Is it a waste of money/oil to change oil every 2500 miles (or should I add oil)....Burning oil ???

More likely Mobil 1 will easily last 10,000 mi.

I'd top up to the F mark at 2500 mi and then just do the oil change at 5000, providing you're not more than 0.5 qt low by that time.

Use engine clean for the next 2 or 3 oil changes when you change the oil and filter and try to do a 150 mi road trip between each oil change for the next three.

 

I looked up the US, 2008 Prius oil change interval: 5,000 miles or 6 months. I would stick to that, and just do a top up along the way. It's par for the course for cars to consume a bit, need periodic top up.

 

that's not a tremendous amount, i would stick to 5k dyne, or 10k syn oil changes and keep it topped up in between.
how many miles on her?

 

5k oil changes are best in your schedule....
Take car once week on highway speed for 30-40 minutes
Change oil vacuum valve
If none of this is possible

Use this to eliminate rings Carbon build...
This thing is so good ar
at doing this
I have done couple engines from gas to diesel
And results are good

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Arch 9000 is another hyper lubrication that is used in big Generators that have shown outstanding results
Do some research
And don't read after people posting another oil
This addative and one mentioned above have made my car engines that have nikasil cylinder walls coated go so far 450 000 miles without any significant power downgrade
And I have tear apart this engines 2 times a year for 3 years and still not consider any overhaul

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I'm not sure where you're buying your oil but $60 seems expensive for a car with a 4 quart sump.
I buy a jug (5q) of M1 for less than $30, and the filters aren't even FILTERS but those goofy little inserts, and they go for about $5 a pop.

.....Be that as it may....

You drive a 9 year old car.
You really can't afford to do anything else but change your oil within the periodicity called for by your manual (prob 6 months/5,000 miles) and top it off monthly or every 1,000 miles.
You might be able to leg your oil changes out to 6-7 or even 10-thousand miles and, yeah, the synthetic oil will be good for that period....especially if you're looking at the dipstick every month or 1,000 miles and keeping the oil volume topped off.

However (comma!!!!!)
I usually do not gamble when I do not have to.
My CFO's car calls for synthetic oil, and has a 10,000 mile OCI.
I change the oil every 5,000 and assiduously check the level monthly, and I don't consider this to be 'pouring money down the drain."
(None of our cars seem to be using measurable amounts of oil, although I suspect that the 11 year old might be starting start soon since it has over 170,000 miles on it....)
I would keep the 5,000 mile change periodicity and keep the oil topped off if it were me.

I don't usually advise people to use additives, but sometimes switching to a "high mileage" blend CAN BE beneficial according to some "experts".
Just don't buy into the notion that you can buy potions and lotions and use them as retroactive oil changes.
It doesn't work like that.
Oil change intervals are a hotly debated topic, usually by people who trade out their cars every 4-6 years with under 200,000 miles on the odometer.
Quite frankly, this is like getting child care advice from parents that only have one spoiled little bratt at home.
The advice might be good, but it's not going to come from "extensive" experience.......good or bad.

If you want to stretch your oil changes (OCI) to 6 or 7 thou, then quite frankly I don't see it making much of a difference in your car presuming that you're keeping it topped off.....but that's just not how I do it.
Besides......it's also not going to make that much of a difference in the amount of money that you're spending for maintenance.

YMMV.

Good Luck!

 

Maybe he's getting oil change service, not DIY?

I wouldn't switch to high mileage oil on a whim, and his usage is not that bad. HM oil swells seals, is typically a last ditch ploy: once you switch to it you should stick with it. Returning to reg oil, consumption will return with a vengeance, I've heard.

With his consumption, I would just keep on top of it. If it gets worse, try going one step thicker first, and continue to keep on top of it.

 

I would change at 5K or when it gets dark with the non syn. Dark is dirt, and I don't like dirt.
I also found non syn burns less.

