Synthetic Oil: Is is REQUIRED?

yes, synthetic required. since gen 3 2010. i'm surprised it's not in the manual.

no worries, it's a much better lubricant.

you can probably get a much better price at a local mechanic.

 

What does the manual say?

Generally if you don’t care any oil is fine if you follow shorter fill durations but it’s then not following the warranty requirements

 

The 2017 Warranty & Maintenance guide says that you should use 0W-20 weight oil.

Go to a store and find the 0W-20 that isn't synthetic.

Then you'll understand.

 

i think LJM has the answer above

 

I’d like to see you type it out rather than abbreviate.

 

Lightbulb moment!

Don't clap, just throw money...

Put simply, no matter what you do to pumped petroleum in an "ordinary" refinery, you will never arrive at 0W-20. You must start with simple stocks and synthesize it to get it that thin. It is synthetic by nature.

 

As long as you get it is the important thing.

You’d be surprised how many threads go multiple pages only to end up in the same spot.

Good luck .

 

i change mine very spring, but it is still synthetic the next winter.

 

You can edit the title, for something like 12 hours. There should be button showing for you (as the original poster), in the top right corner around first post, if I recall correctly.

If you're still stuck, click the "report" button on the first post, and ask a moderator to revise it.

0W20 oil is pretty much always synthetic, I believe, though I'm not an expert.

Need a little more detail regarding this coupon: what does it say; is there fine print saying conventional oil only. If not, I would raise a stink.

All that said, something that's been shuffled aside: the cost of of something like Toyota 0W20 oil. I'm buying it in bulk (bring my own container), anywhere between 8~10 liters at a time, from a local dealership service department. For a couple of years it was $4.50 CDN per liter. Recently it went up, to $4.90.

$4.50 CDN per liter translates to about $3.50 US per quart.

What is your dealership telling you regarding the price? Or are they even giving you a price?

 

The Oil Grade is more important than 0W20 (or whatever grade is relevant in your country) 0W20 doesn't specify synthetic specifically:



That's the USA 2016 Manual.

I doubt you'd find a SN engine oil which isn't synthetic. Interestingly, in Australia, they specify 5 different oil viscosities, depending on climate - and 2 grades, SL & SN.

 

Most if not all nonsynthetic passenger car oils meet SN. However, 0W-anything oils are only synthetics, as Leadfoot J. McCoalroller correctly posted above (twice).

 

Use SP oil then you are guaranteed to only get synthetic since it’s apart of the requirement

 

Hi all. I just upgraded from a 2006 Prius to a 2017 Prius. I made an appointment for an oil change at Firestone and was told that it would cost $75 due to it needing synthetic oil, versus the $25 standard oil change I was used to. I questioned the need for synthetic oil, but Firestone said it was required by Toyota for the 2017 model. This thread has helped ease my mind that the synthetic oil is needed. However, does this mean I don't need to change the oil every 5,000 miles...that I can go 10,000 miles in between oil changes? Surprisingly, I haven't yet found anything in the owner's manual that specifies oil change frequency; maybe I'm missing it.

 

It’s in the warranty and maintenance booklet, the slim volume that accompanies the OM. If it’s missing, you can download PDF version from Toyota Tech Info, and/or some other Toyota Owners site.

regarding synth vs conventional oil, I believe 0W20 and 0W16 both ONLY come in synth. FWIW I’ve never seen Toyota mention a need for the oil to be synth, say if you were using a heavier oil that was available as conventional.

The place you mention, that’s offering $25 and $75 oil changes, I’d suspect the $25 deal is what’s referred to as a “loss leader”, ie: get your car in for a too-good-to-be-true deal, then try to sell you a host of other devices. Synth vs conventional oil prices are not that big a factor.

oil change interval, I better not get started, lol. Suffice to say Toyota USA says 10k miles or yearly, whichever comes first.