1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

2013 PIP w/ Questionable Oil Change History

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by mkarolian, Feb 23, 2017.

  1. mkarolian

    mkarolian Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2012
    56
    5
    0
    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I went and looked at a single owner 2013 PIP last night, has 120k on the clock. Car overall looks quite nice, but when I pulled the dipstick there was hardly any oil and a bit of sediment at the bottom of the stick. I checked the service history via Carfax and it documentation shows a gap of over 50,000 miles with no oil changes.

    I took a look down into the engine via the filler cap and it looked quite clean. Not sure if I should punt on this, or move forward and religiously change the oil starting now.
     
    #1 mkarolian, Feb 23, 2017
  2. horent135

    horent135 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2016
    44
    12
    0
    Location:
    CA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    The owner could have DIY or go to local shop which does not record to CarFax.
     
    #2 horent135, Feb 23, 2017
  3. Pluggo

    Pluggo Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2016
    608
    532
    0
    Location:
    Folsom, Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    And sediment or sludge is definitely a red flag. Parts of the engine may already have excessive wear from operating with clogged oil passages. One of the problems with continually topping off the oil level is that the crankcase oil keeps getting thicker as short-chain oil molecules are continually being lost and long-chain molecules are left behind to form sludge. With the drain plug out and the engine cool I would probe inside the oil pan for accumulated sludge. Any amount you find would pretty much be a deal-breaker, though you might go on to consider some oil flush products. Some of these work so well that new oil leaks appear where dirt had previously been making a seal. I have also seen sludge accumulate in a filler cap (not a Prius). You can imagine how bad everything looked when the valve cover was opened: everything was coated in thick, flaky black carbon. By that time anyone could notice that the engine did not sound right.
     
    #3 Pluggo, Feb 23, 2017
  4. mmmodem

    mmmodem Senior Taste Tester

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2011
    2,732
    1,703
    0
    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    You will find that my 120k mile PiP has no record of oil changes for the past 60k miles. I stopped going to the dealer after 60k miles because they stopped sending me coupons.

    Sediment on a dipstick though... that's pretty bad when a shiny stick picks up stuff.
     
    #4 mmmodem, Feb 23, 2017
  5. mkarolian

    mkarolian Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2012
    56
    5
    0
    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Same, I typically do all my own oil changes, so I was not too worried... but then I pulled the dipstick.
     
    #5 mkarolian, Feb 23, 2017
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)