Changed Oil @ 6 Months Again

Where did you get that $9 Pennzoil Platinum? That's a terrific price. I just got two 5-qt jags last month from Walmart while they are on sale for $23.96/jag. Even with Pennzoil's $25 rebate, it is still about $11.50/jag before tax.

I had been following the Owners Manual with 10k-mile / 12-month OCI on both my Prius and Prius-C. However, my Prius started burning oil so I changed the OCI to 5k miles about 2 years ago. My Prius-C has been parked in garage for over 2 years, and I have not changed its oil since then.

Has anyone noticed Prius-C burn oil like Gen 3 Prius?

 

I’m in the same boat, very low miles, around 3k kms yearly. Toyota Canada tells me to change oil (2010 3rd gen) every 8k kms or 6 months, whichever comes first. I abide by that, gives me something to do.

Your tactic of leaving the oil filter till the next change is what Honda Canada (and likely the States too) recommends, fwiw. I did exactly that with our last Honda, poured out and reinstalled filter one time, replaced the next.

 

Honda US "officially" suggests the every other filter change which is coded in their Maintenance Minder system on the car. They are also good with synthetic blend oil so you have to ask what they are doing each time if you want synthetic and a new filter.

 

You need to give it a good thrash on an open road trip. The oil consumption will generally go away.
When I purchased my 2016 Aqua it came with a free oil/filter change [being free ,they put the cheapest crap available in it]

I thrashed it for 5000 kms [3000 miles] then gave it an oil change. I was planning a full sightseeing road trip around our country

I used cheap NAPA 5W30 full synthetic and a "Synthetic" oil filter [note: a Synthetic oil filter is not for synthetic oil, but has a synthetic fiber media in it]
After 12000 kms [7200 miles] the oil is still at the top of the dipstick mark, and clear like sewing machine oil.

Incidentally a synthetic oil filter is 2 x the cost of a normal filter but gets twice the mileage [so there is zero gains financially] BUT I am generally lazy.
I prefer the "forget it" approach [I own the car, not the car owns me] My biggest concern is theft, not reliability.

 

@Kerrynzl Did your 2016 Aqua burn oil before you thrashed it? I didn't notice any oil burning on my 2012 Prius-C when I parked it in garage 2 and half years ago at 110k miles. However, my 2012 Prius started burning oil at 110k miles 2 years ago.

My point is if Prius-C is prone to oil burning like a 2010-2014 Prius, then short OCI maybe is a good idea, otherwise it is not necessary to change oil more frequently, although shorter OCI never hurts.

 

Not really !
My main concern is the Aqua was an Ex-Japan commuter car that probably never saw any open road driving until it came to NZ.
So a good thrashing and an oil dump is what it got.

My buying motive was not MPG but reliability [I have enough "high maintenance mistresses" parked in my garage]
My wife wanted Auto but the only alternatives were those awful belt drive CVT's.

The Prius is the "Taxi of choice" in NZ but I didn't want a car that everybody associates with a Taxi [so the Aqua/C won this decision]
My only complaint is the lack of Transponder Key making it the "car of choice for thieves" in NZ.

Don't be afraid to drive these cars hard, they love it.
I race cars [road racing] and have developed the skills of being a "momentum driver" which means I don't scrub off speed on corners etc.

On the first day I purchased the car , I drove it fast for 211 kms [127 miles] with the A/C on all the way because it had wet carpets from grooming
When I got home it only took 6.51 liters to refuel [1.67 US Gals]
So I managed 75 mpg [US Gal] first time out.

If you labor any car it will consume oil