Engine Oil Analysis on 2007 Prius with 82k

that's a nice report, i like their commentary. how much do they charge?

 

I change mine every 10000 miles and am at 110000miles now, the last year I have had a plugin kit (enginer) so I'm sure the engine is getting an easier life. I Always use a quality oil but have never had it analysed.

 

There's no need to be super conservative here. The engine is the most abundant major part in the salvage catalog (car-part.com). Why not just go for it? Try a 10,000 mile OCI on 0W-20?

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...sis-results-25-000-miles-between-changes.html

I have had another three oil changes at 25k mile increments. I'm now at 255k.

 

seeing that i don't keep my vehicles beyond warranty, i'm wondering if i should change the oil at all?

 

If you don't change the oil you wont have a warranty, so the point is moot.

Anyway changing the oil in the Prius would have to be about the easiest maintenance item ever. I find the filter and drain plug so easy to access compared with some other cars I've owned that I don't even need a jack or stands. I drive the left front wheel up onto a 5" piece of lumber and that's all I need.

 

the whole warranty or just the engine?

 

Only what they can legitimately (or illegitimately in some cases) blame on using too long an oil change interval.

 

so, if you have a warranty issue, do you have to produce receipts? to be honest, in 40 years of driving, i have never had a serious warranty issue, so i'm not familiar.

 

Normally not, but if it looks like an oil related problem to the dealers or manufacturer you may need them.

With a 10k interval on the Gen III, it's not much of a burden to keep them.

They can't deny a warranty claim for your lack of maintenance unless it looks like your lack of maintenance contributed to the problem...or if they just want to lie about it to weasel out of a claim. I don't think it's a common problem with new car warranties unless your lack of maintenance pretty obviously contributed to the problem.

OTOH, if you poorly maintained your car and then sold it to some unsuspecting sucker, you would be a bit of a douche bag.

 

i would never do that, i would trade it in to some unsuspecting dealer.

 

I'm sticking 8000 km (5000 mi) or 6 months. It's the Canadian interval. If it were to be revised to align with the US interval I'd still stick with it. Cheap insurance. I don't really buy the argument about conserving oil either: the car consumes many times more oil in the form of gasoline than a few liters/qt's at an oil change, and it can be recyled responsibly.

 

I'm also doing the 8 Mm interval... but I don't use synthetic either.

 

That's great info, I'm going to try this service a few times granted it will take me a few years to put appreciable miles on the car. I probably drive 8k a year max.

 

I think unless you are a fleet manager or something of that sort, that the oil analysis is a novelty and conversation piece. If you take one or two tests and then adopt a long term oil change schedule, you're only seeing a small time slice of the potential wear pattern. The tests are as much about trend as they are about absolute numbers. If you follow a recommended test schedule and don't get a fleet discount, you are spending as much or more for your conversation piece than it would cost to keep fresher oil in your car. I use Mobile 1 primarily because it is the most commonly available motor oil on the planet and with coupon discounts at Costco, costs less that the non-synthetic's at an auto parts store. I change my own oil but use OEM filters (bought cheaply by the case off EBay) for warranty validation if necessary. Personally, I don't think the tiny Toyota filters do well on small particles because my oil is darkened after 5K miles. There is no way to get an ISO fine test dust result specification for a Toyota filter without paying for it yourself but I'm guessing their filtration falls off sharply below 20 microns or so. That's another reason why I change it. When the warranty expires and I go to a better filter, I may extend the change period some but not enough to bother with the expense and logistics of oil analysis.
BTW, pushing the cheapness factor to extremes because there are salvage yard engines commonly available is illogical. Swapping a Prius engine is not a fun experience and you won't know that your supposed low miles engine is good until you've invested heavily in the swap. I've seen too many low time engines that were not stored appropriately.