Oil Change and Other Maintenance for my Prius

The first time I went for an oil change in my 2010, I went to a Walmart service shop. I was away on a long trip and thought I would get it done before heading home. The service writer assured me they could do it. About 20 minutes later, they called me on the loudspeaker to tell me they had never seen a trap door like on the Prius before, and they didn't think they had the right tools to do it. So they declined. I guess I had to respect them for that.

But this was back in 2010 when the car first came out. Now I would expect even Walmart technicians have done this before. I also found that my Toyota dealer charged $5.00 more that I was going to be charged at Walmart, and at least you know they aren't going to mess up the trap door, and they will have the right filter in stock. My dealer is also ontop of the fact that they are supposed to use 0w20, and not overfill.

 

The Prius oil change is done exactly like on any other car. Nothing special. Any place that can do an oil change can do it. 3.7L of 5W30 and a standard filter and you are good to go.

Other things you need to have done on your '07 Prius:

- Transaxle fluid drain-and-refill. Here at Priuschat, experienced owners of the second-generation Prius recommend changing the transaxle fluid at 30,000 miles, then at 60,000 mile intervals afterwards to ensure transaxle longevity.

- If your '07 is still using its original 12V starter battery, it might soon need replacing.

- clean the air filters in the engine and cabin.

- make sure the hybrid battery blower fan and duct are not clogged.

Hope this helps.

 

cheap filter + conventional oil = 5000-6000 miles of protection

hi-capacity filter (bosch, mobil m1-103) + full synthetic = 12500-14000 miles of protection, more with mobil extended performance.

all you need to do yourself is ramps, 14mm wrench, drain pan, latex gloves, oil & filter.

many people here claim shops and even dealerships overfill, if that is a possible problem ask them to only put in 3.5Q instead of 3.7Q and you can add the rest in a day or two.

 

I don't even use the ramps because my ramps hit the splash guards and pull the "unique" buttons out of the inner fender, plus my garage floor is painted and the ramps tend to slide causing unwanted results...I.E: high sided on a ramp! I pull the car onto a set of 2"X8" wood boards and reach in and change it...no problems. I use Mobil 1 5-30 and a Purolator Pure 1 filter.

 

Could you post a photo of the wood boards set up?

 

I am quite sure I don't have that picture on me...

I will have to take a picture of my Redneck ramps!

 

Same here Mike. Except I'm even slacker and use just a single 2.5" block of wood under the right front tire. No jacks, no stands, just stick a 7" by 2.5" by 2' lump of wood in front of the tire and drive it straight on.

It's ridiculously easy to change the oil on the Prius. Two odd inches elevation on one front wheel and you can reach under there and access both the drain plug and the filter quite easily. You really don't really need to even get under the car that much, you basically just lay on the ground in front and can pretty much reach right in there to access what you need. I actually enjoy changing the Prius's oil, it's the easiest car to service that I've ever owned.

Edit: The only problem you might run into changing the oil is if either the drain plug or filter has been overtightened by whatever clown did the job previously. That's only going to get you the first time you do it. Do the job yourself every time and that's not going to happen again.