2023 Toyota Prius - WOW!

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by hayden55

Thats why the european manufacturers have always quoted extremely long oil change intervals. The maintenance cost over time wins in advertising, its marketed as green, and it props up sales of their new cars as the cars won't last as long after the warranty period is up.
Thats why they say anything can be made to last forever if you take care of it, because its more or less true on vehicles. Swap a bmw that is known for rod bearing failures before 100k to 1997 Toyota maintenance scheduling and it'll do 200k+.
This is also why other manufacturers have started to increase their maintenance intervals as well including Toyota.

Also why a lot of engines, especially Toyota engines, fail prematurely. Engines that go a year or without an oil change end up getting stuck piston rings at as little as 150,000 miles. Now for most people that's about the end of life of an engine, yet you could get double that if you change your oil every 6 months or 5,000 miles or sooner.

[hayden55]

Imagine this: I'm in a group on facebook called "Mileage impossible" and some of the european guys in there are telling me they have 30000km and 40000km oil drain intervals. I need to get one of them to send me proof of this. BMW in the USA recommended 15k oil intervals on their cars here in the usa, but i think they swapped to 10k oil changes around 2014.
I agree change every 5000 miles or 6 months and move on. Oil will be like an extra $500 over 200k miles, but a motor will typically be $5000-$7000 for a 4 cylinder.

[Isaac Zachary]

My Prius has an oil burning problem. Everything I read says it's 95% likely it's the piston rings because the previous owners followed Toyota's yearly oil change recommendation. Have you seen the Car Care Nut's YouTube channel?

Car buyers that upgrade to a brand new car every 3 to 5 years are the main ones who buy new cars. And they like not having to do much to the car. And yearly oil changes don't affect them, it affects the next car owner. Car companies are going to cater to their customers, not those of use that feed off the bottom of the used car chain.

[hayden55]

Makes you wonder. Need to get some more maintenance schedule information on all of these vehicles with these supposedly 30000km+ (~18,500 mi).
I have heard you can go longer on an oil change if you just stay on the interstate 8 hours a day with the oil hot the entire time, but it seems odd because europeans always brag about americans driving too much. I would bet half of us hit severe service conditions from short cold trips around town and get derated on oil intervals without even knowing it. Toyota doesn't really mention qualifications to owners.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by hayden55

Thats why the european manufacturers have always quoted extremely long oil change intervals. The maintenance cost over time wins in advertising, its marketed as green, and it props up sales of their new cars as the cars won't last as long after the warranty period is up.
Thats why they say anything can be made to last forever if you take care of it, because its more or less true on vehicles. Swap a bmw that is known for rod bearing failures before 100k to 1997 Toyota maintenance scheduling and it'll do 200k+.
This is also why other manufacturers have started to increase their maintenance intervals as well including Toyota.

European auto manufacturers quote long service intervals because they expect customers will use the correct specialized fluids required to achieve those long service intervals.

Synthetic fluids are also a key part of hitting fuel economy targets. A new engine oil can boost fuel economy by 1% or so. Transmission and axle oils can give similar results. Add it together and you can get a couple of percentage points improvement on fuel economy and GHG credits and it is generally one of the cheaper ways to improve fuel economy.

Add it together and you get longer service intervals and better fuel economy but the fluids cost more. In Europe that isn't a problem - most people actually follow the maintenance schedule. In the USA - a BMW is just as likely to get bulk Jiffy Lube oil as the euro spec oil.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

My Prius has an oil burning problem. Everything I read says it's 95% likely it's the piston rings because the previous owners followed Toyota's yearly oil change recommendation.

1 year is an extremely short oil change interval. Modern oils / engines can go much farther.

Originally Posted by hayden55

Makes you wonder. Need to get some more maintenance schedule information on all of these vehicles with these supposedly 30000km+ (~18,500 mi).
I have heard you can go longer on an oil change if you just stay on the interstate 8 hours a day with the oil hot the entire time, but it seems odd because europeans always brag about americans driving too much. I would bet half of us hit severe service conditions from short cold trips around town and get derated on oil intervals without even knowing it. Toyota doesn't really mention qualifications to owners.

Most modern European cars do not have a set oil change interval because people are bad at determining their actual duty cycle. Instead they have dynamic change intervals based on how the car is actually driven. So if you drive a severe service interval it will turn on the maintenance light based on the severe service interval. Likewise if you mostly drive extended interstate trips it will use an extended service interval and you may go 30,000 - 40,000 km between oil changes.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by JSH

1 year is an extremely short oil change interval. Modern oils / engines can go much farther.

Yeah, I'm not buying the notion that manufacturers have specified oil change intervals that are detrimental to longevity.

I used to get oil analysis done every year (I'd change the oil once a year) on both the Acura and TSX.

Every time the report would say viscosity is good, wear inhibitor content was good, particulates were within spec, etc. They'd always encourage me to go a few thousand miles more on the oil, and I was already going like 14k between changes.

Manufacturers these days have intervals around 7,500 miles (I think). That seems very conservative to me.

This was running 87 octane when the manufacturer specifies 91

[hayden55]

If thats true why did they issue a reduction on oil change intervals? They did it mid warranty for BMW.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by hayden55

If thats true why did they issue a reduction on oil change intervals? They did it mid warranty for BMW.

Gives BMW another reason to deny warranty claims on their unreliable products? Boosts revenue at dealerships and OEM parts? BMW thought they could engineer something as reliable as other manufacturers and realized they cannot? :P

[hayden55]

Sounds like they left the oil in too long lol