10,000-mile oil change?

I had a look at the Toyota brand 0W-20 quart of oil, and yes, it is listed as a 'full synthetic'.

work order states " 10k service syn oil - Toyota care - perform 10,000 mile service"
Also, part number - 002790WQTE01 description 0W20 oil quarts bulk , 4.5 quarts.

Mine was done at 7,634 miles. Wasn't driving too much earlier in year, but I am now. I'm not worried about Piercey Toyota in Milpitas. I trust them to take good care of my car. I am more concerned with frantic drivers who make unsafe lane changes near me sometimes. I think that is a bigger threat to my car.

 

I worked in the parts department, at a Toyota dealer from 9/2008-11/2012. The Quick Lube rack was right outside my window.
1) You will see 5 quarts billed on your repair order, because Toyota doesn't sell partial quarts of the 0/20 synthetic.
2) that oil is BLACK after 10k miles. I'll be paying for an oil change at the 5k service interval.
2a) short trips are harder on oil than long trips. Every trip in a Prius is a short trip (from the perspective of the ICE).
3) Even if you don't get the oil changed at 5k, get the free service anyway, because your tire warranty is invalid unless you have the tires rotated every 5k miles.

 

Tim Bender is absolutely correct. I've had numerous cars with high drain intervals - and on dino oil, not synthetic. Most recently was a 2002 Civic that used standard oil and I changed routinely at exactly 10,000 miles, as instructed by Honda. When I sold that car with 264,000 on the clock it was having some problems with rust, and the speakers were going in and out, etc. but absolutely, positively zero issues with the engine. It still did not use any measurable amount between changes, purred at idle and had never been opened.

I lived in Europe for quite a while and 12,000 to 15,000 drain intervals are very common on the continent (again, on dino juice, not synthetic), and there has been no rash or increase in engine failures as a result. None.

Both oil formulations and engine design have come light years in the past few decades, but people still have their heads stuck in a 1960's mentality, where carburetors and ring blow-by (among other things) commonly broke down oil down after 3k to 5k miles, necessitating earlier changes. Those days are long gone, and the only thing you are benefiting by changing earlier is the oil manufacturer's bottom line. I suppose if you own stock in them this may not necessarily be a bad thing to do, but I have much better things to invest my money in.

 

I had a 1998 4Runner that I changed the oil every 10,000 miles. When it ran into a tree at 280,000 miles, the engine was fine. I have a 2004 4Runner with 150,000 miles on it. I changed the oil every 10,000 miles with no problems.

The owners manual today say that is okay with the Prius. Do not be fooled by those who are not engineers.

You do not need to change oil more often than what it says in the manual.