7 years

Male from USA where or state. Generation 2 should go easy 500,000 with those basic repairs done which are all normal and known about. Generally catastrophic things don't happen to Toyota cars generally speaking there are a few models that can negate this theory but generally speaking Toyotas are extremely reliable in that way. I've been with Toyota for 53 years or so it seems like 69 70 Corolla Ke and Te cars. I've watched all my friends have catastrophic failures throughout the '80s in cars like the Chevy citation and what have you 2.8 v6s and all that was quite the thing to watch these people throw engines into these cars left and right was incredible I had one engine throughout the whole '80s.

 

From what I can tell, if you:

• Do oil changes every 5,000 miles or every 6 months (whichever comes first, no exceptions!)
• And have the brake system flushed every few years,
• Plus all the maintenance instructions in the manual (transmission oil changes, radiator fluid flushes, spark plugs, air filters, etc.)

the only major problem you'll eventually have is the HV battery, which you can extend it's life a little with certain tricks, but will eventually need replacing.

Other than that, you should be able to get 500,000 miles or more out of your car.

 

I've doubled that oil change interval from the minute I get the cars so from right around 100,000 plus on upward 10K changes I've never flushed any brake fluid in my life actually in any car I have drained it and refilled it but really never had to do any kind of flushing and in some cars I use brake fluid that make people here cringe. But generally all of that information is damn skippy.

 

How is a drain and refill not a flush? Was it only the tank, leaving all the old fluid in the lines?

I think it might be beneficial to put new fluid into the ABS system, but don't see how to do that without also flushing all the brake lines.

 

10,000 mile oil changes will kill the engine in around 150,000 miles. Deposits start forming around the rings and in the oil relief holes behind the rings since oil loses its ability to clean and suspend the carbon in it over a period of time. Frequent oil changes avoid this problem.

With the oil relief passeges clogged, now the rings start to seize as they get gummed up with stagnent oil and crud. At this point the engine is still saveable if you can free the crud from around the rings with some strong detergents (oil flush additives or high detergent oils) although using those for too long may also ruin your engine (or at least catalytic converter). You will also start noticing greater oil consumption when this happens.

After that the rings will start to scratch and eventually gouge the cylinders. This is now the point of no return as there is no way to restore the cylinders back to original condition since Toyota used thin walled sleeves that are practically irreplaceable. The only fix is to replace the block.

I'm saying this from experience as I have a 200K engine with gouged cylinders from 10,000 mile or yearly oil changes. The engine chugs oil, using over a quart per 1,000 miles, and the catalytic converter is of course dead as a result.

Here is a pic from my engine. Note that there are many, many Toyota engines that have gone through the same exact problem:


I suggest doing a brake fluid flush every once in a while since the brake controller on these cars is very expensive ($2,000 or so). Keeping crud and moisture out of it should extend its life so is cheap insurance.

If you don't take care of the car then at around the same time, around 200K miles, all four major items can go out:

• Engine block
• Catalytic converter
• HV battery
• Brake controller

At around $2,000 a pop for each if brand new (you can get a JDM engine for less, and the catalytic converter depends on your state) it can be as much as $8,000 just in parts to fix a uncared for Prius that the owner thought it was a good idea to do 10k mile oil changes and such.

Or take care of it and all you'll have to worry about is the HV battery.

 

New cars, especially hybrids, have a complicated system of valves and pumps that if you just drain and fill does not get out all the old fluid. To do it correctly you need to have a special tool that can open each of those valves, one at a time, and run the pumps, one at a time, as you drain and fill so that you get new fluid into each and every passage.

 

Would you say that the darkness of the oil on the dip stick determines the change interval? I found with non-synthetic oil it's near black after 3k miles but with full synthetic its not that dark until about 7K miles...

 

♫ Footloose and fancy-free
You're ready for the big time
Is it ready for me? ♫

 

Some people use "flush" for "replacement", just a terminology thing? Yeah I know, but language is a democratic thing, and if the herd uses an expression, it is what it is.

 

No, I wouldn't say that's an indicating factor.

