Prius C oil

Toyota thinks 0w20 synthetic is ideal. If you do not use 0w20, they want you to change it twice as often.
https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/omms-s/T-MMS-13PriusC/pdf/2013_Toyota_Prius%20c_WMG_lr.pdf
as an example, page 41, and just about every other page after 41

 

I am much more concerned about your driving conditions and future goals with this vehicle than with FLA weather.

Toyota recommends TGMO 0W20 in Lexus 4 cylinder Turbos driven in Death Valley.

Are you going to keep this vehicle for a long time ?

I envy you that there are no smog laws in Florida !

Nonetheless I recommend Mobil 1 Annual Performance 5w20 and Mobil 1 Extended Peformance oil filter. This oil is actually thinner than most 0W20 motor oils (I scrutinized the numbers.) You can leave it in there for one year with confidence. You won't have to check your oil level every time you fill up.

 

It's not going to matter if it's in Death Valley, or Duluth Minnesota.....once it reaches proper operating temperature (probably around 200-degrees) you're engine is going to be running happily at the same basic operating temperature no matter where you drive it.
Actually?
Up to about 200 degrees......and climate change isn't quite that bad yet.....the warmer the better!

Usually when you drive cars in barely habitable far northern climates..............like most places north of I-20, then people start using these weird devices like block heaters, and radiator blocking covers to actually help keep the engine operating warm enough to be in the normal range.
Blocking radiators in fact, used to be a thing for Priuses that were not driving in the far off frozen North........but that's a different story.
Most of the "arrow graphs" that the OEMs put into their owner's manuals recommend several viscosities based on minimum expected operating temps.......not maximum.
If it were advantageous for engines to operate at a lower temp, then they would have thermostats that opened at a lower temperature.....like they used to use back in the day.

Bottom Line.....
Use a good quality oil in the viscosity range (there is more than one "right" oil) recommended by the mother ship......if you want to use 5w20, I do not think it will matter either way..........good or bad.

It's MUCH MORE important to do something that very very few people ever bother to do if you want your car to last.........
Yank your hood open and check the oil level periodically.

The manual says 1000 miles or once a month.
Even if you doubled those intervals, you'd be taking better care of your car than most of the people out there.....even people who like to give advice on which kind of oil that you should use.....


Good Luck!

 

G'day,

I've got to agree with ETC(SS).
Do your own 'regular' dipstick check, maybe once a month (or until you get bored with it, as in my case ) and I suppose before and after a long trip as part of the usual few basic checks.
Use a Toyota recommended oil if you want to do your own change.

I've had Toyotas for the last twenty odd years or so and never had an oil problem. I really am surprised at all these PriusChat posts about 'oil problems', real or potential, for Priuses in the US - is it something to do with the historic standard of car-build quality there (or driving conditions)?

Admittedly my various Toyotas were regularly serviced by the dealer every six months which included an oil change. But when I (rarely) checked the oil level, it was always near F (full) and never much darker than new. I began to think these frequent oil changes were for the dealer's benefit, not mine. Maybe, the older you get, the more relaxed you drive, so oil-burning may be a sign of poor driving as well as the more certain poor car-building/engineering.

On that score........my first British-built car (and last British-built car!) from forty years ago was the "perfect" example - leaked oil and the oil that didn't leak went dark very quickly.

I expect the Prius ICE, being less used and less stressed than in a mono-engined vehicle, should be even less troubled by oil issues.

David S.

 

Ok. LOL. I made a very specific and well researched comment about motor oil selection, derived from over 2 million miles of driving, including 160,000 miles driving a pair of PriusC Three's, and two posters follow up with "disagreeing" comments, fixating on how often to check your oil level.

Since you want to be so damned literal, I ask you, if a driver checks their oil level every 1,000 miles as per the owners manual, would that not be every two or three times they fill up, rather than every time they fill up ?

That was very bitog of you.

I hope to help the OP. Maybe he saw my relevant comments in a nearby thread.

BTW. I did not have any oil consumption whatsoever, using 0W16 for 80,000 miles at 10k mile OCI's.