77K 2016 Prius and Headgasket Failure

And even that was redesigned in 2019, but still preventable in earlier years with more frequent coolant changes to mitigate any corrosion damage. What I find interesting is that Prius owners in Europe don’t seem to have had the trouble with their vehicles to the extent that owners in the United States have. Even today I was reading a post where this was brought up on one of their sites.

 

Am I wrong (which is entirely possible) but aren’t you one of the advocates of 10,000 miles/12 month oil changes for the Prius???

 

not that i recall, but that is toyotas recommendation, and most innocent car owners wouldn't know any better.
we don't drive enough, so i have both changed every spring

 

So once a year, correct? Again, if I read the maintenance schedule correctly (which I admit, may not be true (my reading it correctly)), but isn’t Toyota’s recommendation to have it changed every 6 months when the majority of the trips are short and occur in temperatures less than 32 degrees which would mean, (your living in Massachusetts), you would need to have it changed more often?

 

that depends on how you interpret their recommendation. (i'd have to look at the schedule again) most of my driving has always been ev, and hv driving is either longer trips, or the engine coming on at the end of ev if there isn't enough range, or the car automatically runs the warm up cycle every 124 miles if you haven't used the engine.
so it gets pretty complicated, but if you're implying that changing the oil every 6 months instead of a year might have been better for the head gasket, i can't argue in hindsight, as it is one of the four possibilities going around here regarding gasket failure.

 

One of the problems with hybrids, either type, is people not realizing a simple fact about gasoline engines: the engine starting and stopping (for whatever reason, be it to insure it is warmed up, to recharge the hybrid battery, to provide passenger warmth (in cold weather), or whatever) is the equivalent of short trips; ie: the engine starts up and shuts down, fuel is left in the cylinders, which drains into the oil pan, which dilutes the oil, which causes all sorts of problems for those who believe that “the engine doesn’t run as much as a conventional car, so I don’t have to change the oil as often”.
True the engine doesn’t run as much, but it starts and stops more frequently, which equates to short trips, which results in diluted oil.
Add to that equation, those who actually do have the majority of their driving as short trips and you have people blaming Toyota for a problem the owner created because they simply don’t understand how hybrids really work, but think they do.