Synthetic oil great sale

[snijd]

Patrick,

Thanks for the perspective. IIRC, Mobil suggests sticking with either synthetic or dino oil, and not switching back and forth. I've no idea why. Seal health, perhaps? I've read most of the posts regarding the "ideal" Prius oil, both here and on other fora, and I'm not sure there is as much difference between oils as is sometimes asserted, for most users. OTOH, over on some of the Mercedes forums, it's been fairly clearly demonstrated that especially with the turbo-diesels (my not-so-green alternative transportation), it matters a lot. 0WXX doesn't play well on the top end of a diesel, and I don't know why. Even dropping below XW40 is not recommended.

I suspect the Prius isn't particularly hard on oil, and I might be tempted to experiment a bit more than on some other vehicles. I believe the Pennzoil product is a PAO, which seems to be where the bargains are to be found. I really wonder if the ester-based products are worth the extra dollars. Any thoughts? I believe the ester oils last longer, at any rate.