We just purchased a new 2010 Prius. In the owner's manual (page 428), it states that the engine will "consume" 1.1 quarts of oil per 600 miles. Anyone know what they are talking about?
Mine has done 37k hard taxi miles and gets an oil change every 10k miles and the level on the dipstick doesn't drop between services.
Car manufacturers set the bar low so they don't have to repair/replace as many engines under warranty. One quart per 5,000 to 10,000 miles or a lot better is more like what you should expect from a good Prius engine. What my manual actually says is In other words, as an owner of their product, they expect you to put up with that terrible level of performance if it happens, they aren't saying that it will happen.
I've never owned a vehicle that consumes a quart of oil every 1,000 miles....and I've had some real heaps. I don't think you'll have to worry much about this, but I would encourage you to keep checking your oil level at regular intervals. I'd like to say that I do this for MY vehicles on every fill-up, but I don't to be honest. If you check once a month, you'll probably detect any abnormal oil usage before it becomes problematic....but mostly I'd disregard that passage in the manual. If you burn a quart every 600 miles you won't have to check your dipstick---a quick look in the rear-view mirror, even in this car will tell you that you're burning that much oil!!! GOOD LUCK! Happy Reading. OBTW.... Welcome Aboard!!!
Just using our previous '06 Civic Hybrid for comparison: oil level would drop maybe 1/2 liter between oil changes. It's not unusual for an engine to "consume" a little oil. The amounts in the Prius Owners Manual are pretty steep though: if I had a new car consuming at that rate I'd be concerned.
If my Prius consumed oil at that rate I would wonder if the charm had worn off and the car reverted to a GM product.
Unfortunately, Toyota would tell you to piss up a rope because that level of consumption is acceptable to them. Fortunately it's also very rare. If I rebuilt an engine in my home garage it it sucked oil like that I would tear it down and fix it. Shame on Toyota. GMs limit on the 505 hp 7 liter Corvette Z06 engine is 1,000 miles/quart and that is considered a disgraceful limit by Corvette owners. Shame on Toyota.
That's not what it says. As previously noted, the manual says the maximum oil consumption amount is 1.1 qt/600 miles, and if it consumes more than that, contact Toyota. I check my oil level monthly when checking the tire pressure, and haven't had to top off the oil in 18 months (with oil changes every 6 months).
That is their position on engines used in competition driving worded so that you don't need to be in an actual competition. My GM product does have warning about frequent oil level checks when used in competition, but GMs standard for every day driving warranty claims is still 1000 miles/qt.
I noted before my last change that the dipstick was at about 1/2 qt low. That said, it's hard to say whether it started full in the first place, and the vehicle was on a slight incline At this point in time, I'd expect very minimal burn-off, especially on full synthetic on this engine.
But....it will GC,after 340,000km taxi miles,i tend to top up by a litre or a little more between 15,000km services, I think that's acceptable given it's use.
42,000 miles on our Prius, I change every 10,000 miles and refill with 4 quarts, not 4.4 quarts, as not to overfill. Oil is the best, 0w20 mobil one 100% synthetic oil. I never have to add oil between oil changes. Oil level is always within factory operating range and it appears nearly 4quarts of oil comes out when I change the oil. Oil consumption appears not to be an issue in the 2010 Prius, at least from my observations. al
If I keep it to 200k miles then I'd expect a little oil burn but so far it's still a tight engine. I also get bored with cars and it's unusual for me to keep them past two years. How's things over in Ireland in 2011? I've just gone back to work part time after 6 weeks illness (yeah over the bleeding Xmas period ) and work is dead. There is literally almost nobody about, even for January which is traditionally quiet. I really think this vat increase we've had has had a bad affect already. I filled the car up today for £43 ($67)! Yikes. When I first got the car last year it was £32 and the last time I filled it in early December 2010 it was about £39 or £40. The only good thing about the terrible petrol costs is that the roads in town are now empty between the rush hours. Dread to think how my colleagues are getting on when filling their Mondeos if I'm complaining at £43.
Hi GC, Sorry for such a late reply,sorry to hear about your bout of illness,Christmas of all times! The weather here didn't help at all,i worked through most of it but unfortunately my father-in -law passed away on 19th Dec with funeral on 22nd Dec,a real and rare Dublin character and we'll talk about him for years to come. Anyhoo,taxi biz in Dublin is brutal,worst Jan in my 9yrs in this business,they've temporarily suspended the issuing of licences except for wheelchair licences but no-one in their right mind would invest €40,000 in a wheelchair accessible taxi in an already saturated market, From the beginning of the year any cars 9yrs and over have to be replaced or the licence won't be renewed [when it falls for renewal]but you probably won't see what affect that has until Jan 2012,and then from Jan 2012 cars have to be of a certain size,the Dept of Transport and the Taxi Regulator to coin a phrase "couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery",civil servants eh!!
