So is Prius known to consume oil? And by consume I mean enough that would prompt adding 1qt or more b/w changes.
Yeah there are a few heavy-drinkers. 3rd gen 2010 through 2013 have one set of pistons and rings. 2014 revised pistons, apparently with aim to reduce oil consumption. In 2015, apparently with same aim, the rings were also revised. 4th gen, so far so good, knock-on-wood? Still, you should be checking oil at least every 2~3 weeks. The only warning the car will give is low oil pressure, which is usually when you're nearly dry.
Funny thing: I went to a "new owners night" at our Toyota dealership, and the service manager said more or less the same thing, that their aim was to ensure you never need to check under the hood.
Even the brands that put plastic shrouds over everything in the engine bay leave the oil dipstick exposed and a bright color.
Interesting, I didn't see that "one quart per 600 mile disclaimer" in the 2017 Prius Owner's Manual. Maybe they finally got embarrassed by it? Searching for "oil consumption" just finds the text posted by @fuzzy1, above. Anyway, this is from 2010 manual:
That same 2010 text is in my 2012 manual too, and is little changed from what I've seen in owner's manuals going back more than four decades across five car brand (U.S. and Japanese labels, not German). Compared to those, my 2014 Forester cut the allowed oil consumption in half, still high enough to require checks between maintenance intervals. And that vintage has also turned out to be an oil burner. So I was a bit surprised to see similar detail missing from the 2020 Prime manual.
There are a few. Common sense is one, protecting your $25K+ investment. There is an old saying that you get what you inspect, not what you expect. It’s your car, so you can do with it what you choose. A simple check of the car periodically, including under the hood, can detect many small problems before they become big (and expensive) problems.
Have you? BMW reportedly bringing back oil dipsticks BMW M850i will bring back the dipstick: UPDATED BMW Potentially returning to actual dipsticks Apparently the original demise at BMW and certain other luxury European brands was because their drivers weren't using them! Technology Alert: The dipstick's demise is blamed on dilatory drivers
On the subject of deleted stuff: I would love to see in-dash display of engine coolant temp, on the Prius. We're pretty much completely off-topic, and who cares, lol.
Pretty much all current BMW turbo engines eat oil at VW level, i.e.adding few qt. between changes is norm. They even sell a nice qt. pouch to carry a bottle in your trunk. They also have oil level sensor/warning feature for lazy owners. As a matter of fact, I just got such warning in my M3 this evening (and yes it doesn't have dipstick). Having said all that, I'm still yet to hear a real life story/reason that prompted to open the Prime hood b/w oil changes, religious beliefs and manual legal disclaimers aside.
