Time or Mileage 3000/3 Months OR 5000/6 Months

I did my first oil change around 2700 miles on the odo. I had my car for about 2 month.

IMO, you can do it now or wait till the OE recommend scheduled. I don't see any difference at all.

 

I would wait until 6 months or 6000 miles because changing sooner is just wasting oil. I honestly believe that if changing the oil at 3000 miles made a difference, Toyota would recommend it. After all, they are the ones who pay if an engine fails during warranty.

 

Changing oil (and filter) earlier than 5K miles/6 months costs more than you need to spend and wastes oil. Remember, the ICE only runs part of the time, not all the time like in a regular car. It won't hurt anything to change oil sooner, it's just wasteful and expensive.

 

The electric utility I used to work for outsourced truck maintance to Pensky. One eveing as I had some repair work done on my company truck I asked the mechanic how often they change the oil. He told me that on their diesel trucks they wait until 25,000 miles regardless of time. They do test the oil and never had one fail after all that time. On gasoline engines, at least where I worked, they would change oil once a year if it needed it or not. I averaged around 45,000 miles a year and received a new truck every three years. I never had an engine failure.

I don't treat my vehicles like that. Depending on my driving conditions I change every 3,000 or 5,000 miles.

I grew up during the Second World War with rationing of food, gas and oil among other things. Back then you could not change your oil, period. The oil then was not as near good as todays oils and there was very little damage to the engines from not changing oil. All you did was add oil if you needed it and could get it.

I personally think we are brainwashed to change oil more often than is actually needed. Most people do not change their own oil and it has become a money maker for the dealers and quick change shops. Toyota says change oil every 5,000 miles, the dealers sticker says 3,000 miles.

I wonder how often car rental agencys change their oil and cab companys.

 

Tom, the main reason I change my oil at 5K miles is the warranty. It probably doesn't need it, I think 10K or 12K is about right, but I want no hassle from Toyota if (unlikely event) the engine seizes.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(geekforums @ May 14 2007, 09:25 AM) [snapback]441570[/snapback]</div>

Dont waste your money.Toyota recoends changing oil at 5000 miles.Ive got 30000 miles on my 05 prius and i change oil and rotate tires every 5000 miles.It runs great and I have never got less than 50 mpg

 

I think one thing you really need to determine before you start talking about oil change intervals is whether you are going to run petroleum oil or synthetic oil. Petroleum oil begins to break-down almost immediately. A high quality synthetic, on the other hand, can last for many thousands of miles without any significant reduction in performance or protection characteristics. Synthetics designed from the right combination of basestocks and additives can last almost indefinitely with the right filtration system.

Although I am running Mobil 5W30 in my Prius, and run the exact same oil in my Mercedes which has a factory specified 10,000 mile service interval, I will continue to follow the Toyota recommendation of 5,000 mile service intervals while my car is under warranty. As soon as it is out of warranty, I will probably start changing it a bit less frequently.

Also, as has been previously mentioned, the ICE in the Prius is not running all the time, so talking about 5,000 miles on a Prius is like comparing apples and oranges when talking about the same mileage on a regular car.