1st oil change

It is a good idea to remove as much of the manufacturing contaminants and debris from initial parts wear as soon as practical. I waited for 3000k to do my first.

YMMV.

 

The recommended factory oil change interval in the US for the Gen III Prius is 10,000 miles- not 5,000 miles.

Aside from that- you can do your first "break-in" oil change any time you want before you hit 10k miles.
I changed mine for the first time at 5k miles, then will do my next change out when I hit 10k miles on the odometer.

Make sure you you use synthetic 0w-20 oil.

 

So what to do:

A: Consult the World Wide Web?

B: Read the manual again?

BTW where in the world are you, LOL. It makes a difference for Toyo's oil change intervals.

(Don't mind me, I'm cranky today)

 

I would recommend 5k or 10k, and not any earlier than that due to the manufacture oil needs to break into all the engine parts. If you change the oil too early, the manufacturer oil doesn't get the chance to circulate through all the engine parts long enough to "Break in".

 

I changed the oil at 1000 miles but i did not change the filter until 4500 miles. (I did not have the tool for the filter at the time of the first change).

It looked like I was panning for gold when I changed the filter! Lots of little metal bits in there. I dont think I have a problem, it is just usual break in stuff but i suspect that I just never realized there was this much during break in because in the past it would be caught in a filter canister and now it is just the insert so you see everything it caught.

For the record, it is possible to just change the filter without changing the oil. If you are going to wait a long time before the first change, at least change the filter to get the metal bits out. I plan on changing my oil every 10k miles now but I will change the filter at 5k probably forever.

 

I felt it was odd with our Lexus RX when I first ran across this. But to be more "green" it's probably fine and reduce waste. Reductions in oil changes has changed dramatically in recent years. Wasn't too long ago, 3k intervals!

Don't let paranoia get to you, now government agencies have to undo what all those Jiffy Lube ads did! Do a quick search and you'll find a lot of articles on this.

Here's a good quote "To illustrate, some 10 million California drivers change the oil in their cars every 3,000 miles. That amounts to 114 million gallons of oil per year, or enough to fill 173 Olympic-sized swimming pools, a recent study by CalRecycle found."

 

There are also plenty of oil labs where you will analyse your oil.

 

I think its more the fact that its synthetic oil they are putting in the prius now and that will last much longer than traditional oil. I believe the gen2 came with traditional oil already in it. Synthetic oil does not break down and as long as you are changing the filter ... you probably will be ok forever but 10k intervals are certainly fine.

Its the filter that is the weak link

 

Your first oil and filter change should be done at 500-1000 miles. This is to remove the assembly lube and fine metal particles that WILL be present due to engine break-in. After that follow the factory recommended or what ever you feel comfortable with. Almost all used oil is recycled these days, just like cars.

 

That's apparent but the filter will trap that. Point now is if it's needed. Perhap change the filter only?

 

And always remember, it's easy to tell when a Car Salesman is lying.... his lips are moving.
The Owner's Manual.
Everything else is Opinion, but some of them are good....

 

Change them both. That is the experienced opinion of a Mechanic.

 

Key word being an opinion. But why? Oil breakdown? Filter no longer function?

 

Analyze engine oil on two identical cars. Split open and inspect oil filters.
One at 5k and at 10k.
Will there be any differences????

No opinions needed.

 

There is no special "break in" oil and you don't need to change the oil for fear of particles from the assembly process. Do what Toyota says and change it at 5k and every 10k after that with 0w-20 and your Prius will have a long life.

 

I wished you said "analyzed".

 

A few thoughts:

1. Honda (at least with our last Civic Hybrid) recommends oil filter change at every second oil change. Well, at least that's the way it works out: they don't have a document outlining oil change intervals, at least not in the Owners Manual: it's all driven by codes displayed in-dash. One time it's service "A" (oil change only), the next is service "B" (oil and filter change).

2. There's been mention that the oil change interval is 10,000 miles (or 1 year) due to the switch to synthetic 0W20. It sounds plausable, but still I don't think oil type determined that interval. In Canada the spec. is 0W20, but still changed every 6 mo or 8000 km still (roughly 5000 miles).

And I can't see it being a climate thing: we've got very mild winters on the west coast, a heck of a lot milder than say American prairies in mid-winter.

I'd say Toyota's intervals are driven 50% by engineering, and the rest just strategy. And then there's the transaxle fluid change interval...