Cost of Oil Change

DIY ... someone had to say it

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Ill excuse this hilariously stupid comment because you're in the wrong forum and don't have a Gen III prius, thus you would have no knowledge that this oil change DIY is extremely difficult because of the cartridge and requires buying a special wrench from the dealer.

As for $6+/quart for synthetic 0W-20, i doubt they are using Toyota synthetic oil. The MSRP Part Price for the Toyota 0W-20 is only $4.77/quart, either that or the service department is seriously inflating the price.

 

My dealer uses a version of Castrol. On the spm (2006) oil changes are$ 45 and that stuff is$ 5.99

 

Was at dealership two weeks ago. Coming up on 15,000 mile service and asked for prices. Synthetic change, tire rotation and inspection comes to $89.95, so I'll be changing my own oil. FWIW, the dealer parts guy says Toyota synthetic is actually Mobil 1. My cost $6.72/qt. which is same as Walmart here.

 

Dealer parts guy is full of crap. NOBODY knows what the toyota branded synthetic actually is. like all OEM parts, the maker can change from here and there.

Just buy the Toyota synthetic yourself from the parts. It should be around $4.77/quart. Filter should be $5.50. These are OEM prices.

 

can you link something about this, because i just read several threads and found nothing negative about the valvoline oils.

just called my dealer; they use the valvoline 0w20 for the prius oil changes. $41. i'm gonna have it done because i like to get the first oil out of there a little sooner. they won't let me use my maintenance coupons except at the specific miles indicated on the coupon, so i'll have to pay for this one.

 

Incredibly the special filter wrench at my Toyota dealer was the cheapest of the 3 between oil, oil filter. I tried a plastic one from Kragen and it does NOT work and actually cost more at Kragen for the plastic POS than the metal one from the dealer that did work. But after receiving coupons for oil change it is actually a bit cheaper to let the dealer do it and they usually wash the car too.

 

This might be old information, i'm not sure. I was on the maxima boards for quite some time, and everyone i talked to discouraged Valvoline on the basis it thinned out too quickly after 3k miles, and there were numerous BITOG citations. Maybe the chemistry is changed now, where it is improved, like Castrol's new synthetic oil is actually worth paying for, and how Mobil 1 has dropped in quality.

EDIT: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1970588

Apparently its common knowledge on BITOG that Valvoline always comes back with lower "TBN" numbers than competing brands.

 

well i just got my first change. total cost was $59. I got the toyota 0w20 full synthetic and a new filter cartridge. They originally told me $41 but that was for the valvoline and they said that was a synthetic blend. i didn't want a blend, so i opted for the toyota oil. At first they told me it would be nearly $100. I flipped out a little and asked them how the hell a 4.5 quart oil change can cost that much. So they go back to parts and discover that the oil is $6.66 per quart; much cheaper than they thought apparently. I swear you have to watch these guys all the time. Good news is that the customer service went well after that, and they showed me how to change the filter. i will not be paying for the next couple since i have the maintenance plan, but i have just always wanted to get the factory oil out sooner.

 

p.s. here's the oil bottle. i really like that 1988 copyright date at the bottom.

 

^ha, a little concerning!

At what mileage did you have it changed? I had my first done around 1700 miles. I'm halfway considering having the second done at 5000 and then switch to every 12 months/7500 miles.

 

i'm at about 3200. meant to do it sooner but couldn't get to it. fwiw, the oil seemed pretty clean. so it could have been a waste, but it's worth it to me to make sure there wasn't something terrible floating around in there.

 

Concurred. I'm also considering having the transaxle fluid changed at 5000. I've owned 2 Acuras where that was the first major component to break.