 

Many years ago, my Corolla DX Wagon started burning oil (around 150k miles); lots of good advice "don't drive so bloody fast!" , dealer suggested valve-guides, but the best solution I found was Castrol-GTX for high-mileage engines. But, sadly it didn't do much for the rocker-panels, as the car failed the state inspection (21 years old, 292,000 miles, not using a drop of oil between changes) hope this helps - Wil

 

The newer Toyotas they switched to 10,000 mile oil changes. One issue might be how long the filter is designed to last. I use only the Mobil One Synthetic.

 

The engineers gave a service life of 10k and changing the oil at 5k is a waste of money. They don't go by gut feeling or better safe than sorry. Somewhere along the line they did measurable tests on the oil at 5k, 7k, 10k intervals and found that 10k was the proper timespan for an oil change.

 

And a couple of mile further north, north of the 49th parallel into Canada, they said 8000 km or 6 month. Then up in Alaska,,

 

Yeah....
I get that.
"Statistically" the oil will last 10K, but there are more and more and more people out there posting that they're "suddenly" starting to burn oil, which as I said before is like a human "suddenly" having cardiovascular issues after eating cheeseburgers every day for 40 years.
Trust me.
I've seen the air gap between engineering facilities and people who drive real cars in the real world......and so have the OEMs. That's why they spend so much time and money in 'real-world' product testing.

Oil will definitely last for more than 10K, but you have to have enough of it in your sump to maintain pressure, carry combustion byproducts away from the cylinder walls after the rings wipe them down, act as a heat sink, and do all of the other oily stuff that lubrication does in an ICE.
If a slothful owner reduces their oil change periodicity to 5K, then it will serve to increase the average oil sump volume.....statistically, that is.

 

Your oil change duration is based on the condition of the oil
if your non synthetic and your motor sludges itself,frequent oil changes may be needed.
My cobalt is in that place as the timing gears sludge if I don't change oil more often than recommended.

I would recommend using MMO in your gas, it's one of the few snake oils that work on engines that aren't running correctly. QX-500 also works in the same way but MMO is cheaper.

It should smooth out the motor and gain you a couple MPGs if your motor has more blowby than normal.(burning oil using means more blowby)

On normal properly running engines MMO wastes money but on those that don't it works wonders. I've used it on motors that are nearly inop for years with good results.

Good Luck

 

Burning (consuming) oil means that you need to check it and top off more often. It does NOT mean that you need to change it more often. With the synth oil that you're using you could change it any time between 5000 to 10000 that suits you, it really doesn't matter very much so long as you are topping off regularly. Letting it run low just one time will do about a million times more damage then extending the oil change interval will ever do (provided you keep it topped off).

Also, changing the oil is a lot more cost and effort than just topping off. So tackling the problem by changing it more often may just be setting yourself up for failure, since you are more likely to put it off if busy or otherwise preoccupied.

 

I have a pile of receipts for my prius, the previous owner was ANAL he did synthetic changes every 3500 miles. Then at 180k miles he switched to regular because the car was burning 1qt per 1000 miles. Personally I haven't seen any advantage to synth vs dino oil aside from being able to wait longer between oil changes. I think what does much more good is making sure the PCV valve is always working so the vacuum is sucking those rings against the bore and not letting blow by and deposits to form. Frequent engine braking from high rpm also helps.

 

Follow the MANUAL and add if and when the level gets to the ADD mark, NOT BEFORE.

This means a 5,000 mile interval with 10w-30 regular oil. ANY name brand will be ok and DO NOT let them sell you on some high mileage oil BS, it will not "fix" or prevent anything. Then check your oil at least weekly or every other fill, when (if) the level gets to the bottom of the band - ADD level, put in 1/2 quart or so. DO NOT overfill!

Also, replacing the PCV valve may mitigate the oil loss at this mileage. A failed PCV valve is THE most common cause of "excessive" oil consumption on otherwise healthy engines today because they are often overlooked at maintenance time.