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

Long Road Trip / Oil Change Question

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by yorkeyng, Sep 19, 2006.

  1. yorkeyng

    yorkeyng New Member

    Joined:
    May 1, 2006
    37
    0
    0
    I have a question for you guys! I am about to embark on a 5,000 mile, 15-day roadtrip. I just had my first scheduled maintenance (at 5,000 miles) done not too long ago. Currently, my mileage is at 6,500 miles so I'm not scheduled to get another oil change for another 3,500 miles. However, my cross country roadtrip will span 5,000 miles. So my question is, should I do an oil change early now or wait until I get to my destination? I would much prefer to not get one on the road. Thanks!


    Yorks

    2006 Barcelona Red Package 8
     
  2. mcbrunnhilde

    mcbrunnhilde Opera singin' Prius nut!

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2004
    612
    23
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(yorks @ Sep 19 2006, 02:56 PM) [snapback]321898[/snapback]</div>
    Well, I like round numbers enough that I got mine changed in Virginia when I did a road trip last year to keep it at every 5,000 on the odometer. First time I let a dealer handle the car other than recalls, and they let the air out of my tires (down to 35/33 when warm so the tires were even lower the next morning). I'm also very firmly convinced that I lost $60 from my center console because I was stupid enough to leave my stash of gas money there. I can't be definite, but adding up all my gas and incidental receipts, I was right at $60 short at the end of the trip. :-(

    The oil change was done correctly, though, because I had brought my 3.5 quarts of synthetic oil and a new filter with me, so the dealer discounted the price and I ended up paying just for the labor. It took less than an hour because I had called before I left San Diego to make an appointment.
     
  3. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2005
    4,089
    468
    0
    Location:
    Bahstahn
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Did you put synthetic or dino in it? If you've got Mobil1 or the
    like in there, you're likely good to go for well past 5000 miles
    on that. Consensus from the oil-testing-geek corner of the world
    seems to be pretty comfy with running synth 10,000 miles on a pretty
    regular basis; you're even safer with a Prius since the engine only
    runs intermittently.
    .
    But I would google around and do my own research...
    .
    _H*
     
  4. yorkeyng

    yorkeyng New Member

    Joined:
    May 1, 2006
    37
    0
    0
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Sep 19 2006, 10:01 PM) [snapback]322023[/snapback]</div>

    No, unfortunately, it's not synthetic. Do you know if it would be okay to put synthetic in it now?
     
  5. BVISAILMAN

    BVISAILMAN Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2005
    85
    1
    0
    Location:
    Marlborough, MA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Yes you can put synthetic in it NOW.......I switched over at 1,000 miles but many have waited longer. Synthetic can run much longer than the normal 5,000 miles but for warranty issues you should follow it as close as possible. Synthetic will also improve your MPG just a bit overall.