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Why is the oil change interval so different GEN 3vs4

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by shadow4478, Dec 5, 2019.

  1. shadow4478

    shadow4478 Member

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    Why is the oil change interval so different between the two models is the engine that much different ? 5000k vs 10000k I read a lot of the 5000k have bumped up to 7500k unofficially it seems :)
     
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  2. Rmay635703

    Rmay635703 Senior Member

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    Oil consumption
     
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  3. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Depends on the country - not sure what country you're in, as your profile doesn't say.

    I can understand it with a high-powered, highly stressed engine. But hybrid engines almost never run at full power, and only about 70% of the time.

    My cynical guess is that they grab a coin, flip it and go with it. Here, all TOYOTAs were 10,000km/6 months. But, they've been slowly moving them, at random, to 15,000km/12 months. There have been no effective changes - just they're re-flipped the coin.

    Actually - I suspect it's as a response to complaints, and the opposition have been 15,000/12 months for quite a few years.

    But - dealers like the $$$ from services.
     
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  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    OP's in Barrie, Ontario, Canada I think. Here third gen was 8000 kms (~5000 miles) or 6 months, and fourth gen was 16,000 kms (~10,000 miles) or 12 months. Yeah it IS a big difference, 100% increase. And the engine's essentially the same. Showmanship? Getting in line with the Yanks?

    Bottom line still: it's your car, you can be more conservative if you like. I like 8000 kms or 6 months. With us it's always 6 months that governs. By a lot. So much I don't care to divulge.
     
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  5. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    yep, thought yours was 16,000 kms /12 months I haven't had a car with 6 monthly services for at least a decade, maybe nearly 2 - and suddenly realise my PRIUS they want me every 6 months. I wasn't happy. Still grizzle under my breath when I take it in and sit waiting.

    I guess I could understand if I lived in the outback, dusty unsealed roads, temperatures in the 40°s for months on end. But other cars had an supplementary in-between service for those conditions.
     
  6. booke02

    booke02 Active Member

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    Pretty well describes the climate here - hot and very dusty (sand storms).

    Our service intervals for both Gen 3 and Gen 4 are every 15,000km (a bit under 10,000 miles), or once per year
     
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  7. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    shadow4478
    In the US, Gen 2 was 6 months/5000 miles (8000 km) on a thicker, non synthetic oil. Gen 3 came out on a thinner, synthetic oil and within months of the introduction, the OCI was bumped to 12 months/10000 miles. (16,000 km) I am not aware of a change in the US between Gen 3 and Gen 4.

    In Canada, you have two competing issues:
    Vast stretches of the far north are a pretty hostile environment for cars.
    2/3 of Canadians (and their cars?) live within 100 km of the US border. So 5% of Canada has 2/3 of the Canadians.

    (By road, Barrie is 215 km from the US, but quite a lot of that is driving around Lake Ontario, Barrie is perhaps 120 km from the border in the middle of Lake Ontario in a straight line. Under 100 km to the Canadian shore.)

    I last visited Barrie in 1987, it has probably changed.
     
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  8. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    Yep
     
  9. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    You mean that the Gen 3 used more oil than the Gen 4? I've only done 51,000kms and mine hasn't used any oil. Not that any of my new cars in the last 25 years have.

    Not like in the '70s and early '80s (or Dad's '40s and '50s cars).

    It can actually be a problem with the odd car today which, for some reason, uses oil. People have got out of the habit of checking their oil because it will almost always go 10,000km (or 15,000 for longer Ford or Kia frequencies). We used to always keep a spare bottle of oil at home - in some cases in the boot. And water. And spare belt, plugs, points etc.

    His '49 Austin said this - and meant it!!!
    upload_2019-12-6_23-16-50.png
     
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  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i thought in the u.s. the oci was 5k when gen3 first came out, and was later changed to 10k.
     
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  11. FuelMiser

    FuelMiser Senior Member

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    Does your oil fill cap say "0W-20" or "5W-20"?
     
  12. kithmo

    kithmo Couch Potato

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    Very similar here 10K miles/12 months Gen 3 & 4
     
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  13. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I don't think Toyota makes any sort of statement regarding conventional vs synthetic oil. There are synthetic 5W20 oils available. I guess what I'm saying: they changed the oil weight spec, but that's all. My take: they went to thinner oil to squeeze a bit more mpg, and the longer oil change interval was more-n-likely at the behest of the sales department??

    Yeah virtually all Canadians are clinging (like barnacles...) to the 49th parallel. And my case, winters in Hollywood North on the west coast, vs North Dakota: no contest. And then there's Alaska...
     
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  14. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Well at one point, the US Gen 3 was at the 16,000km interval while the Canadian spec was still 8,000km until the end of the generation.

    The only thing I can think of is the "severe specification" that Toyota Canada prefers to keep for the Gen 3 or the fact that it's using semi-synthetic and maybe the US is using full synthetic oil for the Gen 3.

    The 2010 model could use 5W-20 or 0W20. 2011 onwards, all Toyotas in Canada used 0W-20.

    The Gen 4 uses 0W-15. 0W20

    Well, Barrie is almost the same latitude as Portland and Toronto is just south of Eugene, OR.
     
    #14 Tideland Prius, Dec 6, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2019
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  15. shadow4478

    shadow4478 Member

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    I’m going to make my own and change oil every 10000km about 6250miles.
     
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  16. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    You could pour 5W30 in there, and the engine would be happy as a clam I think. I guess what I'm saying: Toyota "says" to use something, but it's not a go-no-go situation.

    Is the stuff even available? That's likely a non-starter for most owners. It is essentially the same engine. Also, see above.
     
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  17. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Oops. My mistake. It's 0W-20 for the Gen 4 and Prime. No idea where I got the idea it was 0W-15. I'll edit the post.

    True. The service department sometimes put 5W20 and sometimes 0W20. The 5W20 is semi-synthetic and is cheaper.
     
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  18. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    0W16 is mentioned as the spec'd oil, somewhere in Owner's Manual, and/or Owner's Manual Supplement (CDN) or Warranty and Maintenance Booklet (US). And it's somewhat contradictory, didn't really get an editorial review.

    Bottom line, they do a fair amount of flip-flopping. It'd be refreshing to hear straight from the engineers.

    Again, you can get synthetic 5W20, 5W30. I'm not sure it's the synth that's driving the interval. Toyota never mentions the word "synth". Well they do, but regarding upholstery material IIRC.
     
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  19. Brandon Kennedy

    Brandon Kennedy Junior Member

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    Would it hurt to use 5w-30 instead of 0-w20? Wouldn’t it coat the parts and therefore better protect the engine? Or is the lighter weight (like someone said) used for the higher mpg, and because the car starts and stops a lot so need fast flowing oil?
    I’ve been putting 0w-20 in mine and even after starting it over night you hear the engine for a half second sound chattery as hell, then quiets down almost basically immediately... 2016 gen 4.

    I also use Mobil one synthetic extended performance and change it about every 7500-8000 miles and it’s a 15,000 guaranteed oil. Still looks pretty good when I change the oil but I do it more for my own safety than anything, I’m sure no doubt it could go the 15k as I’ve done it on my other cars before in the past
     
  20. Chris Wolfgram

    Chris Wolfgram Active Member

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    Well yeah, my 2019 says every 10K... But I'm thinking I'll do mine at 7500 to 8k.... Which for me will be about every 6 weeks.
     
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