Recomendation for '05 Prius

[Islandvic]

My good friend has a '05 Prius.

It has about 4500 miles on it now.

I opened the hood and the crankcase filler cap read "5-30".

What would yall recomend for his first oil change.

I told him I would help him.

I figured Toyota OEM filter and M1 5-30. I was going to let him use one of my B3G3 free coupons.

You thoughts and input......

And no, his Prius does not get 60 mpg like he told me it would. I think he got 40-45 mpg on his trip from Texas to Cali and back.

No Prius jokes please... I already busted his ***** .

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Toyota engines like M1, most UOA's show very low wear with any M1 product. You just can't go wrong with M1.

 

[JHZR2]

yep, toyota engines do really well with M1. I personally like denso filters for toyota apps, but I cant say if one is available for the prius.

JMH

 

[Islandvic]

I think the Prius 4 cyl is very similar to the Echo's with a few modificaions.

When I opened the hood, the filter is in plain sight. It between the block and front bumper, and pavement was in clear view from the view I had looking down at the engine.

Access to it should be easy from under if the car is jacked up.

Where can Denso filters be located?

Is this the same Denso that makes the spark plugs and other OEM Japanese auto parts?

Thanks!

 

[ruking77]

I agree with you M1 !!! Filter? given the right stock numbers buy on price!!! Yeah it is known that the Prius gets no where near its EPA rating unless you become expert at low speed driving. I would fall asleep from the utter boredom!! I was doing that today in my VW Jetta TDI (EPA rating of 42/49 mpg at the speed limit 65 mph. Mercy, it is SLOW>>>>> but got 58 mpg for the 65 mph leg. the only entertainment was watching a motorcycle CA Highway Patrol mangle the traffic flow by pulling over someone and all four lanes of traffic stomp on the brake pedals!!

SLOW DAY!!...............zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[ February 17, 2005, 08:27 PM: Message edited by: ruking77 ]

 

[Islandvic]

I told him to buy a TDI Jetta, but he wants to be able to tell you how his Hybrid "will save the world" as he cleans his Colt M-4 carbine...

Strange huh?

 

[Mike3UZ]

I heard this car needs a prius certified mechanic to work on it. I might recommend taking it to a stealership to get it done but correct me if wrong if you can do the oil change yourself.

 

[tmorris1]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mike3UZ:
I heard this car needs a prius certified mechanic to work on it. I might recommend taking it to a stealership to get it done but correct me if wrong if you can do the oil change yourself.

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I can see the Prius certified mechanic now.. he has on wool socks and sandles with beads in his hair. Just kidding. I think hybrids are a joke. You pay a premium for them and they get worse mileage than many other fuel efficient non-hybrid cars. I had a friend that had a Geo Metro that got better mileage than that. I think at the time (about 10 years ago) you could buy one new for about 10,000.

 

[andrews]

The oil choice is great. As for the filter, I have discovered through some minor research and personal experience, that for the money, Purolator Premium Plus is an excellent oil filter. It's not even their "top of the line" filter yet it performs like one in some truly unbiased tests I've seen. Much better built than most also....especially Fram. I don't know about the Toyota OEM filter, but it would probably be fine. Just not what I would use though.

 

[TooSlick]

If he's interested in fuel efficiency, I'd run the Amsoil Series 2000, 0w-30 in this application. Have him run an oil analysis after say 10,000 miles. The OEM Toyota oil filter will work fine here.

TS

 

[theguru]

The resale value of the 1st GenerAation hybrid cars here was abysmal. They were hard enough to sell in the first place, but a give away 2nd hand.

The latest Prius is apparently selling well, but again the resale value would probably be suspect.

My wife's Diahatsu gets 5.2L/100k running around town and probably better on the highway so am suprised at all the effort on these hybrids. I think there is more scope for small turbo charged diesel motors.

 

[haley10]

Just wonder how oci is determined on these hybrids, since the IC engine sees intermittent use? Would the engine oil ever get hot enough to burn off contaminants? Seems like no matter how you drove, the engine would be like a worst case short-trip scenario.

 

[Whimsey]

The hybrids get the "good" gas mileage in "city" driving. On the highway they're no better than other economy cars. I believe the batteries are warrantied for 8 years. So don't plan on keeping the car longterm unless you want to sink a fortune into an "old" vehicle. Also, I can't imagine the resale value would be that good with an 8 year lifespan before you have to spend a fortune for new batteries

.

Whimsey

 

[pa04prius]

I'm using Mobil 1 5w-30 and Toyota 90915-YZZA2 filter in my 2004 with 5000 mi OCI. I have about 27,000 miles on it - totally trouble-free. I have noticed that when I change my oil, it is just warm, never hot. I always like to change the oil after my trip home from work, about 20 miles, believing that draining the oil hot will get more junk out. All of my other cars got the oil very hot and I had to be careful when taking the drain plug out so as not to get burned. No chance of that with the Prius.
To all the experts here: is this cool running good or bad? Might it affect the engine life?

I plan on getting an UOA done at my next change, just to see what shows up. After reading all the great stuff here, I think I can understand what to be looking for.

Regarding the MPG issue, I have consistantly got 41-43 MPG in the winter and 48-53 in the warmer weather. I sold a 2001 Echo when I got the Prius and the best I ever got with it was 41 MPG on a 400 mi. road trip. There is just no comparison between a Prius and an Echo, or any other econobox. I'm 6'1" and the Echo was a bit cramped. The hatchback design of the Prius really fits a need. I can haul 8 ft. lumber with the hatch closed!
Maybe down the road the maintenance costs will be a killer but I really think that hybrid systems are here to stay. The fact that it's a Toyota gives me some assurance that it will hold up better than most other cars.

 

[theguru]

Probably the oil is cool as the car has been running on battery. Can you switch to gas engine only, or if not drive the car harder to get it to run on the gas engine.

Engines and oils run best within a certain temparature range. The oil needs to get hot to burn off condensation. Cool/ Cold oil might be good for auto transmissions but not gas engines.

 

[pa04prius]

My drive home is almost all freeway driving -60-65 mph. The electric motors don't do much at those speeds except when you pass someone, at which point they start up and assist the ICE. Electric motors are used mostly below 35 mph.

 

[Ken4]

quote:

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Originally posted by Islandvic:
And no, his Prius does not get 60 mpg like he told me it would. I think he got 40-45 mpg on his trip from Texas to Cali and back.

---

quote:

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Originally posted by pa04prius:
Regarding the MPG issue, I have consistantly got 41-43 MPG in the winter and 48-53 in the warmer weather.

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OT: What kind of mileage can it get for city driving?

 

[pa04prius]

Haven't done a lot of city-only driving, but usually the mpg display shows about 55 mpg or better. The display calculates mpg for 5 minute travel sequences and displays that figure in a bar graph.

 

[Islandvic]

His Prius is actually a quality vehicle. Inside passenger area has top grade materials, excellent upholstry, and almost Lexus-like solid feel to it.

He told me he had the oil changed (2500 miles on odo) when he got to LA, and again at the dealer for the 5k mile check-up/oil change when he got back.

He said he would go for the M1 next time.

Has M1 droped the 0-30?

What do Toyota stealerships use for bulk, Penzoil?