I recently started driving a 2005 Prius with 105,000 miles. It drives great and so far no problems at all. I'm curious about your thoughts about using synthetic oil. Is it worth it? On an unrelated note, I do almost all highway driving - about 225 miles a day. What do you think about using cruise control - there's very little traffic on the roads I'm on. Is cruise control better or worse for my mileage? Thanks!
It is a 2005 so warranty is not an issue, use the oil you like. 0w20 is Toyota's favorite synthetic. So long as there are no upholls, Cruise is better.
Many here use Mobil 1 or the Toyota synthetic, or other brands. Many here tend to feel synthetic is the best...worth the cost. Not so expensive in Walmart these days 5-qt bottles Mobil-1 go for $26 range. 5W-30 is probably the 2005 Toyota op manual recommendation if you are in USA. I go with Mobil-1 0W-30 version in winter for better MPG.
Someone posted a chart that showed Toyota approving 0W-20 for the 2004. I just changed my oil to that. I need to make my way to walmart. It was about$8.50 a quart at Oreilly. AH, yes, here it is: Help with Oil Choice: Toyota, Mobil 1, Amsoil, or Other? | PriusChat Probably for europe, but I can't see why that wouldn't apply to us.
With our 3rd gen I think mileage is pretty good with cruise on, just from watching the numbers on my Scan Gauge. In highway driving it tends to get down into very low liter/100km numbers, and quite stable. Obviously the numbers climb when you hit grade, but it seems very good. Not very scientific though. For your case: try it and see what happens.
Climbing hills with cruise on really eats away at your mpg. If it is a large hill, I will turn off cruise and let the car slow down a little until I crest the hill. Then the cruise goes back on. I use Mobil 1 0W30 in my Prius Gen II. You can easily let the oil go 10k between changes if that helps your decision any.
I basically drive like Oldwolf and use Toyota brand 0-20 synthetic. Being in Texas you may want to stay with 0-30? H
