Advanced Auto Parts in Cleveland has 5 quarts of Castrol 0W20 and a filter for the Prius for $29.95. The ad shows a K&N filter that they swapped with off brand for the same price. K&N does not make a filter for the 2010 Prius. It is a good deal. I have used Mobil1 0W20 up until now. This is the first time with Castrol. We will see how things work out. I have 35,000 miles on the car now. It will be out of the standard warranty before the year is over.
While my car was at the dealer today for the 15K service, I had the oil & filter changed ( I know it isn't scheduled, but I can't see going 10K miles). $24.98 + $15 upcharge for synthetic = $39.98. Can't see changing my own oil to save $10. For bay area folks, dealer is Melody. And I got the tires rotated & brake inspection for $8.88. That, plus complimentary 19 point inspection = 15K service for $8.88. They did it while I waited, and I was in and out in an hour.
Believe me going 10,000 miles between oil changes is not a problem with a high quality synthetic oil. A few years ago I spoke to a technician from Mobil One. He told me that the over the counter synthetic oil can go upwards of 25,000 miles in some cases. I have a 2003 VW Jetta TDI Wagon (Turbo-Diesel), I purchased new in Oct 2002. I change the oil and filter every 10,000 miles with Mobil One 5 w 40 synthetic oil and I have over 133,000 miles on it. No engine problems whats so ever, and negligible oil usage during the 10,000 miles intervals. You can change your oil at 3,000, 5,000, or 7,500 miles its up to you but I believe your waisting your money. I just changed the oil in our Prius after 10,000 miles. Negligible oil usage and I only use 4 quarts so not to over fill. In fact when I change the oil and filter I pour the oil into a gallon jug for our recycler and it nearly fills it. alfon
This debate has existed--and will forever--on this and every other auto forum. Lots of opinions. My view is $40 every 12 months is a good investment in preventative maintenance. Before the oil service, the oil looked dirty; afterward, almost clear. Synthetic oil life aside, there's also the filter to consider. So while the synthetic oil may not break down as fast as conventional oil, there's still the contamination and filtration concern.
People have gone 25,000+ miles on a single synthetic oil change and their engines are still running. And do you think Toyota would've considered the filtration concern? Modern day filters can handle it. This is a Toyota filter too, one of the highest quality OEM makers. Nissan OEM is made in china garbage, and Honda is mediocre depending on where the filter is made. And even if the filter were to get clogged, which is highly unlikely, there is the bypass valve...So its not like your engine will jam. Oil looking dirty has nothing to do with it. That just means the oil is doing its job and washing your engine. The prius is very light on oil. Your gas engine isn't running 24/7 like regular cars. So please tell me, if a regular prius can go 5,000 miles on regular oil, and you're changing every 5,000 miles using synthetic...? enough said. People changing every 5,000 miles are just throwing away money because of outdated beliefs and paranoia. In Europe, the standard OCIs for most cars isn't 3,000 miles like it is in the US, but more like 10,000-15,000 miles...on REGULAR oil. Actually in the US, i dont know of any new car that still uses 3000 mile OCIs. The lowest i've seen is 3750 for severe driving and 7500 for normal driving. There are cars out there going 7500 on regular oil.... The quality of oil these days is 500% better than what was sold 20 years ago. i probably didn't convince you because its your car and frequent oil changes is no harm but hey =) facts are facts
We disagree on this issue. That's OK. But no need to be disagreeable about it. And regarding your "facts are facts" comment, I didn't see anything convincing in your post. That "people" have driven long distances without changing their oil doesn't mean a thing. Some people also drive on bald tires, yet don't get into accidents. Should we all drive on bald tires? Does changing your oil/filter less frequently guarantee your engine will have issues earlier? No. Does changing more frequently guarantee no issues? No. Does changing more frequently than not decrease the probability of issues? I'd say yes, and for me, an extra $40 per year is a reasonable investment.
ya ya of course we can disagree. life would be boring if we didn't. I doubt anyone has ever reported oil-related engine failure following the Mfg OCIs. Remember they put a good margin of error into those OCIs, giving you a lot of leeway. They say at 10,000 miles? the oil will probably last you fine to 12,000 miles. As for anything convincing? What do you mean? Here's some simple logic for you: Most people change regular oil around 5,000 miles. If you're changing synthetic oil every 5,000 miles, you know the synthetic oil can go for much longer than that because the regular oil went that mileage just fine. There are even 7500mi OCIs on regular oil in many vehicles. If regular oil can go that far, you have to think synthetic oil will go that far? And another fact? The OCIs in Europe average 10,000 miles. Cars in Europe are going 10,000 miles on regular dino oil! If they can run dino oil that long, how come you can't run higher-quality synthetic that long? People have run UOAs on synthetic oil all the time and have gone many thousands of miles and the oil still showed excellent #s (ive never run a UOA because i've never run synthetic before and i dont feel like paying $40 when i do reach my 10k OCI). So that's a fact that synthetic oil will go many thousands of miles over. So your reasoning for why you want to change your oil more often than the manufacturer stated 10k OCIs is for simple peace of mind, and nothing else based on facts. You want to change your oil more often to "insure" against oil related damage, forgetting that the Prius engine is already light on oil to begin with.
