Prius ICE has proven to be plenty durable given the outstanding long-term reliability database results.

 

But the Prius engine never experiences cold starts. It's spun up to 1000 rpm by MG2 without fuel before igniting.

 

It's just the snarky attitude and the experience I've had of late with those of the more extreme persuasion (the whole "I know what's best and you should follow my advice if you want your Prius to last 300,000 miles" routine)...I realize it's not 100% applicable to everyone who leans one political way or another. I'm partly basing my assessment on some of the other posts/threads I've seen from him (where he wore his politics on his sleeve). I apologize for bringing it up in my moment of frustration.

 

Is there a pre-heater in the cold start of the engine? As for oil circulation, does the ICE have a dry sump or conventional oil pan and pump?

 

Not sure what you mean by a pre-heater, but there's no starter motor so it's spun to 1,000 rpm by the battery and would be "pre-heated" before fuel and spark are added.

No idea about the others.

 

Not sure what you mean by "pre heater" unless the somewhat wimpy optional block heater. The optional block heater is NOT the old fashioned kind that is put into a freeze plug to directly heat the coolant

There is a machined hole into the aluminum block. The heater is shaped like a rod and is rated 400 watts. It is smeared with a thermally conductive grease, and stuck into the machined hole, a clip secures it to the block

 

Just a comment - to be honest, I would think that Toyota would have more motivation instead to tell you APPROPRIATE maintenance schedules, because like other car manufacturers, the reputation of their cars, i.e. how long they last is more important in the long run. Sales in the short-run will not make up for the long-term consequences of a bad reputation. GM and Ford now understand this. So I disagree with your statement - I think Toyota is actually telling us what maintenance schedules are appropriate & within reason - no conspiracy here.

 

Do you have a blood transfusion every 6 months as well ?

 

The term "liberal" is a debate...but I agree with this assessment 100%. My issue is not with this particular poster's viewpoints, its the fact that he shoves them down everybody's throats and ridecules everyone who even begins to disagree with him. Liberals do this, as do Conservatives but I would agree that the sort of "intellectual arrogance" is more prevolent among the fanatical liberals I've met than the fanatical conservatives.

I also agree with 32k that, if anything, the Prius is easier on engine oil than a conventional car by its very nature and design.

 

Although some have reported odd fuel dilution results with used oil analysis, I have never experienced that

My '04 Prius was WAY easier on oil than my '07 FJ.

If the start/stop cycle was so bad for the Prius, all those Prius taxis running around Winnipeg should have been blowing blow smoke by now.

 

And that I take it was supposed to be a 'Wise Crack' ? Sorry, No Cigar ! Clearly you understand the way the human body works, about as poorly as the car you own.

Engines need the oil removed. God made the human anatomy without any need for replacement parts and fluid changes. If you excrete waste as the human body does, it removes its unwanted by products. Humans do this with perspiration, urination, and defecation. Has your Prius shown any signs of Constipation ? DON'T Give it any Ex-lax, just trust me on this one. You let me know when your Prius begins doing those things and we can discuss this in greater detail.

 

People ! For the Love of God change the friggin oil ! It's not even 5 lousy Quarts and the best filter is what ? $ 15 Bucks ? ? ? How much did the New Prius Cost ? And you're gonna risk damage to save what, a few hundred bucks over the first few years ? How Cheap does that make you ? Look how much the car saves you on Gas already. You can Afford to take better care of it. Don't be so chintzy, Dig a Little out of the ol'matress.

 

There is a difference between cheap and wastefull. I will not waste 5 quarts every 10k. Say my car lasts 200,000 miles i will save at least 50 quarts times that by? how many people have cars, lets just say 500,000 million, we will all save about 25,000,000 quarts of oil. Unless maybe we see proof that following Toyota will damage our cars. But i only have seen proof showing that 10k oil changes are fine.

 

Sorry, but you're wrong! No risk in following manufacture's OCI recommendations. Worse is wasting our precious resources that this country seems to like to go to war over...

 

Wet sump. See this picture from the Gen II 1.5L engine. (Credit to hobbit, seen on this post by Mike Dimmick).

 

Sorry to dismay some illusions here but there is no such thing in the real world as "no risk".

The question should rather be what is the risk of engine breakdown when following Toyota's maintenance guidelines and what is the risk mitigation (if any) that comes from changing oil earlier.

Debating is fun but I ask both sides to provide some factual evidence to back their claim. Then we could debate on data instead of debating on debates.

Having gone through the myriad of threads on oil change frequency, I haven't seen some definitive conclusion brought up yet (backed up with some experimental data/science). Even on the issue of the first oil change.

Personal experience is good but its value is pretty limited. Unless you are a fleet manager or such, this experience is limited to very few vehicles.

Europe have a different oil change schedule but what I learned from here was that their norms of quality are way higher than in North America.

Anyone?