I just spent 45 minutes at Walmart, looking at all the various kinds of "earl." I was bored today! In the end, I walked out with a jug of Mobil 1 0W-20 "Advanced Fuel Economy." (On sale for $22.) I will try it this one time, but I'll bet you a large Pizza that the mpg doesn't improve one bit. And the darn dealer better give me a discount for supplying my own oil. And of course they will spill some while filling it. Those guys don't like lifting those large jugs. I should just let them put in their Toyota brand bulk oil. Nothing wrong with that. (Can't believe I drove 5,000 miles already. In less than 4 months?)
Hmm. Anyone want to take him up on this bet? I love pizza, but I think I’m destined to lose unless we swap horses so to speak....
Pizza prices are high compared to churro prices. Since @Starship16 only has the “one bit” claim, I’ll throw down a churro that it’ll get 0.1 mpg or more better. I’ll be down to Mickeys Funland the week after Thanksgiving to collect.
I suspect it's the same oil as in the regular 0W-20 jug. They just put a fancier name on it. But the price was the same, so I'll try it. (My current 55 mpg is not enough!!)
Pretty sure your only 0w-20 choices are the advanced fuel economy or Extended performance . Unless you clubb up on the weight then there are alternate options . We got bored today too and went to Bodega Bay: You can hear the seals pretty good.
Don’t forget to download the Disney app for ride wait times, and feel free to make reservations ASAP for dining on it. Those Fast Passes are mighty helpful! Can get two right across from each other if you go to Buzz Light Year and Star Tours, no wait. Churro at Disney is $$$. Just had one at Sam’s Club the other day with a pizza slice combo, only $1, less than $5 for the meal, but didn’t taste quite as good!
We’ve been doing this trip for 5 years now and stay at a Disney resort hotel. We’re one with the app. This year the inlaws are coming, so we’re staying at the Grand Californian. Churros are a bit pricey there, but te wife has said the prices haven’t increased much in 30 years when compared to other things at the park. We usually pair this trip with a family visit to those in Palm Desert. Better in November to see them than in the summer.
When I take my own oil to the dealer I take 1 qt. out of the 5 gal jug. That way they can't overfill. I use part of that qt. to top it up myself...and they do give me a discount for bringing my own.
The dealers out here in California are kind of weird. They act like they're doing me a favor by giving me a five dollar discount. I think the most I ever got was $15 off. If that's the case, I will no longer buy my own, and just let them put in the Toyota brand oil. That's fine. And some dealers actually use Pennzoil or Mobil 1. I'm trying a new dealer for this next change, see how they are. I'm going to change it twice a year. I do a million little short trips, lots of stop & go, lots of hot weather, lots of AC running. And it's very dusty and dirty here. I swap out the dirty air filter every 12 months -- put in a clean one. Also the cabin filter. I'm pretty picky about that.
GFO has some really great feedback. I might also throw in that it is more costly to mix than to just stick to one type. Changing every 5k will pretty much keep any oil on the fresher side.
Well......THAT shows a much higher degree of savvy than your original question !! Did you know that there are about 8 different "varieties" of Excedrin ?? They all contain exactly the same ingredients, just a different box and maybe a different color and shape.
[QUOTEDid you know that there are about 8 different "varieties" of Excedrin ?? They all contain exactly the same ingredients, just a different box and maybe a different color and shape.[/QUOTE] That's a good description of all the women I dated! My Disneyland Car is now running with 0W-30 Mobil 1. From the desert to the sea, and to all of Southern California... a good evening.
There are a lot discussions over at bobistheoilguy.com about mixing oil. The general consensus: 1. It's better to not mix oils. The main reason is due to the different additive packs in different oils. The oils are designed to achieve certain levels of corrosion resistance, wear resistance, viscosity, etc. The different additives in the different oils could react with each other in a way where these factors are affected. Mostly I would expect problems when mixing very different oils, eg. 0W-20 ILSAC oil with 20W-60 racing oil. 2. #1 being said, used oil tests of mixed oil on those forums haven't shown any worse readings for contaminates, wear, TBN, etc. So I would try to not mix oils for oil changes, but if you have a quart or two left of a different branded oil, I would have no worries about mixing it for a single oil change.
I noticed your Starbucks oil rag, wondered if coffee oil might be the ultimate additive? Just a few drops per oil change to inspire bright engine performance especially in the morning? iPhone ?
For what it's worth, the AFE oils typically have a lower HTHS and are made to sheer under stress like in a journal bearing and ring pack. I don't know if the Toyota oil is marketed as an AFE oil but it has all of the qualities of one. Pretty unlikely there will be a measurable difference but it's always fun to experiment. I've done enough experimenting in this car, I think my days of mixing oil viscosities are over. I have a nice 3.3 HTHS that also flows well in the cold since this change will likely take me through January. Then I think I will go with 5w30 in the same brand from now until the junkyard or until my commute changes to something reasonable which is unlikely anytime soon. Then again, just to feed the obsession I'll probably do 5w30 with a quart of 0w20 in the winter and 5w30 with a quart of 0w40 in the summer. On another note, I almost mixed ATFs (of the same brand) when doing the transmission to get an overall thinner viscosity that's close to OEM but I'm glad I didn't. I had never driven a Prius before this one and had no idea how much quieter mine would get once I changed the fluid to RL D4 which is a Dex III equivalent but with a nice base oil and add pack. Even my wife who couldn't care less about cars and the noises they make noticed on her own how the various whines that I assumed were normal had all but disappeared. I don't know if it's the thicker oil, the better oil, or the fact that the OEM stuff was so incredibly black and just horrible and under filled that it made the difference. It's doubtful it was the viscosity because it was noisy even when cold. If only there was a dipstick (besides myself) so I could have known to change it sooner. Due to this, I just changed the coolant mix to a 30% Toyota antifreeze, 70% distilled water to help with cooling of the inverter and trans even though I have no proof it was caused by getting hot.
when did you change the ATF? I'm surprised you heard gear whining in a prius. are you sure you are not talking inverter whine? although I do admit that the 2 Toyota i had with 100,000+ miles did have some gear whine (yaris and corolla), i hear none in my prius, also with 100,000+
