2012 Prius Three - Oil Change Schedule

Reader's Digest Version: 10K If you check your oil level at least every thousand miles.

Longer Version:

It depends.
How long do you REALLY want your motor to last?

Long and brutal wars have been fought over this subject and just about everybody gets it wrong.
The real question should be "how often should I really check my oil?"
Most people don't, which means that if you also don't change your own oil, then you might be significantly low in oil volume during very long periods of time and never know about it.
These are the people whose engines "suddenly" start using a lot of oil after 100,000 miles.

If you're taking it to the dealer for an oil change, then they usually just wham it through without checking the level before they drain the oil, and they sure as heck aren't looking to see how much comes out!
So....
If you drive for 25,000 miles with juuuuuuuuuust enough oil in the crankcase to keep the oil pressure light from illuminating, how bad do you think this will be for your motor?
Who is ever going to know?
You can have the best oil on the planet in the engine and still be smoking worse than John Wayne before 150,000 miles.
The OEM maintenance schedule says 10K.
I prefer 5K, but I like to put about 300K on my car before I sell it. "K" meaning thousands of miles....not clicks.

I would never go past 10K, unless you're one of those people who put about 100K on the car and then trade it in.
If you're one of those people then change the oil whenever you want to.
As far as how often should you check it is up to you.
I should do it every tank...which is about 500 miles, but I'm not going to lie to you and say that I actually do this....BUT I know what kind of oil actually went into my motor and how much. I KNOW the filter was changed, and I KNOW that the motor hasn't leaked or used any measurable amount of oil in its service life up to this point.
My advice is to check it carefully after you change it and then at least every thousand miles thereafter.
If you pay to have it done?
Check the level more often because there is a non-zero chance that they didn't use the right oil, or actually change the filter.

Your call.
Good Luck!

 

At least as often as Toyota tells you to? More often if you want to?

My 2 cents: I'd rather err on the side of safety, do a few too many oil changes, rather than too few.

We're just north of the 49th Parallel, and the oil change interval edict from Toyota Canada is:

every 6 months or 8000 kilometers

(basically DOUBLE the frequency of the US interval)

Regarding the above: our west coast winters are a non-event, comparing to the US North-Central States. All I'm saying: there seems to be lot of factors besides engineering in determining these intervals.

 

Many variables come into play to determine the duty cycle of your machine. My rule is do the first oil change at 500-1000 miles then at the 5,000 mile marks after that. As stated above, check your oil (tires, lights, other fluids, ect...) while your getting gas so you know what's going on. To many out there just gas and go until... " somethings wrong ".

 

It worked out that, in 10,500 miles of driving and 23 months of ownership, I've had four(4) oil and filter changes.

I changed it first a 3,300miles. Toyota service changes it in January 2013, August 2013, and again on December 20, 2013.

Since I no longer drive that much, I will change it every 12 months from now on, and probably every 5,000 miles or so.

 

Aux (12v) battery is marginal at best in these cars. Start pricing a replacement now. Many on this site go with the Optima battery.
Everything else is pretty much going to be like your Camry. If you knocked down 300K in that car since 02, then you're obviously familiar with basic maintenance, and the Prius isn't going to be much different.
Some on this site recommend fairly frequent transaxle fluid replacements....like 30K for the initial and every 60K thereafter.
I think that's a bit of an overkill, but you should read up on it and decide for yourself.
If your independant mechanic is truly honest (many are...) then they probably won't shank you with unnecessary throttle bode cleaning.
The Atkinson cycle motor can require more frequent clean and inspects for the throttle-body and MAFS from what I've been told, but this is best accomplished with a few hand tools and some TB cleaner rather than the "spray and pray" method that the dealer prefers.
When your car gets to about 100K (based on your mileage) I'd talk that over with the wrench and see where his (or her) head is with that.
Me?
I have to start seeing a slight decrease in my mileage (which I keep tabs on!) before I go tinkering with my intake.

Like other maintenance frequency items?
This is hotly debated, but most of the "debaters" don't put more than 200K on their cars before they sell them.

Your call....

Best of Luck!