Synthetic Oil vs. Real Oil

The oil in my Prius is real, it's just not anti-synthetic.

Semantics aside, I'm not hearing of people crying that they need synthetic to get great mileage, so I'll try to maintain a positive outlook on my synthetic and see if down the road it makes a difference...

 

Ian,

To sum up the various threads on this subject, it settles down to:

1) How long to do intend to drive your Prius? If the answer is over 100K, then synth oil is a good idea

2) How paranoid are you about the new technology in the Prius? If you are, then for a little extra insurance on the engine, use synth oil.

3) Some folks feel the technology in synth oil is a logical fit with the superior technology in the Prius.

4) And regardless if you use real or synth oil, change your oil at least per schedule. Most dealers say 3-5K miles. How you drive and where you drive can radically effect the life of engine oil. You should always dipstick your oil once a month or 1000 miles to check its' color - if it looks dirty, it generally is.

5) Changing the oil on the Prius is very easy, a lot of folks DIY.

Don

 

If you check out this thread and scroll down about 2/3rd's the way down you'll find a post I made about YC15 and the email I got back from Andrew Grant in there is a note on mileage.
http://priuschat.com/forums/2-vt7008.html?...r=asc&&start=20

 

The simple thing to do is ask yourself if it is worth the extra $10 every 5,000 miles. With the price of gas so high now, that difference is becoming rather trivial.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a\";p=\"75810)</div>

And if the synth oil saves you as little as a gallon of gas every thousand miles, the difference becomes zero.

 

Not sure why you'd change every 5k with syn. Plenty of test data to support it is fine past that.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(popsrcr\";p=\"75816)</div>

To protect the warranty.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jeepien\";p=\"75818)</div>

Yup, after no available warranty matters anymore, I'll think about Amsoil's change policy and maybe go with at least 10,000 miles between changes. Of course, I'll have to use the dipstick a little more.

http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g1490.pdf

Huh. Now it's annual changes, per page 2...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jeepien\";p=\"75818)</div>

To protect the warranty.
[/b][/quote]

How would they know? If lab test data shows that oil is fine to say, 10k, and you're DIYing changes anyway, they wouldn't know.

Frankly, I wouldn't expect problems with the gas motor anyway.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(popsrcr\";p=\"75835)</div>

Last I heard, the warranty depended more on you proving the oil WAS changed, rather than them proving it WASN'T.

Receipts for all needed oil, filters, etc. would probably be required, or (like I hope) records from the dealer or reliable oil change places...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mikepaul\";p=\"75845)</div>

Haven't read, so I don't know. Fortunatly for me, dealer is giving free oil changes for awhile. After that I'll go to Mobil and change at longer intervals.

 

You could buy all the filters oil and gaskets you'd need for changes up to 100K for extended warranties, otherwise 60K.

 

The reason I started using synthetic motor oils around 25 years ago:

1. Much improved cold flow especially -30 F or colder

2. Cleaner motor (Little to no sludge or varnish)

3. Better high temp protection, especially higher speeds and towing

4. Potential for longer oil drain intervals

5. Potential for better fuel economy.

If you only intend on keeping your car 3-5 years, don't even bother. Otherwise a synthetic 0W-30 or 0W-40 will provide cold start protection, high temp protection, and fuel economy benefits.

 

Now that I've reached 30k, can I switch to synthetic? Would it even make a difference at this point? I plan to keep my Prius forever.

 

Unless your car has been severely neglected and abused, there is nothing wrong with switching to a synthetic at 30,000 miles. If you're worried, maybe do a shorter oil change of perhaps 3,000 miles once the synthetic is in the first time, then go back to 5,000 miles.

 

Will pick up my 05 Millenium Silver Prius tomorrow after upgrade of tires to Michelin HydroEdges.

Two questions:

What is the ideal time to change over to synthetic oil...as soon as I get the vehicle, or wait until time for first oil change, or somewhere in between?

If I DIY with Mobil 1, what do you do to protect against voiding the warranty? Are auto parts store receipts for the oil and filters adequate along with your log book? How do you dispose of the dirty oil...will places like Jiffy Lube take it off your hands for a small disposal fee?

Daisy

 

the first change is the time to do it. Keep the receipts and make a log of the mileage in the back of your owners manual and pin the receipts along with it. As for the used oil look in your Yellow pages under waste oil recycling.