What's your OCI? (oil change interval)

Yes[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP"][/ame], check it out
[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP[/ame]

 

Eh, I'm out of miles and years for the engine warranty at this point. In addition, I need to travel north or south about 45-60 miles just to find a dealer. Autozone is 6 miles away. I'm not going 45-60 miles just to pick up a filter . That said, I cannot see this being any different than going to a quicklube place. I doubt they use OEM filters. Should that filter fail (and were I still under warranty) would Toyota really want to deal with the amount of bad press one could drum up against them for denying the warranty claim? You don't have to use their service (or parts) to the best of my knowledge.

The only reason I plan to visit a dealer is to pick up fluids for the inverter and transaxle. And to have the VSC reset and alignment done when I hit 100k miles. Beyond that, they t'ain't never gonna see my backside again.

 

I do oil changes at 15,000kms (just shy of 10,000 miles) on our 2006.
I use Royal Purple full synthetic oil. Always looks brand new and is always right on the full mark on the dip stick with 150,000kms (93,200 miles).

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Quicklube, Jiffylube, etc have stripped my oil pan on several cars. They use bulk rate oil and the cheap oil filters without much filter paper. I've never been back to them since they screwed-up my cars.

You can order Toyota filters online. There are a few dealers that ship for free if the order is over $100.

 

Should a non-Toyota oil filter fail and cause engine problems, you can bank on Toyota not covering the problem. It would be between you and the filter company.

You don't, but when you don't use Toyota parts, you and the non-Toyota parts manufacturer are accepting responsibility for any problems with those parts or any resulting problems with the rest of the car.

 

Again, ya'll are big kids and can make your own risk analysis and conclusions. I, personally, deem it highly unlikely the filter will be the point of failure. Therefore, I'm going to continue to run OEM spec, but not OEM, filters. It also doesn't really mean squat for me in the end, as I'm at 60k miles and closing in on 6 years since it's in service date. I have no warranty to worry about voiding.

 

I use Royal Purple oil & filter in the ICE & go every 10k miles. Wish they made a ATF for our CVT

 

I put about 3000 miles a month on my car commuting mostly at highway speed. The last time I changed oil and filter, I did it myself. The two previous times were done at the dealer along with other maintenance. This last time I got around to the job well after the Maintenance Required light was steady, probably between the 6 and 7,000 mile point. I have also noticed that the oil really doesn’t get that dirty compared to used oil from my other vehicles for roughly the same maintenance interval. What I am wondering is if it is really necessary to replace the oil filter with each oil change. Now I know that this will raise the “false economy†hackles of anyone who operates by the statement ‘better safe than sorry’, a theory which I personally prescribe to with most things in life. And the fact that the oil appears relatively clean may be because of filter efficiency and it might not make it through another maintenance cycle without going into bypass mode. The location of the filter makes home DIY replacement difficult and messy. I am just wondering what other folks think about this. I have read the threads concerning the oversize filter, and yes it would make replacement easier since it extends a little further down from the mount. But there would still be that splash of oil draining from the filter as it is removed. Should I just buck-up and change both oil and filter when required? As far as oil usage goes, my dipstick drops about halfway (or a half quart) in those 6 to 7,000 miles, which doesn’t worry me much.

 

Try Redline for ATF. That's what I'm running and its great.

 

Its a good idea to change the oil pan bolt after around the 4th change as the bolt is sacrificial (softer than the pan) Its supposed to prevent what your seeing unless they go crazy and really wail on it. I think Jiffys had so many oil pan bolts fall out there under duress of getting fired if one falls out on there shift so they go overboard tightening it.
The few times I have had to to go to Jiffy I duke the kid under and tell him don't go crazy on tightening it. But really in general Jiffy sucks.

 

+1 I have never had a failed pan plug in 50+ years of changing my own oil, some of it on cars I had over 200k miles.

 

Agreed. I thought about synthetic oil too. Maybe this time.

 

Oil changed and not a drop on my hands. Disposable latex gloves are a must. I put in 3.5 quarts of Castrol Syntec 5W-30 and a Fram Tough Guard filter. Changed the oil pan drain plug gasket too. This oil change should take me over the 100K mark since I'm sitting at 91896 right now. Now I have to think about getting the transaxle ATF changed, dealer most likely, and a new 12V aux battery which I will install. And new tires in a couple of months.

 

Yes I agree..The problem comes with the customer who frequents the Jiffy Lubes who wail on that plug and since its softer it messes up the threads on the plug. Next time when they take it out they strip it and then wail on it again.
I guess my post was to warn a customer who uses Jiffy to replace that plug once in a while because those dudes go crazy on it.

 

If you can change the engine oil yourself, you can certainly change the transaxle ATF yourself (if you wish.) There are many posts about how to do that.

ATF WS will probably cost ~$9 per quart at Precision Toyota.

 

I've been sticking to factory recommendations on my cars for years, so I have no problem with a 10,000mi change. The only thing I will do is change the trans fluid at the first 10,000 because of what I've read here.

 

I only drive the Prius about 6,000 to 7,000 miles per year, so lately it has been once a year with genuine Toyota filter ( the larger of the two that will fit the car ) and Mobil 1 synthetic.

 

For my 2004 Prius, I change the oil every 5,000 miles with 5w30 Mobil 1. So far, presently at 198,300 miles, so good. Hopefully this will prove a good regemine and give me many miles ahead since I am investing funds to replace the struts, front links, and HID lamps. I thought about trading it in but I am still avg 53 mpg. The plan is to drive it until the wheels fall off, so to speak.