Thanks for the 30k tips!

This is where a "Like" button is needed

 

That $61 should have been around $30, if even that much.

I am always shocked when I hear about how many people don't already change their own vehicle oil. It's one of the few things we can still do to our vehicles and usually very easy, not to mention how much money it saves us.

 

OP is in Alaska so prices might be more.

BTW Prius 49, was that oil, air and cabin filters?

 

Well, some of us live in apartment buildings so the parking lot isn't so oil change friendly, and some of us without garages also live in climates that make it very difficult for part of the year too.

But I used to do those things. Some people go out to dinner and let others cook for them and clean up after, others get oil changed.

 

Out of curiosity, is this based on regular oil, synthetic blend, or full synthetic? On the occasions I've gone into an autozone, etc. I've always found that the materials (quarts of oil +filter) are pretty much the same cost as getting it changed at a shop. I just got my Prius, and after a reading the manual I'm not able to see what type of oil the Prius comes with from the dealer? Anyone know?

 

Sounds like you are comparing the expensive, not on sale $5/qt oil at autozone with the crap Jiffy lube uses. The crap costs $1 - $2/qt at Walmart. I personally wait for sales on good oil and buy it for about $2 - $3/qt. Since it is good quality oil I only change oil every 6 months, so the oil part of my oil and filter change is about $15/year.

Not only do I save time and money, I know the monkey doing the work, and he *never* overfills.

 

08's have a 5000 mile manufacturer recommended oil change interval, so 35K miles. FYI if you have a garage to change oil and have average length arms, the oil and filter can be changed without jacking up the car since the oil drain plug and filter are within arm's length once you see where they are located. You do need to lay on the floor and reach, but don't have to crawl under the car. The two air filters are super easy to change yourself.

 

$35 Rhino Ramps work great.

 

Hi Prius 49. It all sounds good except for the "3 quart" part. Do you know if they only the 3 you gave them or if they topped off with other oil. Check your dipstick, 3 quarts is not quite enough for a complete refill. It will probably get you to about half way up the dipstick, which isn't too bad as long as you're really confident you've got no oil consumption. Personally I'd rather fill it to just on or just under (say 1/8" under) the top mark on the dipstick.

 

^^ Dangerously close to an overfill. I shoot for 52.8268% of the distance between the two dimples.

Checking the dipstick once a month is not a horrible idea either

 

For me the big reason is time. Takes 5 minutes on the Prius. It runs $12 with a factory filter and 3 qts out of a 5 qt bottle of Wal-Mart Supertech 5w-30.

 

I bought plastic service ramps at wal-mart that have a shallow rise i.e. they're long for my corvette. They were $15 8 years ago and I've used them ever since. You just drive the front wheels onto it and slide under the front. Don't trust a hydraulic jack. They can fail instantly and crush you.

 

Not only is 3 qts enough for a complete refill, if you put more than that in, the crank will churn in oil stripping you of MPG. 3 QT drain with with filter is enough to put the oil at the 1/2 mark between the fill and full marks. If you put 3.5 qts in, the level will be at the top fill mark and the crank will drag in the oil.

 

Well yeah, that was exactly what I said.

Three quarts will only get you to about 1/2 way on the dipstick (plus or minus a bit depending on how thoroughly you've drained). And that's ok if you're confident enough that it's not consuming any oil.

The only point of difference is whether or not that is a "complete" refill. It's not in my books and that's the opinion of many other people and most workshops as well. Yes it's absolutely fine for people who change their own oil and who regularly keep an eye on it and monitor any consumption, and I'm sure you're in this category. But unfortunately many people check their oil way too infrequently.

This is why most workshops wont do this, as it seems in the case of the OP. Even though he apparently asked for only three quarts they knew all to well that any underfill (meaning filling to less than the top dot) is just asking for trouble given how few people actually check their oil regularly.

Personally I do underfill, but only to about 1/4" to 1/8" below the top dot. You don't get crank drag or splashing unless you overfill (go above the top dot). I've attempted to measure fuel consumption with oil levels less than this and have never been able to detect any difference. I don't see any benefit from going lower than that, you're just eating into any safety margin that you have if you suddenly develop a slow leak or minor oil consumption issue.

 

...but you implied that 3 qts is not enough which it and is preferable to 3.5 qts for fuel economy.

The prius has a low oil level sensor and an oil pressure sender. Assuming that you have moderate oil consumption, you'd have to ignore a low oil level warning for thousands of miles before you actually went low enough to get a low oil pressure signal throwing the red triangle up.

I don't think there's much danger in not checking your oil frequently when you refill with 3 qts.

There have been previous posts presenting evidence that 3.5 qts goes well above the crank and that 3 qts just barely clears the crank.

Additionally, who actually has any oil conumption at all? I don't and I've got 61K miles. My SC400(also a Toyota) has over 300K miles and has no oil consumption between changes and I push those out to 10K miles.

 

For Toyota's maintenance schedules see here:
Toyota Parts and Service

If you don't have the Owner's Manual for your year buy one online or from a dealer. It's fulla stuff you need to know.

Unless you must worry about a high rate of oil consumption 3 quarts is plenty at an oil change. There's no need to fiddle with half-used bottles.

 

Ok I didn't know that the Gen2 had an oil level sensor. I thought it only had the pressure sender. Thanks for the info sorka. It makes my wonder how some people still seem to manage to run on low oil until the red triangle warning comes on.

Do you know if that is specific to the US market of if all Prius models have the level sensor. I know there's some regional differences, for example we don't have the maintenance light on the Australia models. I'm hoping that the oil level sensor is a core feature common to all models, because it's a very useful thing. I'll feel a lot safer knowing that it's there.

BTW. Does anyone have any links to information on the oil level sensor. I'd be interested in reading any info regarding how it works and at what level it triggers the warning etc.