Oil change interval (time not distance) on '07

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by tvspaulmoore, Jul 10, 2013.

  1. tvspaulmoore

    tvspaulmoore Junior Member

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    Hi there

    I have an 07 Prius which my wife drives mainly (but not very often)- here in Florida, if that makes any difference- and have always figured on 5000 mile intervals for oil changes (based on what I heard once on Car Talk... not very scientific- or specific to the Prius... or Florida for that matter).

    Since it takes her 6 months+ to put 5000 miles on the car should we be making oil changes at a specific time interval? I saw another thread suggesting yearly/10,000 miles, whichever comes sooner (I think)...

    Does anyone have any suggestions for what the rule of thumb should be? Agreed, oil changes aren't expensive but I don't want to waste oil/time if I don't have to...

    Thanks!
     
    #1 tvspaulmoore, Jul 10, 2013
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    If your wife drives 5K miles in six or more months then I would suggest changing the oil after every 5K miles. If she were to drive less than 5K miles annually, my rule of thumb would be to change the engine oil and oil filter at least annually. The point of that is to get accumulated moisture out of the oil, resulting from low driving usage.
     
    #2 Patrick Wong, Jul 10, 2013
  3. urbjhawk21

    urbjhawk21 New Member

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    10k miles or once a year is basically the bare minimum. 5k miles or 6 months is ideal. Somewhere in between should be fine.
     
    #3 urbjhawk21, Jul 10, 2013
  4. tvspaulmoore

    tvspaulmoore Junior Member

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    Thanks for the replies- should have been clearer- I think she has driven somewhere between 2-3K since last oil change in Jan- so she will have done maybe 6/7K within a year (some days it doesn't get driven at all)...

    I will wait for 5K... wasn't sure if 6 months was a long time for the same oil to run through the car or if Florida heat made it worse/better...
     
    #4 tvspaulmoore, Jul 10, 2013
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