Oil changes.

You're right about the highway mileage; the dealer is assuming stop-and-go driving. Highway miles are easier on the engine due to stable temperatures, plenty of time to boil off acids, and stable speeds.

But unless you're willing to pay for oil analysis, just change it every 5000 miles.

There are two advantages to sticking with the 5000 interval. First, the price for the oil analysis will eat up some or all of the savings of longer change intervals. Second, if something goes wrong with the engine, you won't have to argue with Toyota about the extended interval. That alone should be reason enough to use the recommended change interval.

 

Toyota's specification for oil changes in your car is 5k miles. Most owners prefer to stay on that schedule for at least the first 36k, to avoid (remotely) possible warranty issues.

There are several synthetic oils that are well capable of longer service in Prius, and you may wish to consider those later. Longer intervals mean less waste oil generated, which is consistent with environmental goals of many Prius owners.

I am always hoping that more people will also get used oil analyses, whatever oil and intervals they chose. You stand to learn a lot about your car, and the group will be able to see overall patterns.

3k mile intervals on Prius seem mainly aimed at shop profits.

 

It depends if your using Synthetic or Conventional oil. I would change it more often every 3000 if I was using conventional oil but I usually change my oil every 5000 miles and I use the full synthetic Mobil 1 oil. I have been using mobil 1 on all my cars as well as change out the oil at every 5000 miles doesn't matter if its highway or city driving. I think its one of the least expensive maintenances that you can do for your car.

Wayne

 

The European Prius manual says we need an oil change every 15000 km, that's over 9000 miles. I suspect, but cannot prove, that the only reason the US manual says 5000 miles is because of the 3000 mile oil change myth in the US, nobody would take a 9000 miles oil change seriously. We don't have frequent oil changes or oil analysis as part of our auto culture here and our cars seem quite happy.

 

As usual, people like to stereotype. American drivers abuse oil changes surely more than any other nationality. My ex-wife didn't change her Camry oil for 90K mi. often there was no oil showing on the stick and she drove hard. Relatives would add oil when visiting. Who cares what kind. The 86 Camry never skipped a beat. She was unconcerned of such a need in a car. You shouldn't drive if the red oil light is on is the only car knowledge she followed. Maybe you should still drive it anyway. It only got changed at 90K because I did it. So that theory is likely untrue. In America there are many types of oil changer cultures. On this forum, there are engineering types and car types.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lowlander @ May 3 2007, 03:02 PM) [snapback]434906[/snapback]</div>

Interesting... over 9,000 miles for a Prius in Europe. Is the interval the same for non-hybrid Toyotas? I wonder because in a regular car the ICE would've been on all the time during the 5000 miles, but in the Prius it may have been off 20 % of those miles.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lowlander @ May 3 2007, 12:02 PM) [snapback]434906[/snapback]</div>

The reason is the lower quality of the commonly used motor oils in the United States. There has been quite a bit of discussion of this subject in the past. Jayman is the resident expert.

 

powertrain warranty wouldn't cover oil-related engine trouble if you chose not to change at the specified 5k interval. i know of a number of people who plan to go to 10k after the 5 yr/60k powertrain warranty expires.

 

And on the other end of the spectrum, there are folks like me who don't even get close to 10k miles in a year. Or 5k for that matter. And I use Mobil1. So what I do- which I've done for all my recent gasoline cars - is to change the oil once/year regardless of miles. I know that the time limit is much shorter than that, but I'm a risk-taker.

 

I actually got a package when I bought my Prius that would give me 4 oil changes a year for as long as I have it. I don't know if it is Toyota sponsored or just to my dealership. But, it was like $400, so it would pay for itself in 2-2½ years (the oil changes that is). So I'm getting mine every 3 months no matter what. Plus they wash my car, which saves me from having to do it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jamarimutt @ May 4 2007, 12:51 AM) [snapback]435076[/snapback]</div>

It's the same for all Toyotas as far as I can see (checked the RAV4, Corolla, Avensis, Hilux) and other brands as well. Some cars (VW, Audi) now have computers that measure the wear and tear on the engine (number of cold starts, driving style). The computer will tell you when an oil change is due if you use their special long life oil. You can get 30000 km / 18000+ miles between changes with a gasoline engine then, or 45000 km / 27000+ miles for a diesel.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ May 4 2007, 01:23 AM) [snapback]435088[/snapback]</div>

I'd be interested to know what the quality differences are and why they're there. EU regulations perhaps? Any pointers?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mr.Vanvandenburg @ May 4 2007, 12:46 AM) [snapback]435071[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lowlander @ May 3 2007, 09:40 PM) [snapback]435296[/snapback]</div>

Take a look at Jayman's posts on the following threads:

Synthetic Oil

Safe to change to Synthetic?

Synthetic Oil vs. Real Oil

When to do 1st oil change?

First oil change

Call me silly, but I am NOT waiting on 5,000 miles

Oil change every 5k miles or 3 months?

Months or miles?

Traditional oil vs. synthetic.. any opinions?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ May 4 2007, 06:01 PM) [snapback]435449[/snapback]</div>

Thanks. Seems there are major quality differences. What I haven't found is why these exist. There must be some economical or political force at work here that makes it worthwhile for the industry to have it this way.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lowlander @ May 4 2007, 01:40 PM) [snapback]435656[/snapback]</div>

I am not going to reread all of Jay's posts, but I seem to recall that the European standards are set by the auto makers and the American standards by the oil industry. I guess it is all about greed by those who have everything to gain by selling a product that is cheaper to manufacture and selling it more often.

The oil I use, Mobil 1, does meet the European standards. However, it is four to five times as expensive as conventional motor oil.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lowlander @ May 3 2007, 01:02 PM) [snapback]434906[/snapback]</div>

My A4 Audi had a 10,000 mile interval, or once a year. I didn't feel to safe with that especially on a turbo charged engine, so I just went with a 5000 mile interval. and I will do the same with the Prius.

Just did its first oil change this week at 4500 miles and made the switch to Mobil1.

 

Thanks to this thread I'll start changing the oil every 6,000 miles.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ May 5 2007, 06:29 AM) [snapback]435877[/snapback]</div>

That makes sense, in a perversive kind of way. With the oil price this high, now is the time to invest in better products. Like the with Mobil oil, they could charge more for the convenience of (much) longer intervals. Imagine the savings in oil directly, but also fuel saved for transporting all this oil, packaging etc. Fleet owners really like the longer service intervals here, that's probably what prompted VW/Audi to do it. In the beginning, the long life VW oil was hard to find outside a dealer, but not anymore.

 

Oil changes are cheap, change it every 5k miles.

I drive 2k a month and I change mine every 5k, and thats even with Lexus charging me $150 to do it and rotate the tires.