Oil Change

Well while it’s under warranty I would follow the manufacturer recommendations. True synthetics, not blends have been known to go 25k. But it really depends on driving conditions. Not the type, but the dirtyness of where you’re driving.

 

Which comes first for you, the (4th gen, Canadian) 12 month interval? That's hardly onerous.

I'd be climbing the walls if I had to wait 12 months...

 

i would change it every other year, regardless of mileage. unless canada is different from u.s., there's no relationship between maintenance and warranty.

 

Hmm, well in the US if Toyota could prove your not changing the oil as "required" caused a failure of some sort you'd be responsible.

In Canada, they just have to say it's the reason, not prove it, unless you wanted to take them to court, and they have more and better paid lawyers than you, so guess who would win.

We have poor consumer protection up here.

 

FWIW, Honda Canada advocates a yearly oil change on low usage vehicles, even if the in-dash "Maintenance Minder" hasn't called for it yet.

 

I think you should follow the manual to change once every year or 10k. But after powertrain warranty you can make your own decision. It is just 5 times totally during warranty period, not a big deal. But after that, I would most probably change every 2 years.

 

The crankcase is not a hermetically sealed container. Moisture and oxygen will make their way to the oil, and degrade its ability to do its job over time. The Volt's oil life monitor will allow up to two years between changes, and the Prime should be fine with that, but doing so does entail a risk in the event warranty coverage is needed.

"Unnecessary" oil changes are the price of having an ICE onboard for extending the range.

 

My current oil is 12k miles old and is still golden colored !
Amazing. I'm not recommending anything, just making a comment.

 

That's on the dipstick right? I think if you collected a jam jar of the oil drained you'd see it's black as ink.

To be fair: a conventional car's engine oil WILL look black as ink on the dipstick, by 12K.

 

Here we go, haven't trotted this out in a while. Our car leads a sheltered life, we're putting on at most 10K kms per year, and the Canadian oil/filter change interval is 6 months or 8000 kms, which I'm adhering too. So, this is new oil:



And drained oil, with at most 3000 miles on it:



(In both cases, Toyota 0W20.)

 

@Mendel Leisk ,
Yes -- from the dipstick.
I'll see if the technician can save me a sample from the drain from below. It will probably be at the end of the drain to avoid splashes.

My car ICE truly lives an easy life:

• No city driving (that is EV)
• No less than 45 miles each drive, so oil always gets to operating spec temperature
• Only one warm-up event per drive (at most) and that done at low load

I'm curious about an oil analysis but that costs more than a DIY oil change so the cheap side of me hesitates. And I don't intend to keep an ICE for much longer. In any case, barring user error like letting the oil run low I have to imagine that the Prime ICE will run well for a LONG time.

 

With Toyota Care it is free so why not.

 

@Mendel Leisk ,
I thought it interesting that Blackstone labs recommends sample collection from either below during a drain or from above with a long tube to suction some oil. Is the tube longer than a dipstick ?

Out of curiosity I'll buy a long tube pushed down about as far as it will go and draw a sample.

 

To be fair, much of the darkening is from carbon buildup. Why Does Motor Oil Turn Black? | AMSOIL Blog

It is harder to gauge the important properties of the oil (viscosity, additive status, contamination) by eye so an analysis (or a regular change interval) is the only way to be sure - and by then you probably changed it anyway to get the sample.

 

Yup. I was not implying that visual inspection says much about the time to change oil.

 

Changing the oil frequently will protect the engine and prolong its service life. The new oil has higher heat dissipation and lubricity than the old oil.

 

Oil is the cheapest and Best protection for your engine.
Color does not tell you molecular breakdown, reduced viscosity, degraded shear strength, etc.

 

Project Farm on YouTube just had oil analysis done on some old oil that was lightly used. The oil was still good. I think the conclusion was the oil could go for a lot longer than 1 year.