I got a used 2010 Prius about 7 months ago I went to a Toyota dealer and had an oil change. Well it's time for another oil change and I want to another dealer and they told me it takes Synthetic Oil. I went home and looked at my last oil change paper work and they used "Basic" oil. Does anyone know if this damage my engine? How would I get a hold of Toyota customer service? Thanks for any help you can give me.
http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM47668U/pdf/sec_06-01.pdf Page 5 of the PDF, page 560 of the paper manual. If Synthetic is not available, you may use conventional oil ONCE. So you are fine.
I dont know what "basic" oil means. It could have been synthetic, the dealer should have known. For the Prius "basic" would mean factory/stock synthetic, one would think. I always change my own oil because I dont like to deal with dealers. They are on the short side of honest, or just incompetent/ignorant, and have proven it time after time. I am always vigilant and it drives them crazy. But I always find something wrong with what they did or told me they were going to do. Vigilance has its rewards.
How many mile were driven since the last oil change? If it was only 5K-7K, don't worry about it. Now you know. Use synthetic. If you drove like 10K, oh well, can't do anything about it now. It's the owners responsibility to know their car. No one else. Its on the oil cap and in the manual.
It is the owners ultimate responsibility, but I do have a problem IF the dealer put regular oil in. This happened to me with my 2009 toyota Corolla where the dealer gave wife 10 30 oil (should have 5 - 20). My wife knew nothing about difference of oil. I took car in for next oil change and asked specifically for 5-20 and made a comment (may have had some attitude) and they apologized. My wife took car in again for next oil change, sure enough, 10-30. I now change oil in her car.. (sorry for the rant... just a sore subject for me)..
I have my dealer do my oil changes. However, to get exactly what I want and to avoid over- or under-filling, I provide the replacement oil myself. I give them 3.8 qt of Mobil 1, 5w-30 synthetic. I buy the Mobil 1 usually at Walmart for $25 for 5 qts, I pour the oil into an empty Mobil 1 container that I marked to hold 3.8 qts, then I give that to the dealer (I get that container back to use for the next oil change). The dealer typically charges me $15-20 for the service, so the total cost to me is about $40. The dealer's regular price for a synthetic oil change is $54, presumably using some Toyota brand oil. My Gen II doesn't require synthetic, but I like getting the extra 1-2 MPG, and the thought of less engine wear.
===================================================== That's is WHY I TOOK IT TO A TOYOTA DEALER......They should know what kind of oil it used.
I am quite surprised at the number of people who have had this happen at the dealer. The car now is specified to use the 0w-20 Syn with 10k changes .......... That is what it should get. Especially since Toyota is providing the maintenance based on 10k -- Only if Syn is used. I wonder how many new Toyota models use the 0W-20 ?
I agree. I had a similar experience. Once my wife took it it and didn't specify and the next time I took it in and DID specify the 0w20. Both times the wrong oil 5w30 was marked on the bill. The dealership should KNOW. I should be able to TRUST that the dealership KNOWS how to change the oil in their own vehicles
