Dealer Overfill Engine Oil, Should I Be Concerned?

I've been getting special offers for scheduled maintenance from other dealers. I believe I paid $199 for the last one.

 

After my 12 month “free” Toyota maintenance on my 2024 Prime, I drove the car home in EV mode. Checked the oil when home and it was ONE inch above the max dot with engine not run and cold. The WO indicated the tech added 4.4 QTs. For the Prime, per the owners manual and the shop manual procedure I had downloaded, the refill for an oil change with filter is 4.1 QTs. I removed with my vacuum oil extractor about 0.4 QTs which put the oil level about 3/8 below max. This is with the oil cold and how I routinely check my oil. Thus with the engine warm, the oil level will rise to the max dot. The Car Care Nut uses the same philosophy so I’m in good company.

I do my own oil changes at 5000 miles or 6 months. Buying oil, filter and drain plug gasket from Toyota online costs me $35.

I also check the wheel nut torques when I get home after the visit. OK on this visit but found several under torqued on several wheels on the 6 month first tire rotation. I do a re-torque after about 50 miles or so.

Took and photo of the dip stick, copy of the WO and owners manual to the dealer. The service advisor looked the documents over and asked “ what do you want me to do about it ?” I said nothing and walked out. Undecided to have them do the 24 month visit.

Cheers

 

My last oil change on my daily driver was the first time I didn't check the dip stick. It was weird but my measurement have never been wrong. A couple weeks later I finally checked and it was exactly where I expected. But when working on other people's cars I check everything way too many times because it's not just myself who will be inconvenienced.

 

by “3/8” you mean “3/8 inch”?

removing 0.4 quarts should not be dropping oil level by 1-3/8” (1” overfill plus 3/8”).

there’s a chance the engine hasn’t been run since the oil change, say if the mechanic also ran it out to the parking lot on EV mode. If that’s the case, the oil filer will not have been filled, which would drop the level maybe 0.2 quart.

 

I think it's stupid to opt for overkill; the word itself means "too much." I broke a tire wrench because some idiot at a tire shop over-torqued my wheel bolts. It doesn't surprise that someone overfilled the engine oil. They probably thought it was "better."

 

I was once a member in a flying club. We owned a Cessna 172, which everyone shared. Someone complained that the oil was a quart low on the dipstick. Several people said if you filled to the full mark, the extra quart would blow off in an hour. I'm not sure what was haywire there.

 

No!

Prius owners like to think that they're smarter than the average....um....'bear' and sometimes they are!
Look at your avatar pic and tell me that the pilot in the cockpit would be concerned about this, and ask yourself........."how long am I going to keep this car????"

SO.
I'm a GM owner and a person who used to be a Prius driver.
MY experience with Priuses is that dealers not being perfect at performing basic maintenance is not unusual in the least.
Prius lifespans being drastically, or even measurably affected by this is a 'below the noise' thing.

ONE OF THE REASONS that you drive a Toyota and use a dealer to do basic 5k maintenance is CONVENIENCE.
You're one of the 0.05% of Prius drivers that actually conduct proper pre-flights and NOTICED the slight oil over fill.
Keep doing THAT and get on with your life!

You live in SoCal.
(my condolences!)
This at least means that there are 'probably' other Prius dealerships in your area.
If you're lying awake at night staring at your ceiling worrying about this - then leave the appropriate feedback in the Googles and move on to the next one.

Or?
If you're going to be trading your car in during the next 2 Presidential campaigns?????

Forget about it, continue your commendable practice of actually lifting the hood and checking your fluids every 30 days or so and enjoy driving a car that gets well over 45 real-world MPG - AND will keep doing that for another 100,000 miles AT LEAST.

 

On a VW Jetta (gas) I had a long while ago, they apparently had problems with valve stem seals. Guidance from VW, as I recall, was that everything was hunky dory unless it burned more than a quart every 1,000 miles.

 

That's because VeeDubbaya is slightly less audacious to their victims than Toyota.

IIRC - and I openly invite someone without better things to do to discredit me on this - Toyota used to ATUALLY and publicly use something like a 1 quart of oil for every 600 miles of driving AS their "standard" for differentiating between "normal" and "excessive" oil use.

Then they moved the "arbitrary stick" out to 1q for every 1200 miles.

THINK ABOUT THAT....in an engine with a 10,000 mile OCI and 4 quart sump!!!!

 

Now, if you could change the oil filter without draining the oil, you'd be golden.
My VW diesel Beetle didn't burn oil, but the cartridge style filter was up top, so I guess that would've been possible.

 

I was a TDI patron some time ago, but would never consider changing the filter and not the oil. YMMV

 

I was being facetious. I changed oil and filter with Delvac1 at the recommended 10,000 mile interval.
edit: I had that car for 225,000 miles. I sold it to a TDIClub forum member who bought it sight unseen, and sent a car carrier from NM to NY.

 

...although I did mine at 5K.

 

And when did you change your timing belt, lol?
I still have those tools.

 

Pressing my memory, but remember @60. I had a 06 PD w/DSG and I deleted the EGR.

 

As to thread topic...the likely 1/2 qt overfill won't hurt said Prius. Waiting 10K to change it does more harm...but I am not going to argue oil with Prius owners.

 

Mine was a 2000, so a central pump. 60k as well, as I recall. I think they came out with a kevlar belt. On EGR, there was a small piece of electrical tape on the instrument cluster involved as well.

 

I had a new GMC pickup in 1977. It burned a quart every 300 miles, so I took it to the dealer. They said "a quart at 300 miles is where we draw the line on warranty." Such BS.

 

I paid to have CEL "tuned out" for a buck, but did the plumbing and block off delete myself.

 

Yeah.
600 miles (or 1200) is sooooooo much better......