Darker can be better as it means it caught more particles in the oil and you are flushing them out, as opposed to the particles sticking somewhere else causing buildup, although that may not be the only reason oil turns dark.

 

So you're arguing that cheap non-synthetic motor oil is superior to synthetic because it gets dirtier sooner? What you might want to consider is oil filters are what clean the oil of contaminants, but once the oil breaks down there are more contaminants than the oil filter can process.

 

No, I'm not arguing that cheap oil is superior than synthetic. I'm arguring that color isn't an indicating factor.

My factor is what the owner's manual actually says, and not what I interpret it to say. Interestingly, according to my owner's manual for the Avalon it says that if you use conventional oil you have to change it every 5,000 miles/6 months regardless of where or how you drive it. By contrast, if you drive it in summer weather on flat highways on long trips you can change it every 10,000 miles/1 year if it's synthetic, which indicates that synthetic must be better.

Filters also only filter out particles of a certain size or bigger. Smaller particles get suspended in the oil and cause it to become darker. This is why oil in a diesel is allways black since no oil filter can filter out all diesel particulate matter.

But just because the oil looks clean doesn't mean it's not needing changed. There are other things that can wear out of the oil even if doesn't have any particulate matter in it. Even just sitting there it accumulates water that reacts with the oil and turns it acidic. Other additives slowly evaporate out of the oil.

Other people can do what they want. But when every 5,000 miles or every 6 months (whichever comes first) is right around the corner I change the oil. (This last time I litterally changed it less than 1 mine from 5,000 miles).

 

Yeah... 1800 mile roads trips every other month made changing oil every 3 to 5 thousand miles too often/expensive. So I switched to full synthetic and I don't buy it's good for 10K miles, but 7 or 8 has worked for me. Of course ever since Covid it's been way less driving so maybe every 8 months or so.

But my Prius isn't the issue so much as other Prius owners who don't understand that you need to check and add more oil more often as car gets older. Fortunately Gen2 engines are awesome and endure that kind of dumb move better than some other cars.

 

Well, it is the issue in that the oil rings tend to get stuck as the car ages and that is the reason it burns more oil. If the oil rings remained as functional at 250K as they were at 10K most older cars would still be burning less than a quart in 5K miles. Most. presumably some cars will eventually end up with leaking valve seals, but there aren't many posts about "my Prius smokes in the morning", so it must not be very common.[/QUOTE]

 

No noticeable change in oil loss at 287K... And I check my oil often. The point I was trying to make. As in the "issue" is that lots of people who's Prius I work on wouldn't check their oil level if their life depended on it and its super annoying because I'm the person who's going to have to deal with the damage from them sucking at taking care of their car that they claim they love so much. But at least I'll make money dealing with it.

 

AFAIK the Owners Manuals say nothing about synthetic or conventional, relating to oil, only spec weights.

 

not necessarily oil consumption is caused by bad piston rings, it's also caused by prolonged usage of EV mode where the engine is like a vacuum pump (or an air pump) Oil gets sucked into the head when this happens. This is also one of the issue with Honda using the VCM technology where it disables 3 or 4 cylinders to conserve fuel. People owning Odysseys and Accords have them disabled (VCM muzzler) to prolong the life of the engine. I have a 2008 Odyssey with 235k miles with VCM still active and I just keep an eye on the oil level always, always use full throttle on the highways to minimize usage of VCM. Most people have these engine blew up because of longer oil intervals and not checking the level and trying to be softer on the pedal (which activates the VCM) It's just a terrible design by Honda and I think GM has one too (AFM)

Ever wonder why those Prius taxis live a long life because their engine shutdown during stop and go traffic and fully engages when driving, EV mode is still used but not that much compared to people who likes to hypermile..

 

Actually most Prius taxis get several replacement engines, batteries and brake boosters in 400k miles. The taxi fleets often have their own shops that can get them back on the road in a day or two.

Many Toyota models from 07-15 had low tension rings and they all are subject to excessive oil burning. Including Corolla, Camry, Sienna, Solara, Avalon, Matrix, Prius and RAV4.

 

I can take a picture, but it definitely says synthetic and conventional.